40+ Great Free iPad Apps for Elementary

2:54 PM    

July 6, 2014
Two days ago, a primary school principle emailed me asking for iPad app suggestions for primary students.As I was looking into my archive for previous lists I shared here I somehow stumbled upon this wonderful Symbaloo board created by Matt Gomez. This board contains almost all of the best iPad apps to use with elementary students. Needless to say that Gomez is also one of my trusted sources in Edtech and he has a great blog where he shares tips, tools, and apps to help teachers better integrate technology in their instruction.


From Educreations to Doodle Buddy, the apps covered in this Symbaloo board covers a wide variety of key literacy skills . I invite you to have a look and share with your colleagues. You can access the list from this link.

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Interesting Poster Featuring The 7 Tenets of Creative Thinking

2:15 PM    

July, 2014
It s widely believed that creativity is an attribute we are born with. It is a native element of our thinking process but based on different environmental and developmental factors this creativity either thrives or subsides. In his popular book "The Element" Sir Ken Robinson argues that all kids are born creative but as they grow old several of them loose trace of this creativity. Ken attributes this gradual loss of creativity to several reasons one of them is schools. He views the focus of schools on STEM subjects at the expense of art-based subjects ( such as art and music education) as one example of how the educational system backgrounds any creative thinking in kids and relegates it to a by-product, a marginal and adjunct activity that supplements content and fact based instruction.

Nurturing a creative thinking process requires a creative mindset, one that celebrates mistakes and looks at failure as needed attempts for success. Creative thinking is also characterized by a set of features, 7 of these features are included in this wonderful visual created by Sean Junkins ( based on this editorial article from Edutopia). Have a look and share with us what you think of them.

team work

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Great Teacher-Approved Educational Games for iPad

12:15 AM    

July 5, 2014
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, summer is fast approaching. That means school will be out and summer learning loss will become a worry. One way to curb those concerns is with engaging and educational games, like this set of teacher-approved iOS apps.




Launch a rocket into space and practice your skills in addition, multiplication, fractions, money, time, shapes, and more. While your rocket is floating weightlessly in space, the real fun begins! Play one of the many fun math missions. Each mission has touchable objects floating in space, including stars, coins, 3D shapes and more! Earn a bronze, silver or gold medal and also try to beat your high score. Missions range in difficulty from even/odd numbers all the way to square roots, so kids and their parents will enjoy hours of fun while learning math.

Learn the sounds of letters with sight words, in a manner that may make you chuckle and grin. Kids will have a blast learning sight words and their context and usage with the adorable Endless monsters. Each word features an interactive word puzzle with letters that come alive, and then a sentence puzzle with words that become what they describe. See the word "dog" as a barking dog, and the word "up" reach for the sky!

 Created by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, play against Okta to collect cards with a specified sum. Okta challenges you to a duel! Collect cards with a specified sum, and you win! But you better do it before Okta does! Choose how many cards (9 or 16), what types of numbers (whole numbers or decimals), and Okta’s level of strategy (easy to hard).

How did the universe begin?How was life born on earth?Where did water on earth come from?Welcome to earth school, Earth School is an educational kids apps containing 18 different mini games. It will show the big bang to earth generation, from life beginning to dinosaur extinction, enjoy!. Play 18 different mini games that cover topics like the Big Bang, planet generation, the beginnings of life, and more.


Have fun reinforcing your chemistry knowledge in the form of addictive Mahjong games created by Stetson University.

6- Spell + Friends 

Become a spelling bee champ and master over 2,000 words, including pronunciations, definitions and etymology. 

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Top 5 Note Taking Apps for Teachers

11:52 PM    

July 2, 2014
Need a way to take notes easily and quickly? For those lucky enough to be attending the ISTE 2014 conference right now, perhaps one of these mobile apps can help, though anyone could always use handy note-taking app.


1- Evernote 

You've no doubt heard of this app by now: take notes via text, photos, or voice, then view them on any device. Evernote is an easy-to-use, free app that helps you remember everything across all of the devices you use. Stay organized, save your ideas and improve your productivity. Evernote lets you take notes, snap photos, create to-do lists, scan business cards, record voice reminders--and it makes everything searchable

2- Notability 

Here's a powerful alternative to Evernote with similar features, plus handwriting recognition and PDF annotation. Write, illustrate and annotate using gorgeous ink. Notability's zoom window helps you quickly and clearly draw every detail, while the palm rest protects your notes from unwanted marks. Choose the right pen and paper for any project.

3- Penultimate 

If you want to stay in the Evernote family, this app turns your iPad into a digital drawing pad and syncs with Evernote. Take notes in class or a meeting, journal your thoughts, or outline your next big idea -- in the office, on the go, or at home

4- Google Keep 

 Or if you want to stay in the Google family, this Android and Chrom app has similar features to Evernote.

5- AudioNote 

This iOS and Android app lets you take notes (text or drawings) and sync them with audio for dynamic notes. AudioNote combines the functionality of a notepad and voice recorder to create a powerful tool that will save you time while improving the quality of your notes.


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Excellent Guides and Tutorials to Help Kids Make Engaging Educational Movies

11:56 PM    

July 4, 2014
Engaging kids in creative video productions allows them to develop communication skills and enhances their technical know-how. It also gives them an avenue through which they can practice multimodal expressions and present information in numerous ways.This multimodality in communicating information does not only help students understand topics much better and at a deeper level but is also an elemental feature of the 21st century learning.



To help you teach students how to create engaging and expressive short videos mini movies, I am sharing with you some great tutorials and guides compiled and shared by Coolspotters.

Video Shooting Techniques
Editing
Music and Sound Effects

For more tutorials and guides on video making, visit CoolSpotter page.
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Great Summer Reading List for Teachers and Educators

4:30 PM    

July 3, 2014
Looking for some good titles to read this summer? The resources below will probably be of some help. These are collections of books curated with teachers and educators in mind. They span a plethora of education-related themes and topics and some of them also touch on the area of personal development and motivation. Sift through the titles and see if there is anything worth your reading time which I am pretty sure there are many. Enjoy

1- Great Books for Teachers


This is a Pinterest board I created over a year ago and where I share books I have read. The board features over 100 books all of which are education focused. There are over 8000 subscribers to this board and if you haven't already joined us make sure you come aboard.

2- Washington Post Summer Reading List for and by Teachers


Here are books for and recommended by teachers, from Scholastic Instructor magazine and titled the “Ultimate Summer Reading List for Teachers:”
We searched far and wide to come up with a list of great books for you to crack open during the summer break—and, most important, we asked our teacher advisers and Facebook teachers what they were looking forward to reading (or rereading!). We received an avalanche of interesting responses. It was hard to choose just a few but here are some newer releases that you can pick up at your bookstore or download to an e-reader, plus teachers’ dog-eared favorites.


TED-Ed asked some of their favorite educators and staff to weigh in on the best books for students, teachers and all other summertime scholars to crack into during the break. Whether you’re swinging in a hammock, laying out on a beach or still working 40-hour weeks, these titles (which run the gamut from art history to health to the classics and beyond) are sure to keep your brain stimulated during the warm weather months.

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Video Tutorials for Teachers on Using Augmented Reality App Aurasma

3:32 PM    

July 3, 2014
Talking about augmented reality technology in teaching and learning the first thing that comes to mind is this wonderful app called Aurasma. Since its release a few years ago, Aurasma gained so much in popularity and several teachers have already embraced it within their classrooms. For those of you who are not yet familiar with how Aurasma works and how to use in it in your class, the video tutorials below will help you out.



Aurasma is an augmented reality app that’s changing the way millions of people see and interact with the world. Bring tagged images, objects and even physical locations to life with interactive digital content, such as video, animations and 3D scenes ( called Auras).

Aurasma allows you to:
  • Use the simple tools within the app to create your own Auras and share them with friends and other Aurasma users
  • Create Auras by choosing from thousands of digital animations already on the platform or alternatively use your own photos and videos 
  • Use the map feature to discover Auras at nearby locations
  • Browse the ‘explore’ and ‘featured’ sections of the app to find the latest and most popular Auras
Aurasma for iPad
Aurasma for Android


1-  Aurasma demo




2- Aurasma iPad App tutorial



3- How to create and publish and Aura




4- How to create and view a location based aura




5- Creating and using 3D models




6- Teaching with Aurasma



7- Example of how Shaw Primary school uses Aurasma


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