Rove

LQ: 8.2

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Brain grade: 8
Fun score: 8.4

Platform/Console: , , LWK Recommended Age: 10+ Thinking Skills Used: , Academic Skills Used:

Rove is a social tracking app that uses GPS to help users document and share their travels throughout the day. Once the GPS is activated, Rove makes note of a users’ daily journey. Think of Rove as an interactive photo diary and travelogue. Users can add pictures, marking significant places and memorable events during a period of travel. A “notes” section allows users to further describe stops they made, as they can document experiences like they would in a diary or journal. It’s particularly helpful if users are doing quite a bit of traveling and wish to recount exactly where they’ve stopped. All information is kept private, though entries can be shared on platforms like Facebook, and Twitter. There is no inappropriate content in Rove, and it is moderately easy to use. The app comes recommended for children ages 10 and older, as younger children may be less interested documenting the specifics of their surroundings and daily travel.


this app is good for kids who need help with:

Self-Awareness

Understanding our own actions, thoughts and feelings

Because Rove allows users to insert their own photography and journal entries from certain points during the day, the app quickly becomes more that just a GPS tracker. Instead, it's a collection of thoughts, perspectives, and reflections. The app is especially useful if users are away from home. Rove keeps users up to date with where they have been and allows them to be candid and personal with their photos and entries. Users should try to capture the essence of a particular location, by taking a detailed picture or jotting down a revealing description. Users must make the app personal -- using it to do more than its most basic function: automated GPS tracking.

Working Memory

Recalling and retaining information in our mind while working.

Especially when in a new environment, it's to keep track of`where one has been. Whether it's a great meal at a restaurant or a memorable walk down a boulevard, new places can capture and entrance a person so much that they might forget exactly where they were when they try to relive the experience later in the week. Rove doesn't let that happen. Users will have a directory of to the very places where they stood, gazing at a particular landmark or natural setting. Then they can add a more personalized and detailed account of the experience by further engaging withe the app. Still pictures can trigger certain emotions, allowing users to remember where they were, how they felt, as they documents and relive each experience

Writing

It’s just as important to use Rove as a way to create expository pieces of writing as it is to use a daily tracker. Although the “notes” section is fairly small (similar to a Facebook comment box) it allows for as much text as users wish. Short poems, explorative sentences and paragraphs, and even lengthier bits of prose can be added to any photography or section of a journey. Rove’s full potential can really only be realized when users add writing and photographs to their daily journeys. Adding text to the app is more than captioning a picture, it’s perfectly capturing a moment in time so users can remember it’s significance. Users should be personal and stylistic to ensure that particular moment is all their own.

Everest helps with Self-AwarenessWorking Memory and Writing skills. Try some of the specific suggestions below, or let us know how you use this app in the comment box at the bottom of the page.

Self-Awareness Activity

Rove has the capability to analyze the speed in which your child is moving, allowing it to distinguish between walking and moving in a vehicle. At the top of the home screen, Rove indicates the percentage of the day spent stationary, walking, and riding in a car, train, or bus. It also tracks the distance your child traveled as well as the number of pictures he took per day. Use this information to talk with your child about his amount of daily activity. Set a goal, like walking a mile or two per day, or taking a certain number of pictures. Now, your child can track his own travel habits, and make changes to his idle or overactive behavior. It’s important that your child uses Rove to track his daily routines and habits in addition to the places he travels to.

Working Memory Activity

Talk to your child about ways in which he can use the app to remember specifics about important landmarks. Take a class field trip for example. If your child visits a historical site, not only should he enable the app’s GPS feature, but he should take pictures of each site he visits. If time permits, ask your child to write in the notes section what struck him about the sites. What did he find interesting? Was something confusing? What emotions did he experience? Elaborating on these questions will help your child remember exactly what he was feeling as he stood in awe of a historic and moving exhibit. Because memory can be altered by perception and outside influences, it’s crucial to have an honest “at that moment” record of the experience.

Writing Activity

Get your child writing every day. As important as the app may be for tracking a trip or set of daily activates, it be used as a supplementary writing exercise. Because the app is also following your child’s whereabouts, he should take time each day when he marvels at a part of nature, or begins to mentally deconstruct an idea. After taking a picture in the app, ask him to write down what he’s thinking. Talk to him about how to know when one of these realization moments are happening, and ask him to ensure he writes down what he’s thinking. Sometimes the ideas are profound, but sometimes they are not. But simply by logging bits of thoughtful prose into the app daily, your child will be on his way to becoming a thoughtful and mindful writer.

 

Here are some other apps with a focus on travel, geo-location and journaling:

Glympse

Glympse is a free app that allows users to digitally and safely share their locations, track movement, speed, and estimated time of arrival. Users can set a time limit, which when reached, the sharing feature will expire. Learn more in our Glypmse review.

Private JournalPrivate Journal

Private Journal is a free digital diary that allows users to capture ideas and thoughts withwriting, pictures, and music. It is password protected, ensuring protection from snooping siblings. See our Private Journal review for details.

Find My FriendsFind My Friends

An app similar to Glympse, Find My Friends allows users to see the locations of the people they are connected with, once they confirm the request. Find out more here.

 

Google Latitude

Part of Google’s suite of features, Google Latitude is a tool for tracking your location and sharing it with others.

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