iPads in the Elementary Library

"We came across an interesting infographic from edweek which showed that 70% of the top selling educational apps on iTunes are geared towards elementary or pre-school children. It makes an interesting point about app development for middle and high school students. We wonder why is there such a gap between these two markets? "

"In the last several months, the iOS versions of Evernote have undergone a significant overhaul of their user interfaces, closely mirroring the design and features of the counterpart web and Mac applications. We have added the iOS versions of Evernote to our Best of iPad Apps, and Best of iPhone Apps pages where they sit alongside our other picks for the platform.

Evernote is a free universal app that works on the iPhone and iPad."

I took a chance and tried using Nearpod in my classroom. What happened next has changed my classroom forever.

If you find a book you think a friend might like, iBooks gives you an easy way to share a link directly to that book for them to check it out and purchase it if they choose.

"The August 2005 New York Times article, “New Tools: Blogs, Podcasts and Virtual Classrooms,” featured information about Maine elementary teacher Bob Sprankle and the “Room 208 Podcast” created by his 2nd and 3rd graders. That article, which I first learned about thanks to an online radio show / podcast by David Warlick (now offline), inspired my own work the past eight years with online radio shows both professionally and with students in different classroom contexts.

Now it’s 2013, and iPads are among the most powerful and useful technology tools in many classrooms as well as homes. Today I recorded a fifteen minute screencast tutorial, demonstrating how to create an “all-iPad” class radio show. By “all-iPad” I mean a digital radio show which can be ENTIRELY recorded, edited, and published with an iPad. To do this, students and I used AudioBoo (the “classic edition” iPhone app running on iPads,) Bossjock, GoodReader, & SoundCloud with a self-hosted WordPress site. There are definitely many other ways to create and share classroom radio shows, but this is the best way I’ve found (so far) to create an iPad-only radio show with multiple spots / parts."

Mind mapping is a method that works for quite a lot of people. Brain storming, idea mapping, thought generation, think tanks – call it what you will. Traditionally done on large pieces of paper, why not use your iPad to create mind maps? You could use these for your own purposes, or “convert” those large flip charts into a smaller, digital version.

"We discovered Book Creator App a couple of months ago and since then it's really catching on as a great option for creating beautiful looking ePub Books. We currently have a few different grades doing projects with this App."

Apple's tablet is becoming a serious tool for content creation. We reveal the best iPad apps for design, creativity, inspiration, and organisation.

Top 3 new iPad educational apps, released in Q1 2013, that are informative, interactive, as well as extremely well-designed.

There are loads of apps out there. But only a handful are of the high quality like these science apps for elementary students. Worth seeing.

"Flowboard is another great storytelling tool.

                     Elegant                     Simple                     Multiple Options"

"The iPad is perhaps the most talked-about piece of technology in teaching. Enthralled by tales of educational potential and egged-on by technophile staff, head teachers might be forgiven for investing in the trendy tablets without fully considering how they should be used."

Perhaps you want to broadcast a tutorial or e-learning resource to your students or maybe create a collaborative task that can be viewed by the whole class.

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Whether you're a photographer, an editor or an art school student, Stampsy is the place where your creative ideas are shaped into beautiful digital experiences. We call them Stamps and they're a completely new online format for framing your talent and sharing content on the web. At a time of rapidly increasing opportunities for storytelling and visual expression, Stampsy is the place where digital content comes to life.

"How do you learn best?  For me, it depends on what I am learning.  Sometimes I need to take notes, other times I need to think out loud.  Some things are easier to learn with another person while with other things, I need to be alone.  My guess is most of us have different styles for learning depending on what it is we are working on."

by Jennifer Rita Nichols, TeachThought Intern Digital portfolios are becoming increasingly popular in classrooms across North America.

Weekly roundup of brand new and notable apps for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.