Two Great Periodic Tables of Educational iPad Apps

August 27, 2014
Today as I was wading through my Twitter feeds I came across a link to the periodic table of iPad apps created by ICTEvangelist.Upon checking this work I learned that it is inspired by a relatively similar work done by Sean Junkins which I have featured in an earlier post in this blog. Different as they are, both of these periodic tables provide an interesting collection of educational iPad apps you could probably consider using with your students.These apps are arranged under different categories and each of these categories  has a unique colour code to help you identify apps belonging it. The labelling of the categories in these two periodic tables slightly differ from one another with ICTEvangelist tending to repurpose his work for UK-based educational settings.

1-The Periodic Table of iPad Apps ( Sean Junkins version)

2-The periodic table of iPad Apps (ICTEvangelist version)

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Grab These Two Great iPad Apps They Are Free Today

August 21, 2014
Here are two great iPad apps that I want you to try since they are free for a limited time (free at least for folks here in Canada and the States, might not not be free in Europe and other places). The first app is Writable ( used to cost $9.99) and the second one is Resume Pro (regular price is $ 6.99).

1- Writable

Writable knows thousands of common misspellings. You decide how much and how Writable helps you, ranging from just fixing common spellings mistakes to a full-blown phonetic model that considers what your writing sounds like, rather than how you spell. Other features provided by Writable include:

• It has topical US English dictionaries for biology, chemistry, engineering, history, math, physics and sociology.
• Grab PDF and Word files from your inbox, or share them with AirDrop. Writable will read all PDF files with embedded text aloud to you, and highlight the words along the way.
• Writable keeps a copy of everything you write in your Dropbox account. Activating your cloud folder is a simple as sliding a single switch from off to on.

2- Resume Pro

Resume Pro allows you to produce elegant professional looking resumes/cvs in a matter of minutes! Just enter your resume details once and then Resume Designer enables you to choose from multiple professional looking resume styles. You can then email your resume to your prospective employer or you can print it out directly from the app.

Some features of Resume Pro include:

• Choose from 5 sample resumes and 18 professional resume styles (90 different combinations) or create your own in just a few minutes (unlimited combinations) 
• The optional ability to add a photo to your resume 
• Distinguish your resume from others by adding a cover letter 
• Export to PDF and send it directly from your mobile 
• Share via eMail 
• iCloud support. Edit your resume on any of your devices 
• Integration with DropBox, G-Drive, iBook and other apps 
• Print directly from your device 
• Build multiple resumes with different styles 

Courtesy of TechChef4U and Learning in Hand

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Great New Features on Shadow Puppet Edu

August 8, 2014
Using Shadow Puppet Edu, Students (and teachers!) can combine photos, video clips, maps and images from the web with their own narration to easily create custom video presentations. The folks in Shadow Puppet Edu have recently added some great new features to their app, just in time for back to school. 

These new features  make Shadow Puppet Edu an even more versatile tool to explain an idea, document learning, showcase a project, or develop digital storytelling skills:

• Map Search: Add maps and satellite map images directly into videos
• Educational Image Search: Search the Metropolitan Museum of Art, British Library, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in addition to the Library of Congress and NASA for images. 
• Fair Use Image Search: Now search Wikimedia Commons and Open ClipArt, in addition to Flickr Creative Commons 
•  Explore 30+ activity ideas for Math, Science, English, History, Art, and Foreign Language in the app 
• Easily upload to Google Drive, Dropbox, or Edmodo 

Best of all, Shadow Puppet Edu is FREE and completely full featured for educational use.

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3 Good Educational iPad Apps Are Free Today- Grab Them

August 2, 2014
Below are three excellent educational iPad apps that have gone free today and only for a limited period of time. You might be familiar with these apps for I have already included them in several of my previous posts. These apps are free at least in Canada and the United States so I am not sure if they are free in other parts of the world. I say this because in similar posts in the past where I feature such deals, I would always get emails from teachers in Europe telling me that the apps are not free there.

1- Sago Mini Doodlecast ( used to cost $2,99)

Sago Mini Doodlecast is a unique drawing app that records your voice as you draw. Capture every stroke, word and giggle. Perfect for children ages 2-6. Play back your drawings and share them with friends and family. Sago Mini Doodlecast comes with more than 30 drawing prompts – simple questions designed to inspire your child’s imagination. Choose a prompt or start from scratch. The app records the entire drawing process along with audio from the microphone to create short videos. The videos are as fun to watch as they are to create.

2- Splashtop 2 Remote Desktop  ( used to cost $2,99)

Use Splashtop to access your computer on the local network with best-in-class video streaming performance. View and edit Microsoft Office and PDF files. Browse the web using IE, Chrome, and Firefox with full Flash and Java support. Play 3D PC and Mac games. Access your entire media library and documents. Put your PC or Mac in your pocket!

3- Finger Paint Magic II ( used to cost $1,99)

Fingerpainting is a delightfully messy activity which encourages exploration through the senses of touch and sight. You too can experience the magic of fingerpainting in this doodle-style art app and create amazing works of art! Process of fingerpainting using hands and fingers assists children in the development of fine motor skills and stimulates brains in adults.

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Sentence Builder App Is Now Free (Was $4,99) Grab It

July 18, 2014
I just learned through Learning in Hand that the iPad app Sentence Builder is now free for a limited period of time (used to cost $4,99). Sentence Builder is an app that provides language practice for young learners. It basically helps them learn about words, pronunciation, grammar and punctuation.
Using Sentence Builder, students will be able to construct short sentences using a wide variety of words and grammatical structures. The app starts with simple sentences and progresses to more complex sentences. The sentences focus on daily life situations, with many references to numbers, colors, and dialogue.

Students can move the words around to build the sentence themselves. Start with the built-in sentences, then create your own sentences, use your own images, and use your voice to record your own sentences and words. Each word can be clicked for the sound of the word, and words can be rearranged to make a proper sentence.

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iPad Bingo Card with Great iPad Apps and Activities to Use in Class

June , 2014
Over the last few weeks, I have been intermittently posting articles featuring different iPad activities teachers can use in their class with students. The last thing I published in this regard is these 5 iPad learning tasks. I am doing this in reply to the multiple requests I received from teachers asking for suggestions of iPad-based activities to use in class.

Today I am sharing with you an iPad Bingo card created by iPad Bingo. This card is available for free download from this page. iPad Bingo card is a chart that features 6 iPad apps and with each of these apps is attached a set of activities to be achieved through the use of that app. These activities are divided into three levels with different layers of difficulty.

 Here is an example of the activities that can be done through Drive app:
Level 1: Create and share a document using Google Drive
Level 2: Take a picture with the iPad and upload it to your Drive account
Level 3: Students take a picture and upload it to their Drive account or they can create and collaborate on a document.
The six apps included in this card are :

• Drive app
• Skitch
• 30 Hands
• Popplet
• Doceri
• Touchcast

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Five iPad Learning Tasks You Should Be Able to Do with Your Students

June 2, 2014
If you are running out of ideas of how to leverage iPad in your classroom teaching then the 5 tasks I have for you today are enough to establish your workflow and get your students engaged in interactive learning tasks. These tasks are designed by isupport and are geared towards providing teachers with a general outline of how they can integrate iPad in the classroom. I have spent some time going trough each of these tasks and have found them really worth sharing with you. This work reminds me of a similar work done Greg Kuloweic  entitled"The iPad Ideas Book".

Each of the tasks featured here are structured in such a way that cover different stages of Bloom's thinking taxonomy.They also include a brief write-up about the objective of the task, how it can be achieved and the apps that can be used to complete it. The  five tasks that are outlined here are :

• Task 1: Create a movie
• Task 2: Create a podcast
• Task 3: Create an interactive book
• Task 4: Create a presentation
• Task 5 : Create a PDF

Let me share with you the first task and you can check the rest from this link.

Task 1 : Create a movie

Outcome:
make me a 2 minute video. This task will present workflow which you can adapt to suit your curriculum outcomes.
Context:
Role play and character interview. Your students will put themselves into the position of an individual during a significant historical event.

Procedure:
Level 1:Remembering
Research dates, names, places in Safari app. Collect mages and text, and don't forget to reference all of your data.

Level 2: Understanding
Review your text and images. Your images are saved in the Photos app. Which images will you be using to illustrate your work? Compose your supporting text in Notes app, don't forget to reference where your photos came from.

Level 3: Applying and Analyzing
Use your note paper to storyboard your movie. Consider how each scene might be shot. Will you be interviewing a friend? which locations will you record in? If you can draw the scenes great! If not write down a brief overview of your proposed movie.

Carefully script your movie, how does your character feel? which class does he belong to and what can he do considering his position? Present your storyboard and script to your teacher for assessment. Once approved move onto making your movie!

Level 4: Analysing and Creating
Use iMovie app to bring all of your media together. Use the still images in your Photos library and place titles on the slides from your notes. Record and edit your movie all within iMovie.

Level 5: Collaboration
Preview your movie. When you are happy you will need to share it with your teacher. From iMovie select the share button and choose YouTube. If you use Google Apps for Education or have a YouTube account, sign in and select Unlisted under the Privacy option. Now just share your YouTube link with the teacher

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