Podcast Reflection #5: Tony Vincent - Learning in Hand

Educational Apps

The list of applications for the iPod touch, iPad, and iPhone grows by about 700 apps per day. This can be daunting when trying to figure out what can be helpful to you as a teacher. When searching for apps, you can limit your results to only free apps by clicking power search. Sometimes non-educators review the apps, so don't always take other people's words as true when it comes to the value of an application. The "customers also bought" is a helpful tool as well; it tells you what else people bought when they bought the same application you are viewing or downloading. 

There are several websites and blogs that are helpful in finding useful educational tools among the thousands of apps.

• igear.org - all the reviews of apps are done by educators (I could not find this website online or via Tony's website)
• Recess duty blog - a middle school teacher reviewed the 99 iPod touch apps she used in one school year
• Macworld - extensive app guide with categories including education genres
• Connsense Bulletin - very extensive listing of apps with short descriptions of each app's educational use
• 24 page document on scribd.com (by Eric Sailers) listing tons of apps for iPod with a focus on special education
• Kindergarten teachers at St. Mary's Episcopal school in Tennessee's "Poddy" Training app - geared for young children using iPods

Tony's site, learninginhand.com, has even more lists of lists of apps. He has also learned about apps through Twitter.

• Long division app - students can solve random long division problems (long or short) or insert their own problems. iDev Books is the developer, who also has developed other math apps.
• Story kit - app where users can create digital story books. Includes an image, text, and audio recording.

Hashtags on twitter archive tweets. #edapp is the tag for educational iPod applications. This way, non-twitter users can search resources posted via twitter. 

• Twapper Keeper - a site that helps you use twitter and all its features to your greatest advantage and archive and analyze tweets with hashtag references.
• Twubs - is a site built around content aggregated from hashtags.

Other great apps

• iCell
• iCut
• FacesiMake
• EnterState
• Read Me Stories - costs after the first 10 free books
• 3inchRuler
• Numbler
• Mental Note (free and pay versions)
• Podcasting for Education - set of tutorials on how to make podcasts with Garage Band
• Brainpop featured movie app
• iPad resources - a tutorial on the ins and outs of iPad, since it can be limiting and frustrating
• pages, keynote, numbers (the main suite)

Sometimes apps go on sale, change names, or disappear all together. 

Retweets are a good indication that the content is really good and worth repeating (and checking out). 

Bit leap - a service that shortens URLs so they can be placed in tweets without taking up a lot of space. Use this to short the URLs of apps when you copy them from the iTunes store.