So I just discovered Rover was a thing. I downloaded Rover as a result of my Tech Ed teacher requiring that I compare Rover and Safari. I am seriously liking what I see.
The first difference I notice between Rover and Safari is the child safe (safe search) feature. Safari is just a general browser that can be used for any type of search one desires. Rover on the other hand is meant to protect kids searching. Additionally, Rover prevents any gaming on the browser. The reason Rover prevents gaming is not because games are vile and must be kept from children. Instead, it merely prevents gaming because gaming sites are inappropriate for the classroom setting.
Because Rover is by its nature restricted, it can be difficult to get to sites if they do not meet all the criteria for Rover and thus get blocked. Thus if one wants to show students a video from a certain site, it might be blocked by Rover.
I feel that Rover would be a useful tool if the teacher is willing to sit and sort through what will and won't work. This app would also be extremely useful in 4th - 12th grade highschools where kids would like to be looking inappropriate things in class instead of focusing on the lesson.
All in all I think the usefulness of this app is determined by the willingness of the teacher to work with it. The app is not really designed to work for anyone but feels like something to be worked with.
Confession: I had a difficult time just navigating away from the homepage on Rover.
The main point to Rover is the ability to use Flash. Flash is less used than used to be the case, though.
ReplyDeleteNice work.