Peer Review

LOOPIMAL App for iOS

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Reviewed:: Mar 15, 2020 by Teacher Education

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

Yatatoy's LOOPIMAL app is a building kit of handcrafted animations and sounds. With intuitive fun gesture users can create loops and sequences to make music for different animals. The content is on melodic, rhythmic or movement basis. This app costs $3.99

Type of Material:

Music and animation

Recommended Uses:

The app is designed for young children to introduce them to beat and movement; however, it could be used by any age as a basic introduction to animation and loops.

Technical Requirements:

Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Requires iOS 5.1.1 or later.

Identify Major Learning Goals:

The app allows the user to manipulate simple animal figures by choosing from various button options to create different sequences of animation.

Children's Technology Review states "Like Garage Band for toddlers, this app turns your iPad into a looping musical toy -- in the key of C -- with a collection of six moving animals. You quickly learn that you can "program" their motions by dragging and dropping sounds onto one of the eight spots on a sound stage. Because each sound icon results in a different effect, you quickly learn that it is easy to make inter-related loops.

Target Student Population:

Again quoting from a user who rated this app a 5/5: "This is a very fun and beautiful app. The design and animation is excellent. I know it says this is intended for kids, but it's really fun for all ages!"

Elementary through graduate school.

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

No pre-requisites or skills other than the ability to drag and drop.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: Children create music loops by using pre-programmed blocks to layer melody and rhythm over a base beat or sound. Each sound block has a designated animated movement so the animal characters (six total) dance and move with the music.
Concerns:: There is no way to save and share the loops created.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

The design of this app allows for scaffolding of learning. Each animal has a baseline beat. Selecting additional preprgrammed blocks adds melodies or additional beats. The app uses a tap and drag approach which is easy for children (and adults!). There are three different levels that allow for simple to more complex layering of beats and melodies.

The app has ability to teach the C scale in music, and there are no goals or consequences so the user may pick up some knowledge while having fun.

Concerns:

The primary purpose of the site is to create personal entertainment.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

The app is very easy to navigate with drag and drop being the primary means of creating the looped animations.

Concerns:

No way to save and play back the creations at a later time. It would allow for more risk taking if users could stop and restart the cursor, too.

The app was last updated in 2016.

Other Issues and Comments:: This app is only for use on IOS and as of 2019, still costs $3.99. View YouTube videos for demonstrations of the app in use before purchasing.
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