App Reviews - Let us know what you like and why!!

[Adam Currey]

For those of you who are familiar with the apps store and the enourmous selection of both free and paid apps let us know which ones you like and why. The idea is to make it easier for those that are new to apps and also point out some that we have not come across before.

[Anne-Maree Moore]

voki.com is a great app that students love. Students create a personalised animated avatar that delivers their message. The message can be typed in and the students can choose from the preset voices provided or they can record their own voice, Pretty cool.

[bobbartley]

I have fallen for Word Book thesaurus. It isn't cheap mind you but a very good time saving device as well as vocabulary development tool!

I also like the Wikipedia app that lets you search and book mark information. (Free)

Brain tuner is a very cool little app that tests your mental calculations. There is a very version of this.

I also use twitterific (@bobbartley) and Facebook (Bob bartley) apps which don't work at school but are great for keeping up with colleagues and friends. I hope there may be a ning tool one day!!

I also like the typing training called "genius," an essential for children to increase efficiency whilst using the touch.

That's all for now, but i will get back to you with more later!

Bob
ps: did anyone jailbreak their ipod???

[Adam Currey]

Hi Bob, from what I have come across so far about the jailbreak was that it was big before apple released the SDK (Software Development Kit), so now that we can develop our own apps I think it has become less of a need. Looking forward to getting a closer look at the SDK and start playing with developing my own.

bobbartley said:

I have fallen for Word Book thesaurus. It isn't cheap mind you but a very good time saving device as well as vocabulary development tool!

I also like the Wikipedia app that lets you search and book mark information. (Free)

Brain tuner is a very cool little app that tests your mental calculations. There is a very version of this.

I also use twitterific (@bobbartley) and Facebook (Bob bartley) apps which don't work at school but are great for keeping up with colleagues and friends. I hope there may be a ning tool one day!!

I also like the typing training called "genius," an essential for children to increase efficiency whilst using the touch.

That's all for now, but i will get back to you with more later!

Bob
ps: did anyone jailbreak their ipod???

[Michelle Roscarel]

chords - guitar chords apps is a great program giving you about 6 variations of each chord, it will play the chord for you and the individual notes , open and barre chords Excellent for quick reference in the classroom.

i fitness great for setting up a fitness program and targeting specific muscle groups. keeping track of repititions and sets of exercise.

[bobbartley]

I have found itap to be a great tool for remotely controlling pcs (amazing on my media center). Great for using my whiteboard remotely as you can stand back and talk about stuff and all students can see.

One good mental maths and problem solving app is called: diamath, I think it costs $1.19 My students really like it.

[Deborah Morton]

Anne-Maree, I've seen & had a go at using voki on the internet but how does this connect to use on the the iphone? I looked it up in the apps store & couldn't find it anywhere.

Deb

Anne-Maree Moore said:

voki.com is a great app that students love. Students create a personalised animated avatar that delivers their message. The message can be typed in and the students can choose from the preset voices provided or they can record their own voice, Pretty cool.

[Deborah Morton]

WordPress - Easy to create a blog & post & edit posts straight from your phone. Easiest way I've found to upload photos straight to internet from phone at school on det network. Nice for recording classwork so that parents can see what their kids are up to at school.

UpcomingEvents - puts all the bdays from your contacts list into order & tells you how many days untill each bday for the rest of the year. Can also add other events & aniversaries.

YouNote - can't remember if this came with the iphone or not but use it all the time to take notes on the run & record random thoughts & shopping lists

FriendSync - syncs the information from your facebook friends with the information in your contacts list as well as updating their profile pictures if you choose

Ebay - I know this is not a school thing - but you can buy stuff for school through it - does it count now?

Fav Games - Sim City, Fish Tycoon, Field Runners - everyone's gotta relax sometime

[Susan Wells]

Some of our favorites being used across the school now:

Blanks, words are not easy at the middle school level for this but are popular for collaborative competition
iProcrastinate, organizational tool a favorite for staff, all AVID students are using
FlipBook Lite, language arts teachers are using to construct interactive small projects
GoogleEarth, virtual field trips, collaborative groups, across content areas
Braintuner, skills at low level, speed and competition good aspect of app
PI83, very similar to to TI83 being used in classrooms
WordWarp, favorite word game
Dice, math tool for statistics and probability
Lose it!, reference for Health/PE
NikeTraining, Health/PE, videos used to show proper technique, to recommend routines for students away from school building
Dice3D, math tool for statistics and probability
CoinToss, math tool for statistics and probability
Coin Toss World Edition, math tool for statistics and probability also compares the coins from different countries displaying culture and history to integrate math and social studies content
WordBook dictionary tool
Thesaurus, across content tool
Flashgram, used for parts of speech although the presentation is for younger students
ChemTouch, Periodic Table and Amino Acid reference chart for Science
USHistory, primary documents allows for annotated notes
Conversation English, used with English as a Second Language students

[Greg Alchin]

Hi Guys,
You might find it useful to check out this article at the Apple Learning Interchange - "iPod touch. Touching student lives in the classroom. - Creative Us...

[Alison Wason]

These are not actual apps but they are good uses for the itouch in schools.....On the website www.scribbleguild.com there is an interesting bit on using the ipod touch as a mini digital portfolio for artworks. It is worth a look.
Also www.studystack.com lets you design your own quizzes and then it converts then into games. This is very, very, easy to use. They can then be download to the itouch via the app gFlashpro. If you want anymore info on doing this contact [e-mail] at Ungarie Central School.

[Andrew]

Only bought this thing a few weeks ago - So only scratched the surface

- Stocks / Bloomberg - Sorry to be boring, but with a finance background & the current state of affairs, is great for keeping up to date

- Weather - As I'm on the road often

- News - ABC / NewsAusLite/Bloomberg

- Maps - Do seem to use this a bit

- WifiTrak - Great little tool to locate Wireless Access Points, shows strength, channel, type of security.
Great for checking wireless setup in school

- Memory Stick - Turns the touch into a web server & allows you to upload files to the touch,
Can view pdf’s, doc’s, ppt’s, etc

- Lists - To do lists

- Speed Test - www.speedtest.net app - quick network test, mainly for internet checks

- iPhing - Local network testing

- Home Screen Safari shortcuts for websites - Just click on + in Safari & Add to Home Screen

- reMovem – about the only game I play – only 800 HS :(

- Sync of Calendar, Mail & Contacts - Haven’t had enough time to setup yet, but definitely keen. Certain technical workarounds needed for this one.

So these are just what I picked up for myself, but Phil & I will be definitely looking for Educational apps

Some things I’ve found are

- Podcasting – recording audio with mic for creating podcast
- Whiteboard – 2 itouch’s work collaboratively on the one screen
- Chess – With school involved with chess comp - allows the saving of unfinished games (eg. end of class)
- Google Earth / Google Sky
- Language apps – Italian, etc
- Classic books – Have war of the worlds & Huck Finn
- Vodcasts & Podcasts – Where to start - maybe for some individual learning, etc
- Rainbow Ninja – maybe too gameish, but great for colour/word association
- Hangman
- Live Mathletics – ipod app for Mathletics
- Mini Piano / Key Finder
- Guitar app
- Music Jam lite – sounds of different instruments
- I Say free – Colour / memory
- Cool little robot java app - http://zomghott.com/robo/q-mrf.html
- Looking for a good/cheap Dictionary & Thesaurus
- SDK – really keen to have a look at this – once I get my hands on an intel OSX machine

& last but not least – even though I have several other MP3 players, the sound out of this thing isn’t that bad

[Greg Alchin]

Some Great App Review Sites
I Education Apps Review
i educationappsreview ning
Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs iPhone App Round Up