iPad Apps
Deciding what apps to use in K-12 education can be a tricky process. In my workshops, I usually focus on open-ended, free apps. However, there is definitely a time and place when fee-based apps become the better option. Don't forget that many apps are available through the volume purchasing program and thus cost 50% of the retail price. Below you will find a list of apps you might want to use with your students.
Ten Categories of Apps
Melissa Herring, a Technology Integration Specialist at Second Baptist School in Texas, presents a session at ed tech conferences called, "Who Needs 100 Apps? Effectively Use What You Have." What she said and showed when I went to her session at an ISTE Conference resonated with me because the apps were cross curricular and had students creating artifacts. Below is a summary of Melissa's recommendations with a few tweaks of my own. Unless otherwise noted, apps were free when I last checked them in the app store.
1. Word ProcessingPages
This app is now a part of the built-in apps that come with every new iPad. Use it for any writing experience. Make use of the templates to create posters, resumes, formal letters, project proposals, newsletters and recipes. |
2. PresentationKeynote
This app is now part of the built-in apps that come with every new iPad. Use it to create presentations. Other ideas for use include vocabulary, summarizing, explaining the steps of a problem, making a sales pitch, creating a storyboard, alphabet books, and infographics. |
3. Drawing
Draw Free for iPad
(Note: There on ads on top kids that mistakenly tap at first but then ignore.) Drawing tools include brushes, crayons, and pencils. Dozens of colors appear for each tool, but endless colors can be created with the color palette. There is a bucket to pour paint into closed shapes. You can select backgrounds from built-in themes as well as bring in pictures from the Photo app. You can bring in PDFs and model how to do today's assignment. You can also use the drawing area as a digital whiteboard, for problem solving, diagramming, labeling and Vocabulary Pictionary. |
4. QR Scanner
Scan - QR Code & Barcode Reader
Scan is a QR Code reader. Use the app to scan the codes and see what information is presented. QR codes make it easy to send students to sites or files with long URLs. QR codes are a good way to set up museum walks, play videos that go along with students printed work, and send students to more information about a text they are reading. They also work well on newsletters to help parents access digital creations made by the students. I was able to get this app for free, but it is currently selling for $1.99. Use Qrstuff.com, or another QR code creation tool, to create codes. I like QRstuff because it lets you easily create QR codes that point to Dropbox files, Google Maps locations, URLs, YouTube videos and more. |
5. AnnotatorEducreations
This app is a whiteboard with recording capabilities that captures your voice as well as what is displayed on the board. Educreations allows you to set up several different “pages” for your recording prior to beginning. You can add images from your photo library or the camera. Completed recordings are stored on your iPad and online at the Educreations website. If you register as a teacher you can set up “courses” and give your students the link to join your courses. Use this app to capture your voice and annotations as you write on any digital worksheet to show students how to do things. Or have students do the annotating so they can show what they know. A large variety of free worksheets are available at worksheetworks.com. Students could also take screenshots of their slides in Keynote and then make a recording of their presentation. This will lead to more images on slides and less text! It also helps students with stagefright to still give a good presentation. |
6. Mapping or Planning Tool
Popplet Lite
This app lets you create diagrams and process charts. It can be used for brainstorming, mind-mapping, timelines, storyboarding, summarizing, vocabulary development, character descriptions and more. You can add text and images to the bubbles. You can change the size and color of the font. You can draw or write with a pen tool. The free version is limited to one Popple. In the free version, the Popple can be shared as an image via email or saved to the Photos app. Note: The shared and/or saved images show only what is on the screen when you share or save them so be sure to tap the ‘view all’ button before you share or save. The full version is available for $4.99 and lets you create an unlimited number of local Popples which are stored on the iPad and can be shared in a variety of ways. |
7. Reference
Wikipanion for iPad
Use this app to search, navigate and display Wikipedia entries about thousands of topics including math formulas, music notation, and nutritional information. Tap the bulleted list icon to see the main topics in the article. Tap a topic to jump to it. Tap the wiggly lines icon to access related information. Tap the book icon to add a bookmark to quickly access the information again. Improve readability by tapping the Settings icon and changing the font style and/or increasing the size of the font. Email a link to the information to yourself or someone else, and print the information if you have an iPad-compatible printer. |
8. Bookmaker
Book Creator
This app provides a simple way to create iBooks right on the iPad. The books can be shared via Dropbox (see #10 below) and are read in the iBooks app. You can choose from portrait, landscape or square book sizes. Quickly add, move, resize and/or rotate pictures from the Photos app. Edit and format text in over 50 different fonts. Import video and music or record your voice right within the app. Draw and write in the book with the freehand pen tools. This app is currently selling for $4.99 and may be available with the volume purchasing discount. |
9. Poster Maker
Pic Collage
This app allows you to create collages using your photos, stickers, text and frames. There is an option to search for photos on the web. Collages can be saved in the Photos Library, emailed to others and/or posted to a variety of social networking sites. Note: If there are concerns about using them, in the Settings, "Allow Social Features" and "Allow Photos from Web" can be turned off. For a fee, collages can be turned into postcards and sent anywhere in the world. |
10. File Management
Google Drive and Dropbox
Both of these apps give students and teachers a place to store and share documents, presentations, photographs and more. Google Drive connects to apps like Google Docs and Google Slides which can be used to create documents and spreadsheets |
Additional Resources for Choosing Apps
In the table below you will find app choices for creation collated by Janelle Safford, an Innovative Learning Design Specialist from Sulphur Springs Independent School District in Texas. The apps are voted on by educators around the country. Many of the educators have also left helpful comments about the apps.