“We realized that whenever you get into a deep, vertical area like education, the metaphor of search doesn’t work,” explains Appolicious founder Alan Warms. “First of all, search is very contextual – I’m not just looking for ‘an educational app,’ I’m looking for a ‘seventh grade app.’ Also, I need context. I need transparency. I need to understand why was this app is rated the way it’s rated, who rated it, and why should I trust this person?”

On appoLearning, those questions are answered. The site groups educational app recommendations into eighty-four categories, like “reading,” “number sense,” “life science,” “social interaction,” speaking and listening,” and many others, which are also grouped into stages including “Early Childhood (ages 2 1/2 – 5),” “Elementary School,” “Middle School,” and “High School.”

Within a section, a selection of five apps are shown, each rated on a scale out of 100. These are meant to represent the five best applications within that particular category, as chosen by an educational expert whose bio appears on the site, detailing their experience. This section also includes an explanation about why these apps and the skills they teach are important, also written by the educator.

To be clear, these app recommendations aren’t just chosen editorially – on the backend, app reviewers (who are paid contributors), must rate apps using a Q&A rating system designed by Appolicious meant to normalize the ratings process. For each application, reviewers have to analyze  specific educational objectives on a scale of 1 to 3 – numbers which are totaled to give the app its final score. After rating all the apps within the category, the top five based on scores end up on display.

Many of the best apps here will likely end up being the paid apps, because they don’t bother the child with promotions, ads, or disruptive pushes to buy more content through in-app purchases. However, a comments section at the bottom of each app category page allows others to make suggestions as to how the list can be improved, or other applications people may like. These comments will be both vetted and monitored, helping to flag when the category may need a refresh.

A sixth spot for a paid, sponsored listing, clearly labeled as such, allows advertisers to promote their own apps to a very narrow target audience. This is available for $250 per week.

Warms says that the idea for this service occurred to him around six or so months ago, when his daughter was entering seventh grade. “I wanted to find an app for her that would help her practice fractions, decimals, and reciprocals. It was a horrific experience,” he says, explaining how difficult it was to determine which app or apps were of better quality.

But given the recent App Store turmoil surrounding AppGratis, and Apple’s ban of its app discovery service for apparently selling paid promotions, as well as Apple’s revised guidelines banning apps offering app discovery, it’s unclear how Apple would respond to a native app version of the appoLearning service, especially given its included sponsorships.

“We’ve talked to a lot of app developers in education, and they’re  frustrated because it’s really hard for their apps to be discovered right now unless they’re popular,” Warms says. “This service, if it’s as successful as we hope it’s going to be, is going to be great news for Apple also because it’s good for their ecosystem.”

Warms admits, though, that the company is unsure of the rules here – as most app discovery publishers seem to be these days. Instead, for now, appoLearning has been designed with a responsive website that adapts to both mobile and tablet-sized screens.

Now that the site is launched, the plan is to now rapidly grown from its current 84 categories to reach around 150, each with its own educational expert contributor. The plan is to also adapt this same process into other verticals like travel, business, finance, health, and more. A move into Android will also follow.

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More than a trend in the billion-dollar app industry, the increase signals a significant step toward integrating more people with autism into the mainstream, experts say.

“It’s really been a game changer,” said Robin Parker, Ph.D., a professor at Nova Southeastern University’s Abraham Fischler School of Education in Fort Lauderdale. Parker, who specializes in speech, language and communication, uses the apps to facilitate her work with children. She has seen tremendous improvement in children’s communications and behavioral skills, including having children learn to speak.

“These apps are clearly helping our kids and adults do what everyone else is doing,” said Parker, who is also consulting director at the University of Miami-NSU Center for Autism Related Disabilities (CARD).

Autism is a neurological disorder characterized by difficulty communicating and socializing as well as repetitive behaviors. It encompasses a broad spectrum, from severe to milder forms like Asperger’s syndrome.

Why do apps work?

Parker said touch technology is geared more toward how people with autism process information.

“It’s good universal design that helps people with or without disabilities,” she said.

In February, Temple Grandin, the iconic autism advocate and doctor of animal science who is autistic herself, delivered a lecture, “Different Kinds of Minds” at the University of Miami. She mentioned not only the benefits of IPad technology for people with autism, but with characteristic candor, added some irony and insight about its creator.

“What is autism?” she said. “It’s a developmental disorder, and on one end of the spectrum you’ve got Steve Jobs and Einstein. Einstein had no language until age 3. Steve Jobs was a weird loner who brought snakes to his elementary school and was bullied and teased and had all kinds of problems”

Parker said the development of autism apps is revolutionary in teaching people who process information differently.

“Before we taught only one way. We were effectively excluding and segregating people. With these technologies we are truly making our society more inclusive,” said Parker.

For those who could not speak, big bulky devices designed to help people communicate cost thousands of dollars. The cost of apps ranges from free to about $300. While some people may still need the large devices, most can benefit from the apps, Parker said. She suggests going to the Appy Mall (www.appymall.com), an online resource for finding free and discounted apps and which has a section devoted to autism.

The proliferation of autism apps is a response to the growing number of children and adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. Last month, a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that one in 50 children is affected by autism. The numbers represent a 72 percent increase from a 2007 CDC report. In the new study, the CDC said the increase was based on parents’ reports of increased diagnoses of milder forms of autism, including Asperger syndrome.

“We wanted customers to relate to the app and have fun when they use it,” said Rachel Fonseca, another student. “It’s supposed to be a customer friendly experience.”

As part of their school work, the team conducted research on existing products in their market, and determined that, although there are a few similar apps, many had poor user reviews and crashed a lot. Their conclusion: They were confident they could design something better.

Now the students will have the chance to put their design into practice, working with MIT Media Lab’s App Inventor Training Corps to write the code and develop their product. The MIT specialists will visit Hampstead for a day and a half of consultation, then the students will be on their own, left to do the heavy lifting of making the app a reality.

“The students are owning this start to finish,” said Christina DiMicelli, the technology integration specialist at Hampstead Academy.

“We all have our nervousness,” said Nathan Stallings, a student designer. “We fear that it won’t come out the way we pictured it.”

But they’re also excited that they’ll have a real product at the end of this project. “This is very different from other school projects because it’s a real world thing,” said Jack Lawlor. “The app is going to be out in the world helping people.”

Hampstead Academy is a small private school focusing on “whole child” education, and many of the school projects are cross-curricular and include technology. But this project felt more personal to the students. “The app challenge felt a little different because we all really love technology and we were really in our element,” Fonseca said.

One of the most challenging parts of this project was working together, students said — a true reflection of what happens in the real world. Students Ashvi Patel and Ethan Calandra said that coming up with a cohesive idea that satisfied every team member was hard, especially when they had to let some ideas go.

Most of the students enjoyed designing the app itself and thinking about how the end user would approach it. A few students even think they might like to continue to study app development. “Now that I’ve seen the final product I am more interested in pursuing it,” said Alex Mielens who had studied some code before, but found it boring when it wasn’t attached to a specific goal.

The Hampstead team developed the project as part of social studies class, organized by teacher, Chris Sousa, who finds it perfectly natural to incorporate STEM into his class. “When you can start applying STEM to social problems that fits right into social studies,” Sousa said.

Chow Checker will be available for download on Google Play this summer.

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There are many reasons why having tablets in schools is great for students. Textbooks can be updated throughout the year to include new information. Apps created for the classroom can help students interact with learning materials in new and more meaningful ways. Most of all, tablets give teachers an invaluable tool in helping children to think and learn.

Until recently, Apple’s iPad was the go-to tablet for most school districts. Now, newer competitors are giving the iPad a run for its money with benefits that are desirable to schools such as long-lasting batteries, easy ways to input data, and lower price tags. Some of these competitors are unexpected, like the Kuno made by a family-owned company in Indiana called Curriculum Loft. Districts like the Kuno for its user-friendly software, educational apps, and content filtering capabilities.

Media giant News Corp. is also getting in on the K-12 tablet market. The company is creating a new tablet called Amplify, which is Android-based and will include interactive lessons, as well as tools for classroom management. The goal is to create a device that will meet all of a classroom’s needs. These tablets are expected to cost between $300 and $350.

Dell is also an iPad competitor with its Latitude 10 tablet. It debuted in the fall of 2012 and uses Windows 8 as its operating system. This gives the advantage of providing a format that is familiar to most teachers and students from using PCs.

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A Pew Research Center study shows that more than one-third of American teenagers own a smartphone, up from more than a fifth in

2011. For nearly half of these users, the phone is their main way of getting online, making it difficult for parents to supervise their behavior.

“When you have a smartphone, you basically have the Internet in your pocket wherever you are – away from your parents’ eyes,” said Anooj Shah, a partner in Toronto-based company Kytephone, which develops apps.

Kytephone’s namesake app allows parents to control the apps and sites their children use and the people they receive texts and calls from.

The company on Monday released Kytetime for 13-to-17-year-olds. The new app has many of the same features as Kytephone but does not include the ability to block calls.

Earlier this month, Net Nanny, a monitoring software company, released a browser app for Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) iOS devices to filter Web content and block profanity.

“Smartphones and tablets have added new technology, with new challenges (for parents) – full Web browsing capability, unlimited texting, access to hundreds of thousands of good, bad and malicious apps,” said Russ Warner, chief executive officer of the Salt Lake City-based company.

The Android version of Net Nanny, which sells for $12.99, can control which apps a child uses. The app is also available for iOS devices, with fewer applications, for $4.99.

The company is also introducing Net Nanny Social, a subscription, Web-based tool to help parents monitor problems such as cyberbullying, sexual predators and identity theft on social networks including Facebook (FB.O) and Twitter. The service costs $19.99 per year.

For parents of 2-to-8-year-olds, Boston-based Playrific has a free app with a locked browser that allows only content suitable for children, including educational videos, interactive games and books.

The app, available for Android, iPad and on the Web, curates content based on a child’s interests, which it learns over time.

“Kids feel the limitless sense of what’s on the Internet,” said Playrific CEO Beth Marcus, “but the parents know that it’s not really limitless.”

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(*Prices correct as of January 14, 2013)

LITERACY & NUMERACY

Splash Math
Free, but extra worksheets cost $5.49 each – iPhone/iPad
This suite of five sea-themed apps, covering years 1 to 5, teaches maths in a fun, interactive way. Answer questions correctly to add fish to a virtual aquarium, and track progress with weekly email reports.

Splash math

Count TV
$2.99 – iPhone/iPad
Little ones can learn their numbers with Sesame Street’s Count Von Count, Cookie Monster, Ernie, Grover and others. Parents will love the inclusion of classic retro Sesame Street clips.

Count tv

20-1 Counting
$0.99 – iPhone/iPad
Pop balloons with Oscar the monkey to reveal numbers and learn how to count backwards from 20 to 1. An Australian accent makes this simple app a stand out.

20-1 Counting

Squeebles
$0.99 to $1.99 – iPhone/iPad
A suite of six separate apps teaches basic maths and spelling aimed at kids aged five to 11. Answer questions correctly to rescue the cute squeebles from the maths monster.

Squeebles

Numberlys
$6.49 – iPhone/iPad
Looking more like a Tim Burton film than an educational app, this unbelievably beautiful animated storybook teaches children the alphabet through lush, interactive, black and white illustrations.

Numberlys

Abc – Wow!
$1.99 – iPhone/iPad
$1.90 – Android
Beautiful animations and fun sounds make this alphabet flashcard app more charming than most. Letters morph into pictures of everyday objects – ”C” into a cookie, and ”A” into an apple – allowing kids to make an association between the two.

ABC – Wow!

Alphabet Song
$0.99 – iPad only
Developed by Sydney company Oscar’s Apps this is one of the only alphabet apps that features an Aussie accent, so your child will hear ”zed” instead of the dreaded ”zee”. Pop balloons to reveal letters, and sing along to the alphabet.

Alphabet song

My A-Z
$1.99 – iPhone/iPad
Create alphabet flash cards using your own photos and sounds to make a more personalised, immersive experience. You can use a picture of your dog and a clip of its bark for the letter ”D”, for example.

My A-Z

Eggy 250
$2.99 – iPhone/iPad
$1.98 – Android
An Australian accent option makes this cute reading app stand out from the crowd. An animated chicken teaches kids 250 ”sight words” – words readers should recognise on sight, such as ”the”, ”he”, ”she” and ”where” – while they earn golden eggs as rewards.

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BRONZEVILLE — Alice Zhao believes a cartoon owl can teach the world’s children about different languages.

Zhao, a Bronzeville resident, is the co-creator of “Gus on the Go,” an app that debuted in June and has slowly built a following.

In the children’s entertainment and learning space, the term “appisode,” has been used in the past to describe something of an interactive TV-like experience, like what’s found in the iPad apps offered by startups like Kidaptive and PlaySquare (both big hits in this household, I might add), or those from bigger companies, like Disney, for example. But Mindshapes is borrowing the term to describe its own form of entertainment which falls somewhere in between interactive storybooks with tappable pages and interactive videos.

“The game and the book fit together, so the game experience is integrated into the various stories,” explains Fingerprint CEO Nancy MacIntyre, who was previously EVP of Product Innovation and Marketing at LeapFrog, before starting Fingerpint.

Mindshapes, for those unfamiliar, is an Index Ventures-backed kids’ educational app developer started by former Playfish founders and others, whose apps have been downloaded over 1 million times, and whose flagship “Magic Town” storybook has also seen over 1 million stories read. Mindshapes will launch five of these new appisodes with Fingerprint this year. It will be the first time the company has created a bespoke bundle of story books with learning games and play integrated into them, Mindshapes co-CEO Nina Pustilnik tells us. The appisodes will also feature “big-time and well known characters and licenses,” however Fingerprint’s McIntyre says she’s not permitted to reveal which characters those are at this time due to the licensing agreements currently in place.

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City schools contest will award programmers $50,000 for best mobile STEM app to improve middle-school math education.

City kids can’t bring cell phones to school — but they will be able to get a city-backed math app to help them with homework.

Mayor Bloomberg angered parents when he cracked down on cell phones in schools, but that doesn’t mean that the city can’t marshal the technology available on phones and computers to help kids learn, he said.

On Monday, he launched a contest offering $50,000 in cash prizes to programmers who craft the best middle-school math apps. He says it’s the first such contest in the country to be sponsored by a school district.

“We want the next great education technologies to come out of New York City,” Bloomberg said.

The city is beefing up science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, education programs to position the city for the digital jobs of the future, and middle school math is crucial, Bloomberg said.

“Students who fall behind in middle-school math are likely to remain behind through high school and less likely to graduate ready for college,” he said.