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"It might be true that some parents prefer to give their kids print books - even if they choose e-books for themselves - but when it's holiday travel time, it might be nice to keep stories on a single device. Apart from traveling lighter, these apps and games can keep kids engaged by allowing them to create stories, too."

"Yesterday after school my fourth-quarter filmmaking group made up of fourth and fifth grade students, met for the first time to start filming "The Ghost of Bethke." Although we have been writing the script and planning the movie for the past few weeks, this was the first time we met to start filming, but this time there is a twist. This time we are filming our movie exclusively on a new iPad (the iPad 3). I was impressed with the new camera on this iPad and I wanted to see if a movie could really be shot and edited on it."

"alloween is one of the most fun holidays. Kids love the spooky monsters, sounds, music, dances, treats, traditions, haunted houses, and costumes that surround the holiday. As an educator or parent that has an iPad, iPhone, or iPod you can capitalize on this time to help kids learn while celebrating the holiday. Here are free apps to help encourage math, literacy, and problem-solving skills. Some of the apps are just fun!"

"Some times when I am speaking at a conference about iPads in education teachers will share a concern that they have about every student getting an iPad. They are worried than the students will just work in isolation and our society will become even more fractured and self-centered with students never learning to work together. "

There are a number of apps that are available that let you record your voice in order to convert it to text. I find this helpful when I need to transcribe longer pieces or even if I need to transcribe multiple entries. This technology is not yet perfect but it has improved considerably since these apps first came on the market. The first time I tried these app I got about 30% of the words correct, that figure is now more like 85% and with some effort on your part can be as high as 95%. Even with the minor inconsistencies it is still a quicker way for me to do larger pieces of text. I find these good when I want to just get the text down for a piece that I will spend some time formatting later. These are great for students as well, especially those kids who display great verbal intelligence but struggle with the written word.

"The iPad, iPod touch, and iPhone make excellent toys and learning tools for kids, but if you've seen a youngin' with an iOS device you know it's only a matter of time before the inquisitive mind of a child escapes the current application and ends up elsewhere. That inevitable sequence can be stopped in its tracks thanks to Guided Access, a great new feature brought to iOS in 6.0 that basically functions as "Kid Mode", whereby any iOS device can be locked into an application with the hardware buttons disabled. This is one of those must-have features for teachers and parents, and using it is easy."

"One question I seem to get a lot about the iPad is what apps do I recommend that are free. I am hearing from a lot of teachers that they have no way to add paid apps and thus are stuck trying to find free apps. My experience is that many free apps stink. They have many adds, require in app purchases to be useful, or are just junk. I tend to stay away from most free apps. So what are you to do if the district controls adding paid apps? My suggestion is to build relationships with the decision makers. Don't just ask for a bunch of apps, instead provide documentation and purpose for a few apps you would like to have. I know this process takes time and effort but if you can show the purpose and learning you have a much better chance. If you need lesson ideas I suggest checking out my Pinterest page, and three of my favorite Pinterest pages: iPadsammy, TechChef4u, and Sue Gorman. Look for apps and lesson ideas there and modify them to fit your standards and kids. If I was starting from scratch this is the $10 iPad app setup I would push for in my kindergarten classroom. (I will be posting a $20 setup later)"

"AppAdice.com is one of those places that I go to for quick and easy lists of apps that complete specific tasks. These guys put a lot of time and effort into making these lists and often categorise apps within the lists. They always start with an Overview of what the apps do and then list them in categories; Essential, Notable, Decent and then others. "

"you can set up an iTunes allowance, which lets you specify a precise amount of cash that your kid can spend on apps without having to bug you each time he wants to try out a new iOS game. The allowance works just like an iTunes gift card, and can be used to purchase music, iOS apps, and Mac apps. It's easy to set up--we'll show you how!"

"eBook Creator' is the simplest and easiest ebook creation application. Its interface is designed for all ages and skill levels so that young kids are able to make ebooks using the app." Free for very limited time!

"The jury is still out on school iPad deployments"