Student iPad app list! Please evaluate & offer suggestions #ipads #vicpln

I don't like lists of apps but sometimes they are needed. 

Here is a list of apps that  I would have students install on their iPads for use in a 1:1 program. 

Is 46 apps, plus the preinstalled apps, too many apps for a student device? 

Please feel free to provide some feedback on the apps suggested. 

What would you add to the list?   What would you take off it?

Here is a google drive document featuring the list: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14MOJzW8fa7GC6h4OU09lg-NNN0U3-OHxLj9xT51u7l0/pub

To put the 1:1 iPad Program into context it will be run in an Australian Year 5/6 Primary School classroom, the students and teachers all have Google Education Apps accounts. Explaining the gmail, drive etc. 

It is envisioned that the 1:1 iPad program will support differentiation as the students will be able to consume high quality instructional media. However, the biggest positive is turning students into creators and collaborators. Who create and collaborate in purposeful ways to enhance theirs and others learning.

Much research, in class testing, discussion and consideration have gone in to the development of this app list. We have attempted to choose multifunction/purpose apps that can be used across multiple subjects and for multiple purposes. We have been mindful of price, workflow ability (especially with Google Education Apps like Drive) and usability for teachers and students.

Please contribute your thoughts below or in the document.

Make your own posters with Phoster iOS app! Free today! #edapps #ozedchat

Phoster lets you create posters by using templates, your photos, a range of effects, text and diagrams. I can see it being used by students and teachers for a range of things in their classrooms. 

Positives:

-No login is required

Phosters:

- automatically save to your camera roll (with a slight delay for me),

- can be emailed 

- or shared on Facebook.

I encourage teachers to check out Phoster here http://phoster.bucketlabs.net/

Preschool apps- fun, creative, educational.

I was asked if I recommended any fun, creative and educational apps for preschoolers by a families with three and four year old boys. I came up with the basic list below from apps I have come across and trialed. Please let me know any other apps that suit this age group. 

Interactive Books with touch features

     Free

• Little Suzy's Zoo, Cute story with read along, https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/suzys-zoo-storybook-collection/id567176669?mt=8 
• Ice Age Movie Storybook Collection, https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/ice-age-movie-storybook-collection/id540453640?mt=8 
• Pango Book 1, more  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pango-book-1-free/id523059901?mt=8 

     Paid 

• Pete and the Secret of Flying, $0.99, A cute quality interactive story, https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pete-secret-flying-hd/id442937329?mt=8 
• Paddington $1.99, A little pricey considering that it is just book without games, quality story, with some good interactivity and quality read along, https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paddington-bear/id450471471?mt=8 
• Gold Fish (Punky Dunk)- $2.99, Similar to Paddington, pricey, quality story and good interactivity https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/punky-dunk-project-punky-dunk/id548669201?mt=8 
• Three Little Pigs- $1.99, Engaging and entertaining take on the traditional story, https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/three-little-pigs-big-bad/id545234567?mt=8 
• Hide run growl, $0.99, Cute Story and Narration, https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hide-run-growl/id455935338?mt=8 

Fun Simple Playing and Game type apps

     Free

• Play School Art Maker, insert characters off playschool into scenes and move them about,  https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/play-school-art-maker/id473900831?mt=8
• Toca Monsters, Cook and Make a Mess with monster characters, https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/toca-kitchen-monsters/id510301841?mt=8 

     Paid

• Whose Toes Are Those, $1.99, Match the toes to the characters silly and fun,  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/animal-game-show-whose-toes/id507372973?mt=8 

Puzzle type apps

     Paid

• Puzzle Farm, $1.99, Cartoon farm images that require you to drag and drop objects to the right spot sort of like a puzzle,  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/puzzle-farm-imagination-adventure/id549756484?mt=8 
• Alien Buddies, $1.99, a mixture of matching and puzzles,  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/alien-buddies-preschool-learning/id469461540?mt=8 
• Dino Puzzle, $2.99, Drag and drop puzzles featuring dinosaurs,  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dinosaur-jigsaw-puzzle-game/id422366680?mt=8

Musical fun

     Paid

• Tap a tune, $0.99, Tap well known tunes (like Mary Had a little Lamb) by touching characters in time,  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tap-a-tune/id482933562?mt=8 
• Toca Band, $1.99, Drag weird characters up onto a stage to play music and hum,  https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/toca-band/id521640648?mt=8 

Alphabet and Words

     Free

• Elmo Loves Letters, Free and Paid Versions, https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/elmo-loves-abcs-lite-for-ipad/id427847605?mt=8 
• Bright Start, Draw upper and lowercase letters and numbers, https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pre-k-letters-and-numbers/id440235386?mt=8 

Please let me know any other apps that suit this age group. 

Insert text into images- PicFont and Text On Foto

Yesterday I created this motivational image for my classroom with PicFont. Which I found through Free Technology for Teachers. This morning Apps Gone Free featured an iPhone app Text on Foto which allows you to add text to photos in a convenient way and is perfect for inserting motivational quotes into images.

Use Text On Foto on your iOS device in these 3 easy steps.

1. Insert image

Open the app and insert a photo or take one. You will need to give Text Foto permission to access your camera and photos when prompted.

2. Insert and alter text

Press the Add Text Button at the bottom of the screen. White standard text will be added to your image. You can drag the text to anywhere on the page. When you have chosen the text you can change the font, size and colour from the panels on the side of the screen. You can add as many individual text boxes as you desire.

3. Share or save to your photos

At the bottom of the screen there are the options to share or save your image.

Use PicFont on your browser

PicFont- is a basic web tool that allows you to quickly and effectively add text to your images. Users can upload an image, type their text adjust the font, size, and colour and insert it into their image. Once you have positioned your text you can download the image.

NewsWhip- Perfect for my classroom

My students love to consume the latest news and report back to the group about what items interest them. Now I have the perfect app to do such activities conveniently.

NewsWhip

NewsWhip is a free aggregation app which I highly recommend. I can see NewsWhip becoming a regular source for my morning browsing of news and consumption of what is trending. 

NewsWhip claims that it sources material from over "a billion people on Facebook and Twitter". I found out about the iOS app from The Gaurdian's App Blog Post by Stuart Dredge. NewsWhip also has a website.

What I like about NewsWhip

• Awesome Interface: NewsWhip's design allows for you to easily change what type of news you want to view.

• Multiple news categories: With tabs for WorldWide which displays news from around the globe, Places which allows you to choose a specific country for your news to be sourced from and Topics from view you can browse news by topics.

• Unique content: all the major mainstream news items appear on NewsWhip but you also get some unique gems that won't feature on your other news sources.

Classroom Usage

NewsWhip offers classrooms an easy way to browse the news as it does not require a sign up or linkage to your social media accounts. 
Best of all it is completely free!