Classroom Timer Apps

If you are looking for a classroom timer that will work with the iPhone, iPad, or iPad Touch, the Classroom Timer Pro ($1.99), by Walsall Academy, is easy-to-use and good for timing classroom activities. There is a free version of this product, but the Pro version had better reviews. Glen Storey offers Silent Light—Classroom Timer and Decibel Meter ($3.99) for the iPhone and iPad. It uses the microphones on iPhones and iPads to monitor noise; you can share its screen through projectors and Apple TV.   Designed to help students with management and productivity, ClassTimer by Ventura Educational Systems ($.99) requires iOS4.2 and is compatible with iPads.

Math Bingo

Fun with math for Kindergarten through Grade Three, Math Bingo ($.99) by ABCya.com, motivates children to learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with five Bingo games. The games range in content level from easy to difficult. Bingo Bugs are given as rewards; a scoreboard displays student scores.  Three bonus games come with the app. According to a review in Education World, Math Bingo “is a great app to supplement regular math lessons.”

Fun Gumdrop Cases for Mobile Devices

Rugged protection in gumdrop colors -- Gumdrop’s Drop Tech Series cases provides virtually indestructible protection for mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and other devices and tablets. The cases feature dual material construction and reinforced rubber corners for shock absorption. Replaceable screen covers are included, as is access to ports and controls. There’s even a Designer Series, which includes Gumdrops in blue with pink, orange with blue, purple with pink, and yellow with blue. Of course, the cases also come in basic black. Then, there’s Army Green, red, etc . . . . The cases have been put to use in schools, by fire departments—even on fire engines, by medic units, and with children with disabilities. Volume discounts are available for schools. 

According to our six-year-old quality testers:

Zoe: “I have a pink and blue one, which is really pretty. My mom says if I drop it, it won’t break, but I’m not supposed to drop it.”

Lebby: “Mine is black. I use my iPad all the time because I make movies and read books with Raz-Kids. The Gumdrop is really safe for my iPad, and that is very important.”

Story by Disney

Disney’s free app, “Story," lets you use photos and video on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch to create stories. It’s not a game or related to a Disney product; its purpose is to allow you to organize the media you have on your digital devices. Your stories, once complete, can be shared on social media and will look like a book complete with “fluid page turning and animation.” Leah Yamshon of MacWorld in her piece, “Disney Interactive Launches Story, a Non-Disney-Centric Photo App”, says that Story is “very intuitive to use with nice in-app editing features and a stunning final product.” This looks like a great app for schools using iPads in the curriculum.

The Flying Kids’ Bookstore App

The Flying Kids’ Bookstore is an app that sends children “soaring” with their reading.  The Bookstore is free; the books students can load on their personal shelves are priced at about $2 to $3 each. Brief descriptions of books that may be purchased appear when the book images are clicked. These interactive books are divided into categories for ages 2+, 3+, 4+, and all books are available in English, Spanish, French, and German. The Bookstore app is a nice way to introduce young children to good books, good reading, and fun literature on bookshelves online. It’s also an excellent way to help children learn to read in foreign languages.

Apps for Kindergarten & More

Katrina Keene created an edshelf collection of tools for use with Kindergarten students. Some of the apps she recommends are First Letters and Phonics, Eddie’s Number Party, Spell + Friends, Tiny Chicken Learns Math, Toontastic, and twenty other apps. As with any edshelf collection, you can embed Keene’s resource right into your blog or Website using the edshelf’s Collection Widget. The free edshelf site features many other collections that may be of use to you. Perhaps, you’ll want to create a free account so that you can create your own edshelf collections.

Looking for Apps for Kids & Teens?

Common Sense Media offers “starter kits” to help parents, teachers, and students find essential apps for iPhone, Android Phone, Android Tablet, and Kindle Fire. The apps are listed by device in the following age categories: 2-6, 7-12, and 13-17. You can look at the selections online, download the apps, and print the guide. Essential Apps for Kids and Teens were selected by editors at Common Sense Media, independent evaluators who have children’s best interest in mind.

Mobistories for Ages 2-6

An interesting collection of digital books for children to use at home or school is available from Still Motion Media. The stories target ages 2-6, 4-8, and 6-10, and may be used on Mac and PC computers, iPads, iPhones, iPods, Xbox, Wii, and Playstation. Stories cost about $1 each, but parents can subscribe to Mobistories in order to receive free downloads each month, entrance into Mobistories library collection, and special offers. For school and library subscription offers, contact Still Motion Media. Short previews are available online, and you can also sign up to receive a free book.

Sending Instagrams—by the Blind Film Critic

With an iPhone 4S and its accessibility settings, Tommy Edison, who has been blind since birth, is able to send Instagrams. You’ll appreciate the video he created, which is proof that the dynamic Edison doesn’t let this disability stand in his way. It shows how those who are blind or have poor vision are able to use the iPhone and its options. For additional information about Edison, go to the Assistive Technology Blog, which features information about ways technologies are helping those with disabilities.

If you have students in your classes with physical and/or learning disabilities, be sure to see if the accessibility options on your digital devices will be of help to them. Look for vision and hearing settings along with guided access, assistive touch, etc. On iPhones and iPads, you’ll find the Accessibility area by going to System and looking under General.

Can BYOD work?

BYOD: Sometimes it seems overwhelming, doesn’t it? How can teachers possibly handle a classroom filled with different types of digital devices? In some ways it’s not much different from working with a classroom filled with students using similar devices. It’s what you want student to do with their devices that’s important, not what they are using. For success with BYOD, however, you need to consider:

• What types of devices are acceptable, since not all devices may be able to access or use the software or apps needed for your course.
• Whether you want to allow smart phones.
• If your network is ready to handle all the devices swarming into your school.
• How students with their own devices get access to software. (Who pays for it and what are the legalities?)
• What happens when a personal device won’t work? Should your IT people work on it? Does your school have devices for students to use when their devices don’t work?
• Does your school have devices for students who do not have their own or forget to bring them to school?
• How do you manage use of different devices in your classroom?