With more than 1 billion apps downloaded from Apple’s App Store, and major children’s entertainment companies diving into this market en masse, it is important to consider the role that apps may play in children’s learning. While numerous mainstream news and industry sources have started to provide anecdotal descriptions of what is available for children in the iTunes App store, none have done a careful analysis with a focus on educational content. This short paper, authored by Carly Shuler, is a content analysis of the education section of the iTunes App Store. It seeks to provide an up-to-date, reliable, and unbiased analysis and to act as a benchmark for change as the iTunes App Store continues to grow and evolve.
- View related article in The Boston Globe
- Download: FOSI presentation (PDF)
- Download: mLearn presentation (PDF)
** Using iLearn as a benchmark, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center undertook a further examination of the Education category within iTunes’ app store- iLearn II: An Analysis of the Education Category on Apple’s App Store – released January 2012.**
