Edmodo.com

I've been looking for a while to find a site that allows students to connect with one another in a safe, online environment. Many blogs, wikis, etc. are available, but they often require email addresses for kids, or are open to anyone to see. There are some great ones but nothing that seemed perfect.

Then I stumbled across Edmodo. If you've ever used Facebook (and really, who hasn't!) then you will be familiar with this type of app. Edmodo is a Facebook-type site for students.

I've been testing it with colleagues and it seems great!

Sign up as a teacher and create a class. You will be given a code for students to use when they sign up. They will become members of your class and then can post comments to the class posting. Only individuals with the class code can join.

Classroom discussions can take place easily, just like Facebook. Teachers can also assign homework and collect it online, and even post the grades back to students privately. Students can post to the group (which I like) but are not able to send private messages to each other (which I really like!). They can even post surveys to the class. They even have an iPod app!

A really great app. Check it out at Edmodo.com today.

iBrainstorm for iPad

Having students planning before doing can often be a struggle. iBrainstorm is a neat app that allows for virtual brainstorming.

From the iBrainstorm website:

"Drag your notes on the iPad into any ordered hierarchy you want. Assign colors to give additional meaning or priority.

The iPad canvas also serves as a drawing board. Draw, erase or zoom in for tighter control. Everything is then captured for later.

Once you’ve completed a collaborative session, share it by emailing a screengrab of the noteboard to the entire team."

For a collaborative session, connect up to 4 iPhones to your iPad - then anyone can add their ideas! All charts can be saved as photos or uploaded to Flickr.

A nice looking tool that also works well. Check it out at the iTunes App Store for Free!

iTranslate for iPad

Ever needed to translate on the go? iTranslate is a fantastic new app allowing just that. With over 50 languages supported, this program will help you wherever you find yourself!

Simple to use, you just type or paste text into the top screen. Your words and phrases are instantly translated in the box below. (One neat feature is to watch how the grammar changes as the program translates on the fly).

Not sure of the correct pronunciation? iTranslate will even read the text back to you. (The only drawback is a cheap, non-inflected voice - really something that needs improving! - and a limited number of spoken languages).

Whether speaking Swahili, Arabic, Estonian or English, check it out at the iTunes App Store for free!

Note Hub for iPad

I've just found a new app that I really like: Note Hub by hubapps.com

If you're like me, you've started taking all your notes on your iPad. But, the standard iPad Notes application has its limitations.

One of the biggest drawbacks for me is when I want to make sketches to go along with my note. I need to close the Notes app, open a sketching app like Adobe Ideas or Jot, make my sketch, then close it down to reopen Notes to keep writing... what a pain!

But now, Note Hub that takes care of those problems for me! It just does everything well...

First, take a look at the Note part of this app:
- no more comic Sans font
- change font size by pinching text
- nice white page, no more legal pad with lines
- undo/redo buttons
- draw on your notes!

But Note Hub provides more than that. Its beauty lies in how it lets you open a number of useful applications within its own program:
- need to find some information on the web? Open the Safari browser and save the results as a note
- want to just make a sketch? Open the Canvas and draw what you want
- need to do some math calculations? Open the Calculator and record your actions (including trigonometric functions!)
- looking for directions? Open the Map and save the results as a note

And, like me, have you been finding that your notes are getting out of hand - too many and no way to organize them? Note Hub allows the organization of notes under Project headings - basically a series of folders. Looking for a note? Use the Search box to find what you need.

All in all, a superb app and I highly recommend it. The free version is very robust, but the program works so well, I may even buy the full version, just to support them!

Check out Note Hub for free at the Apple iTunes App Store.

TED Talks App for iPad

Looking for thought-provoking discussion starters for your students? Wanting to foster deeper thinking on world issues? Give TED a try!

Compelling speeches given by interesting people from all walks of life are the focus of the TED conferences each year. Most talks are less than 20 minutes and really are quite fascinating.

I've been waiting for awhile, but finally TED has released their app for the iPad. It seems it was worth the wait, as this really is a great piece of software. And it's free!

Each video plays full screen and includes information about the talk and the speaker. Suggestions on related videos to watch next are given. Talks can also be saved for offline viewing, which is a great feature.

Videos are arranged around overarching themes (e.g., inventions, our minds, new tech, creativity, etc.) or by specific tags (such as biology, China, food, etc.). 

I've been blown away by the quality of talks put out by the annual TED conferences. This app certainly helps me to watch more of them!

For more information, visit the TED site here, and check out the app at the iTunes App store.

Education apps...really?

It's really surprising how few iPod/iPad apps that call themselves "Educational" are really that.

Sure, flashcards and spelling quizzes have their place in some areas (I honestly believe they can be great for practicing and memorizing basic facts), but really... is that it? Dozens of different math facts apps? And how many ABC apps for preschoolers do we need? All of them teach the same ABC's and in the same way... and often with poor pictures and sounds!

Where are the "Education" apps that lead students into deeper investigations - critical thinking, inferencing, metacognition? Where are the apps that promote deep questioning?

Is such a thing actually possible in a discrete app?

Don't get me wrong, there are great apps out there that can be used in fantastic new ways for education purposes. For example, Twitter allows students to talk to each other, and also connect instantly to any expert on any topic. Skype allows students to communicate with other classes around the world for free. Unlimited amounts of media data can be accessed through the built in Safari browser, leading to rich discussions in the classroom.

So why is it that these apps are never the ones labelled as "Education"?

Maybe these app creators need to go back to school to get a sense of what education today is really all about...

Google Mobile App for iPad

Not really an education app specifically, but I do use it everyday to help me in my classroom and keep me connected in a variety of ways.

I use Google for everything - email client, document production, news reader, mapping, calendar... even this blog is done in Blogger, a Google product!

So this app allows me quick access to all of the Google world: Search, Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Reader, News, Translate, Maps, Earth, Photos, Buzz, Talk, Youtube, and Blogger all in one handy app. All I need to do is tap on the app I want and I'm instantly taken to the corresponding page in Safari.

How can I use this in an education setting? Check out this link for many classroom ideas.

The only drawback to using Google Apps on your iPad? Google Docs just does not work well on iPad devices. Sure you can see your documents, and even edit some of them (like spreadsheets). But don't even bother trying to create new Google Docs on your iPad or playing around with fonts or style.... it just won't work. Mobile Safari does not support rich text editing.

Now, I'm not blaming Apple or Google of intentionally not cooperating, but I'm hoping that this is something they will want to remedy. News last week seems to point in this direction. I'm looking forward to this working soon (as long as Apple doesn't mind a little competition for its iWorks suite!).

Otherwise, I still use this app all the time. Check it out at the iTunes AppStore!

NASA App HD for iPad

Cost: Free!

Do you have students that are out of this world? How about those you think might be from another planet!?   :)

Well, for anyone who loves Space, this is the app for you.

NASA has produced a free iPad app that covers everything space-related. Explore the planets of the solar system in detail. Watch NASA TV videos of shuttle launches, space station missions, and more. Follow satellite missions and browse high quality satellite images. Everything NASA is here at your fingertips, and it's all free.

A great app. Check it out at the iTunes App Store!

Labels: free, iPad, space, science,

Globe for iPad

Cost: Free!

Wanting a globe for your classroom, but don't want to shell out the money? Worried country boundaries and names will change? Looking for more information on a country than just the name and location? This app will take care of all these problems...and it looks great, too!

Globe is just that...a virtual map of the world. It has a great, really clean, 3D look to it. Like a real globe, it can be spun around at the touch of a finger. You can even take a look at the poles or zoom in easily to any location. It only shows political boundaries, but this just means it isn't cluttered by landforms graphics

One extra feature over a physical globe, however, is that each country is linked to a Wikipedia article. Just tap you finger on the country and instantly have access to a wealth of information - history data, population numbers, laws, religions, cultural habits, etc.

Check it out at the iTunes App Store.

CloudReaders for iPad

Cost: Free!

CloudReaders is a free book and comic reader for the iPad. It supports PDF files, as well as CBR, CBZ, RAR, and ZIP (these formats are usually used for viewing comic books).

This app is one of the best book readers I have seen for the iPad. It is very easy to transfer your own files through iTunes or over a wifi connection. Any PDF file you have created or downloaded can be read through this app. Documents you have uploaded are stored in your 'bookshelf', and any number of books can be stored. There is also a link to a common library of public domain books (but there are few titles available at the moment).

A few other features:

- add tags to books to better organize your list

- read left-to-right or right-to-left

- quickly zoom in on pages, or adjust screen brightness

- install the separate neu.Notes app, and you are able to annotate pages of the documents you are reading, and save these pages for later.

This is a fantastic and easy to use comic book viewer. Expose your students to a variety of reading texts, without having to sit at the computer. Upload worksheets you've created, and students can annotate the pages and answer questions using the built in neu.Notes app.

Check out both CloudReaders and neu.Notes at the iTunes App Store.

Escape Motions

Intrigued by this image? Then you must check out this website!      EscapeMotions.com

Here you can explore many of the properties of matter, but also create amazingly beautiful works of art.

Peter Blaskovic is a 3D CG animator and designer who has created some amazing online physics "experiments" (his word).

His physics engine experiments include: a fluid painting tool and various water and fluid simulations; flame and light painting tools; fire, gravity, and magnetic field simulations; and a "bioexperimental laboratory" where you can play with cells in an "interactive petri dish".

Great for use on an interactive whiteboard or other touch-enabled device. It feels like fingerpainting! Lots of fun learning here.

NeoPaul

Cost: Free!

NeoPaul is a fantastic and very easy to use iPod/iPad text-to-speech reader.

Paste or type any text into the workspace, click the play button, and NeoPaul will read back your text. You are able to modify the speed, pitch, or volume of the spoken voice and save text files for future playback.

One of my favourite aspects of this program is the inflection in the voice. Often text readers use very robotic and monotone voices. NeoPaul's voice is very easy to understand.

For a female voice, check out NeoKate.

Check out more at NeoSpeech.com or at the iTunes AppStore.

Dragon Dictation for iPad

Cost: Free!

By the makers of Dragon Naturally Speaking. Instantly turn speech into text with this tool. Unlike other Dragon programs, no training of the program is necessary - just start speaking into the microphone and your text is written out for you. Notes can be saved and added to at a later date.

A great tool for students who are unable to type quickly or have difficulty in writing things out by hand. Very simple and straightforward to use.

One drawback seems to be that it requires a wireless connection to work, even if the note is only stored locally; hopefully this is a flaw they will fix.

Overall a great app that is very useful in the classroom.

Welcome!

So, this is going to be a blog sharing a number of great apps I have found for education. Not necessarily apps that have been labeled as "educational" - frankly most of those suck - but ones that I have found to have great usefulness in the classroom to bring about real learning. Hopefully you will find these useful as well.

I'll will mostly be looking at iPod/iPad apps and online tools...and "free" is my favorite word! No sense wasting a ton of money if you don't need to, right?

Let's see what we can find!