Princeton School for Boys Launches iPad App to Solve Transition Dilemma in K-12 Writing Instruction

By HMPR
Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart, an all boys school for grades Junior Kindergarten through grade 8, is pleased to announce the release of a new iPad app co-developed between two faculty members and software development company IT Launchpad, LLC out of Framingham, MA. The iPad app is called Outline Pro and is aimed at helping students at the K-12 level with the essay writing process. Princeton Academy students were used to test the app in the development stages. The app is now available for purchase at the iTunes app store.
In the fall of 2011, Princeton Academy introduced a 1:1 iPad program to its middle school students, which included curriculum assimilation and digital citizenship training. Instructional Technology Coordinator Michael Taggart was instrumental in merging tablet technology with traditional classroom instruction and was approached by IT Launchpad’s Principal Anton Yakushin with a proposal to collaborate on an iPad app for K-12 students.
“Anton contacted us out of the blue, really, having heard about Princeton Academy’s iPad program through Internet research,” recalled Taggart. “He had determined that nobody was creating educational apps that addressed the needs of K-12 schools. Middle school in particular suffers from a lack of useful software.”
Coincidently, at around the same time that IT Launchpad contacted Taggart, 7th and 8th grade English teacher Matt Trowbridge had observed that some students were struggling in the transition to essay writing on a tablet and had expressed his concerns to Taggart. With this revelation, Taggart and Trowbridge met with Yakushin to discuss the immediate needs of students at Princeton Academy and soon embarked on the development and design of Outline Pro.
“I wanted the boys to become truly convinced that the more work and thought they put into their essay outlines up front, the less work they would have later on while drafting,” commented Trowbridge. “The app has been so successful because it affords an important breakthrough for all writers – the discovery of an efficient method to organize one’s thoughts and to plan out a detailed approach to major writing assignments.”
Outline Pro is the first app designed with a school curriculum in mind where students engage in the essay writing process effectively, by creating outlines. It has application for use in the classroom and at home. Some of the features of the app include: navigation and management of paper elements like thesis, introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion; the ability to add and move paragraphs; bulleted lists to organize ideas; easy transfer of outlines to Pages and other writing apps; and options to email and export as PDF and text files.
The implementation of Outline Pro into the writing curriculum at Princeton Academy has been so positive that there has been talk of future collaborations between the school and IT Launchpad. In terms of how it has improved the writing process for students, Matt Trowbridge now uses it as a precursor to all of his essay writing.
“Students at every level have improved in their writing as a result of using this app,” commented Trowbridge. “Those who already had sound structure have improved their transition and flow from paragraph to paragraph. The app gives those who struggle with paragraph and essay structure the scaffolding that they need and a template in which to extend their ideas.”
For more information about Outline Pro, including video previews, screenshots, and a link to purchase at the iTunes store, visit http://www.itlaunchpad.com/apps/outline-pro/.
About Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart
Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart, an independent lower and middle school for boys in grades JK through 8, is committed to academic excellence within the context of a faith-based community. Founded in 1999, Princeton Academy now educates 229 students at 1128 Great Rd., Princeton. For more information, visit our website at http://www.princetonacademy.org