For teachers
Yo Bro for schools
Yo Bro is a practice app your pupils use on their own phone or tablet: for the word lists you hand out, in any of 16 languages, and for sums. It is made for pupils of roughly 9 to 14, in primary and lower secondary school, and it works on iPhone, iPad and Android.
Getting the list in
- Photograph it. Pupils take a picture of the list you hand out. Yo Bro reads it on the device, and they fix anything the camera misread.
- Print it with a QR code. Type the list into Yo Bro once and print it from the app. The printed sheet has a QR code in the corner, and when the class scans it, the whole list travels inside the code. No accounts, no internet.
- Import a spreadsheet. Prepare lists in a spreadsheet and import them as a CSV file. The first line holds the two language codes, such as
en,nl; every line after it has two columns: the word, and what it means.
Practising
Seven ways to practise:
- Test
- Multiple choice
- Learn
- Spelling
- Hints
- Dictation
- Flashcards
With the Today card, pupils practise for a few minutes a day. A word comes back after 1 day, 3 days, a week, a fortnight and five weeks, and goes back to the start when a pupil gets it wrong. Pupils can enter the date of the test, and those words come first.
A battle in class
One phone or tablet hosts a battle from a list and shows a QR code. The others scan it to join, up to 32 players in all, and everyone answers the same words at the same time. Players are animal emoji, never names. There is no server: the hosting device is the server, and nothing leaves the room.
Try your network first. All devices must be on the same network and able to see each other. Many school networks keep devices apart, so ask your IT department. For a small group, the hosting phone can share its own hotspot instead; a phone’s hotspot usually takes eight to ten devices, not a whole class.
Hosting a battle comes with the unlock, so one teacher’s device is enough. Joining is always free.
Sums
Plus, minus, times and divided by, in four levels, and the times tables from 1 to 12.
Easy to use for every pupil
- A font for children with dyslexia (OpenDyslexic) at the flick of a switch, on screen and on printed sheets.
- Light or dark, following the device.
- Words are read aloud.
- The app itself speaks seven languages: English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.
Privacy and safety
- No pupil accounts and no class lists.
- No chat, no advertising, no tracking.
- Word lists and scores stay on the pupil’s device.
- Savage Software receives no pupil data.
The privacy policy has the details, including how text recognition works on Android.
What it costs
Yo Bro is free to download, with three lists, two ways of practising and the first level of every sum. More lists, the other ways of practising and levels, and hosting a battle come with a single in-app purchase that is paid once. There is no subscription and no school licence.
Purchases go through the App Store or Google Play and belong to the Apple or Google account that made them. Family settings there (Ask to Buy, Family Link) can require a parent’s approval.
Getting started in your class
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Pupils install Yo Bro.
Coming soon App Store Coming soon Google Play
Coming soon to the App Store and Google Play.
- Share the list. Pupils photograph it, or scan the QR code on the sheet you printed from Yo Bro.
- A few minutes a day with the Today card, with the date of the test set.
- End a lesson with a battle.
The leaflet
A double-sided A5 leaflet: one side for pupils and parents, one side for you.
Download the leaflet (PDF) Dutch version
Print it double-sided on A5 paper, flipping on the long edge. On A4, choose “Fit to page”. It prints fine in black and white.
Try it with your class
Want to try Yo Bro with your class, or tell us what your class needs? Mail [email protected].