Evernote is a great app for note taking and organization. It allows you to create notebooks for just about any purpose. I use it to keep notes for a variety of projects, committees, clubs and personal use. In addition to note taking, Evernote also allows you to add pictures using the camera or from your camera roll. It also allows you to add audio to your notes. All notebooks can be shared with others either by providing a public link or inviting specific individuals. The best part is that all notebooks can be synced to your computer or other mobile devices so that your notes are with you wherever you go. . . by Donna DeLuca
TED is an amazing app that has access to more than a thousand talks and speeches from thinkers, innovators and other fascinating people around the world. The app updates almost every day with new talks. You may sort the featured library by recency or popularity, browse talks by tags, themes, or language, and share your favorite talks with your friends. You may also download full videos to your device and watch them when you’re offline. What I really love about this app is the “Inspire Me”category. You can choose inspirational talks that are courageous, funny, beautiful, jaw-dropping, and more. You can also narrow your choice by the length of the speech. So if you need a 5 minute pep talk or a bit of humor to start your day, you can specify the length of the inspirational talk. Many of the talks are appropriate for students as well. The tags allow you to search a particular subject and then you can see the length, posting date and descriptive words. . . by Louise Prescott Atlas of the World is a Digital Atlas of the United States and the World, with satellite images of 200 famous landmarks. The world map lets you view data by country, while the United States map can be viewed at both state and county levels. The articles on each state or country provide historical information as well as images including the flag. The Landmarks section contains information on 260 world landmarks. The satellite images are beautiful and the articles contain several additional images of the landmark. Data is provided from the World Bank, Wikipedia and the US Census. An Internet connection is required for this app to work properly. I would recommend this for fifth grade and up. . . by Louise Prescott TinyFractions is a fun way to teach identifying, comparing, reordering, equivalency, simplifying, and basic addition and subtraction of fractions. It offers a learning section and a review section for each skill. As the students master a skill the app allows them to move onto the next level. . . by Laura Bishop-Scioli Toontastic is an app that enables students to become storytellers. Students are able to draw their own illustrations or use stock images while practicing the concept of story mapping as they tell their stories. The pictures can then be animated and students are able to record themselves narrating their work. This app creates a wonderful platform to engage students in the writing process. My fourth grade classes have been using this app to give life to the folktales they have been writing in library class. . . by Laura Bishop-Scioli |