App of the Week: Project 365

Project 365 is an app that helps you document a year with photos. This week on the MacReach Show, we explored how teachers can incorporate Project 365 into their classrooms! Here's what we came up with:

1. Document a daily EduWin!
2. Gather work samples
3. Create a class yearbook
4. Remember the unexpected teachable moments
5. Progress monitoring for a given subject
6. See a growth chart
7. Create a time Lapse for a project
8. Do a daily discovery scavenger hunt
9. Document the life of the school for a year
10. IEAR community... we want to know what you think! How would you use Project 365 in your classroom?

App of the Week: iBooks!

With Apple's recent update to the iBooks app, we are realizing how much you can really do with the iBooks app! On this week's MacReach podcast (Episode 37), we challenged ourselves to come up with 9 different ways to use the iBooks app with students in the classroom! iBooks can be so much MORE than just an e-Reader app! We'd love to hear what you do/could do with this free app!

1. grammar lessons: located parts of speech with different colored highlighters
2. analyze quotes using the notes
3. information scavenger hunt
4. discover a new author/topic/genre using the iBook Store
5. Copy PDFs of Maps, etc.
6. Free books on a large variety of topics (just search Google!)
7. Collections in the iBooks (add new collections) - learn how to organize digital organization
8. eBook publishing... individual pages from students merged together for a student created textbook
9. share student work! customized portfolio, customized yearbooks
10. IEAR community, we want to hear from you! What are your thoughts on using iBooks in the classroom?

App of the Week: Twitter

Many educators use Twitter as a staple for their own professional development, but this week The MacReach Show took a look at how the Twitter app can be used as a tool in the classroom for students. While there are a plethora of Twitter apps available, we chose to look at the actual Twitter Twitter app. Here are a few ideas that we came up with:

1. Online bulletin board: share classroom news/events/updates/HW/PR Tool for your classroom. If you’re not telling your story somebody else is!
2. Take notes
3. Connect with other classrooms globally
4. Locate resources
5. Follow a historical figure (Charles Darwin is a good one)
6. Tweet as a historical figure
7. Tweet a historical event (Continental Congress)
8. Tweet a Book (War and Peace)
9. Live feed of sporting events... and other school events; effective tool for reaching out to the community
10. How would YOU use Twitter in the classroom? How are YOU using Twitter in the classroom? We can't wait to hear your ideas!

App of the Week: Skitch for iPad

If you haven't heard, Skitch is now available for the iPad as an app! According to the iTunes description, Skitch for iPad allows users to "use shapes, arrows, sketches and text annotation to get your point across fast. Mark up photos, screenshots, maps, and webpages then share them with anyone you like."

This week, we challenged ourselves to see how this can be used in the classroom. Here's what we came up with:

1. Art History annotations
2. Annotated instructions
3. Diagrams
4. Document experiences
5. Identifying objects in photos 
6. Annotating maps 
7. Science Lab
8. Taking data
9. Task analysis
10. How would YOU use Skitch in the classroom! The possibilities seem endless!

To hear more about how educators and students are using Skitch, check out Episode 34 of the MacReach Show on EdReach.us! And then share your thoughts here and on Twitter!

App of the Week: Scrap It!

Digital scrapbooking goes mobile with Scrap It! Scrapbooking has evolved into an awesome classroom tool. This week, we brainstormed how to use the iPhone app Scrap It! in the classroom... here are some of our favorite ideas:

1. document a fieldtrip
2. student portfolio
3. classroom news
4. capturing moments!
5. scrapbook your way through a story/novel
6. compile multiple projects into one document
7. mobile bulletin board
8. publishing student work to a website
9. showcasing students
10. How would you use Scrap It! in the classroom?

Please share your ideas on how this $0.99 app could make an impact in your classroom!

Architory - History of Western Architecture App for Students

For those with an interest in Architecture but don't know where to begin, there is a handy architecture app for use iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.

Architory - History of Western Architecture is a reference app that efficiently indexes hundreds of architects, buildings and their locations along with thousands of photos and concise, informative descriptions about each entry. 

Squarely aimed at 1st year Architecture students; Architory introduces student to notable architects throughout history and explains the importance of their works and various styles. From Andrea Palladio to Frank Lloyd Wright; the Renaissance to the modern era, Architory guides you thru a sea of information and organizes it into easily digestible chunks for better memory retention. 

Architory, also offers a helpful glossary of architectural terms, their definitions and relevant images. In addition, Architory educational app gives student the ability to read the Twitter streams of the most popular Architecture-related blogs. No need to have a Twitter account, student can just tap on one of the blogs on the list (or add your own), sit back and catch-up on the latest architectural news or info being shared and discussed. As you learn about Architecture's past, you can keep up-to-date on today's events and issues that will no doubt affect Architecture's future.

Architory, is an app for architecture student and will help those that need a quick introduction to Architecture to help familiarize with notable architects of the past and their works in the shortest amount of time. Architory will also support student looking to create a solid foundation and broader understanding of architectural history. Architecture students will find this app useful and like its quick and easy accessibility to the most pertinent information.

Alien Equation

App Title: Alien Equation

Grade Level: 3rd - 6th grades

Cost: $0.99

Purpose: A 

As the old adage says, practice does indeed make perfect. Learning and mastering basic math facts is a necessary skill, evil or not, for everyone early on in their schooling.  However, mastering these necessary skills isn’t always the easiest of tasks for some students.  While some students seem to be born knowing their basic math facts inside and out and some even pick up on how to form and solve equations almost immediately, other students need plenty of practice. 

For those students and teachers looking for an engaging, more challenging way to not only test their mathematical expertise, but their ability to form equations as well, Alien Equation by Funner Labs, offers an interactive interface that is both fun and educational.  Designed to improve one’s understanding, cohesion, and fluency in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, Alien Equation offers three levels of play; beginner, expert and practice levels so students can feel comfortable and not pressured and develop at their own pace.

The storyline behind the game is based on the fact that the navigation computer on your spaceship has a virus and if you re-teach the computer math it will save the day rather than having it shut down with the inevitable destruction of your planet. The storyline itself can be interesting enough for students and draw them into the game.

Program Functionality: A

This mathematical game is compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.  It is user-friendly and easily navigated by students. The game begins with a brief tutorial that takes you through the basics of the game play. The game is played on a grid comprised of numbers and operators which you can move horizontally and vertically to completely form valid equations.  By moving the rows and columns you can align the numbers and operators to form these valid equations and each time you complete one your progress bar will fill up across the bottom of the screen, complete the progress bar and you complete the level. As you progress the board will also get larger and larger in that there will be more tiles available making more options available.

Each level introduces a new operator to the puzzle board and each time you complete a level the board will be updated with an additional operator until you have addition, subtraction, multiplication and division all available for you to calculate with. Filling your progress bar, along with the points you get each time you complete a calculation are your only targets. However as you get through the earlier stages of the beginner levels or immediately as you start the expert levels, viruses start to be introduced and they add an extra level of difficulty to the game. Some of the viruses prevent the tiles from being moved while other will get more and more aggressive and if you leave them untouched for too long they will eventually explode taking your computer and your spaceship with it. In addition to the difficulty levels, there is also a practice mode that allows you to choose which operators are used and allowing you to isolate certain ones if you want to focus on them.

Overall Educational Value: A

With such a progressive way of adding new challenges, offering a storyline as a ‘reason’ for them to practice their math skills, and being engaging, students are able to learn at their own pace and improve their skills while having fun at the same time.

Recommendation:

I recommend this app for both classroom and personal use at this time.

Classroom Use Examples / Ideas:

This application can easily be assimilated into the classroom as a way for students to practice the mathematical concept in a visual and entertaining way or use it as ‘homework for added practice.

Developer Website: Funner Labs
iTunes Link: Alien Equation
Reviewer Name: Cheryl Lykowski