Reviewed by A. Taylor SLPAs
More Fun with Directions HD is one of five apps from Hamaguchi Apps for Speech, Language and Auditory Development ( Fun With Directions, More Fun With Directions, Picture the Sentence, First Phrases, and First Words International). Just like its predecessor, Fun With Directions, More Fun With Directions HD is an app designed to target listening skills, this time incorporating 12 new basic concepts: above, below, behind, front, on, under, put in, take out, turn on, turn off, up, down.
I especially love that there are many spatial concepts included in this version. I work with both native speakers with language delays and second language learners; spatial concepts are frequently an issue for my students.
Listening Skills and more-
(Measure comprehension with or without visual cues, text or voice commands to get an accurate picture of comprehension difficulties across modalities)
Flexibility and Scaffolding to accommodate various learners
Ability to verbally recall directions and record in own voice/compare
Cause and Effect Activities at Level 1 (most require a dragging motion)
Basic concepts: above, below, behind, front, on, under, put in, take out, turn on, turn off, up, down
Great for English Language Learners as well
Settings
Main Screen Tabs
From the Main Screen you can access Play, Users, Settings, Info, and More Apps.
Press the green Play button to start a session without specifying a User .
Users
Add new Users or begin activity through each User’s unique settings here. Set up the custom setting when entering a new User. If you are changing settings, you could also set up a new profile for an existing user by inputting a new name Student Name, Level 3, Text On etc. You can delete old profiles you are no longer using by tapping the orange Delete button below each saved profile. There is no saved data in this app, just profiles. You can also adjust settings through the Settings button on the main screen.
When you press Settings, you will see all the settings you can adjust, plus a Play button at the bottom middle of the screen. The settings are Levels- Easy, Medium or Hard, Text On/Off, Voice Commands On/Off, Superstar Directions On/Off, Concepts- Random or Custom. (See Settings Tab below for more details.) Once you have selected the settings you want, press Play to begin a session You can also bypass this step by selecting custom settings for each User through the Users button on the main screen.
Info
Before using the app, read the Info button for methodology and helpful tips.
More Apps
This will take you to the App Store to view other Hamaguchi Apps.
Settings Tab:
Difficulty Level:
Easy
( For Toddlers and children with emerging language skills)
One simple direction is given, i.e. Put the turtle behind the house.
The field of choices are simplified. ( 1 turtle is shown for the child to drag behind the house)
Intermediate
Slightly more complex, descriptive directions are used, i.e Can you help the boy with glasses go up the pole?
The field of choices is increased. (For example, the user must choose from 3 similar options)
Advanced
More complex directions are given, often with several concepts embedded, i.e. Find a building that can have a garage and yard, and put it in the purple garbage can.
The field of choices is increased. (10 objects)
Text On/Off
Voice Commands On/Off
Turn the voice commands On or Off. If you turn off the voice commands, you could use Text On to work on reading comprehension.
Superstar Directions On/Off
Superstar Directions allow the child to record the directions heard in his/her voice and compare. You can turn this feature On/Off here, or also through the Preferences tab during game play. If this is set to On, the Superstar Directions will play randomly.
Concepts- Random or Custom
Random means the type of direction will be picked randomly from the 12 concepts available (above, below, behind, front, on, under, put in, take out, turn on, turn off, up, down). You can check as few as one concept or as many as 11 concepts through the Custom tab.
Using More Fun With Directions HD
You should either select a user, or choose the Settings you want before game play, however there are a few settings you can adjust from the game screen. Through the buttons at the top of the screen you can access Home, New Concept, or Preferences. Home will take you out of the activity and return you to the main screen. New Concept will change the concept you are working on. If you only choose one concept to work on through the Custom button in Settings, during play the purple New Concept button at the top of the screen will be grayed out, showing there is no other concept selected. Preferences will not allow you to adjust the level of play, but you can turn Text instructions, Voice Commands, or Superstar Directions On/Off here.
The bottom of the screen has two buttons as well, New Direction and Hear Again. New Direction will give you a new set of directions within the same concept of the directions previously shown. This is the button you use to advance to a new set of directions after completing a set, but you can also use it to skip a set of directions as well. If you need to hear the direction again, tap the Hear Again button. Alternatively, the directions will be voiced again if the user hasn’t responded to the direction after a while.
Sample sentences from each Level:
EasyPut the star below the dog. (Drawing of a dog is in the middle of the screen. A single star is to the right.) [requires a dragging motion]
Turn off the radio. (Drawing of a radio-hitting its power button turns it off
)Put the piano behind the couch. (Drawing of a couch. Below is one choice: piano) [requires a dragging motion]
Intermediate
Can you help the boy with the curly red hair go up the pole? (3 identical poles, with a different boy next to each are shown: boy with blond hair and red hat, boy with curly red hair, boy with black hair and glasses)
[a tap is required to move the boy]Look for the yellow squirrel, and move it down the tree. (3 identical trees are shown, with a different squirrel in each: red squirrel, yellow squirrel, brown squirrel) [a tap is required to move the squirrel]
Find a pink rabbit and put it behind the house. (a house is shown, with five rabbits below: pink rabbit, blue rabbit, black rabbit, brown rabbit, gray rabbit [requires a dragging motion]
Advanced
Put something that flies and has engines and seats under the larger table. (A small table and a larger table are shown, with ten objects to their right: clock, stove, bird, dinosaur, cow, piano, plane, elephant, ice cream, frog.) [requires a dragging motion]
Turn off the water in the round pink sink with the blue faucet. (5 sinks are shown: round pink sink with green faucet, round green sink with pink faucet, round pink sink with blue faucet, rectangular pink sink with blue faucet, round pink sink with pink faucet) [requires a tapping motion]
Superstar Directions (Record and Compare)
The user selects a correct item and a ding is heard; the screen changes.
The user is prompted, Tell me what did you have to do?
The screen shows a record symbol, with a start button below.
The user touches the start button, and verbally recalls the directions, “
After recording is done, a new screen will show three buttons: Listen to your answer, Try again, and Correct Answer. The user can cycle through these choices as many times as needed.
When the user is ready, he/she can move on to the next task by pressing the small blue arrow at the top right of the screen. Wish List
( I always have one!)
My wish list for More Fun With Directions HD is the same as for Fun With Directions HD: I would love to see data tracking added to this app. For better accessibility, I would love to have the option to set whether images are dragged to complete a task, or simply tapped. There are not many directions that allow a tap in this app. Perhaps for spatial concepts such as behind, above etc. the child could tap where they wanted the object to move. I would also like to control how often the user gets to do a Superstar direction.
