My Top iPad Apps

Inspired by a recent post from @ICTEvangelist, I've decided to collate a list of my top iPad apps for the classroom that I've used since getting the device two years ago.  I've tried to focus on the free apps (with a couple of exceptions), which I hope will be useful for teachers who are borrowing an iPad from their school.  Many of these came from various tweets and blogs, and I apologise for not crediting everyone. However, most of them come from @ICTEvangelist, through his blog but also his session at Northern Rocks 2015 (so: thanks, Mark!).

Free Apps

Evernote by Evernote

This is a fantastic app for taking notes and organising them with tags, making it much easier to find old notes on a certain topic.  Though I appreciate that many would rather stick to a traditional notebook, this has the advantage of being able to add photos, videos and websites to the notes; it even includes a document scanner.

Nearpod by Nearpod LLC

This app is great for use with a set of student devices (either through a BYOD scheme or through a set available in school). It allows you to display slides on their device, as well as embedding activities such as quizzes, short answer questions and annotation activities.

Post-it® Plus by 3M Company

I don't think I've yet met a teacher who didn't use Post-its on a regular basis.  The free app takes pictures of the chaotic mess of sticky notes students leave on your board and create a digital version that's easy to save and refer back to.  I often email these out to students as a record of revision tasks.

Socrative Teacher/Student by Socrative, Inc. 

Teacher app

Student app

Socrative is a fantastic quiz app, especially as you can use it through a browser if you/students don't have a device with the apps to hand.  As it allows both short answer and multiple choice formats, it works for a number of subjects and collates the student responses either as an Excel spreadsheet (ideal to add to a mark book) or as a page for each student to stick into their books.

MOLDIV - Photo Editor, Collage & Beauty Camera by JellyBus Inc.

Simple yet effective, MOLDIV creates collages of pictures from the images in your photo library.  It works for a number of activities in the classroom, though my favourite has to be getting students to find four pictures that relate, in an abstract way, to a character/theme/topic.

ThingLink by Thinglink

Another fairly simple app at heart- ThingLink lets you make an image interactive by annotating with little red dots that bring up text, video or hyperlinks.  I've app smashed this with MOLDIV in the past, with students annotating each image with an explanation of their choice.

iMovie by Apple

The trailer creator is probably the quickest tool to use with iMovie: I've had students creating their own trailers to sum up their learning, though I've also used it to edit together video clips of trench warfare.  By using iMovie to add text over the top of this and add some haunting audio, it made for a more engaging introduction to the context of war poetry.

Padlet by Wallwisher, Inc.

(link to website for browser version)

I was first introduced to Padlet as a website (then called wallwisher) in my PGCE year.  Since then, they have added lots of improvements to help you create an interactive notice-board where students can post text, images, videos or hyperlinks. I often use this for homework activities, as students can access the padlet on any device with an internet browser.

Plickers by Plickers Inc.

Although technically an app for smart phones, Plickers works on iPads too and was presented by a colleague at Teachmeet for Hull and East Yorkshire. It allows students to answer multiple choice questions using individualised codes (meaning that students can't see what anyone else has answered). This is great for those educators who only have one device in the classroom.

LEGO® Movie Maker by LEGO Systems, Inc

Although it was designed to create stop-motion movies with Lego figures, this app is great for creating stop motion with any medium.  I've had students create movies to sum up learning using plasticine, newspaper cutouts and cuddly toys, as well as the traditional pen and paper. You could even put the videos on YouTube, so that students are producing for a worldwide audience.

Apps that cost

 I couldn't resist adding these onto the list, especially as some of them are reasonably priced.  However, where possible I've added some alternatives that are free/cheaper.

Explain Everything™ Interactive Whiteboard by Explain Everything sp. z o.o.

A great tool for creating instruction videos. I've used this to create flipped learning videos with a number of classes, though I've also had it installed on a set at school for students to create their own videos.  In the app, you can annotate, animate and add pictures, videos and audio narration to an instructional video.  If you're after an alternative, try Puppet Edu too (https://appsto.re/gb/afy90.i).

Creative Book Builder by Tiger Ng

This is an eBook creator that allows you to put video, hyperlinks, images and text together to form an interactive eBook on a certain topic.  Though I know of many teachers who have used apps like this to create instructional eBooks for students, I have also had students creating their own revision guides or class newspapers: as the projects can be easily merged together, it is easy to collaborate on a resource that everyone can share. 

Notability by Ginger Labs

I came across this app thanks to a discussion on Twitter with @ICTEvangelist and @lanclassrach. After finding out that another app was going, I needed an app that would allow me to take pictures of student work and then highlight and annotate it on the iPad (to be projected on the board).  The outcome for me was Notability, that offers this along with other functions.  However, Annotate (https://appsto.re/gb/UKxt7.i) and Paper by 53 (https://appsto.re/gb/KfqkE.i) offer similar functions and are also free.

iDoceo - teacher's assistant by Bert Sanchis

iDoceo is a great replacement for my teacher planner, as it offers the same features (like lesson planning space and mark books for my classes) with other features, such as a student summary page (which is ideal for parents' evenings); seating plans; random name picker; and space to upload resources for each class (such as pictures of student work). Though it is a bit more expensive than the average app, it soon pays for itself when you no longer need to buy a paper planner each year.

ICT for Teaching and Learning: Let's Get Quizzical!

This is the first in a series of blogs, where I am aiming to share my findings on how technology can benefit teaching and learning in the classroom.  It is probably important at this point to state that I am not a fan of using technology for technology’s sake.  I agree that it can often be time-consuming and, with the pressures of time that all teachers face, I feel that it isn’t right to put too much time into preparing for a task if the students will get little out of it.

I feel that the two apps that I am going to mention in this blog definitely fit into the category of being low on planning time, but high in terms of the impact they can have on teaching.  Moreover: they are free!

Plickers

I came across this at the recent Teachmeet for Hull and East Yorkshire (held at Malet Lambert School) and was amazed.  It’s a fantastic example of how ICT can be used without a class set of devices, as the app can be run from the teacher’s tablet or smartphone.  For this, the teacher prepares multiple choice questions before the lesson and, in response to the question, students hold up a card with a QR-type shape on it.  Each orientation of their shape (whichever way they hold it up) corresponds to an option for the answer (A, B, C or D).  The teacher then accesses the app and scans their camera around the room, allowing it to pick up the answers and generate a list of who selected which answer.

The app allows you to select an option for the ‘correct’ answer, highlighting right or wrong answers in green or red respectively.  This allowed me to quickly target students for questioning early on in the lesson, as well as identifying students who I would want to give extra support to later.  Additionally, you can use a PC to enter your class lists and, as long as you update your data on the app with wifi, the actual polling can be done without an internet connection.  This was particularly useful for me as 3G in my room is non-existent and my phone isn’t connected to the school’s wifi.

The app works better with only a few questions at a time, and I found it useful for check prior knowledge before a topic.  For example, I have used it to check students’ understanding of word class and sentence type definitions.

For more details, see www.plickers.com .  Feel free to tweet me if you need any help setting it up!

Socrative

Socrative is another quiz app, although it does require a set of ipads/computers for the class.  Alternatively, students can access on their phones if you have a BYOD policy.  For socrative, you prepare a quiz (or use one of the many shared quizzes from other users) from your teacher account.  Questions can be multiple choice or have a short written answer.  Like plickers, you can select correct answers.  However, socrative offers instant feedback for students: it will tell them if their answer was correct and you can add an explanation to each question so they understand their errors.

I found this particularly useful when assessing students’ knowledge of punctuation before starting a unit on writing skills, as it meant that the next few lessons could be differentiated for each student’s needs.  This was highlighted by the detailed reports that socrative offers (an excel spreadsheet as well as an individual report for each student that they can stick into their books).

When using socrative, you need a teacher account (which is free), but students login using their teacher’s room number, and then quizzes are controlled by the teacher.  See this guide for more details on setting up: https://snapguide.com/guides/create-a-socrative-account-quiz/ 

A final feature of socrative that I’m a big fan of (as are my colleagues) is the updating answer grid you get on the teacher’s computer/device.  Here you see students’ answers populating the grid in real time.  One colleague found this particularly useful when one student decided to enter silly answers; she was able to sanction him appropriately and get him back on task immediately.

How do they compare?

Both of these apps offer a lot to assessing knowledge in the classroom, either from a quick snap shot/straw poll from plickers or from the detailed quizzes you can use through socrative.  Students love the instant feedback that they have and they both offer instant feedback that can inform questioning, as well as planning/differentiation.