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"The iPad Institute is organized in five clusters that correspond to the five days of direct instruction and hands-on practice aimed at accomplishing the objectives outlined below. To help accomplish all of this within the span of five days, participants will use iBooks to to work through the iPad Primer that includes video tutorials and links to the apps taught in the Institute. To download the Primer your iPad needs to have your Apple ID."

You just have to tap your iPad and there you are, exploring the realms of science in a fun, exciting, colorful and in some cases, realistically illustrated method. That's what these iPad apps for science are all about. Here you will find science apps for elementary graders, high school students, college students, etc. for free, and some for only a dollar or two. Either way, these apps are all great in their own topic of interest.

Last month, Apple announced iBooks2 with the main focus being on electronic textbooks for education. I wrote my initial thoughts, concerns, and observations then and am still a skeptic due to costs and access to devices. iPads are expensive ($500) and then add in the costs of the iBooks ($14.99) for each student. Most schools are in the red and have no money for devices. Instead, I like device and OS agnostic, free apps and e-textbooks, along with free web resources. There are a bunch of links below for more on that.

But as Damian Bebell, one of the project's researchers argues, we can't just act as though the devices "arrive on parachutes" into a classroom and suddenly and magically students perform better. "It's really about pedagogy and teaching," says Bebell. The iPads are "just a tool."

The ScanSnap, Dropbox, Evernote, iPhone and my iPad are now integral parts of my work and life flow. Any sheet of paper goes into the scanner, or gets snapped by my phone so it is automatically stored, filed, backed up, easily retrievable, and always with me. And, with another move coming up in a few weeks, I will be very happily not be lugging around a metal box full of garbage.

"LectureTools turns student laptops into in-class communication tools and increases student participation regardless of class size."

"Apple is empowering students to share content in real time, turning a classroom lesson into a social-networking experience."

Conrad's class tweeting sessions, which usually come at the end of the day for about 20 minutes, keep communication open with parents and help the kids learn typing, spelling and reading, Conrad said. Getting to push the "tweet" button is also an exciting privilege.