Although it’s important we up-skill the teachers, it’s what the students are doing that’s important.
Keeping it simple and general is still the key.
Don’t get dependent on subject specific apps. Don’t just make notes….CREATE!
Students should be asking why they need to know something instead of being issued the subject-specific content app to “absorb” knowledge.
CAMERA (FREE): Let’s start with what I think will have the biggest impact when using iPads. You only have to ask any politician and they will tell you that proving you understand something on camera is a lot more challenging and definite than anything you might write down. 21st Century generations watch and work in video as a natural part of life and it really is a fantastic documenting tool.
Using the camera the students have the opportunity to:
a) Film their process;
b) Interview each other as documenting process;
c) Skype to other students while working;
d) Photograph evidence;
e) Produce and edit documentaries;
f) Prepare film intros for iBooks Author;
g) Produce movie trailers for a topic
It’s simply more engaging and challenging to organise decent film material and edit it accordingly.
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ANIMATION CREATOR HD ($4) : This app offers a great new way for students to prove understanding in an entertaining way that other students will in-turn learn from. Easy frame by frame animation that some student really like to beaver away at at the back of a classroom. I’ve see some stunning examples!
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DROPBOX (FREE) : This is as important for students as it is for staff. No lost work excuses! No forgot iPad excuses! Also useful for submitting all work as a free web link can be sent to the teacher for any of their files. The teacher clicks on the link and gets the file (of any size – so it avoids around email restrictions)
On their COMPUTER: They visit Dropbox.com and setup an account:
a) It adds and app to their computer (of any kind) and makes a 2GB folder the app will backup online.
b) They then move your files & folders into this new Dropbox folder, knowing they’re backed up.
c) On the iPad they can get the free Dropbox app and login with their new account.
d) Their files inside the Dropbox Folder on their computer are now downloadable on their iPad whenever they need them.
e) Files on their iPad (like email attachments) can now be sent to the Dropbox app and then uploaded to the folder
f) They can now operate their whole IT world from one place with just one copy of each file.
g) Need more then 2GB? They can invite friends to use Dropbox and receive 1GB free for each friend.
h) Need 100GB? That’s $100 a year.
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REMARKS : Annotate PDFs (Student version of PDF Expert)
a) Add Drawing, Text & signatures to PDFs
b) Sync with your Dropbox folders to automatically update and add files directly to and from your iPad.
c) Previews and stores any type of file and unzips zip files.
d) Create blank PDF pages to write or draw from scratch.
There’s many free PDF writer apps such as Goodnotes
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GRAFIO : Hand drawn diagrams and flowcharts & graphs that perfect themselves!
Maths, Economics, Science, Tech, Design & virtually all subjects, teachers and students will like this app. This is a beautiful app but it’s ‘pricey’ at NZ$12. Hand draw shapes and graphs and the app re-draws them neatly. draw a line between shapes and it will joint the line to the shapes as an arrow. Draw a curved line and it makes it a ‘nice’ curve. The tools to colour and design are well designed and easy to use. It then exports your work to email / Dropbox / iTunes in a number of formats.
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SKITCH Doodle on Pics, webpages, maps and share through Evernote (or not)
This is a well designed app for doing your simple Doodle or instructional diagram over a Map (it has it’s own mapping) or Picture. The tools are simple and that’s all you need to put together a helpful diagram for Keynote or to send to students.
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COMICBOOK! Make great comics easily and share them quickly.
It does exactly what it says ‘on the tin’. It has nice templates/layouts and loads of Speech and Sticker options. It’s tempting to see this as childish but Storyboarding is a very important skill in writing, film-making and of course in Comics and Graphic Novels (A fast growing market)
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iThoughtsHD Complete Mind-mapping with all the options
Many of the mind-mapping software in the app store wont export as multiple file types but iThoughtsHD exports as anything to anything. It’s easy to use and you have compete control over colour, images, links to sites and other mind-maps etc. It’s not free but it’s worth the money if mind-mapping is your thing.
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iMotionHD Stop-Frame animation Filming with “Auto-gap” shoot setting.
This is the most instant fun I’ve had with my iPad in 2 years! It’s a free app and really simple to use. You set the number of seconds gap between photos and then make slight movements of the objects in front of the iPad’s camera to create instant animations. It also has a manual mode for taking the frame shots one-at-a-time. It is simply brilliant! It could be used to comically or otherwise cover any topic and show you understand the process or story so you should be able to use this in any subject!
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DRAW FREE All you need from an Art / Photo edit App. (More arty tools than Skitch)
An app that’s easy to use, well designed and has what you need. Draw and Paint from scratch or over photos or styled backgrounds, like old paper etc. It also has a small gallery of icons / cartoons. It’s simply a must have for general image manipulations beyond the cropping and enhancements that the built-in Photos app will do.
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GRAPHING CALCULATOR (US$1.99) A must for every high school student.
Graphing calculators are expensive, but it’s almost impossible to get your calculus homework done without one. Consider investing in this app instead. It quickly plots and traces multiple equations on the same graph, using a custom keyboard to speed up entry. It even supports graphing polar and parametric equations and much, much more. Plus, you can take screenshots of your calculator to email graphs to yourself. I’m in NZ where it costs NZ$2.59, a bargain compared to a real calculator.
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WOLFRAM ALPHA (US$3.99) All maths and world statistics in one place.
Like every website, this app is just easier to use on the iPad. It presents reports on Maths formulae or comparisons between countries or companies stock market data. It turns much of the world’s known data into computable, comparable data. It’s a great general system that delivers data where Google delivers just website addresses.
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BBC NEWS (Free) Try to make all learning relevant.
Connecting as much of learning to real-world events is just about the most important thing teachers can do. Students should be asked to check the news every day and connect topics to the events. Questions / Tasks should be: Why an event or story needed ‘this’ maths. Create a painting that portrays this event’s characters. Write fiction from the point of view of this news story’s villain. How might you help these people?
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POPPLET (US$4.99) The best kid-friendly Mind-Mapping & Flowchart app
This produces well organized mind-maps and flowcharts with built in camera options for quick building. You can also build a map as a team – perfect for group planning and idea sharing. It’s really easy to use and gaining a strong following.
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HOPSCOTCH HD (Free Beta as at 27th Apr 13)
This app will become a great intro into programming for young kids where they can design games from scratch and code characters to move on tap or tilt of the iPad. I’ve been waiting for a while for one of these and the full release of this app will solve many problems for me, I’m sure.
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