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Review and evaluation of special education iOS apps using MARS

Abstract:

The access to technology in education is essential for the development of skills, in this way it is required to identify and evaluate the quality of special education applications. The objective of this study was to classify and evaluate the quality of educational applications for autism, Down syndrome, and cerebral palsy. A systematic search was conducted in Apple App Store between May-July 2017. For eligible apps, data were extracted by app name, developer, disability, target, cost, app functionalities, average user rating, the number of user ratings, and downloads. App inclusion criteria were: (1) Spanish language; (2) free of charge; (3) availability in the Ecuadorian Apple App Store; and (4) from App Store categories, 'Education,' 'Kids,' 'Games.' A group of evaluators reviewed and rated the quality of 50 applications using Mobile Apps Rating Scale (MARS), which has 23 items contained in subscales such as engagement, functionality, aesthetics, information and subjective quality.