NDCPD Launches First iPad App

July 18, 2016

The North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities (NDCPD), a Center of Excellence at Minot State University, launched its first iPad application, "Fill Your Plate with Color," an app developed for and tested by individuals with intellectual disabilities. This app teaches the importance of including colorful fruits and vegetables in a healthy diet.

The interactive app uses three different approaches for teaching individuals about healthy eating habits: Watch and Learn, Read and Listen, and Play the Game. Watch and Listen includes real-life footage of a person making healthy food selections at a grocery store. The video features two interactive lessons to allow the user to select the healthier food option between two choices. Read and Listen is designed to look like a book containing still text and graphics accompanied by a voiceover reading the text. The user touches the screen to advance to the next page. Play the Game features an empty plate with a variety of fruits, vegetables, and main dish items for the user to add to the plate. The object of the game is to fill the energy bar at the bottom of the screen by creating a healthy, colorful meal. An errorless learning technique was used to increase learning potential. For example, if three fruits and vegetables are added to the plate, those options would disappear leaving only main dish items to select and if two main dish items had been added to the plate, those items would disappear leaving only fruits and vegetables to select.

The combination of learning methods featured in Fill Your Plate with Color appeals to a variety of learners of all ages and abilities. Through the ND Disability Health II project at NDCPD, "Fill Your Plate with Color" is now available for free download in the Apple iPad App Store or at www.ndcpd.org/health.