This is an incredible app for students with special needs. It connects to the Bookshare.org database and does require a membership ID. However, students and organizations who qualify have access to a tremendous resource.
"From within Read2Go, you can browse, search, download, and read books directly from Bookshare using your Bookshare membership, as well as read DAISY books from other sources. The app gives you full control over visual choices for font size and color, background and highlighting color, and text-to-speech preferences. Read2Go features word-by-word highlighting for multi-modal reading."
This site offers tools for studying vocabulary. There is also a selection of apps available. What makes this interesting for students is the visuals provided by both images as well as video to give additional cues for learning words.
Platform similar to SubText that allows teachers to publish PDF, ePub, Word and Excel & classes / students can read collaboratively on any device. Documents are published using HTML5 = iPad friendly.
Designed for 1st-2nd grade students, Murky Reef combines reading and math skills in the context of exploring a coral reef. This is the free version, though there is a more robust version available for $3.99. Students can review numbers, sight words, and vocabulary. There is some reporting built in.
This is another online ePub converter. By uploading a Word, PDF, or other text file, you can convert that file to an ePub format for iPad, Kindle, etc.
This free app from McGraw Hill is great for elementary school students to work on building their vocabulary. Students can either play on their own or with a partner. Bluster works on rhyming, prefixes & suffixes, synonyms, homophones, adjectives, and over 800 vocabulary words.
In attempts to integrate mobile technology, educators are left to the mercy of app developers who or may or may not fully understand how imperative it is that our children become critical and creative thinkers.
I will highlight apps useful for developing higher order thinking skills
Apps that fit into the "remembering" stage improve the user's ability to define terms, identify facts, and recall and locate information.