Assignment+2

iPads for the 21st Century Classroom - Beverly

Professional apps 1. Grammar App - $1.99 – There were no reviews. I purchased, and think it is well worth the price, and information provided appears to be accurate and thoroughly covered. Good examples.  This is set up like a game and there are several areas from which to choose. a. Introduction b. Basic Grammar c. Punctuation Rules d. Writing Rules  Player chooses one area – then a category, such as Writing Rules, then Italics. There are explanations of how difference rules apply, then player is asked to choose the correct sentence for each explanation. Player can then either take a test or move on to the next tutorial.

 This is an excellent reference tool for students across all areas of study, and English language art teachers could also use as a reference to make sure all topics are covered when teaching. I would use for teaching, learning, and testing.

2. Erudite English Word Smart Vocabulary - $2.99 – only one review which stated, “not worth the price.”  English Word Smart is a vocabulary builder for native English speakers who love words and wish to increase their vocabulary. It contains 300 difficult but useful words and includes recordings and example sentences.  There are study cards, flashcards, and an interactive quiz. Words can also be added to an individual’s “Study Bank” to create one’s own list. Individuals can set the number of questions in the quiz or auto set. There are also to be updates which will increase the number of words and add new features.

 This is a good student reference and a teacher tool for English. A fun way for students to study and increase their vocabulary.

3. Great speeches in History – Free – I downloaded only to find that only the LIST of speeches if free, but to download the actual speeches cost $2.99 EACH.

 My intention was to use these speeches with my speech class, to let the students actually hear some famous speeches, but to buy the 48 speeches listed would be a wopping $143.52. Insane. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">4. Essay grader - $5.99 – There were a couple good reviews, but also a couple that stated there were some problems with this app. I will wait awhile, and hope the reviews get better before I purchase. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> This app claims to make grading essays much easier by providing feedback and comment to the students. Once a teacher fills in the students’ names and emails, there are several areas to click on pre-written comments and also for mechanics. Additional comments can be added to any list. It can conform to a teacher’s rubric, discipline, and style of grading. I would use this as an assist for grading papers, which is what is meant to do. Student files can be accessed from a drop-down menu, comment databases can be exported for editing, sharing, and for archival. Teachers personalized comments can be imported for use in the Easy Grader. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Students can also use this app to help them with their essays, helping them know their strengths and weaknesses. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">5. Poetry Notes Series - $ .99 for each poem. Only one excellent review. The initial app is free and several poems are listed. I purchased Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.” It shows the complete text of poem, and annotation is clicked, it has many footnoted annotations. Reader can click on whichever line(s) and receive an explanation of figurative speech used, meaning of line, etc. Alliteration is indicated by a different color. For example, in line one, the w’s in “while, weak, and weary” are in red. And the footnote about the first line indicates the mood, as well as explaining that “midnight” was dubbed in folklore as “The Witching Hour.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I would use this to help students comprehend difficult poems that need it, and I am really hoping that the number of poems covered will increase as the app grows in popularity and it continues to be developed. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">6. myHomework – free – excellent reviews. This app is for iPhones, but is compatible with iPads. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This app is very user friendly and allows for students to keep track of their classes and homework assignments. They begin by listing all their classes, and as homework is assigned, they type it in the homework section. There is a calendar that then shows all the assignments for a day or month and the due dates. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I am hopeful that this app will be on every students’ iPad next year, and when a teachers assign something, they can instruct students to open their myHomework and place the assignment in it. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Many students (especially freshmen) lack adequate organizational skills and this will be a huge help. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">7. Vocab Plus Lite – free – no reviews yet. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is the free version of Vocab Plus, and includes advertisements across the top of the screen, but I don’t find them very distracting. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">User has the option of speaking the definition to a word that is both shown in print plus it is spoken, or the user can choose to use a multiple choice option, where the word is also spoken. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I am a strong advocate for various ways students can increase their vocabulary, and this is a pretty good one. I would have students use this to help with increasing the words they are familiar with and can use. The app contains about 1500 words which is nice. The only down side is that the spoken word is not very clear. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">8. Teacher’s Assistant – free version of Teacher’s Assistant Pro which cost $5.99 on sale. Several excellent reviews for Pro version <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This app allows teachers to keep track of students’ actions, behaviors, infractions, and achievements in the classroom, which is always a challenge. The Lite version allows for only five students. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is a great way to keep track, not only for teachers, but for parent/teacher conferences, or information can be sent directly to parents via email. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">9. Literary Analysis Guide - $2.99 – great reviews. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This guide arranges the elements of literature graphically around three wheels (poetry, prose, rhetoric). Great teaching and reference tool for high school and college age students. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some of the categories around the poetry wheel, for example, include: meaning, style, syntax, diction, title, shift, conceit, symbolism, imagery, figures of speech, tone, form, lines, and meter. If figures of speech is selected, then the next wheel shows: allusion, simile, irony, assonance, personification, alliteration, repetition, paradox, hyperbole, rhetorical question, parallelism, and metaphor. When one of them is selected, the definition for that term appears and includes examples. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I have purchased this app and plan to use it in all my classes as a tool for teaching, and for students to use as reference. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">10. 60 sec recap – free – excellent reviews. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is an iPhone app compatible with iPads. This app contains a library of 30-40 classic works from Romeo & Juliet to Their Eyes Were Watching God. Clicking on a title gives the user a recap of the work (author, year published, main characters, and summary) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">There are also recap resources that include a Dictionary of terms, How to Write a paper, and Lights Camera Recap (which includes videos of topic time, picking & choosing, scripting, How not to be boring, Graphics). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">There is also a “Pick of the week” which includes recaps for many, many more selections, but are not classic, but when selected, also indicates whether the work is fiction and age (YA, middle school, etc.) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The app also includes flashcards to use with many of the classics asking questions about main characters, setting, and tone. Some can be purchased for $.99 each. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I would have students use this as a quick review, perhaps, when studying a work, or for a test.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Personal Apps – Beverly Eppler <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">1. Quilt Shops for iPad – free – only one fair review <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I installed this app and think it is really cool. It locates over 2500+ quilt shops across the U.S. It is sponsored by the Quilters Club of America and Fons and Porter, both reputable in the quilting industry. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I am a quilter and will use this when traveling. User types in the city, or state, and WHAM; up comes a map with a push pin for many quilt shops in that city or state. There is section for Lists, which when selected then lists the shops with address and contact information. This app does need WiFi access. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">2. QuiltingCalc – free – no reviews for this version, but lots of great ones for all versions. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This app shows how much yardage is needed for various areas of a quilt. It also includes how to make some quilt blocks. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I will use this when shopping for fabric. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">3. Unblock Me – free – excellent reviews. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This app is totally addicting! It reminds me of the little sliding puzzle I played with as a child where you had to move the tiles to get in the correct order. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This app’s goal is to get the red block out of the board by sliding the other blocks out of the way. It comes with four difficult levels and there are 4200 puzzles in all. Love this one! <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">4. Pandora – free – great reviews <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This app requires internet access. It is a internet radio that the user can customize to suit one’s taste. Type of music, artist, etc. can be selected and the radio builds the user’s own station with the music he/she wants to listen to. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">5. Dragon Dictation – free – very good reviews. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This app does require internet access, but is really neat. All you have to do is speak into the iPad and it instantly changes your voice message into text. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Great for reminders, lists, thoughts, etc. I would use this when I do not have time to type a message.