App Title: Frog Dissection
Developer Website: Emantras
iTunes Link: Click Here
Purpose: B-
Program Functionality: B
Overall Educational Value: C+
Explanation: A great first attempt at a virtual lab on the iPad. The app functions flawlessly as a simple dissection simulator, but lacks a few features that would make this app reign supreme and set the bar for all other iPad science lab apps in the future.
It has been a while since I have written much about my opinion of the iPad. Lately though, I have been thinking a lot about the possibilities of the iPad in education, particularly at the preschool level.
App Title: BrainPOP Featured Movie
Developer Website: BrainPOP
iTunes Link: Click Here
Purpose: B
Program Functionality: C+
Overall Educational Value: C+
Explanation: The lack of control of the content of the featured movie and the ability to track the performance of individual students makes it difficult to use the BrainPOP app successfully in the classroom. However, the videos are of high quality and do merit some value.
App Title: Outliner for iPad
Developer Website: CarbonFin
iTunes Link: Click Here
Grade Level: MS, HS, College
Purpose: A+
Program Functionality: A+
Overall Educational Value: A+
Cost: $4.99
Description / Recommendation:
Have you ever needed to make a shopping list, to-do list, check list, organize your thoughts, etc.? If you have ever needed to do any of these things (and what person hasn’t needed to do at least one of these things on more than one occasion), then you need to check out “Outliner for iPad”.
I apologize to my regular readers for not updating my blog in a while. Last week was the state’s high stakes testing and I had to proctor the test to a class of sixth graders, even though I don’t teach them. They were short on teachers last week for some reason. But if you’ve ever proctored state tests before, you know how tiresome they can be. Because of that, I have taken some needed time for some R and R. This gave me a great opportunity to play with my iPad some more though. And let me tell you again just how awesome it is!
This is an iPad ONLY app. To learn more about my recommended iPhone options for the periodic table, read the “Other” section at the bottom.
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App Title: Periodic Table of the Elements (iPad ONLY)
Developer Website: iPhone and iPad Apps by Kevin Neeland
iTunes Link: Click Here
Grade Level: HS, College
Purpose: A
Program Functionality: A
Overall Educational Value: A
Cost: FREE
Recommendation:
The UPS man handed me my iPad at 10:28AM. I was outside with my 4 year old daughter and my 2 year old son. I was pulling them in the wagon at the time.
Once I signed for the package we went inside to sync it to my computer where I had already downloaded several apps for it so we could play around with it all day. Below you will find a number of things about my opinion of the iPad after playing with it all day with my kids. As a disclaimer, I have never used an iPhone or an iPod Touch, so the touch screen and how to interact with various apps was a new experience for me.
Apr
Just Got My iPad
I received my iPad at 10:28 AM. I was outside pulling a wagon with my two children when the UPS truck came. I currently have the iPad syncing to iTunes where I have already downloaded several apps.
You can expect an update later tonight as to my first impressions after using it.
Right now my impression is that it is a very beautiful device, but I have yet to try any apps on it. My two kids, one 4 year old and one 2 year old, seem just as excited by it as I do.
I just checked on the status of my iPad pre order to see where it is currently in transit. I was anticipating it saying somewhere in Tennessee or something like that. I was not expecting what I saw when I checked the status of my package. Below is what UPS has about the location of my iPad and its transit history.
This is NOT a joke! It came straight from UPS.com when I tracked my iPad delivery.
I had more time to explore the list of apps that will be available for the iPad when it is released on Saturday. Below are even more apps that have an educational value. I am sure there are even more, but I don’t have any more time to search for them now.
Art
- Wasabi Paint ($4.99) - Create Impressionistic paints like Monet and van Gogh.
- iGlass 3D ($0.99) - Make blown glass objects on the iPad
