In a world with spell check, why is studying spelling still important? It aids in reading. It helps cement the connection that is shared between sounds and letters. Learning high-frequency sight words also has been shown to help with both reading and writing. Not only is the ability to spell necessary in most occupations, but a person also needs to be able to spell well in order to be able to communicate and take notes and directions. 

Geography seems to me to be one of those subjects that actually lends itself to the type of multimedia multi-sensory experience that is the ipad. Some of the apps in this post allow you produce beautiful infographic style maps using your data, others allow you to explore the ways in which the world is being effected by population. The map of disasters is a hard one to ignore especially in the context of the recent spate of tsunamis and earthquakes. Have a look at this small selection of apps that are available to see if any would benefits your students. Make sure you also check out the link on the home page to our extensive list of History and Geography Apps.

The wave of the future is here, especially for education.  Terms like 21st Century Computing, BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), and Cloud Computing are mainstream.  The introduction of mobile devices, iPods, netbooks, and more specifically, the iPad, has brought technology to more students than ever before.  A one-to-one computing environment is not only a possibility, but also a reality in more school districts than people realize.  With all that being said, below are my 10 favorite sites for finding educational apps.

There are many students with hearing loss that are integrated into mainstream schooling. These students struggle with the day to day situations that we simply take for granted or do not really have a full appreciation of.  Are there apps available to give these kids a leg up?  The simple answer is YES. These apps have been sourced as one way that the technology integration that happens in your room may be shared with all your students. These are apps that your hearing impaired students could use to make their everyday school live a little easier.

Most people who are Mac users would probably be familiar with iMovie. It's an easy to use app for making professional looking movies to share with others or for students to show their understanding of a concept or issue. iMovie is great, however, it is not the only app for making and editing movies on the iPad. There are numerous apps that do this job admirably - why don't you find one that matches your workflow or the learning styles of your students. Here is a small selection;

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.

Collections of Apps can be expensive. How do you locate appropriate apps at a reasonable price or better still for FREE. Here are some really easy ways to locate apps that might be useful in your classroom.