Memrise is a fun mobile (iOS/Android) app for learning foreign languages. This is done through Game Based Learning as a user plays through a variety of games such as: speed review, listening skills, difficult words, and classic reviews. Also, there are lots of resources to help learn a language such as chatbots and videos from actual foreign language speakers.
Noisy Book is a wonderful new innovative iOS app for kids. Noisy Book works by supplying sound effects to a book by processing what is read (i.e. adding a horn honking to a car). Also, a user can create their own story and add sound effects for a fun way to incorporate digital storytelling. Best of all, Noisy Book understands what is being read and creates an educational quiz for the main parts of a story to gauge understanding/comprehension.
SOLE is a "self organized learning environment" that is a wonderful app for mobile learning and integrating technology into the classroom. The way this works is by a simple process: asking a question or selecting one, investigating/collaborating w/ others, and review. A SOLE session can last up to 45 min or one class period and is a great way to generate brainstorming and creative thinking. Finally, SOLE has a wide range of educational resources such as: lesson plans, tutorials, rubrics, and more.
Jellies is a new iOS app for finding educational videos similar to YouTube Kids. However, what makes Jellies an intriguing alternative to YouTube is that all videos are curated by people instead of a computer algorithm. What this means, is that there is a very scrutinive process that most be met for these videos to be available. All videos, are age appropriate and do not have any "stars" or ads for commercial purposes. Best of all, is the Kids Mode where parents can curate and control what videos their kids can watch.
Reading Racer is a free new iOS app that I just had the pleasure of reviewing. This is an excellent easy-to-use app that uses the mobile device's microphone to "listen" as a student speaks the words on the screen. This is really innovative and separates Reading Racer from other educational apps on the market.Reading Racer is a free new iOS app that I just had the pleasure of reviewing. This is an excellent easy-to-use app that uses the mobile device's microphone to "listen" as a student speaks the words on the screen. This is really innovative and separates Reading Racer from other educational apps on the market.
Socratic is an innovative new and free iOS app for homework help for students. This simple-to-use app lets students take a picture of their homework problem and then get answer walkthroughs, videos, explanations, and more to help them w/ their problems. It supports, Math, Science, History, etc and is a great time saver/tutor for kids
EDpuzzle is vastly becoming one of the premiere web/iOS tools around for learning in the classroom. This is fantastic free tool for editing a video, cropping, adding quizzes/polls, narration, etc. then embedding into site/blog. It is being used to flip a classroom or lesson, Project Based Learning, grading/assessing, and even for differentiating instruction. The educational portal allows students to sign-up w/out needing an email account and lets educators track student progress in real-time.
I was lucky enough to try out a private version of Seesaw awhile back and am excited to say that now it is available for the public!!! This is a fantastic free iOS app that students can use to create digital portfolios or journals. These journals can contain anything from audio to video, photos, and even drawn upon. Best of all, are the teacher tools that allows educators to create class lists and manage and track all students. Finally, there are a ton of great resources for educators, such as lesson plans, printouts, QR codes for singing up (or class code), parent notifications, and more.
My Weather Book is a fun iOS app that students are using for word and letter recognition. The way this works is by tracing letters and coloring pictures while learning different vocabulary words about the Weather. As they are learning their words and practicing letters they are selecting pictures and creating their very own coloring book. Upon coloring their digital book a student can bring up drawing/coloring tools that includes a microphone that speaks the highlighted words. This helps students w/ word recognition and build up their vocabulary around Weather.
The Foos: Code for an Hour is a super fun free iOS app that teaches beginning programming concepts to students. It's very similar to Scratch where users connect blocks to form commands. There are 24 levels that students can complete to unlock new characters and abilities. Some of the concepts covered in Foos are: problem solving, sequencing, spatial visualization, and more.
FluencyFinder is the amazing mobile (iOS/Android) app that every K-8/parent needs to assess their student's Reading fluency in real-time. Not only does this app support multiple users ideal for class use, it stores data for easy use on multiple devices, as well as allow for Reading comprehension assessment. Best of all, the latest update (v. 3.0) allows users to upload their very own Reading passages that they can use to assess students. This is perfect to fit w/ any curriculum or Reading program.
My Weather Book Pro is a fun educational iOS app that kids can use for word/letter recognition by tracing words and coloring pictures. This is done in a easy to use interface where parents can select which style (i.e. bold, dotted) of letters can be traced, while the child can select their pictures to be included in their coloring book. After that by tapping on a picture in the coloring book a user can then access the coloring, brush, drawing/writing tools to interact w/ the picture. Best of all there is a microphone button that will speak the highlighted word. This helps w/ word recognition as well as build up a child's vocabulary around the weather.
Math Monsters Bingo is a fun free iOS app for learning basic Math skills (i.e. adding, subtracting, etc.). The goal is simple, try to find the monster under the Bingo cards which represent answers and achieve the highest score/BINGO. This game has high replay value and best of all tracks students scores that allows multiple players on the same device.
Teachable is a nice free iPad app that educators are using to make their lives in the classroom easier. It's a very easy to use productivity app that helps teachers plan, track, and organize their classroom from their iPad. Educators can manage, track, assess, and grade
Shadow Puppet Edu is one of my favorite and most robust iOS apps for digital storytelling. This simple to use drag-n-drop app lets students upload images, videos, and even narrate their own stories by recording audio. Also, Shadow Puppet Edu lets user search for Common Core aligned lessons w/in the app itself. Educators around the world are using it for Project Based Learning, digital storytelling, and even flipping a classroom/lesson. There is even a free teacher resource kit for those new educators looking to signup.
EDpuzzle the premiere site for flipping a lesson through video has just released a free iOS app. As w/ the site this app allows users to take a video and easily "make it their own" by editing, cropping, adding narration and questions to flip a lesson or classroom. Students can then view the video on their mobile device, answer the questions, and gauge their learning. This is also a great way for educators to assess student's learning and differentiate instruction.
Chronicle is a innovative new iPad that is ideal for classroom management, grading, assessing, note-taking, and so much more. It is a educational tool that educators are using for harnessing their teaching best practice methodologies. It is designed for educators to "Chronicle" each student through detailed and easy to use data by allowing educators to add multimedia (i.e. audio, video, images, etc.) content to each student's progress. Teachers can customize notes and audio clips to each student, and assess students in real-time using a visual "traffic-light" design. Also, it allows educators to integrate Common Core Standards and act as a grade book w/ an abundance of export features.
30hands is one of my all-time favorite free iOS apps for Digital Storytelling. This is a simple app to use w/ a detailed walk-through that helps any first time user create their own. Everything is done in a user friendly drag-n-drop interface that allows students to add/take photos, draw, and record narration to each slide. Once the story is complete it can then be uploaded to the cloud via the free educational community 30hands Learning. This is a great LMS that lets educators share their student work, assess them, and much much more.
