So often, as an Ed Tech Specialist, I am asked this question: "What app do you recommend for...?" While this is a great question, it is one that is so deep that I have never been able to find a simple answer for it. If you are savvy enough to go online and search for an app, for a purpose, then you will quickly find that there is a seemingly never-ending tunnel of information about apps. Sites say so many different things and provide such a variety of information. I guess what I have found is that the best way to have an app for your need is to try it out. While this page will only add to the tunnel of information out there about apps and what is good, I will give you some of the most powerful apps that I have had the pleasure of using. I will add to this as often as I can. Enjoy!!
Alex
Here is a great document to help with deciding on which apps might be best for you.
Alex
Here is a great document to help with deciding on which apps might be best for you.
Universal Education Apps
ProductivityNotability ($5.99)- This is an amazing app for taking notes, annotations, recording, picture taking. I love this app for the flexibility it has in creating different projects and interacting with the digital world.
ReCap (Free)- This is a digital exit ticket app. This came out a short while ago and was created by the makers of Swivl. Basically, you put a question(s) out there and the students respond via video. You get to have a digital exit ticket that is a video. ScreencastingExplain Everything ($3.99)- This is the most powerful/flexible screencasting app. I would not recommend getting this app to be used by younger kids, for screencasting. It has an amazing interface for educators. The learning curve is a bit much for youngsters though. If you are in a one iPad classroom and want to do some flipped classroom teaching, then this one is for you.
Doodlecast Pro ($4.99)- This is a great screencasting app. I love it for the educator and the students. There is still a lot of flexibility with the app, but it makes up for the lack of flexibility in the ease of use. I like how simple the interface is. I have had many young students (1st-6th grade) use this app easily. If you are in a class with 1:1 or a handful of iPads, then this app is great to get and teach a whole class to use. Educreations (Free)- This app is free, yes. It does however require a yearly subscription to have all of the features unlocked. I like this app as an interactive whiteboard. It is so simple. There is not much flexibility in just having the app, but it serves it's purpose. Shadowpuppet (Free)- Here is another way for students to create a project and record their thoughts to it. This app is reminiscent of Photostory. It is an app for using photos and adding voice to them. Digital CollaborationBaiboard (Free)- This app is one that makes two iPads act like an interactive display. You can edit documents and create projects together, on two iPads, by creating "meetings". This sort of turns your iPads into mobile Google Doc editors. I love it!
Talkboard (Free)- This is an app, very similar to Baiboard. I love that you can also call another iPad and use headphones to communicate with one another. Scoodle Jam ($3.99)- This is another similar collaborative app. You must have Edmodo accounts to be able to use the interactive/collaborative function. I love this one for younger kids. Moxtra (Free)- I love this collaborative app. You are able to do so much with this app. You can connect with anyone and collaboratively create documents too. |
PresentationsNearpod (Free)- This app is free, but requires an account. The account can be free and you have the option of paying for a paid account. This software makes it so you have control over any internet-connected device, to walk through interactive presentations. View these presentations as Powerpoint presentations "on steroids". You can add quizzes, free response, drawings and more to your presentations AND the data can all be exported at the end of the presentation.
Adobe Voice (Free)- I cannot say enough about how amazing this app is. I used it for kids to read books, for telling a story, for writing, for fluency and more. I love the projects that this turns out. You will need to create an Adobe account, but it is well worth it. Glogster (Free)- This app is free and is a great app for creating interactive posters/presentations. You will need to sign up for an account (which can have varying levels of paid depth, if you so choose). Tiny Tap (Free, with in-app purchases)- This is a killer app for creating interactive lessons and games. Check it out! Socrative (Teacher app) (Free)- This is an online, interactive quiz making app. I like this. You need to have the other devices using the student app, though. Zaption (Free)- This app needs a teacher account. If you like to use videos, in your teaching, this app is amazing. This app gives you the ability to choose your video, to use (from multiple sources) and add interactivity to those videos. If you have thought of flipping your classroom, then this is a fun one to try out. Edpuzzle (Free) does the same thing. Classroom ManagementPlanbook ($5.99)- I liked this app, for planning the week out. This made getting subs a snap for me.
Seesaw (Free)- This is a digital portfolio app that I like. It acts a little like an LMS, in which, you can share documents and have the students complete them/turn them in. Teacher Notes (Free)- I liked this app for keeping anecdotal notes in the classroom. I used this all the time to time stamp and keep accurate records, in my own class. Class Dojo (Free)- This is an amazing app, which you can keep notes on how students are doing in your class. They create an avatar and parents can receive automatic weekly updates. Remind (Free)- Here is a way to send out emails and texts anonymously. I used this to send information out to my parents and keep them updated without ever sending out my personal phone number. |
Elementary Apps
Language ArtsLiquid Text (Free)- An amazing PDF and document reader, in which, students can pull (literally pull) sections of text from documents. When they pull the sections, they are able to note their thoughts too. I love this app for teaching kids how to read passages deeply.
Jumbled Sentence apps (Free)- Do a search for "Jumbled Sentences", in the app store. This app is a game, in which the participant uses words to create complete sentences. It increases fluency. Epic! (Free)- This is a great app that gives students access to unlimited books that are interest based and can be managed by a teacher. ScienceTinybop apps ($2.99-$3.99) These apps are incredible for exploring different areas of study. There is a Human Body, Simple Machines, Plants, Homes, The Earth, Robots and "The Everything Machine" (This is like a programing machine that is amazing for so many different things, like electricity units, for example).
"Noticing Apps" by New York Hall of Science ($9.99 for bundle) These apps are incredible for measuring real world science with an iPad. The pack includes the following: Playground Physics, Volumize, SizeWise, Choreo Graph, and Fraction Mash. All of the apps are well made and so much fun for kids of many ages. ProjectsWonderbox (Free)- This is an amazing fast finisher app. This is an automatic extension app. I love this because the students can explore what they would like, when they have time.
Book Creator ($4.99)- This app makes it so a student can create an eBook easily. It is such a powerful creation app. |
MathMy Touch Calculator (Free)- Awesome calculator that turns your handwriting into calculations.
Quick Math apps (varied)- These apps are amazing for building fluency, in a variety of math areas: all operations, fractions and telling time. Check em out! They all take advantage of the tactile aspects of the iPad. Math Drills ($1.99)- This is an app, which I used as an intervention for my students that needed extra help. You can create in-app accounts, for each student and have them drill their fluency with a variety of techniques and immediate feedback. Visual Math Bundle ($5.99)- This includes a great fraction manipulative app and a great multiplication manipulative app. Check them out. You can purchase these separately too (at $3.99/piece). Social StudiesStack the States ($1.99)- This is a great 5th grade geography game app. I love it and so did my 5th graders.
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Middle and High School Apps
CodingLightbot ($2.99)- This is a killer programing game. This is all based around getting a robot to achieve specific tasks, with programming.
Daisy the Dinosaur (Free)- This is a fun app for learning to program. You command a dinosaur to complete different tasks. Tickle (Free)- This app is amazing because you can program most robots that have iPad interactivity (Ollie, Sphero, MiiP and more). Swifty (Free)- This is a fun app for learning how to code in Swift language. Code School (Free)- This is an amazing app for learning how to write different types of code. Kids'n'Code (Free)- This is a great coding app for younger kids. |
MathScientific Keyboard (Free)- This software makes it so you can have scientific calculator symbols on your iPad. It is great!
Science"Noticing Apps" by New York Hall of Science ($9.99 for bundle) These apps are incredible for measuring real world science with an iPad. The pack includes the following: Playground Physics, Volumize, SizeWise, Choreo Graph, and Fraction Mash. All of the apps are well made and so much fun for kids of many ages.
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