A Round-up of The Best iPad Apps for Teachers and Educators

3:03 PM    

November 4, 2014
Here is a chart I have been working on for the last couple of days. The purpose behind this work is tp provide teachers with a handy resource where they can have free and quick access to some of the best iPad apps to use in their teaching. As you can see below I arranged the apps in such a way that they cover several categories. From apps to creating presentations to apps for grading and creating portfolios, the chart below will assist you take your iPad experience to the next level.



You can also access and download the chart in Google Doc format from this Link.



Category
Apps
Presentation Apps
Screencasting Apps
Video creation Apps
File storage Apps
Whiteboard Apps
PDF annotation Apps
Audio Recording Apps
Notetaking Apps
Blogging Apps
Book creation Apps
Comic Strips Apps
Digital Storytelling Apps
Apps for Grading
Mindmapping Apps
Portfolio Apps
Apps for Creating Posters
Apps for Creating Timelines
Apps for Creating Word Clouds
Speech to Text Apps


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6 Excellent Digital Storytelling iPad Apps for Elementary Students

7:53 AM    

November 4, 2014
There are several ways you can use iPad to unleash your kids creativity and one of them is through engaging them in the creation and production of digital stories. Digital storytelling is a literacy practice that can tremendously enhance kids literacy skills way beyond the traditional literacy forms. It will enable them to express and communicate their thoughts in a multimodal way that involves images, sounds, videos and  text. To this end, we have prepared for you this short list that contains some of the best iPad apps you can use with your kids for digital storytelling. Check them out below:

1- 30 Hands

30hands Mobile focuses on the power of storytelling and ITERATIVE CREATIVITY(TM). Drag photos, images or video clips around the desktop into the order of the story. Next, record audio over each image. Easy editing allows students to take learning to a higher level and creates a better final video whether created by a student or teacher. Finally, the story or presentation can be published to the device’s photo area or uploaded to a 30hands Cloud collaborative learning site.
2- Sago Mini Doodlecast

Sago Mini Doodlecast is a fun creative activity and a valuable teaching aid. It’s a great way for kids to express themselves through art and conversation. Families can use the app for everything from practicing counting and letters to talking about experiences and feelings. Sago Mini Doodlecast comes with more than 30 drawing prompts – simple questions designed to inspire your child’s imagination. Choose a prompt or start from scratch. The app records the entire drawing process along with audio from the microphone to create short videos. The videos are as fun to watch as they are to create.

3- Story Creator

With Story Creator you can easily create beautiful story books containing photos, videos, text, and audio all in one gorgeous collection. Story Creator truly brings your best stories to life and easily allows you to retell and share your most memorable moments.
4- Sock Puppets

Sock Puppets lets you create your own lip-synched videos and share them on Facebook and YouTube. Add Puppets, props, scenery, and backgrounds and start creating. Hit the record button and the puppets automatically lip-synch to your voice.
5- Story Wheel

" Story Wheel is an educational game that improves your child’s cognitive abilities. Story Wheel helps develop an understanding of story composition, strengthens imagination, and improves oral language skills. It is a perfect complement to your child’s language arts school curriculum. 1-4 players can create a story. Start by spinning the wheel to get a picture. Next, record your voice as you develop a story with that picture. Each player will build upon the story with a new picture. When done, you can listen to your story and share your creations online, or email them to family and friends."

6- Little Story Maker

 Little Story Maker allows kids to create visually appealing story books using images, text and audio. The app provides some gorgeous story book templates that kids can use to embed their stories. They can also add their own photos and voice to make tell their stories. In Little Story Maker, kids can create an unlimited number of personal stories. The only limit is their creativity.

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A Must See TED Talk on Autism

9:24 PM    

November, 2014
Below is an excellent TED talk on autism. Since its publication last March, the video has collected over a million pageviews. In this TED talk, paediatrician, geneticist and researcher Wendy Chung addresses autism from scientific perspective providing the results reached by different studies. Here is a quote from Wendy's transcript:

"...But autism is not a single condition. It's actually a spectrum of disorders, a spectrum that ranges, for instance, from Justin, a 13-year-old boy who's not verbal, who can't speak, who communicates by using an iPad to touch pictures to communicate his thoughts and his concerns, a little boy who, when he gets upset, will start rocking, and eventually, when he's disturbed enough, will bang his head to the point that he can actually cut it open and require stitches. That same diagnosis of autism, though, also applies to Gabriel, another 13-year-old boy who has quite a different set of challenges. He's actually quite remarkably gifted in mathematics. He can multiple three numbers by three numbers in his head with ease, yet when it comes to trying to have a conversation, he has great difficulty. He doesn't make eye contact. He has difficulty starting a conversation, feels awkward, and when he gets nervous, he actually shuts down. Yet both of these boys have the same diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder."



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A Good TED Ed Video Lesson on How Languages Evolve

8:52 PM    

November 4, 2014
In this excellent Ted-Ed video lesson, Alex Gendler provides a historical account of the development of languages.The overarching question Alex addressed here revolves around the reasons why we ended up with thousands of languages when in the past there were only few numbers. To investigate this issue further, Alex started with the problematic of language origin and stated that linguists are not sure whether the thousands of languages we speak now can be attributed to a single root. Next, he talked about some of the factors that lead to language diversification stating human migration as the main reason.


As for the difference between a language and a dialect, Alex maintained that political and national consideration are of a determining factor here than linguistic features. The examples of Chinese language which contains so many dialects to the point of mutual incomprehensibility between some of them and the case of Portuguese and Spanish languages which are somewhat mutually understandable are provided. Another important point covered in this video relates to linguists' work in the classification of languages. Linguists, as Alex stated, create family trees of languages based on the study of linguistic features such as syntax, grammar and vocabulary. Phonology here is not a determining variable because of the presence of false cognates and borrowed words.

Overall, this is a good video lesson to share with students to teach them about the origin of languages and how they developed to where they are now. As is the case with every TED-Ed lesson, there is a section for questions and discussion that you can use to check students comprehension. Enjoy



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Two Basic iPad Apps for Teaching Coding to Kids

9:08 PM  ,  

November 2, 2014
I got an email today from a teacher asking for some basic iPad coding apps to recommend to her kids. Actually I have already reviewed several coding apps in the past but for something to start with I would suggest the two titles below.  Check them out and let us know what you think of them.

1- Daisy The Dinosaur


Learn the basics of computer programming with Daisy the Dinosaur! This free, fun app has an easy drag and drop interface that kids of all ages can use to animate Daisy to dance across the screen. Kids will intuitively grasp the basics of objects, sequencing, loops and events by solving this app's challenges. After playing Daisy, kids can choose to download a kit to program their own computer game.
2- Hopscotch: Coding for Kids


Hopscotch is programming designed for everyone. Kids can use simple, intuitive building blocks to create games, animations and apps in this colorful, interactive environment. Program your characters to move, draw, and collide with each other, and use shaking, tilting, or even shouting at the iPad to control them.

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Tons of Great Free Downloadable Classroom Posters and Educational Infographics

5:22 PM    

November 2, 2014
Looking for some very good resources for educational infographics and classroom posters? We got you covered. The Pinterest board of our blog has a section dedicated entirely to visuals and interactives you can use in your classroom. We have over 300 beautiful infographics which are all education related. Besides that, we are also introducing you to another great resource from We Are Teachers that we have recently discovered. This page has tons of infographics and classroom posters that you can download and print for free. These materials cover a wide variety of educational topics including dyslexia, fluency, technology, and more. "Through these infographics, you can absorb information at a glance and expand your knowledge about diverse topics relevant to education."

The visuals featured in  this resource are arranged into four main categories: infographics, classroom posters, comic relief, teacher inspiration and classroom handouts. Browse through this collection and pick out the ones you like. To download any visual just click on it and then in the next page click on "download". Enjoy.



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Google Calendar Explained for Teachers

2:00 PM    

November 1, 2014
Google Calendar is one of the best free web tools I have been using for few years now. As a teacher, you can use Google Calendar for a wide variety of purposes. You can, for instance, create events and share them with your students and parents; you can use it to share important dates and information with students. You can also create reminders about assignments and share them with your class, and if you have a classroom blog or website, you will also be able to embed your calendar in it.

Today I am sharing with you this wonderful collection of video tutorials to help you learn more about Google Calendar and tap into its full educational potential.

1- Introduction to Google Calendar: User Interface by Anson Alexander



2- How to Create A Google Calendar by Rebecca Livermore



3- Create events, invite guests and Email attendees in Google Calendar The Gooru



4- How to share your calendars by Anson Alexander



5- Add attachments to Google Calendar events The Gooru




6- Five hidden Google Calendar gems by dottotech



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