Thursday, May 30, 2013

Math File Folder Games

Math File Folder Games is a wonderful collection of iOS apps that is ideal for teaching/learning different concepts of Math.  Right now there are 4 innovative Math games: 5 Dice: Order of Operations Game, 4 Dice: Fractions Game, Ordered Fractions: Comparing & Ordering Fractions, and Grid Lines: Ordered Pair Game.  Each one of these games are easy to use, develop critical thinking, and have a high replay value.

Here is more info on how to use Math File Folder Games in the classroom...


A Perfect 21st Century Math Center
Where Student Work is Reported to You

Using the Math Game Apps in the Classroom

  1. Math Centers – These app games are ideal for a math center activity. Have the children read the instructions themselves if possible as this is a great reading comprehension activity.
  2. Whole Class Game/Display on Smart Board – Project the math games on a smartboard and they can be used as a whole class game. The class can sit in a circle on the floor around the smartboard and play in teams. The class can be broken into 2 or 4 teams to play.
  3. Homework - These apps are ideal for homework. It is a fun alternative to regular homework and parents can be involved in playing the math games with their children. This is really popular with the kids and the parents.
  4. Fast Finisher – These apps are perfect activities for those children who finish their work early. These apps are perfect replacement for file folder games they are quick and easy to setup.
  5. Peer Tutoring - These math games are great activities for students to use to help each other. Pair a weaker student with a stronger student so students can 'tutor' others.

I highly recommend checking out Math File Folder Games by clicking here!!!

*Math File Folder Games is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.



Wednesday, May 29, 2013

40 Sites and Apps for Creating Presentations

Creating a presentation or slideshow is one of the staples of any 21st Century Classroom.  This is a skill that almost every educator has and is a must known skill for any successful student.  It used to be that only programs such as PowerPoint could create presentations.  However, now there are lots of sites and apps that not only creating stunning presentations but also make it easier then ever.  Below is my list of some of my favorite tools for creating beautiful looking presentations/slideshows.

*This list is in alphabetical order.

40 Sites & Apps for Creating Presentations

  1. 9Slides - A wonderful site and app for adding video/audio narration to a presentation.  Ideal for professional development or teaching a lesson.
  2. Animoto - One of the most popular sites/apps for creating beautiful looking slideshows w/ an educational portal.
  3. AuthorStream - A great way to upload PPT presentations and share them w/ others similar to Slideshare.
  4. Aximedia Slideshow Creator - A wonderful Android app for creating stunning looking slideshows.
  5. Biteslide - A fantastic site for creating interactive presentations that contain all types of media w/ educational portal, where teachers create student accounts.
  6. Electric Slide - Is a nice iOS app that allows users to present all styles of presentations (PPT, Keynote, etc) wirelessly.
  7. eMaze - A nice site that is a cross between Prezi and PP that allows users to zoom around their presentation.  Best of all, a finished presentation can be embedded into a site.
  8. Flixtime - A cool site for mixing photos, videos, and music to create a stunning presentation.
  9. Haiku Deck - A amazing iPad app for creating beautiful looking presentations w/ the ability to upload Creative Commons licensed photos as well as creating charts and graphs.
  10. HelloSlide - A innovative site that allows a user to add narration to their presentations simply by typing in text.
  11. Kizoa - A fun site for creating slideshows or collages w/ a built in photo editor.
  12. Knovio - A nice site for adding video or audio to a powerpoint presentation.  Ideal for Pecha Kucha style presentations.
  13. Magisto - A cool way to create a presentation w/ this video mash-up site/app.
  14. Muvee Cloud - Another nice video mash-up site that creates fun looking movies/presentations by mixing and matching video and music.
  15. Narrable - An innovative site for adding audio to photos to create an engaging slideshow.
  16. Netclick - While Netclick is more of a "student response system" it is a great way to engage an audience through the use of an interactive slideshow.
  17. One True Media - A fantastic video mash-up site for mixing video, audio, and images to creating stunning presentations.
  18. PhotoPeach - One of my favorite sites/apps for creating an interactive slideshow w/ educational portal.  A user can also create a quiz embedded into a slideshow as well.
  19. Photoshow (Roxio) - A nice site for creating slideshows w/ photos, videos, and music, and sharing publicly or privately.
  20. PhotoSnack - A fun site for creating slideshows for blogs, FB, or Twitter.
  21. Popcorn Maker - One of the easiest video mash-ups sites around to creating stunning presentations.
  22. PowToon - Is a new (beta) and wonderful site for creating amazing animated slideshows/presentations.
  23. Present.me - A great site for "flipping" your classroom by adding a video narration side by side to a slideshow.
  24. Reel - A simple site for uploading presentations to garner feedback and self assessment.
  25. Slide.ly - Create a beautiful looking presentation w/ images and music.
  26. Slideful - A fun site for creating beautiful looking slideshows.
  27. Sliderocket - A easy to use site for creating visually engaging slideshows, recently purchased by ClearSlide.
  28. Slideroll - A nice site/app to create slideshows and publish them on the web.
  29. Slideshare - One of the most popular sites around for uploading and sharing presentations in a secure environment.
  30. SlideShark - A nice iOS app for view and editing PPT on the iPhone or iPad.
  31. Slideshow Creator - SSC on Google+ is probably one of the most popular way to create slideshows in a safe environment for students.
  32. Smilebox - A very popular site for creating beautiful looking slideshows, collages, presentations and more.
  33. Soo Meta - A wonderful site for "flipping" a classroom and creating excellent looking presentations that can be embedded into a blog or site.  Also, there are nice features such as: the ability to embed a poll into a presentation, track usages statistics, and more.
  34. Speaker Deck - A great site for uploading a PDF then turning them into a slideshow that can be embedded into a site or blog.
  35. Swipe - A new (private beta) site for creating beautiful looking slideshows that can be used on any device.
  36. TotSplash - An innovative presentation and brainstorming tool for creating engaging presentations that can be embedded into a site/blog.
  37. Vivapitch - A nice plugin for PPT and Android to engage audiences on mobile devices.
  38. Vizlingo - A cool site for making a slideshow out of text.
  39. Vuvox - A great site for creating stunning presentations and slideshows.
  40. WebSlides - A neat way to turn Diigo bookmarks into interactive slideshows.


Tuesday, May 28, 2013

GazziliMath

GazziliMath is an excellent iOS app for preschoolers and youngsters learning Math.  This beautiful looking app focuses on beginning concepts of Math such as: counting, number sequence, adding, and subtracting.  The way this works is students play educational games in an interactive zoo-like environment.  What makes GazziliMath great for kids is the incentive based "fun page" which unlocks hidden features and allows kids to interact w/ animals and musical instruments.

I highly recommend checking out GazziliMath by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Educational iOS Apps click here.
For my Edshelf collection on Educational iOS Apps click here.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Level it Books

Level it Books is a fantastic iOS app for teachers/librarians/parents looking to scan a book's ISBN and then get a Reading level.  However, this app is ideal for education as it allows educators to create a book list as well as manage students and their Reading levels.  Other nice features is the ability to get/recommend a book of the day, loan out books, and track all books and students in their class.

I highly recommend checking out Level it Books by clicking here!!!

*Level it Books is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Taplingua

Taplingua is a free iPad app for adults for learning the Spanish language.  Unlike other apps that teach you specific words by associating it w/ an object (ala flashcard style) Taplingua uses real-life situations and conversations to teach the language.  The way this works is quite innovative as a user first listens to a conversation between two native speakers and then watch a video where a tutor guides a person through the conversation pointing out hints, cues, etc (Guided Learning).  After that there is a pop-up note section to help strengthen and reinforce learning before taking exercise to gage one's success.

I highly recommend checking out Taplingua by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Foreign Language click here.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

PBS Kids Lab

PBS Kids Lab is a great site for educators looking for educational resources and online games for Math.  These games focus on PBS's famous cartoon characters such as: Curious George, Dinosaur Train, Wild Kratts, etc etc.  These games focus on kids ages 3-8 yrs old.  PBS Kids Lab also has a nice variety of home activities as well as other classroom activities, such as Augmented Reality.

I highly recommend checking out PBS Kids Lab by clicking here!!

LaunchpadEDU

LaunchpadEDU is an educational portal for Launchpad iOS apps.  This portal focuses on the use of the excellent digital storytelling app, Toontastic.  Toontastic is easily one of the best iOS apps I've seen for digital storytelling because of how easy it is to use and the excellent features it allows students to use.  LaunchpadEDU is a site that has a wide variety of resources for educators looking to integrate Toontastic into their classroom, such as: worksheets, printables, and lesson plans based on grade level.

I highly recommend checking out LaunchpadEDU by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Digital Storytelling click here.
For my Edshelf collection on Digital Storytelling click here.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

RoomRecess

RoomRecess is a wonderful free site for educational online games for Elementary students.  These games are simple to use and focus on a lot of different skills in the area of Math and Language Arts.  Some of the different skills covered in RR are: irregular verbs, parts of speech, multiplication, and more.

I highly recommend checking out RoomRecess by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Educational Online Games click here.
For my Edshelf collection on Educational Online Games click here.

Monday, May 20, 2013

emaze

emaze is a new (beta) site for creating stunning presentations.  This appears to be a cross between Prezi and PP as it allows users to interact w/ presentation and move around.  As w/ most sites a user can add: text, images, audi, links, etc into their presentation.  Best of all a finished presentation can then be embedded into a site/blog.

I highly recommend checking out emaze for educators by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Creating Slideshows/Presentations click here.

Below is an example

Powered by emaze

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo's blog for the tip.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Energy for Life

Energy for Life is a wonderful new iPad app by the creators of Miracle of Life and Experience Life.  This beautifully designed interactive app takes students through the different systems of the body: digestive, respiratory, and circulatory.  What I like about these series of apps from iDiCreative are the easy to understand explanations and interactive animations that engage students and allow them to learn in a fun way (Energy for Life does this by interacting w/ dinosaurs).  This is a fantastic app for MS/HS students as well as Health/Biology/Science teachers.

I highly recommend checking out Energy for Life by clicking here!!!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

ClassDojo TrendSpotter

ClassDojo TrendSpotter is a new tool for teachers that helps them assess and share student data in a visual way.


Here's what's new:
  • Easily see your students improve
  • Simply track behaviors by hour, day, or week
  • Get amazing insights about your class
I highly recommend giving ClassDojo try by clicking here!!!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Learn English for Toddlers

Learn English for Toddlers is a new free iPad app designed for preschoolers learning to learn the English language.  This is ideal for ESL/EFL/ELL teachers and students and of course parents.  It's a very easy to use simple educational app that has kids interact w/ different animated bubbles that focuses on different objects such as: animals, colors, toys, school items, etc.  Also, there are nice controls features for parents as well as over 100 different vocabulary words.

I highly recommend checking out Learn English for Toddlers by clicking here!!

For my Pinterest board on Educational iOS Apps click here.
For my Edshelf collection on Educational iOS Apps click here.

Monday, May 13, 2013

SpellingCity

SpellingCity is a wonderful site for educators for wanting to teach and strengthen student skills in Spelling and Vocabulary.  What makes this so great for education is that a teacher can browse or create their own word lists and then integrate them into educational games to engage students.  Also, through an educational portal teachers can create and track students progress as well as use their free iOS app for mobile learning.

I highly recommend checking out SpellingCity by clicking here!!

SpellingCity is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Healthy Heroes

Healthy Heroes is a free iOS app from the creators of some of my favorite educational iOS apps, Math Dojo and Recycle Hero.  This is an app designed for younger kids to teach them the value of nutrition.  The way this works is a user selects a "Yogotar" (classic avatars from the Yogome universe) and then complete 36 levels of feeding monsters healthy foods (vegetables/fruits).  As w/ any Yogome game the graphics are outstanding and the game is very user friendly w/ high replay value.

I highly recommend checking out Healthy Heroes by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Educational iOS Apps click here.

Memofon

Memofon is a new site that is great for brainstorming and creating mindmaps.  It's a rather unique site to use as all a person has to do is type in text in an outline format and watch as the mindmap is created on the right side of the screen.  Some other nice features are the different templates/styles to choose from and the ability to add images into your mindmap.

I recommend checking out Memofon by clicking here!!

Thanks to Free Technology 4 Teachers for the tip.

For my Pinterest board on Brainstorming and Mindmapping click here.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

QR Code Maker

QR Code Maker is a nice simple to use free iOS app for generating QR Codes.  This is great for teachers who want to create a Scavenger Hunt, flip their classroom, or use mobile devices w/ their students in an innovative way.

I highly recommend checking out QR Code Maker by clicking here!!!

Thanks to Class Tech Tips for the heads up.

For my EdShelf Cool Tools collection click here.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Brainscape

Brainscape is a wonderful site/app that allows teachers or students to create flashcards.  These flashcards can be created online and then shared to any iOS mobile device.  Best of all these cards can: contain images/audio, can be shared, are ideal for mobile learning, and can be used by any subject.

I highly recommend checking out Brainscape by clicking here!!

I'd like to thank Larry Ferlazzo's wonderful blog for the tip.

Experience Life

Experience Life is one of my favorite educational iPad apps (mainly because I was a Health minor in college). This is a fantastic/beautiful looking app for Health teachers or MS/HS aged students wanting to learn about the different systems in the body.  This interactive app focuses on the: 5 senses, Nervous System, Musculoskeletal System, and more.

I highly recommend checking out Experience Life by clicking here!!!



*Experience Life is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Chem Pro

Chem Pro is a fantastic free iOS/Android app for learning Chemistry.  This is ideal for HS/College students looking for help in Chemistry.  This app consists of 80 video lessons designed by students as well as other great tools such as: interactive periodic table, reference tables, and flash cards.  There's also a molar mass calculator w/ equation sheet and unit converter to help w/ problems.

I highly recommend checking out Chem Pro by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Educational iOS Apps click here.
For my Edshelf collection on Educational iOS Apps click here.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Futaba Classroom Games for Kids

Futaba Classroom Games for Kids is an excellent iPad app for teachers and students.  This app interacts seamlessly w/ a the Futaba website where teachers can create an account and then create games that can be shared w/ student iPads via a code.  These games cover a wide range a subjects such as Math, History, Reading, etc. and can contain images, video, audio, etc.  Best of all, this is one of the very few iPad apps I've seen that is multi-player and allows up to 4 students to play at once on one iPad.  This is a great way to engage students, integrate technology, and flip one's classroom.

I highly recommend checking out Futaba Classroom Games for Kids by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Educational iOS Apps click here.
For my Edshelf collection on Educational iOS Apps click here.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Toontastic Jr. Shrek

Toontastic Jr. Shrek is the latest spin-off of Launch Pad Toy's mega-hit, Toontastic.  This iOS app is wonderful for Digital Storytelling and can be used by students of any age level (even KDG/Preschool). What makes this app so great for education is how simple it is to use.  A kid just select's their scene, adds their characters, and then moves them around the screen while recording their voice.  Now w/ the Shrek characters this engages students even more and lets them use their creativity to create a digital story.

I highly recommend checking out Toontastic Jr. Shrek by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board for Digital Storytelling click here.
For my Edshelf collection for Digital Storytelling click here.

VideoClass

VideoClass is a innovative site that uses video to teach lessons on any subject.  Ideally this is for HS on up but can be used for any grade level.  These videos are laid out in a sequential outline where users can learn a lesson and then build off that.  What makes this so great for education is the ability to watch a video on a lesson, then complete online exercise to reinforce that learning.

I highly recommend checking out VideoClass by clicking here!!!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

iPad Kids

iPad Kids is another great site for finding educational apps.  Each app reviewed is very detailed, has lots of images, and even some have videos.  These apps are rated on a 5 star scale and have a nice pros and cons section too.

I recommend checking out iPad Kids by clicking here!!!

iKidApps

iKidApps is another nice site for finding educational apps.  A person can search by category or age level.  Best of all is the detailed reviews of the apps which include: images, videos (if available) and is rated on a 5 star scale.

I highly recommend checking out iKidApps by clicking here!!          

Apps4Kids

Apps4Kids is a nice site for finding educational apps for kids.  A person can search by age level, subject, or even language.  Each review has detailed information, images, and some have video.  Also, there is a nice breakdown of what they like about each and which apps are similar in content.

I highly recommend checking out Apps4Kids by clicking here!!

Shareor

Shareor is a nice site for social bookmarking that I just found out from Free Technology 4 Teachers. This site is very similar to Pinterest and a nice way to curate the web for educators.  It allows teachers to pin sites to sites, links, videos, etc to boards as well as leave comments (Pinterest anyone?).  The social networking aspect is nice to allow educators to collaborate as well as create and find lesson plans.

I highly recommend checking out Shareor by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board for Web Curators click here.