As the reviews for our ConversationBuilderTeen social skills app start coming in, it is really interesting that each author is focusing on different things. Five blogs so far, and five completely different takes on why ConversationBuilderTeen is such an important app. It is gratifying that so many SLP’s and parents really understand what I was trying to accomplish with the teen version of ConversationBuilder and even more gratifying that as I read these very kind reviews, I realize that each author has only scratched the surface of what the app can do for their students. The author of this review, Nanette Cote, focuses on the power of the wrong answer audio clips. There are over 500 audio clips the student can hear based on their choice. So we don’t just tell the students they are wrong, we tell them why they were wrong. For teens, this is a critical distinction. Nanette also talks about how the app helps students learn about tone of voice, and how important tone is when conveying meaning in a conversation.
ConversationBuilderTeen is a virtual conversation simulator designed specifically for teenaged kids. At it’s core, it helps kids understand pragmatic language and how the back and forth flow of conversations works. What makes ConversationBuilderTeen so powerful is that students are not passive participants in the conversation, they are actively engaged in them. They listen to what others say and then they get to record their answers. Because we are re-creating a real conversation for the students, they gain a deeper understanding of how conversations are supposed to flow. In the end, they get to hear themselves have a real conversation, with all the wrong answers and wrong tone stripped away. They hear themselves have a conversation in real time; as it is supposed to sound. Not only is this incredibly motivating for the students, but it teaches them the basics of pragmatic language in a way that they can rapidly understand. ConversationBuilder has over 300 conversations broken into 8 themes. We cover all the normal teen obsessions like sports, summer, and entertainment, but we also cover all the unpleasant things teen must deal with such as bullying, peer pressure and relationships.
On top of writing this review, Nanette is sponsoring a raffle for a free copy of ConversationBuilderTeen. Stop by her blog to enter!
To find out more about ConversationBuilderTeen and our other speech therapy apps, tap on the icon below!
