APPLICATIONS CREATED IN COOPERATION WITH IWRD
Friendly Applications is a collection of educational apps created since 2015 within a common “non-profit” program of the Gdańsk University of Technology and the Institute for Child Development Foundation in Gdańsk. The project involves students of the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics of Gdańsk Tech, supervised by Dr. Agnieszka Landowska, and clinicians from the Institute for Child Development in Gdańsk, under the supervision of Dr. Anna Budzińska and Iwona Ruta-Sominka. The applications have been developed with the help of the Code for Poland community (a program of ePaństwo Foundation).
All applications are free to use and available without limitations for teachers, clinicians, and parents alike! They can be used by children, teenagers, and adults. The apps have been designed specifically for individuals with autism spectrum disorders, but can also be used by those with different disorders. The applications are dedicated for mobile devices (tablets) with Android OS.
In October 2016, the Friendly Schedule application received a prestigious honorary mention during The European Conference on e-Learning (ECEL) in Prague. Since the applications are a part of an “open source” project, we would like to invite everyone to contribute to their improvement. All users can download the source code of the app and freely develop its functions or adjust it to the needs of their treatment programs. All information regarding the installation and usage of the apps, as well as other technical details, can be found here.
Teachers at IWRD use the Friendly Schedule application in their daily work with children with autism spectrum disorders. It is also frequently used by the parents of our pupils in their home educational programs.
Friendly Schedule and Friendly Schedule Manager
Description: Activity schedules help persons with autism spectrum disorders to independently perform various tasks and activities and allow them to develop their social skills. Depending on the child’s functioning level, the schedules can be presented in the form of pictures or captions. For the student, we designed the Friendly Schedule application, which displays the activity schedules and aids in following them. To create and modify the schedules, the teacher can use the Friendly Schedule Manager application.
Price: Free
Platform: Android
Availability: Play Store
Link to the Friendly Schedule (“Przyjazny Plan”) app in Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.przyjaznydamianek
Link to the Friendly Schedule Manager (“Przyjazny Plan Menedżer”) app in Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.przyjaznydamianekDisplayer.mymodule.appmanager
Friendly Lines
Description: Friendly Lines is an educational game aiding the development of fine motor skills of children with autism spectrum disorders. The application displays lines, which the child has to trace with a finger. It is possible to change the difficulty setting, the width and color of the lines, and the number of levels in the game based on the child’s functioning level.
Price: Free
Platform: Android
Availability: Play Store
Link to the Friendly Lines (“Przyjazne Linie”) app in Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.edu.pg.eti.fms&hl=pl
Friendly Letters
Description: Friendly Letters is an app assisting in the development of fine motor skills in children by having them trace the letters and numbers on display. To adjust the program to the treatment of children with autism spectrum disorders, it was created in strict cooperation with the Child Development Institute in Gdańsk. However, the application is highly customizable and easily usable by all children.
Price: Free
Platform: Android
Availability: Play Store
Link to the Friendly Letters (“Przyjazne Litery”) app in Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pg.mikszo.friendlyletters&hl=pl
Friendly Words and Friendly Words Settings
Description: The Friendly Words system aids in receptive language learning and is aimed at children with autism spectrum disorders. The system was created according to the principles of behavioral therapy and consists of two applications. The first of them, Friendly Words, is intended for the student, while Friendly Words Settings is aimed at the teacher, who can adjust the teaching process to the individual needs and deficits of the child.
Price: Free
Platform: Android
Availability: Play Store
Link to the Friendly Words (“Przyjazne Słowa”) app in Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.friendlywords&hl=pl
Link to the Friendly Words Settings (“Przyjazne Słowa Ustawienia”) app in Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.friendlywordsmanager&hl=pl
APPLICATIONS IN PROGRESS
“Przyjazne Emocje" (Friendly Emotions)
“Przyjazne Emocje Menedżer" (Friendly Emotions Manager)
“Przyjazne Animacje" (Friendly Animations)