"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)"

"I know everyone is in those final days before break, so it seemed fitting that there a TON of free apps to share today instead of waiting until Friday. A few that I know for sure are time sensitive.. download ASAP! "

"Studio Pango produces a bunch of iPad apps that children (pre-K through grade 2) are sure to love. Some of the apps are free and some of the apps require purchase. To get a sense of what the paid apps offer, try the free apps first. This morning I tried two of the free apps. I tried Pango Book 1 and Pango Playground for Kids."

"Walk into our school library and you're bound to see scores of iPads propped up on the tables. Our students at Westlake High, a large suburban school on the outskirts of Austin, TX, are using them to read ebooks, download assignments, edit videos, write blog posts, and to do much more. Since we rolled out our 1:1 iPad program a year ago, more than 4,100 teachers and students, including eighth graders at the nearby middle school and even some of our elementary school classes, have taken advantage of these devices. In fact, they've become as much a part of students' everyday lives as their notebooks, backpacks, and textbooks."

"Stylizing text with bold, underline, or italics in the iOS Mail app is easily done with the same tap-and-hold contextual menu that also allows you to select text, block quote, and insert photos. "

"Education got a lot more mobile in 2012 as in-school iPad initiatives, the iPhone 5 launch and online learning providers in general made classroom experiences more interesting-and don't expect to see teaching head back to desktop PC's in 2013. In fact, as MOOCs and hybrid programs continue to evolve, mobile should have an ever more significant role to play."

"With the introduction of iOS6, we received and lost features and apps. One item lost was the Apple app for playing YouTube videos. You can still load and play video movies, or watch videos via the ABC and NetFlix apps. But lost was the app specific to playing videos available through YouTube, instead we have had to go to our Safari browser and navigate to our YouTube account."

"We have long been fans of the free Zite Personalized News on the iPad. The Universal app lets you choose groups of news types, then watches what you tend to read to find more of similar type content. Every now and then throwing in a bit of 'other' news to keep you well informed of your options. This week, the Zite developers released a version 2.0 with a new app icon and a new user interface throughout."

"We have talked about the photo enhancement Universal app SnapSeed before. The free photo tuning app offers the features of the higher end photo editing apps with a nice finger interface. Import a image, choose what you want to do to the image, move your finger up/down to choose which tool to use, then a left/right swipe to adjust the amount of the effect to apply. A particularly nice feature SnapSeed provides is pinpoint tuning. For example, lighten just a single spot of an image rather than applying a full image filter."

"No matter what level of educational iPad user you are, the following list of iPad specific web sites provides a depth and breadth of resources."

"Educators are beginning to see the potential of using mobile devices and apps for ongoing professional development as well as to improve literacy and cognitive development for learners. Apps are equipped with several features that motivate learners to create stories, presentations, and projects that are hands-on and use their creativity as well as their critical thinking skills. Once an app is downloaded, many features can be accessed without an Internet connection. Educators can also use various apps at conferences to connect with other educators or capture a presentation. Below are the various apps nominated by teachers for an Edublog Award so they must be worth checking out. Each has a link and a description. Make sure to check out the Edublog Awards for blogs, wikis, and web tools that teachers worldwide have recommended."

"A new version of Gmail for iOS is now available. Completely rebuilt from the ground up, Version 2.0 of the app brings with it a new look and feel, which Google hopes will result in a faster, sleeker and easier experience when using the app."