Friday, December 13, 2013

APPs

EXCITING! I am the proud owner of a brand new shiny, hand-held computer!! Also known as the do everything thing or iPad mini.
Finally, I feel like I have entered the world of education technology and apps!! Besides being a completely distracting time suck, it is also a wonderful piece of teaching technology. 
As I have only just gotten this device I am still new to all the fancy things it can do, and I have only scratched the service of its many possible uses as a teacher.
In the one week that I have had my iPad I have downloaded:

  • Netflix and Amazon Instant Video Apps
    •  I used them to show clips in class
  • GoogleDrive App
    • I used this app to coordinate a research project that my students did. By sharing their files with me and mine with the them I had full access to monitor each group.
      • While before I used the website, the app allows easy access from the iPad
  • Paper by 53 and Notability
    • Paper is a gorgeous app that you can use to design andorganize information visually
    • Notability is a great tool that facilitates note taking and has a voice to text capability


All of these apps have practical use for me personally, but also can be used for teaching



The capability of mirroring surpasses any other advantage that this tiny tool provides, in my opinion. Mirroring allows me to be mobile throughout the class while still projecting information and interacting with that  projected information. Given that I am no longer anchored to a chair in front of a doc cam, nor tethered to a white board at the front of the class,  I gain the perspective of the student while also being able to use proximity to attend to attention issues in the back of the class. 

To facilitate this projectional capability I purchased the Notablity app. I had seen different teachers project a worksheet on the screen from the devices and then annotate and highlight the worksheet, as a model for the students or write down students answers on a worsheet. They told me about the app and said it was one of their favorites. At 2.99 I think this app is a worthy investment. 


Other Apps that I might consider using: EDU creations- for flipped classroom. Working with the virtual whiteboard to record lessons.

Talking Rapper- for ESL classroom. An engaging app that would help students produce
Shake- a- Phrase- for a middle school English classroom
Word Foto- a way for students to visual word in a text, to convey theme, etc.
DuoLingo- a supplemental game for the World Language classroom - Bonus, it's Free!




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