Tell us about your favorite educational apps

[Sam Gliksman]

Tell us about the apps you have tried and the ones you would recommend to other educators. Wherever possible, please include the following:

1. The targeted age category

2. The educational category

3. A link to the app on the iTunes store

Thanks for your opinions.

[Rosamar Garcia]

I am loving Drawing Pad, terrific little app with different drawing tools(felts, crayons, pencil crayons), stamps and stickers for only $1.99!

Elementary kids have used it to illustrate their stories with great success. Categories: Language Arts, Art, Science(draw your observations on a nature walk), math (illustrate solutions to the problem/show your thinking)

even Music(draw an image to show how this music makes you feel/ compose a short musical piece, write the notes on a staff)

[Valerie Senior]

This app is only available on the iPad.  It has a great looking interface and very functional to keep students organized. Complete Classroom Organizer

 

[Kenneth Clapp]

Bill,

 

it sounds like air display is what you're looking for, if you haven't already found it. You can easily set you're ipad as an additional screen (3rd screen if you're using a projector with your imac). You can then set your ipad to mirror what's on your imac. So, if you're running presentation software in presentation mode (notes on you computer, main presentation on the projector, then your ipad mirrors just what's on your computer. Everything is still useable. The one hitch I've found is it will reduce your resolution on your imac as much as possible because of the limited resolution on the ipad, so a good suggestion is shrink you imac resolution before turning on airdisplay, or at least shrink down the window of the program you are using, airdisplay will automatically adjust your resolution when you connect and disconnect. Another suggestion, lock you screen rotation on your ipad to landscape. In the past it can cause you to loose your connection when the screen starts rotating.

 

Using this set up basically allows you to use your ipad as a wireless remote for your main desktop, or as an additional wireless touchscreen, however you want to set it up

Bill said:

I am looking for an app that will allow me to control my iMac screen from an iPad. I think this could be a great benefit for teaching with a smartboard and being able to roam around the class and have students add input from their seat. Any ideas?

[Kenneth Clapp]

AirSketch is a great app that i've started using quite a bit. It allows me to use my ipad as a virtual (wireless) white board, allowing me to walk around and yet still write my notes up on the screen. the program allows you to set images as background and then write over them. Granted this isn't as good as the inking in microsoft poweroint, but untill keynote gets it's act together on that account it's not a bad alternative. You can export your slides as pdf or jpegs as set them as backgrounds. You can even quickly save your inked slides and come back to them and then continue to alter them and then save an additional version.

 

Airsketch does this by creating a special web page, which you can then brink up on the computer you have running your projection system and place your we browser up on the projector. So it doesn't do it all by itself, but if you already have a computer running your projection system, this is a great way in integrate your ipad.

 

All in all it's a great program. One of the best of it's kind (by far) that i've been able to find. One little note on writing on the ipad, the touch sensitivity really isn't that high (the touch "resolution" if you want to think of it that way) so it takes a little practice getting your (my) handwriting to look good on it.

[Rosamar Garcia]

Sticker Sudoku is a lovely little image based sudoku game for younger students and best of all, it's free.

Great opportunity to teach logical thinking skills, encourage students to justify their thinking, explain their reasoning and develop positive attitudes towards problem solving.

Ed category is: Mat/ Language Arts

 

[Bill]

Thanks to Kenneth. I will try air display in a few weeks when our IT staff installs an access point near my classroom.

[Flo McGee]

My students (elementary) love to view the Brainpop videos on the ipad..

and then quiz each other. 

 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brainpop-featured-movie/id364894352?...

 

they do like StoryKit also.

[Deb Burdick-Hinton]

Only had an ipad for two weeks but my boys 11 & 14 and their friends have been great "lab rats".  Here are some of our favorite ed apps that I believe have the most potential.  Algebra Touch, Motion Math HD (very cool fraction practice requires students to move around the screen, great for your "active" students who have a hard time sitting passively in seats) iReading HD (which there was good reading apps for older students...anyone?) HMH Fuse (full Alg course via app); Puzzle Map, JirboSays (memory game, like old "simon says" game, anyone remember that) . Downloaded Notetaker HD but need to spend some more time figuring it out.  Trying to go paperless in my math classes and am hoping this will be the right solution.  Thanks for all the great suggestion!

[Deb Burdick-Hinton]

Wow this is INCREDIBLE I would love to learn more about how you are using and the results you are having. Downloading light version now and will test out with my 5th grader at home.

Jérôme said:

My favorites are from eduPad: that French app publisher has developed a simple generic e-learning solution every teacher can use to package his very own educational app for free! The teacher then gets a 20% commission on the sales.

It seems like a great way for them to get a large catalogue of apps fast!

 

First 4 apps are available (in French, covering the Math and French curriculum of CM2, which is the french equivalent for Grade 5). Interface is simple and straithforward, and uses game dynamics (like points and levels unlocking).

First apps in English are supposed to be published in january: Math and English curriculum, Grade 5.

 

eduPad is currently in beta but teachers can register in order to be informed when they open the service to teachers.

 

Jérôme

[Obe Hostetter]

Here is a list of some of my favorite elementary apps that we are using with K-5 grades:

History


Science


Math


Reading

[Deb Burdick-Hinton]

awesome lists. Thanks for sharing!!!!!

Obe Hostetter said:

Here is a list of some of my favorite elementary apps that we are using with K-5 grades:

History


Science


Math


Reading

[Jennifer Mitchell]

App: GoodReader.
Ages: all
Disciplines: All.

http://itunes.apple.com/app/goodreader-for-ipad/id363448914?mt=8

I looked through the list of replies before posting, and didn't see this listed, but it might be well known already.
GoodReader is my favourite all round app, because it is so versatile.
Essentially it is a PDF reader, but the app can read other formats as well, the documents can be annotated, with text input, notes, drawing, highlighting, and stickies. It will store and display video, play and store QuickTime audio files, can display via VGA to TV and projectors.

In literature, mathematics and other subjects, we have been custom-making PDFs to display text / problems, which can then be annotated to highlight interest areas, or show working to / by the class, and the annotated files can be saved and exported. A clean version remains for use in the next class.

The other great thing is that it will link to Dropbox and Google Docs, and even institutional drives, it the IT dept will let you. It has a built in browser so you can search for resources and download them straight into the App, and you can organize resources into folders which you can name. Excellent for students and staff.

Lastly, because our IT dept has a security sleep / auto lock feature which cannot be over ridden by teachers, ?????GoodReader can disable the auto lock, keeping your iPad awake so the screen won't go black.
Worth every cent.