Trying an app/tool on our own before we use it in class should be essential. In fact, there are apps that are more suitable to teach some subjects than others. But what's also true and we can't deny is that technology definitely makes engage students in meaningful learning. Jessica Rizk and Scott Davies conducted when conducting their study on tech engagement among students in K-8 classrooms across 10 Ontario school boards found that digital technologies, compared to print text, have the potential to reduce disparities in engagement in both students’ classrooms and homes. file:///C:/Users/Carlos/Downloads/socsci-10-00012-v2.pdf

I strongly believe that all these theories work. Some might work better for certain types of students. I personally don't think one is better than the others becuase they actually seem to work together to make learnning happened at different situations. Moreover, t

I personally think that there's no theory better than the others because they actually work together to make learning happen. It's true that some might work better for certain types of students as we can see them related to Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences, which says that every student learns differently at different times pr situations.

I didn't know Kahoot could fit into the category as a behaviorist app. Kahoot is often used in the language classroom as a tool to make a class. I've used it and my students have had lots of fun especially when there's room for competition. On the flip side, the person from the comment above is right since it doesn't address accessibility nor promotes universal design for learning leaving disabled students out. It's interesting to see that Kahoot claims to follow global and commonly accepted standards for accessibility which state that their products are perceivable, operable, and understandable. https://trust.kahoot.com/inclusion-and-accessibility-policy/ On the other hand, Paramjit Kaur on his study among 50 secondary students in an international school about their language learning experiences with Kahoot! says that almost all the students found Kahoot! to be an effective tool in their language classrooms and they feel happy and competitive when they are engaged in Kahoot! based activities. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338035766_KAHOOT_IN_THE_ENGLISH_LANGUAGE_CLASSROOM

I didn't know Kahoot could fit into the category as a behaviorist app. Kahoot is often used in the language classroom as a tool to make a class. I've used it and my students have had lots of fun especially when there's room for competition. On the flip side, the person from the comment above is right since it doesn't address accessibility nor promotes universal design for learning leaving disabled students out. It's interesting to see that Kahoot claims to follow global and commonly accepted standards for accessibility which state that their products are perceivable, operable, and understandable. https://trust.kahoot.com/inclusion-and-accessibility-policy/

It’s crucial to make sure that apps are compatible with softwares that different brands utilize. In Mexico, teaching junior high students, I intuitively made sure that whatever app I decided to incorporate in my lessons would run on my students’ cellphones given that fact that most of them were low-income students and they would only have access to very old devices. I spent hours looking for appropriate apps that my students could use so most of the time I used interactive dictionaries for English since game apps or other more up-to-date apps didn’t run on their devices. On the other hand, I think that nowadays with all the options of devices and software in the market, it’s somehow hard to ensure at a 100% that they will run any app. For example, one app that I’ve tried in old and newer cellphones and works as it should is google drive; however, I wouldn’t be able to state that it perfectly work for all apple devices because I’ve only tried it on android ones. For this reason, for my home context, “robust” is the first criterion to fulfill when evaluating apps for teaching.

Yes, I would also add these questions to my own question list to consider before incorporating apps in lessons. We need to plan in advance how we'd teach how to use apps during class especially when our lessons are very limited in terms of time.

I totally agree that providing good instruction makes students willing to use the app. However, I believe it's not just about the good instruction as such but also the layout and how it is presented. Personally speaking, when I need to use an app I'm not familiar with I immediately go to Youtube to find a tutorial; perhaps this works for me because I'm much of a visual learner.

This is very common when we get so excited about a certain app/tool we just discovered and thought it would benefit our teaching practice, but beyond helping us it just ends up complicating it more. I think it would be useful to bear the following questions in mind whenever we'd like to incorporate apps or tools in our lessons: Is it suitable for the context where I'm teaching? Is it user-friendly? Would it be meaningful for our students' learning? Do I know how to use it first so I can teach my students how to use it? Can it be used offline (just in case the wifi connection is lost)? Does it match the content of my lesson?

In my opinion, I'd say that this is the most important to focus on when deciding to use an app or digital tool which should be user-friendly so that helps our teaching to be effective, innovating, and engaging. It wouldn't make sense to incorporate high-tech or well-recognized apps if they don't provide good instruction

This is true! But I also think that as educational instructors and professors we're committed to providing quality education and this entails self-updating. Here's where the importance of having a PLN takes place. If we feel we're not capable of using technology, we could ask for support from people in our PLN.

Yes, this would be me back in Mexico teaching at a secondary level school in this small town where I had no access to internet connection nor any tech tools (projectors, speakers, etc). Most of the time I had to bring my own tools and opted to use offline apps which are very few and boring for my students.