Nicole’s Nook: GoWorksheet to Enhance Learning

It’s back to school time and I want to introduce a new productivity app that can benefit many students. Some children with fine motor challenges have trouble with conventional pencil and paper worksheets.  These children can use GoWorksheet to do their schoolwork on an iPad.  This app allows them to focus on the content presented and therefore complete their assignments with less difficulty.
Now, let’s take a look at some of the accessibility features included in the app:

• Adding word banks – A keyboard pops up when selected and a student can pick from the teacher-created options.  This allows a student to focus on the vocabulary presented.

• Further, the program allows tapping to fill multiple choice answers rather than filling in bubbles with pencil.  Therefore, this is a major benefit for children who struggle with fine motor challenges.

• Teachers have the ability to create drag and drop answers which narrows the range of choices and allows students to focus better on the material presented.

• The program provides audio output that includes more detailed instructions and additional prompting.  This feature is a benefit to students who may do better with audio learning or those who may need extra prompting to stay on task.

• OCR (optical character recognition) allows text to be read aloud. Parents or teachers can add the text or text can be identified with the built-in OCR feature.  This is another feature that can benefit audio learners allowing them to both see and hear the task at hand allowing them to increase understanding of the material.
• Some support tips and tricks:
  • This app will likely be most useful to students working in a small group setting or those that have a 1-1 paraprofessional working with them, most likely because of the time and effort it will take to create the worksheets.
  • Once the worksheet is completed, it can be shared via email, AirDrop, Google Drive, Dropbox or other cloud based storage sites.  The worksheet can also be printed or saved to your Camera Roll.

GoWorksheet is available in the iTunes store.  Two versions are available and both are necessary to fully implement this app.  Teachers or parents can use GoWorksheet Maker, which costs $19.99, to create customized worksheets. Students can use the free app, GoWorksheet, to complete the customized worksheet.
For more iPad information, check out my website at http://www.stlouischildrens.org/our-services/cerebral-palsy-center/ipad-resources
– Nicole Weckherlin, OTR/L, St. Louis Children’s Hospital Occupational Therapist