Friday, July 2, 2010

My Quick List of iPad Apps

Yesterday after receiving my iPad I quickly reached out to my PLN for some suggestions on which apps to download.  The key for me is that I will be using this device at work in concert with my administrative team during administrative walk-throughs, observations, and to take notes during meetings (I am sure some other uses will come up as I get more acclimated with the iPad).  So after roughly 12 hours here is my quick list of some applications that I feel educational administrators and other educators should have on their device.  I will provide a brief description of each if warranted.  Also, all the apps listed below are FREE!!!

1.    Evernote: Fantastic tool for notes, ideas, recordings,
       pictures, etc.
2.    Cloud Browse: Easily access Flash, JAVA, and Google Docs.
3.    iBooks: Download and read books.
4.    LinkedIn: Professional networking and contacts at your
       fingertips.
5.    Dragon Diction: Easy to use voice recognition program.
6.    FeeddlerRSS: RSS reader that easily syncs with Google
       Reader.
7.    Facebook: What better way to update the
       NMHS Facebook page!
8.    Dictionary & Thesaurus: Even includes word of the day!
9.    The Weather Channel: Every educator should know what
       the weather is going to be like each day.
10.  Delicious: Access all your bookmarks quickly and easily.
11.  World Book: Today in History: History information when you
       want it.
12.  Google Earth: Having the world in the palm of your hands
       isn't a bad thing.
13.  Dropbox: MUST HAVE! Easily sync/share files across computers and online
14.  Infinote: Post-It-Note creation tool.

*** 13 and 14 were added thanks to Beth Swantz!

As far as Twitter apps go I have been playing around with both TweetDeck and Twitterrific.  For all the Google nuts out there like me, I highly recommend going into your internet browser and adding Gpanion to your home screen (it will then show up as an icon on your apps page).  Once logged in you will then have easy access to all of your Google Apps! Feel free to add to this list in the comments section.

17 comments:

  1. Thanks for the great suggestions - I've had my iPad for a couple of months and really like Dropbox - creates a dropbox connection with my desktop and Infinote - makes bulletine boards of sticki notes for locations, topics or classes

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  2. I also wanted to recommend The Elements-http://periodictable.com/ipad/ which was highlighted during Apple's ET Forum on Sat-by the dev of Wolfram Alpha; this is where ebooks should be heading!

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  3. Our school will be starting an iPad one to one program this fall. We are suggesting these apps:

    Popplet
    A PDF reader of their choice
    iBooks
    Pages, Keynote
    *Numbers is optional
    NYTimes Editor's Choice
    Wired Magazine
    Adobe Ideas
    Memeo Connect

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  4. I'd also recommend Goodreader, the best $.99 I've spent. Allows you to load all sorts of files onto your iPad.

    @mister Lopez: Stanza now can load PDFs and is free. You can also use Goodreader but it costs $.99.

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  5. This comment comes courtesy of Alfonso Gonzalez:

    Hey Eric, great suggestions! I use most of the apps you recommend. I forgot that I had Cloud Browse on my iPhone so now I put it on my iPad! Gpanion is pretty cool too. For Twitter I really like Twitbird Pro because it has a lot of features like posting to Facebook too and adding your location. I also just switched from FeedlerRss to Feeder because Feeder let's you send to Twitter. Much easier to share. I use ReadItLater a lot so I have that on my iPad as well.

    Thanks for the post!
    @educatoral

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  6. Eric,

    I like your list - I too have been using it in a multitude of ways in school. One worthwhile app is iAnnotate (9.99), which allows you to markup and send pdfs. Very helpful for reviewing and making notes on docs. It integrates with Dropbox, so you can easily get to docs for markup.

    Michael
    @michaelerusso

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  7. Nice list Eric. I might also suggest NoteTaker HD, along with a stylus. Great way to capture notes old school, and then email to Evernote for organization and to enable search.

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  8. Another suggestion is Shapewriter when you are observing others and only have use of one hand to input text since you have to hold your iPad. It's a pretty cool way to "type."

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  9. Shapewriter is no longer available. :-(

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  10. You made my day with Cloud Browse! I had never seen that app. Now I can use the starfall.com site with my grandson. He loves that site and not being able to use it almost kept me from buying an iPad!

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  11. I am loving my ipad and want to use it in school with my students! I like your list, thanks! I am looking for information about worthwhile apps for education. I work for an educational product manufacturer and we are exploring the creation of apps for education. Any thoughts on what you would like to see? What would make an app interesting to you as an educator or to your staff? I would appreciate input.

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  12. I would love to see content-specific apps that really allow students to apply what they have learned.

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  13. I would love to see something to help organize grading and attendance...Either I buy the ipad which I really want to do or I hold on to my netbook

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  14. You should check out this new app for accessing meeting agendas through the iPad. Called eBOARD Meetings app. http://bit.ly/9HVOVL

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  15. Check out Diigo as a social bookmarking tool... great for organizing all your resources.

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  16. I have created a wiki iPods, iPhones and iPads in education where I have tested suitable apps for use in education http://ipodsiphonesineducation.wikispaces.com/ Teachers are finding it very useful when looking for suitable apps for their iPads and iPod Touches

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