Review of Time Tours: Chichen Itza by Kathy Burdick

Name of App: Time Tours: Chichen Itza

Free or Fee: $1.99

Rating: 5/5 stars

Why I like it: Take a virtual trip to Mexico to study the ancient Mayan civilization at Chichen Itza. Time Tours: Chichen Itza provides a map of the ancient grounds with Xs signifying important locations on the map. When the user tabs on an X a window opens providing information, picture galleries, comparisons from then to now, and/or animations. In addition to the Xs, there are also 3 eyes on the map and when they are tabbed on the user gets a 360° animated view of that location on the map. The graphics and pictures are superb and there is a wealth of information provided. This app would be excellent for a student reporting on the ancient Mayan civilization. Information about the location of Chichen Itza and its discovery as well as housing, arts, astronomy (particularly the Mayan influence on our calendar today), agriculture, religious beliefs and sports and entertainment are all provided in this one app! There is also a games section that proves to be challenging. The overview of the map provided in Time Tours: Chichen Itza could also be supplemented with the bird’s eye view of the site via Google Earth. So when time and money prevent a field trip to Chichen Itza download Time Tours: Chichen Itza. Where will Time Tours take us next?!?!

Visit Kathy's website for more ideas about using apps in the classroom!

Review of Geo Walk HD by Kathy Burdick

Name of App: Geo Walk HD- 3D World Fact Book

Free or Fee: $2.99 (for iPad)

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Why I like it: Geo Walk HD lets you travel the world with your iPad. The app opens with a globe that features card icons. The cards highlight a landmark, a plant, an animal or a person and are located on the region they are from. When the card is tabbed there is a picture on the front and facts on the back. One of my favorite features of Geo Walk HD is the filtering system, which gives the user the ability to hide or show a particular subject (not to mention the cool graphic icons used). For example, if you are focusing on famous people in the classroom you can choose to hide places, animals and plants only allowing the cards featuring people to show. This feature could be used to help students select a famous person, plant, animal or landmark to write a report on. Geo Walk HD would be a great addition to a study on geographical regions allowing students to see plants, animals, people and places specific to a particular region. However, it would be helpful if the globe included major cities, mountain regions or even continent names as a point of reference. Students could even spend some exploring the world on their own and take the quiz(using the quiz mode option) afterward to see what they learned. They could even use Facebook or Twitter (be aware of safety and privacy issues) to pass interesting information they found onto friends or teachers. The graphics, sounds effects and design are exceptional. With Geo Walk HD the world is at your fingertips.

Visit Kathy's website for more classroom app ideas!

Kiwi and Pear's World Adventure by Applicable2U

Kiwi and Pear’s World Adventure
  by  Zephyr Games

It’s summer time and for many, it is a time for traveling.  Adorable monkey friends, Kiwi and Pear will take children ages four and up on a world adventure that will explore “no place too far and no adventure too great.”  An educational app designed to teach youngsters of some of the wonders of the world with an added bonus of three interactive games. Initially Kiwi and Pear’s adventures were told via hardcover by author, Joyce Wan, but have been transitioned into the mobile app world for further enjoyment.  Easily accessible for the littlest of fingers, nicely narrated and artistically different from other preschool apps, Kiwi and Pear’s World Adventure has a great deal of potential.

Upon entering, users will have a choice to listen to the story book or to play some games.  For our review, we began with the story book option, visually and auditorily pleasing, the story begins with Kiwi and Pear flying through the air on an airplane.   Knowing the audience that this application is designed for, we were surprised to find that this story book had no written words that supported what the narrator was saying.  As an educator and also a parent, we would love to see the narrator’s words at the bottom of each page.  By adding this feature, users could have the option to turn highlighting on or off within an information window. For youngsters just learning to read, this would certainly be beneficial from an educational aspect.  Although it was not stated, we instinctually began tapping each page of the book for signs of animation.  We were pleasantly surprised to find many components would move such as Kiwi and Pear, the clouds, sun and many others.  Within the continent of North America, users will hear about such places as California, the White House, Statue of Liberty and even Fenway Park.  Then it’s time to travel a bit farther to such places as the Amazon River, Big Ben in London and sun bathing on the Mediterranean Sea.  No matter how far or where their world adventure should take them, Kiwi and Pear are the happiest when they are together.

An added feature that Zephyr Games has added is the ability to interactively play before, during or after the story has been told. Most interactive books do not extend past the story, Kiwi and Pear’s World Adventure however sets themselves apart by adding in the development of ones memory by playing a card game, going on a geography adventure and collecting fruit in the rain forest. Each activity is timed, offers both positive and negative reinforcement and stores a players score.  In speaking with the developers, we did mention that we would love to see a connection between the story book and the interactive games.

Overall, Applicable2U was pleased with the download and plans to share this early elementary application with other parents and educators.  If you would like to learn more about Zephyr Games, please visit their website here.  To learn more about the wonderful adventure and friendship that Kiwi and Pear have, please click here to begin downloading to your iTunes library.

Reviewers website: www.applicable2u.wordpress.com

Easy Chart Weather Lesson Using Easy Chart and Weather Apps

Cross Posted to iEAR wikispace.

Apps Used:  Easy Chart - $ Free for iPod/iPhone $0.99 for iPad; Weather - $ Free

Subjects that can be taught using apps:  Math (Graphs and Data), Geography, Science (Weather)

Grade Levels: 4th-6th, could be adapted for younger grades.  This activity works well individually or in pairs. 

Time:  60 minutes

Lesson:    Once students have the devices available, start in Easy Chart. I like to have the students familiar with how the app works before gathering the data. 

Once in the app have them go to the settings. Change the input from slider to keyboard. You can adjust the output size for the charts as well here. 

Tap Save.

Once back in the app, scroll to the bottom of charts that have already been created. You will find a green plus sign. Tap that plus sign to start a new chart.

 

 The chart opens with a Chart #, that can be changed by selecting the name and then tapping the x.

You will see two data points labeled one and two. You tap on the names to change those. Then you can tap on the numbers to change those. You can add more data points by tapping on the next line.

 With that instruction you should be ready to go into the Weather app and gather your data.  

 

Here is a city already set up in the Weather app. To set up a new city in the app, tap on the information ( i ) button in the lower left hand corner. 

This brings up the screen to add and delete cities. Ask the students not to delete any cities as there may be other groups using those.

 Tap on the plus ( + ) sign to bring up the search screen.

 Type in the name of the city you would like to add to the app. Be aware that many states and even countries may have cities with the same name, make sure you select the correct city to add. 

After they have added the 3 cities, have students get out a piece of paper and pencil. Have them create a data table with the expected high temperature for the next 5 days for each city. 

 Now they can go back into Easy Chart and enter the data for their chart. I have them build 2 charts to begin with. For the first chart I have them do a comparison of the highs in the 3 cities for one of the five days.  

Next I have them build a chart of the highs for all 5 days for one city. 

When the charts are built, have the students discuss whether the default chart (pie chart) is the best way to display this data. Have them tap the chart button in the lower left corner of the screen to cycle through the different chart options. Ask them to decide which chart best tells the story of the data. 

Now have them tap the button next to the chart button. This changes the color scheme for the chart. They can cycle through and choose the scheme they like best for any particular chart. 

I like discussing how different kinds of charts tell a different story with the data. 

For a final activity with this lesson I like to do some live data collection. I may choose favorite ice cream flavors or favorite candy bars, but I let students give me five choices. Then I ask all students to vote on one of the five and we graph that data. This helps to bring data collection and understanding data home to the students.

iPod Touch Lesson Plan/Review-Stack the States

Apps Used:  Stack the States - $0.99 - Universal App (works on both iPad and iPod Touch/iPhone) No VPP discounts available

Subjects that can be taught using the app:  U.S. History, U.S. Geography, Geometry, Physics

Time:  30-60 minutes depending on how long you give them in the app.

Review:  Stack the States is a game that allows for a variety of activities. There are a total of 4 games available although you must reach certain milestones to unlock all but the beginning game. 

To begin you enter your name for a profile. There are slots for up to 7 separate profiles. Once you have selected your profile the game begins. The player is asked a question about a state. Questions include capitals, landmarks, bordering states, and abbreviations. If the player selects the correct state, he/she is presented with that state to drop onto a platform.

The goal is to stack the states above the checkerboard line on the screen. If you accomplish the task you are rewarded with a state. Not quite as easy as it might seem. The states are not all geometrically suited for stacking. Also, when you drop the states they tend to bounce and rock and roll. If a state falls off of the edge of the platform then you have to keep going. Touching the state brings up a white circle with dots around it. With the circle on-screen you can move the state by dragging it. You can rotate the state using the white dots. While not ultra-challenging it is a lot of fun. 

As you earn more states you can unlock 3 more bonus games. Having worked with 4th, 5th and 6th graders in this game, I can tell you that students really enjoy it, find some challenge and even learn things they didn't know about the states.

Lesson:  The school where I have taught this has a mobile cart of 30 iPod Touches. I have the students retrieve the iPods from the cart, taking note of the number of the iPod so they remember where to put it back after the activity.  

 I begin the lesson by talking about relative size. One of the things that I really like about the app is that the states in correct proportional size to each other. Alaska is really big and Rhode Island is really small. 

Next we discuss the physics of the game. Gravity is in play as you drop the states, balance comes into play, as does the bouncy nature of the states. 

I use a document camera to demonstrate setting up the profiles and the basics of gameplay.  (This is probably not necessary as the kids have it figured out in seconds on the own, but just in case.)

At this point I lets the students start playing. I give them about 10 minutes to begin with, before stopping them. When I stop them we take a quick poll to see how who has gained the most states. This seems to be really motivational for the group. In each class that I have tried it, after polling the group, when they start playing again, they get quieter and more focused. I give them another 5-10 minutes to play then take another poll. I found that 2 to 3 rounds seems to be optimal. 

I love Stack the States, it is one of my favorite apps. I think students really enjoy it as well and learn quite a bit at the same time.

This lesson plan and review has also been added to the iEar wiki.

State Capitals ... Review #3 by CLykowski

State Capitals is a review application designed for upper elementary students and above for the iPhone and iPod Touch by JV-APPS. This application, which aids students in the review of US capital cities and their corresponding states, gives four modes of play to choose from. Students can choose from choosing the correct capital city when given the state, choosing the correct state when given the capital city, choosing the correct capital city when shown the state flag, or quizzes can be done randomly.

As you play the State Capitals game, it will keep your score at the bottom of the screen, showing both the number of your correct and incorrect answers, as well as keeping the amount of time you have spent playing a particular game. When this application has gone through the fifty states, it gives you an opportunity to enter your name as a high score if you qualify.

The only downfall that I found with this application is when given choices of capital cities to match with their correct states, there is only one choice from that particular state. I feel this application could be more challenging for students if two cities from a particular state were given as choices. I can see where students might choose the larger or better known city within the choices. For instance, when given the state Ohio, the application only has one Ohio city, Columbus, as a choice. It might make it more challenging if Columbus and Cleveland were part of the choices.

Grade Level: State Capitals is for grades upper elementary and above.

Program Functionality: A / Although there are no operating instructions for this application, it remains a very user-friendly and easy to navigate between the various level options and screens.

Purpose: B / Works well for review of grade level curricular material.

Overall Educational Value: B+ / This has value in a classroom setting and would work well for those students who need an extra challenge or who consistently complete their work ahead of the other students. If a variety of answer choices could be included in a future update, (see above), this application would be score higher.

Cost: $ 0.99

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch. Requires iPhone OS 2.2 or later.

Recommendation: We recommend this app for school and personal use.

Creators Web site: JV-APPS

iTunes Link: State Capitals

---C. Lykowski

Pop Geo - EduMacNation Review #2

App reviewed by EduMacNation.com. The original video posting is at http://edumacnation.blip.tv.

Program Functionality: A

Purpose: A

Overall Educational Value: A / The application works best for reinforcing geographical knowledge, but this will also be very helpful for those just with limited geographical spatial memorization.

Cost: $.99

Recommendation: We recommend this app for personal use and school use at this time. We are very interested in what future updates will bring and any companion apps that will follow.

Creators Website: http://popgeo.keeness.net

ITunes Link: Click Here

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