iOS 7: New kids’ category ‘parents will love’

But will Apple’s new ‘curated selection’ features curb unauthorised in-app purchases?

With the launch of Microsoft’s XBOX One, Sony’s PS4 and Nintendo’s slew of new games titles this week, you could be forgiven for feeling a bit indifferent about tech news.

Yet while the gaming world went into overdrive, Apple announced some remarkable changes of their own.

At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2013 (WWDC) all eyes were on the release of its new operating system. While many were in awe of the dramatic design changes, Eddy Cue, Apple’s Service Boss explained a feature that ‘parents are going to love’: the upcoming addition of a new Kids category to the firms App Store.

While the presentation swiftly passed over this, and on to their more mainstream releases such as the new Apple iRadio, parents and children’s app developers were left wanting to hear more.

Never one to shy away from a challenge we took it upon ourselves to investigate further the key features and to bring you a round-up of what the new Kids’ category means for parents and educators.

How to find the perfect tutor

Tutoring can be an effective way for parents to support their child’s learning development. Traditionally the term tutor suggests a teacher offering one-to-one support, however there are a wide range of other and often more cost-effective forms of tutoring available.

In recent years online tutoring services have become increasingly popular, enabling students to learn, revise and test themselves according to their classroom syllabi’s. Whether on their desktop, tablet or smart phone device these e-learning resources can encourage students to study for longer and more sporadically.

Other alternatives include independent tutoring services that cover core subjects in group formats or larger often franchise-based learning centre’s that offer large classroom based learning sessions.

Changes in Education: Helping parents prepare

'Just weighing a pig doesn’t fatten it’ is one saying that can lead to a very heated discussion in educational circles. The suggestion is that frequent testing does not necessarily lead to improved performance. In recent years, schools have been required to test at certain times of a pupil’s school life and the purpose has been to inform on pupil progress and assess the quality of teaching given in each school. Those in favour of more assessment believe that this is an important tool in keeping schools on their toes and meeting the expectations of the service user (basically the parents). Those against it feel it just leads to more teaching directed to pass exams and less attention to activities that put the subject into a real-life context, or that allow students to investigate areas that are off the main core syllabus and stimulate original thought.

Helping your child succeed at GCSE: A parents view

In any career path, good qualifications are becoming more and more important for successful entry and for progression. It is understandable, therefore, that most parents want the best possible education for their children, but they may perceive the education system now as a very different beast to what they experienced as students themselves.