GOLD® Documentation

I’ve been using gold and teaching strategy for years. At this point it is so embarrassing that the app has not improved. The app should look like and should function just like the website. It should be easy and should have as many features as the website. I downloaded the newest version of the app and it has not improved at all. When I start a new observation, I still cannot attach pictures and videos from my camera storage on the phone. I still don’t trust the system to take the picture and store them in the app until I use them for the observation/ anecdotes. ( Bad experiences) Plus I use those pictures for other things, therefore I need them on my Camera storage. The app doesn’t give me the option to download the pictures from the app later. many districts (including mine) are paying for creative curriculum, so the company should put more effort to have the app user-friendly and quick functioning. Even on the website, it takes very long time to upload videos ( 30 seconds videos). I am disappointed.

The idea of having an app for this assessment tool sounds amazing. But there are other assessment tools with better apps. This one needs a lot of improvement. For starters, it should stay logged in for a certain amount of time. Maybe having a feature where we can dictate how long we can stay logged in? Having to sign in all the time is annoying. Also, not being able to transfer photos into the app is frustrating. It’s so easy to take a photo with your phone or iPad. But then you can’t upload into the app. You’d have to email it to yourself or use an internet app to log into GOLD and then upload that way. That’s just too many steps, IMO. Also, I wish the app or the online system had something to show you examples of each objective. Pearson’s work sampling system has that option within every domain and sub domain. Teaching Strategies GOLD doesn’t offer that. As a teacher, we should have a booklet or a feature we can download online as a PDF which helps us figure out what evidence goes for what objective instead of having to go through all these steps to figure that out. I’ll be deleting this app for now until it gets some updating.

I love this app on my iPad, but think it should be a universal app because not every person can afford an iPad or iPhone, especially on a daycare teacher's salary. A lot of my co-workers have other tablets, but they miss out on these great benefits. My favorite feature is using the microphone to put in anecdotal so! So easy, so fast and mistakes are easily corrected! About the only things I would change, other than making the app available to other tablets,are the ability to save password and if you choose only one child's name you shouldn't have to click back and forth between screens. And I love not having to put the date in each time. I would certainly keep that attribute!