Group items tagged

"One of the best book creation apps on iPad is now available for all Android Devices, as BookCreator makes the jump onto the Google Play store (click here to view). The iPad app has found its place as a key educational app in classrooms across the world, putting publishing into the hands of students and enabling teachers to collaborate with classrooms in other countries."

This cross-platform app -- iPhone and Android -- lets students create their own games and instructional programs. Free for teachers and students, you need to sign up for an account, but you can work on a computer to create the HTML5. Learning games can be dreary, but creating them can be very interesting for students. The frontpage shows middle school learners working away, so this might be good even for younger learners.

For Android devices -- mindboards can be saved to your Google Drive account and then opened on other devices. Might be good for students to brainstorm group projects or tasks.

"Description: A breathtaking array of 'learn to code' Apple, Android and Windows phone apps. Learn C++, Python C#, HTML, SQL, JavaScript, Java, CSS, php and Swift via the site or apps. These are 'must try' tools for anyone starting out with coding. The site even has a 'Code Playground' to experiment with your code." I haven't had a chance to try out any of these, but this should be an interesting starting point to get students coding.

This is a beautiful blog (mashable.com) that has a very smart viewer for examining the apps it talks about. These include iMovie for iPhone and iPad, and an Android comparable; Vyclone, which lets you mash up video from up to 4 different smart phones taken at the same location (using your GPS locator); Lapse It to crate time-lapse videos, etc. Way more than just special FX tools here.

This is a smart little app to create and edit your own apps for Apple and Android, and both Mac and Windows PCs and tablets. Be forewarned that it has to leave cookies on your machine, but you can supposedly develop and run your edits in your own web browser. Clever students will figure out ways to use it constructively. Both local and YouTube tutorials available.

A Scrabble-like game for learning Pinyin (Chinese in Western alphabet/letters). For computer or iPad; soon for iPhone and Android.

This is an app that can be used on most any device with a Web browser, including iPhones and Android phones. Supports images, audio, video, and scientifi markup via LaTeX.

This is a great creative app for iPhone or Android to create up 1-hr-long videos for YouTube. Your students can make shorter videos on their mobiles, then upload and splice them together.

From R Byrne: This is the most useful collection of screencasting tools I've seen. Includes both Windows and Mac applications. There are several worth trying and having on your desktop. Show Me What's Wrong, offered by Screencast-O-Matic, might be of particular help: it can be sent to a student having trouble with an application. When he/she opens the mailing, they start recording their screen, audio recording as they explain what they are doing and why they are having a problem. When they close the application it is mailed to you. This list of tools also includes some for capturing iPad and Android device screens, including AirDroid that can mirror your tablet on Mac or Windows computers.

A tool to let you pack images together with little marks to show where they "link" on a main photo page. Include text and video. An interesting tool to pack a lot of information behind one significant image for digital storytelling. For iPhone with Android coming soon, as of this writing.

A free online video editing tool -- also for Android and iOS.

This is the kind of real-life project that makes sense to students an could be used for extensive vocabulary and syntax development. The app used to create Chow Checker (which finds allergens in foods you enter into the app) is free from MIT App Inventor, which has extensive help and documentation. R. Byrne claims you can get students started with this without knowing anything about app programming yourself.

"The Aesop for Children interactive book is designed to be enjoyed by readers of any age. The book contains over 140 classic fables, accompanied by beautiful illustrations and interactive animations." This app is available for iOS and Android. Some stories have animations as well.

Discusses several good tools for videoconferencing including Oovoo, Facetime and Android equivalents, Hangout, and Skype. Also links to articles about how to get the most out of your video chats and conferences. t/h to Nik Peachey

R. Byrne: "Scribble Maps provides a variety of base layer maps on which you can draw freehand, add placemarks, add image overlays, and type across the map. Compared to creating a custom map on Google Maps, Scribble Maps is much easier for students to learn how to use. Scribble Maps also provides far more default placemark icons than Google's My Maps tool. Scribble Maps will work in the web browser on your laptop, Chromebook, iPad, or Android tablet."

A simple way to share audio clips on Twitter, Facebook, iPhone, Android, etc.

Audiobook is a mobile and web platform that lets you or your students create podcasts with computer or iPhone/Android.

5 neat apps -- there are probably comparable apps for Android and other mobile devices. Whether you have an artistic bent or prefer hand-written notes, one of these might suit you and could be linked into Evernote or OneNote, most likely. T/H to R Byrne.

R. Byrne suggests some ways to help students practice speaking in front of their class: "I answered some questions from teachers worried about students discovering more about technology than they could discover. The solution that I proposed is to have your students practice their presentation skills by showing off a "hidden feature" of their iPads, laptops, Chromebooks, or Android devices."