Welcome to Mr. Langley's Classroom

You Have an iPad for Your Classroom - Now What?

How can I use my iPad
to improve student learning?

The first consideration is how many iPads you will have - is it one for the classroom, or is it one per student. That will drive the way you use the tool. The second consideration is to keep in mind that the iPad is a tool - make sure the lesson is your focus and the iPad is used as a tool to improve student understanding and learning on that lesson.

The iPad is a great tool for research, collaboration, video production, etc. Following are two sites that will get you started:

50 resources for iPad use in the classroom by Charlie Osborne  http://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/50-resources-for-ipad-use-in-the-classroom/16126 

iPads in the Classroom by Kathy Schrock  http://www.schrockguide.net/ipads-in-the-classroom.html 

While both are great resources, following is a list of the apps that I use for education:

Productivity:

Box - my cloud file storage app of choice - allows sharing and commenting on files and shows the version of the file if changes have been made

Evernote - a great notebook app that can be shared with others

DocsToGo - an office app that is compatible with Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint - also syncs with Google Docs, Box.net, Dropbox, iDisk, Public iDisk, and SugarSync

QRReader - reads and creates QR codes. (Vicki recommended you check out QR codes as well)

Drop Box - cloud file storage and sharing

Prezi Viewer - view and edit Prezis

lino - post-it note style brainstorming app

CommonCore - the Common Core Standards

SugarSync - cloud file storage and sharing

EasyBib - bibliography citation creator

Save2PDF - create a pdf file from a document or web page

neu.Annotate - a pdf viewer that allows you to mark up and take notes on the pages

Noterize - a notetaking app (text, freehand, highlighter, and post-its)

Total Recall - a brainstorming app (create context maps)

Mikogo - screen sharing app

LiveBinders - excellent app that brings your LiveBinders pages to the iPad. Collect web sites on a topic/lesson in one convenient binder for students to view

Trello - organization and project management app (I use this with my yearbook class, and the Flatclassroom leaders use it to manage the projects)

Blogger - post blogs from the iPad

Rover - the only iPad browser that enables flash

Google Drive - access your Google Docs

Adobe Reader - great pdf viewer that allows for highlighting and freehand notes on the pages

Flipboard - excellent information access. Will house your news, social media, education research, etc feeds all in one book-like app

Kindle - access your Kindle books

Nook - access your Barnes and Noble books

Play Books - Google's ebook reader

Kobo - ebook reader

Mirriam-Webster Dictionary

Dictionary.com

Currents - similar to Flipboard (more tech oriented)

iTunes U - great lessons that may be used for the classroom or professional development

Stanza - ebook reader

Teacher - socrative app that allows you to use i devices as clickers for formative feedback

Flashcards - flashcard app that can be synced to your web account

TeacherPal - classroom app for attendance, gradebook, planning, etc.

Knowmia Teach - create video lessons for your students

ShowMe - create video whiteboard lessons for your students

iBrainstorm - great brainstorming app

VoiceThread - access your VoiceThread account and create/edit your VoiceThreads

Bamboo Paper - great notebook app

SimpleMind+ - great mind mapping app

iMovie - video editing and production

Social Networking:

Skype - video chat

LinkedIn - professional networking

Bump - transfer files from one i device to another

FaceTime - video chat with another i device

Twitter - stay in touch with educators around the globe using hash tags (#edchat, #edtech, #flatclass)

Diigo - social bookmarking - share bookmarks of sites and highlight and post notes on websites

Pin++ - Pinterest app

TED - access TED videos (organized by category)

While that is an extensive list of great apps, I have many more but only included the ones that sounded like they might be of use to you. Most of the apps are free - I think DocsToGo and iMovie are the only paid apps above. iPads are great tools when used as tools.