Qwiki: Best iPad App of 2011

“Qwiki Knows Millions of Things”—that’s what you read when you open the app. When you go to quiki you can search for topics of interest or you can open one of the featured topics. On April 5, 2012, for example, the features included the 2012 Alpine World Cup, cherry blossoms, and the 2011-2012 uprising in Syria. When I opened the Alpine World Cup, a short slideshow with audio described the event and introduced users to some of the top skiers. Once the slideshow was finished, I could select from a number of options related to the event, the places it was held, the World Cup and the skiers.  I could also post what I found on Facebook, Tweet it, email it, or embed it in something I was working on.  Teachers are finding Qwiki a valuable free resource that they can use to help students learn to organize resources for projects, papers, and reports. They also like the ability to embed Qwiki resources in their own materials.