50 Fab Apps for Teachers

Scholastic has shared a 50 Fab Apps link. Apps are for both iOS and Android systems.  The apps are for Language Arts, Science, Math, Social Studies, Music & Art, Special Needs, Lesson Planning, Communication  & Organization,  and Classroom Management.
This PDF lists the paid and free apps.

Edmodo Apps - Class Chart & Flashcards

As Edmodo continues to increase in popularity, utilizing the free apps that are located in the Edmodo Store is one way to ensure you are getting the full experience.

Two free apps that can be useful in Edmodo-created class groups are Class Charts and Flashcards.
Class Charts is a behavior recording tool that allows the user to create detailed seating.  

Teachers create charts by uploading actual student pictures or use the app's icons.  Then arrange the charts based on learning groups or minimizing behavior issues.  Keep track of each student's positive and negative behavior directly from his/her profile.

Teachers can invite other colleagues to track and analyze student behavior and attendance.  Detailed reports can be gathered on individual students or entire classes.



Flashcards by Course Hero presents students and teachers an easy way to study new information.

Cards can be created or customized from the several thousand flashcards that exist already.  Students can and then save and share their sets with other students.

Remember, apps purchased in the Edmodo store shouldn't be confused with iTunes (or Android) apps, as these will only work inside of the Edmodo site.

Bounce - Easy Way to Share Ideas on a Webpage

Bounce is a free Web 2.0 tool that lets you easily annotate screen captures of webpages.  You can then share them with anyone.
Start by entering the URL you want to annotate.

Then while the page is loading you will see why the site is named Bounce.

Bounce then generates an image of that website with controls at the top of the page that allows you to draw boxes that you can type annotations in. Then click on the specific area of the screenshot where you’d like to leave feedback. Keep in mind that each box is numbered sequentially, so you may want to plan your order prior to use.

Once you have finished adding annotations, Bounce creates a new URL for your screen captures that you can share with others.

Classroom Integration Ideas:

• Teachers can add questions to websites they want students to research
• Students add notes to researched web sites on assigned topics and share annotated notes with the rest of the class. 

Symbaloo

Symbaloo is a web based visual organizing and sharing tool that allows you to bookmark websites, which you can share or just use for yourself.

Each website that you would like to bookmark, is arranged in tile boards, or as Symbaloo calls them - webmixes. These can be shared easily with others by clicking webmix details, allowing you to share a the URL link to your webmix, email to others, or embed the code in your website or blog.
A new iPad version gives you access to your Symabaloo webmixes on any iDevice.


Classroom Integration Ideas:

• Create webmixes about topics to share with your students. This would be a great for way elementary teaches to use with their students to use in place of bookmarking several websites on a specific computer. 
• Students research a topic, and  create their own webmixes, then share them with the class as a way of presenting their research. 

Tellagami

Tellagami is a free App that allows you to create a customizable talking avatar. Check out the video below for an example.

Easy to customize your own character's appearance from a side menu.  Use a background from one of Tellagami's pre-created, or upload your own background from your camera roll or an image you've saved.

To make your avatar speak, either type the text and choose from a list of voice types to read it out load or record your own voice.  Once it's saved in your camera roll on your iPad or other "iDevice", simply sync it to your laptop or email the video in order to share it.


Classroom Integration Ideas:

• A great tool for digital storytelling where students create an avatar with their own photos and voice to tell a story.
• Teachers can use Tellagami to introduce a new topic in place of themselves to their class.
• Students use Tellagami avatar to present a short book report.  

Mentormob

Mentormob is a free Web 2.0 resource that allows users to create "learning playlists" for their students or even colleagues. Essentially you can create a slideshow that contains websites, uploaded files, online quizzes, or self written information pages.

As you create each new "step" containing one of the above, a you will be asked to add a description of what that step includes.  The steps can be edited, moved into a different "play" order, or deleted.

Once the list is complete, simply share the playlist with others with the shortned URL that was created by clicking the share button. As students move through the playlist, a progress meter is displayed at the top of the page letting them know how many "steps" of the playlist is left.

One of my favorite aspects, is the ability to create a quiz anywhere in the playlist.  The questions on the quiz can be multiple choice or true false.

Classroom Integration Ideas:

• Teachers can create playlists of websites they want students to use for that day or week in class. Especially useful for elementary grades since students only have to type in one URL of the playlist.
•  Use a mixture of web pages, photos, and written articles to focus a particular subject. Then evaluate their learning with a quiz inserted into the playlist.

Best of TCEA 2013

Each February, some of technology's best and the brightest gather in Austin for the annual Texas Computer Education Association's conference.  Over the new few weeks, I will discuss some of my favorite Apps and Web 2.0 sites from that conference.

Chirp is a free app that lets you share information from one device (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad) to another using sound.  Chirp 'sings' information, letting you share photos, links, notes after the user uploads that data into Chirp. Any device within the audio range that is using Chirp is able to retrieve the data.  There is no need to pair devices. 

Classroom Integration Ideas:
This could be an easy way for teachers to share presentations or web links to students without the students typing any any URLs.

 
Two Web 2.0 resources that are related but perform different tasks are KeepVid and Quitetube.
KeepVid allows you to easily download video from Youtube and save it for later use.
Ouiettube simply removes all distractions such as comments, side ads, etc.

Classroom Integration Ideas:
Great way for teachers to preview and save videos to use in class at a later date.