This post originates from the “I get this question a lot file” and after I spent the time to type out a response, it seemed like something I should be sharing openly, rather than exclusively through a private email message.
Mr. Brueck,
You were referred to me by [name withheld to protect the innocent], the tech coordinator for [insert school or district here]. He assured me that you were the “go to man” who could point me in the right direction.
I’m a reading interventionist and in search of quality iPad apps to support our reading instruction. In particular, I’m looking for apps to support comprehension and vocabulary development for 7-10 year olds reading at first and second grade levels. Of course, they love interactivity and game playing. Any recommendations?
iOS 7 hit the general public a few days ago and I’ve had a number of people who have asked me something to the effect of “How do you do [insert common iOS 6 task here] in iOS 7. Here are some of the tips I’ve been sharing or asked to share so far. They may help you.
My biggest take away from the latest iOS refresh has to do with privacy. If you updated to iOS 7 on your phone or iPad, here are some privacy settings you might want to follow, unless you don’t mind having Apple track everything you do on your phone.
As it takes so much time to locate and evaluate apps, I was wondering:
-Do you have favorite app review sites? (there are so many now, and video reviews cropping up, so people can see apps before they buy them.)
-Do you have a system, and if you do, what is it, for listing your favorite apps to share with others? Is your favorites list available online/can you share it? I am interested in ways others in the group are organizing this info, and to take a look at your lists, if possible.
-In schools/programs where teachers in various classrooms may be exploring and finding new apps-are there systems set up to share about these discoveries with others?
So many apps, so little time- thanks for sharing tips from your workflow about these questions.
I’m often asked to provide lists of apps for schools, districts or teachers. This is tricky because of the wide variety of apps. In general, I’d say that there are way more skill and drill type apps available (flashcards, letter games, puzzles, etc…) most likely because they are simple for app developers (non-educators most often) to create. Apps that support higher-order think skills are less in numbers. I think the most important thing for a teacher to consider is what they want their students to accomplish using the app and then consider whether an app is actually the best resource for this learning experience. I like to point admins and teachers to the SAMR modelwhen asking them this and then try to help them discern is the are using the app as simply a substitution for something they have always done or if they are able to use the app to help redefine the learning task.
So you’re coming to DigiCamp for Teachers and you’re planning to bring your own Apple mobile device, but which apps should you load up prior to camp to make your time on the beautiful University of Akron campus productive? Look no further, I’m here to share with you all the apps that the Center for Literacy has loaded on their “loaner” iPads and iPod Touches. While we made ever effort to pick as many free apps as possible, sometimes it’s just worth paying to get a high-quality app.
Tonight I will be sharing some digital storytelling resources with one of Dr. Denise Stuart’s graduate classes here at The University of Akron. I’m primarily planning to do some live demos of a variety of web-based and iOS options, but here are a few examples of published work from a few of the resources I’ll show. The complete list of resources I’m sharing are available from this Google Doc.
A short piece that incorporates text and music to tell the story of a pumpkin’s lifecycle. The images used were created win Powerpoint and saved as .jpeg files. Those .jpegs were imported into Animoto for sequencing and audio integration. The finished story is available to view online or as an embedded video.
Remember listservs? I guess people still use them, but they really seem so 1990’s to me. Regardless, I’m still on a couple different listservs, and from time to time, there IS good information that comes through the barrage of emails that fill my inbox. Very often, the people who are emailing the listserv are looking for help, assistance and/or answers to their questions. I can appreciate this. Occasionally, I take time to write a decent email and respond back to those questions. I hate doing it though. I wish these listserv people would move their “conversations” to a more open forum, like Twitter, a Facebook group, or possibly even Google+, but many of them are not ready for that, or just not interested. I hope that changes.
Until then, I have very little choice in how I add my voice to the conversation other than writing an email back to the listserv. I took that rather antiquated approach to professional learning and sharing this morning when I wrote a decent email to the people in the NAEYC Technology & Young Children Interest Forum about how I am using iOS devices with young children to take photos and videos. Upon completion, I thought that the information the email contained might be valuable to people outside the listserv, so I’m sharing it here.
Last summer at ISTE 2010, I had a blast at the IEAR Birds of a Feather session. Not only did I get a chance to share some of my favorite apps with the attendees, hang out with my IEAR colleagues @smeech and @jepcke, but I also got an opportunity to create some musical soundscapes with @kevinhoneycutt during an impromptu jam session. Ever since that event, I’ve been wanting to build my own portable music production system that lets me create, record, produce, and perform music with my iOS devices.
This week, I took a major step toward making that happen. I finally broke down and purchased a variety of hardware that I can use both at home and when I’m on the road giving presentations. With the current configuration, I can plug up to 5 iOS devices into a small mixing board and either run the sound out to a small amp for a live performance or into a laptop, desktop or iPad with Garageband or Audacity for recording purposes. I’m looking forward to embarking on my expert knob twiddling adventures and I’ll be sure to keep Raised Digital readers in the loop. For now, here’s a quick run down of the equipment I’ve started to assemble.
