Recent surveys of teachers have found that many struggle to find new games and other technologies to include in the classroom, relying on fellow teachers for recommendations. A new massive database of reviews aims to help teachers in that quest.
Children’s Technology Review, a publication that has reviewed games and technology aimed at kids up to 15 years of age, has launched CTREX – Children’s Technology Review Exchange.
The Children’s Technology Review Exchange boasts more than 11,000 reviews of technology and gaming products.
The authors claim that it is the largest and most up-to-date database of technology products, including games, out there.
“It contains 11,708 reviews including the latest K-12 products across 26 types of tablet and gaming platforms, each written from the point-of-view of the ‘Picky Teacher,’” the release read. “CTREX is now accessible today at www.pickyteacher.com – no registration is required in the guest mode.”
Picky Teacher is the site’s mascot of sorts. They are a creative, but overworked teacher with little tolerance for over-hyped or buggy apps or tools.
“There is no perfect rating system,” said Warren Buckleitner, editor of Children’s Technology Review. “However, we can come as close as we can, and then give our readers the tools to fill in the blanks.”
The CTREX database makes it easy to search and browse by age, curriculum, publisher and technology platform, with additional custom parameters. The service is funded by subscriptions to avoid obvious conflicts of interest.
We caught up with Buckleitner, who conceived of CTR in 1983, and asked him a few questions about the service and how developers can get their products included.
gamesandlearning.org: The magazine and your effort to offer reviews has been around for quite some time, why launch CTREX and what need do you want it to fill?
Warren Buckleitner: The CTREX concept has always been in our DNA, and it represents a key step in our transition from print to digital. What you see today has been in the planning stages for a decade, and it’s still not finished.
We had originally created an NSF proposal that wasn’t funded and the dream never died. This project is the work of a small, highly motivated and dedicated team of educators who lucked into finding a brilliant programmer. If we get the subscribers, we’ll be able to implement more features.
gamesandlearning.org: What’s the difference between the guest mode and the subscriber mode that clearly pays for the reviews?
Warren Buckleitner: Guest mode lets you drive the database, so you can get a taste of the speed and depth of the searching, and it lets you play with the dynamic searching tools. But guests only see the first 20 results of search results, and you can’t read the full review, comments or see the ratings unless you’re logged in.
You obviously don’t get the weekly and monthly newsletters. Our theory is that we’ll get paid subscribers once people try, and trust the service.
gamesandlearning.org: If a developer has a game they feel is worthy of a review, what should they do?
Warren Buckleitner: We’ll probably find it first if it’s really worthy of a review! But any publisher is welcome to send Lisa a copy or a download code, if it’s an app, along with release date, price and publisher links. The instructions are at http://childrenstech.com/submit
gamesandlearning.org: You repeatedly stress the independence of your reviews. Have you all noticed a problem with reviews that do not feel truly honest?
Warren Buckleitner: I wouldn’t accuse any other site or service as “not honest.” All reviewers, including us, have some sort of bias that can flavor the ratings. I think it’s more about how such bias is understood and managed, and that the measurement process is transparent.
It’s also important that funding and income sources are disclosed. For example, online stores like iTunes, Google Play and Amazon.com make it possible for a reviewer to monetize the link from the review to the shopping cart. How is this different than a catalog with reviews?
gamesandlearning.org: In general, how would you say the average teacher or administrator using CTREX or pickyteacher.com has changed in the last 5-10 years in terms of their sophistication and knowledge of technology?
Warren Buckleitner: It’s definitely increasing, but things took off like a rocket in the spring of 2010 when Steve Jobs introduced the iPad.
Because we’ve just launched last week, I really don’t have enough information about the types of subscribers we’ll get, but I can tell you that we have designed CTREX to appeal to four distinct groups: parents, teachers, publishers and librarians. All are hungry for the accurate, comprehensive information that we’re trying to deliver.
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