Classroom Staples
General apps that we use on a daily basis in all classes.
App
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Price
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Classroom Use
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Comments
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Ratings
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Edmodo
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Free
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Digital classroom management system.
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Edmodo provides structure and routine to our daily work. Students log in to Edmodo as soon as they arrive and complete their daily warm-up. Daily assignments, homework, notes and additional resources are all posted on Edmodo so students and parents can access from home. Students can participate in polls and quizzes and see immediate feedback. My students love Edmodo and often say it is one of the reasons they love using iPads in class.
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Keynote
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$9.99
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Presentations.
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While we don't use Keynote everyday, we do use it frequently. It is an easy, intuitive app for creating presentations. While there are lots of other (cheaper) presentation/screencast apps, Keynote is solid--few bugs, easy to use and easy to transfer between apps. Students enjoy adding in animations/transitions within and between slides.
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Dropbox
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Free
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File Sharing.
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I set up separate Dropbox accounts for each of our iPads so that students can post work and access it anywhere. My students often create screencast tutorials in Explain Everything, then upload these to Dropbox to serve as learning tools for the rest of the class. Note: To accept a shared folder invitation, you must go through the Dropbox.com website. To view some iPad-created videos on the iPad, you must go through the App (requires flash to use the website).
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iTranslate Voice HD
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$0.99
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Voice to text and voice translation.
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I have a large number of English Language Learners (ELLs) in my classes--this app provides a quick way that we can converse together without a live translator. Students can speak into the iPad in their first language, then have the translation typed/read in English. Similarly, I can speak in English and have the words translated into text and audio in the student's first language. Note: Must speak clearly into the speaker.
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Google Translate
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Free
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Language translation.
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I find that my ELLs will often use this app to discover words/vocabulary to better explain themselves and put their ideas into words by entering the words they know in their first language then translating to English--this is especially true with higher level content. Students can also use the translator to translate English words that they do not recognize into their first language. While Google Translate is not the most ideal translator, it does provide a useful tool for expanding communication.
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Explain Everything
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$2.99
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Presentations / Screencasting.
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This is our current app of choice for creating screencast tutorials. While it is not the most intuitive for screencasting, voice- and write-recorded presentations/tutorials can be easily converted into single movie files and uploaded directly to Dropbox to share with the class.
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