Happy 2012-2013 School Year!

August is here and school has begun!  Now is the perfect time to review the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS), especially for students.  Implementing these standards in your technology curriculum can provide students with the necessary skills to research, create, communicate and collaborate in the 21st century digital world.

http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students

In Search of a Good App for the Classroom? There's an App for that!

Want to use an app to search for a great app?  There are three main apps that I use to search for educational apps that have been recently marked down, or perhaps free, that are meaningful to student learning. 

Appsfire Deal is a great app for searching apps that have been recently reduced in price or are available free for a limited time.  It allows you to search in catagories and set up a notification alert when you are waiting for a great app to go on sale!  

Another resource is App Hits which works in a similar format to Appsfire.

Honor Roll is a great resource for family friendly and education apps.  Apps are organized by educational themes as well as subjects.  These apps are based upon suitablity of the learner.

These are just three of many resources available to add great apps to your iPad/iPhone library. 

...Appy searching!

StoryTelling on the iPad

PuppetPals HD is a great app to promote storytelling among your students.  There is a limited library of free backdrops and characters to use, with others available for purchase.  Simply select and drag to the stage.  Students tap to record movement of characters and their audio naration.  When recording is finished, the story is played back in its entirety and can be saved as well as shared with others. 

Give it a try and release your inner storyteller!

New Year...New APP-titude!

Our school has recently purchased two classroom sets of iPads and we have begun collecting a library of apps that are engaging and meaningful for student learning.  I have found an abundance of great website resources that share great apps for education.  The resources appear to be endless, but this is a start!

http://teacherswithapps.com/top-ten-list-tried-and-true-classroom-apps/

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2011/07/14/the-best-web-2-0-applications-for-education-in-2011-so-far/

http://www.appolicious.com/articles/9492-top-20-must-have-educational-iphone-ipad-apps-used-by-real-teachers-in-the-classroom

http://appsineducation.blogspot.com/2011/06/apps-for-teachers.html

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/tablets/10-ipad-apps-for-teaching-kids-to-read.htm

http://bestappever.com/awards/2011/winner/thed

Create Comics with ReadWriteThink

Give students the opportunity to become cartoonist with Comic Creator @ ReadWriteThink.  Since an account is not required, students can quickly begin creating their own comic strips to share their knowledge of any topic or assignment.  Once completed, students can print their comic strip to share with others and begin creating more comics!  Resources for lesson plans are available at the following website:
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/comic-creator-30021.html#lessons

ZooBurst...3D Digital Storytelling

ZooBurst brings 3D capabilities to digital storytelling.  Teachers can create a free account that will allow students to create their own pop up book in a safe and protected environment.  You can check out the ZooBurst gallery to see examples and spark motivation to get started with your own students!

FluxTime Studio...Animation for Kids

FluxTime Studio makes animation come to life for young students.  Preset libraries with backgrounds and images provide students with ready-made props for their animation.  Easy to use tools guide students while they are making their images move and interact as the animation is recorded.  Once saved, it can be shared with others.  Give it a try!

http://www.fluxtime.com/index.php