Google Apps or Boom™ Cards?

Google apps or Boom™ cards?

updated 1/23 There is alot of buzz about google apps and boom™ cards for speech and language therapy. When I first started using and publishing boom cards, I’d get questions about how they were different from Google apps. I’ve used both so lets compare and contrast them for SLPs.

Many SLPs are already using google apps for education. This initiative was started by school district technology leaders and pioneered in the regular education classroom and found its way into the special education arena. Google apps includes a whole suite of tools including those for setting up your calendar, word processing and presentations. When my school became a google school, the main apps I used were google calendar and spreadsheets (I did my therapy schedule on it). It was so easy to share my calendar and schedule with other teachers!

Boom learning is a platform that allows teachers to purchase and/or create fun and engaging digital activities for students. Boom “decks” are made up of individual, digital task cards for students to complete. For further information on Boom cards, click here!

So, how are google apps and boom different? Is one better than the other? I don’t necessarily think one is better than the other … they are different animals! Let’s take a look at how they are similar and different!

Google apps or Boom cards?-COST:

Google is a free application and you can’t beat free! Technically, you can create your own google apps and not spend a penny of your own money. Here’s the thing…not everyone has the time or interest to create their own materials. TPT sellers recognize this and TPT offers many google app (and Boom) games and activities. Search “google apps for speech therapy” on TPT and see what you can find! Or, check a favorite seller and see if they have created a custom category for “digital” or “no print.”

Boom learning does offer a free membership too! It’s the “starter” membership and you have unlimited fastplay of the boom decks but none of the other Boom bells and whistles. Hey though, it’s a great place to start! I have the ultimate membership which allows me to make and sell Boom cards.

How can child INTERACT with them?

Both Google apps and Boom cards allow the student to move and manipulate pieces. Both appeal to the visual sense because developers can add images! I do find that Boom cards developers tend to add more layers of images to their products which can mean more visual appeal! Both also offer sounds (if the developer chooses to add sounds to their game). During teletherapy, students can view the cards if you have screen sharing on your platform. Students can interact with the cards if your teletherapy platform has the remote control or “mouse sharing” feature.

Boom cards are constantly improving. For example, they recently added the ability for students to record themselves and play it back during a boom game! I’ve added this feature to my tone of voice and sarcasm games-it’s awesome!

Student Feedback on Performance:

Boom has the edge here in my opinion, as Boom cards offer both visual and auditory feedback. Students receive immediate auditory feedback on their answers in the form of a “ding” of a bell for a correct answer and a nonthreatening “whoops” for an incorrect answer. Students can see a green circle around their correct answers and a null sign through the incorrect answers. I have found the Boom feedback features to make for highly-motivating therapy sessions!

Data Collection:

If you purchase a paid membership in boom, you get the awesome data collection feature! You can print off a report on your student that includes:

whether the student completed the entire deck,

percentage accuracy,

completion time.

Google apps does not offer such a feature! For google apps, you are in charge of data collection!

Google apps or Boom cards? Log ins:

Boom offers picture log ins! My students love picking a picture when they register in my Boom classroom! This is an awesome option for students of all ages but particularly for our students that are non-readers! For a google classroom, students log in with their user name and passwords.

Availability:

Boom learning has a ton of decks for speech and language and many of them are free! There is an increasing amount of google activities featured on TPT that can be used in speech and language.

Links to External Videos:

Google apps have the advantage here in terms of flexibility, as you can link to any external video. On the BOOM learning site, only videos on VIMEO can be linked through a boom deck. This is because there are no ads on VIMEO so students are not exposed to advertising.

Google apps or Boom cards? Homework:

Boom: take a quick look in the students file and you can see if they completed a deck and the percentage correct! If you set up a google classroom, it will notify you students have submitted homework for your review but you have to do the math! You can assign homework using both google classroom and Boom!

Check out this tutorial on integrating boom cards into your google classroom. It shows you how to assign Boom cards as homework within your google classroom. If you use a “fastpin,” your students do NOT need to have a boom account.

Create your own Assignments!

Did you know that you can create homework for your students in google classroom? Click here for a free tutorial on how to set up a google classroom for speech!

Once your classroom is set up, you can make your own articulation assignments! Here’s another free tutorial on how to create an articulation assignment in google classroom!

You can also create your own assignments in boom if you have the basic membership or above. Click here to see the boom membership plans.

Training:

I’d say both boom and google get high marks here. Both offer informative training videos on how to use their software with your students! Plus, do a search on youtube and you’ll find that other teachers have also posted training videos! Boom learning also hosts learning symposiums. Click here to see the video of the speech and language panel (I was part of this panel) from the 2022-23 symposium!

Google school?

If you work in a google school, you will need to use many aspects of the google suite to share documents with other staff and teachers. Are you new to Google? Check out these helpful google training modules!

Ipad Compatibility?

SLPs love their Ipads! They are a must especially for traveling SLPs. Yes, you can use both google apps and boom cards on the Ipad!

Teletherapy?

I’ve used both google slides games and boom decks during my teletherapy sessions. I like how the Boom library is set up. It’s easy to go from one set of Boom cards back to your library to pick out a second set!

If you are a teletherapist or online teacher, your online platform needs to have the feature of “screen sharing” in order for studetnts to see the google apps or boom cards. For the students to interact with them in an onine learning format, your learning platform must have the “mouse control” or “remote learning” features so you can “give control” of the game to your students.

Screen Time?

Boom cards feel like a game to my students! Don’t let this fool you or make you feel concerned about screen time. Boom cards are for learning! They are educational tools with the look and feel of a game!

Bottom line:

SLPs can benefit from using both google apps and Boom cards. Google classroom and boom cards are integrated so you can to assign boom cards as homework in your google classroom. Google apps offer us ways to organize ourselves and easily communicate with other teachers in a google school. Boom offers decks that are self-checking, collect data and give students immediate feedback on their performance. Personally, I love and use both in my practice.