1. It's not a laptop. "The fact that it isn’t a laptop, to me, is its greatest attribute."
2. Creative Workflow. "The fact that you can take a photo using the camera, import this into a
whiteboard app to annotate, import it again into a screencasting app to
discuss it and then save in a cloud-storage app, simply by following the
workflow of ‘open in’ means that what was once cumbersome on a desktop
or laptop is now obvious."
3. Apple Ecosystem. "The simplicity of how Apple devices talk to each other and work together is a remarkable thing."
4. Focus on Education. "Of this mountain of material I would say that 60-70% is specifically to do with iPads or other Apple technologies."
5. Aspirational. "It’s a simple reality that if you give someone a way to do something
that they can relate to, engage with and enjoy, they will do the job you
give them better."
Let's focus on the first reason that iPads will remain king of the classroom and try and incorporate some of the other things as we go.
It's not a laptop...it's so much more. Using iPads to consume information is great, but when kids start using iPads to create different ways to show their understanding of a concept then you will be thrilled with the amount of engagement and motivation that they will start to show.
Math-
- Educreations is one app that allows you or the students to record what you are doing on a "whiteboard." You can set up an account online at www.educreations.com and upload your videos to your website. You can embed the video or you can simply share the link. This would be great for the younger kids to be able to record how they use a place value chart.
- Google Docs- I have the kids write word problems that go with the concept we are learning. I create a Google form and embed it on my website (you can just share the link if you don't want to embed it). After the kids write their word problem independently, with a partner or a small group, they then type the problem into the Google Form. The next day I either give them the link or create a QR code for the link to the word problems. I can either have them analyze the problems or complete the problems for practice or a grade.
- The Camera- Take pictures of shapes around the school or measuring the length of something. Create a photo collage with one of the 100's of photo collage apps available. You can also upload them into an app such as Notability or Skitch and then they can label the pictures.
- Virtual Manipulitives- Fractions, decimals and percents
- Math Drills Lite
- OhNoFractions
ELA-
- Reading Comprehension- I have reading comprehension pages that are available to the kids through my website or on their iTunes Course. They use the "open in" feature and open it in Notability or Capture Notes. They then can highlight the answers to the questions or even look up a word or more information when needed.
- Retelling- Students use apps such as Comic Head Lite or iStop Motion to retell a story or explain a concept such as what a preposition is.
- Tools4Students is free and has lots of graphic organizers.
- Create a class wiki.
- Writing a story- Their are lots of apps for writing essays. We use Notability most of the time, but some of my kids like to use PaperHelper. This app allows the student to research on half the screen, save five bookmarks, and then type on the other side of the screen. If you teach younger grades there are great apps for learning to write.
- Take pictures of a room and then label it in Skitch. Skitch works with Evernote. In the younger grades if the teacher has an account and there is something that he/she wants to save, they can upload it directly to their account. In their account, they could have a notebook for each of their students and they would be able to keep the work separate.
- Take a picture or video of a student doing something and then write a sentence or a paragraph about it.
- Book Writer- ($1.99) Kids can write books about all kinds of topics. I LOVE this app.
- Spelling City
- Voice Thread- Take a picture from the internet or your camera. You can make a "slide show" and then add your voice. (For the older kids, this could become a great collaboration app. I am looking forward to getting my kids to experiment with it.
- Free on Appsfire right now...
- I Can Write 2- Manipulate a picture and then write a sentence.
- Write the Alphabet- Practice writing letters on lined paper (cursive or print).
- Read Me Stories- A new book is available each day (In-app Purchase)
- Sight Words List
- Booksy: Learn to Read (In-app Purchase)
- I Like Animals (Looks Amazing, but you only get one book and then have to pay $.99 for others.) One is called Little Reader. On this one you can add your own photos and text.
Social Studies-
- iTunes University- I have created courses to go with the Social Studies curriculum. The kids are working at their won pace and choosing how to present the material.
- Within the iTunes Course the kids use apps such as Funny Movie Maker (free), iStop Motion (appsfire), Comic Head Lite (free). Sometimes they just use Notability and will have to write a speech as thought they were one of the world leaders.
- Camera- Kids video themselves as thought they are interviewing a person in history.
- History Channel App- I have assigned videos for kids to watch from this app. Most videos are only a few minutes long.
- United Streaming- You can give each student their own username and password and then assign them videos to watch.
- Video Dictionary- I would assign a vocabulary word to a group of students and they would have to put a short video together on the word. They could video themselves or find pictures to help them illustrate their word.
- Maps- I can make a map available to them and they can "open in" Notability and then they can label the map with colors and text.
- Pictures- I took a picture of Eleanor Roosevelt and had some "What do you think" questions to go with it.
- Make music from a time period you are studying available to them. Example- Rosie teh Riveter.
- Have a "What do I do when I am done?" section.
Science-
- Record hands on science experiments. Example- Take a picture of the steel wool each day as it changes after being in water. Record what happens to the balloon when you mix the baking soda and vinegar in a test tube and put the balloon over it.
- Take a picture of the edible cell and then put it into Notability or Skitch and label it.
- Look up videos of other similar experiments.
- Science 360 App- Lots of pictures and videos. If you find one you like and want to use, then you can email the link to yourself or star it so you can always go back to it. Once you find one you like you can also find similar videos.
- BrainPop- If your school has a license, the kids can log on and watch all kinds of videos on science and social studies.
- Other
- Socrative
- Edmodo
- Groovy Grader
- Google Drive
- Lino
- Biography
- WordWeb
- Evernote
