Electric Slide

Format: iPad (ios devices)
Price: Free Version
Vendor: iTunes

Electric Slide is the easiest way to wirelessly present PowerPoint slides, Office documents, PDFs and videos with your iPhone or iPad. Your device is a remote control that works anywhere with any screen. Since viewers just need your simple URL to follow along, setup is a cinch. You can also connect your device directly to a TV or projector via HDMI or VGA.


This is the presentation tool we just heard about today in our opening meeting at Penn. In short this app allows you to control a presentation by uploading to electricslide.net and then by choosing to "broadcast" your presentation it allows your to share it. This is similar to Splashtop for iPad but the advantage is that anyone with your "room number" log in can watch the presentation on their personal device. This can happen even remotely.

PlanbookEdu.com

Format: Computer
Price: Free Version and $25.00 Per Year Version
Vendor: PlannbookEdu.com

On line plan book that may be accessed from any Internet ready device.

RH: Matt, Sue, Nancy, Mickie, and probably many others told me about this online planner and that I should give it a look. I have and I believe it to be a really good program and very easy to use. There is a free version but it has some limitations such as not being able to share your plan with others. It has a good print feature as well as the ability to one-click Indiana and Common Core Standards. Not only are you able to share your plan but you can set it up to collaborate with your colleagues.

Trading Cards

Format: iPad
Price: Free
Vendor: iTunes

This rather cool app gives students an opportunity to show what they know about various subjects by building trading cards.

RH: You might want to check this app out even for kicks. It provides a rather detailed template and even allows you to import a photo. I made up an Abraham Lincoln trading card in just a few minutes. Quite fun!

Relax

Format: iPad
Price: Free Today
Vendor: iTunes

Effective and rapid stress relief in 5 minutes.

De-stress with our guided breathing exercises that use calming music to promote relaxation. It’s an ideal stress management tool, being simple and intuitive.

RH: Chuck Losch sent this stress relief app out and said "It was just what I need as the day ends." Check it out. Thanks, Chuck.

Blogger (Blogspot)

Format: iPad
Price: Free
Vendor: iTunes

Start blogging on the go with the official Blogger app. With Blogger app for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, you can easily publish posts with pictures, labels, and location information. Also, you can view the list of posts and if you have multiple accounts or blogs, you can easily switch between them. Blogger for your computer is easily accessed through Blogspot.com.

RH: I can't believe I have not reviewed this awesome program/app sooner. Blogspot or as otherwise known, Blogger, is one of the easiest blogging programs out there. There are many great programs available and most are free. WordPress, Weebly, and many others are very good blog hosts but I have been mostly acquainted with Blogger. There are templates aplenty that will meet every need you can imagine. One highly encouraging fact about Blogger is that in the time I have used it, just the first month of school, there has not been one time that is was "down." How many times did your blog host go down? I have not used Blogger for iPad much as the pictures are not easily formatted on my iPad or iPhone. I typically use my laptop or school desktop to do most blogging activities. The beauty is that you can update from any Internet ready machine.

TubeChop

Format: Computer
Price: Free
Vendor: tubechop.com

TubeChop allows you to easily chop a funny or interesting video from any YouTube video and share it.

RH: I just saw this cool You Tube tool on Edmodo that you can use to "chop" a section out of a You Tube video and share it without downloading and editing it yourself. How many times have you thought "If only I could share just that part in the video without all the rest?" I sure have. This tool will do that.

Go to TubeChop.com.
Search YouTube for your video.

Locate your favorite spot using the scrubber.

Choose "Chop it."
And, you have your final video and theURL or embed code you need in order to share.

ShowMe

Format: iPad
Price: Free
Vendor: iTunes

We have reviewed this app in a previous post but there is new activity on the app as we featured it on Thinking Thursdays September 20. James Howard was our featured presenter and many staff members took advantage of the session. This free app is a tremendous tool for screencasts of any flavor. It may be used if you are anticipating an absence, make a screencast if you don't wish to repeat a skill lesson five times in a row, or make a screencast for absent students and post it on your blog or web page. Maybe you have this knockout lesson that you wish to revisit so you pull it up and bam! You have it.

RH: I put together a short follow up ShowMe video clip further explaining how to make backgrounds, import images, and add pages (so to speak) to your presentation. A good rule of thumb is to never exceed the 10 minute point in a clip. Actually, if you stay around 4 or 5 minutes, you will get better focus and attention from your students. If you have longer lessons, or presentations, feel free to do them in installments. In other words, make them in part one, part two, etc.

Pleas click on this link: ShowMe tutorial

Air Sketch

Format: iPad
Price: Free Version
Vendor: iTunes

Turn your iPad into a wireless whiteboard! Project live sketches to a local computer that is linked to your LCD projector and you can walk around the room and broadcast your sketches. You can also link to any computer (BYOD) that is logged onto the same URL broadcast from your iPad.

RH: I tested this app using my laptop and iPhone. It worked flawlessly on both. This means that a student with Internet connection may log into "your" broadcast that you are making from your iPad as you walk around the room. Great for math teachers. All you have to do is place the URL address, that your iPad shows you, into the browser of any device that is on the same network. I have not tested this at school yet. The device or your desktop computer will show the blank screen and any drawings you produce. The drawback is that the drawing that you produce is not real smooth but rather crude in the free version. The free version boasts 3/5 stars. The Pro version runs a salty $9.99 but allows you to put documents, pictures, and more on your iPad for you to mark up. If you would use this app daily, it would be worth it and has collected 4.5/5 stars in reviews. If you want to research more uses for this app check out this link: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/02/use-air-sketch-with-dropbox-for.html#.UFbkYKOuWAq

VideoScribe HD

Format: iPad
Price: $4.99
Vendor: iTunes

VideoScribe.tv is a completely unique way to create engaging animated videos quickly and easily. Often called Whiteboard animation or sometimes Fast Drawing, VideoScribe replicates the stop-motion capture style of drawing that's so popular on commercials at a fraction of the cost.

RH: If you have ever wanted to create a marker board style creation that you have seen on commercials and all sorts of professional presentations, this app is for you. It is a fee based app at $4.99 but it is a lot of fun and makes a rather impressive show. The sample I have included below was my first attempt and it has potential. It is voice over capable but I found the timing to be a bigger challenge than I wanted for a Friday night. I ended up just using the in-app provided background music and found it to be plenty cool. If you are still not sure what I mean this app allows you to make a video that shows a hand drawing text and images on a white board with voice over and or music in the background.

Web Browsers to View Flash Video

Skyfire

Format: iPad
Price: $2.99
Vendor: iTunes
Skyfire allows you to watch Flash videos that otherwise don’t work on iPhone! Ever see a 'black rectangle' instead of a video while browsing with the native iPhone browser (Safari)!? That's when you need Skyfire!

Photon

Format: iPad
Price: $4.99
Vendor: iTunes

Photon Browser is a powerful new browser with Flash capability designed to enhance your browsing experience on the iPad. We have been the #1 paid browser on the app store for several months and you can read reviews on the web on why we are the best Flash browser for the iPad.

Rover

Format: iPad
Price: Free
Vendor: iTunes

Rover is powered by the iSwifter platform (the world’s first cloud-based Flash streaming platform for mobile devices). We have specifically designed Rover based on feedback from teachers, IT directors and administrators from schools across the country.

RH: I have tried two of these three "Flash" enabled browsers. The point here is that iPad does not support Flash. Therefore, anytime you wish to view a video built with Flash you will get a message saying that you need to download Flash. You cannot do that with the iPad. That's where these browsers or one like them come in. Rover works fine, is free, but is slow, and a bit unstable causing you to be kicked out of your video. Skyfire is popular but has not had as many positive reviews at Photon. The price on Skyfire has just lowered from $4.99. Photon is the one I like best. Each time I come across a Flash video I just copy the URL of the site or video, open Photon on my iPad, and paste the URL in the box at the top. When the site opens and the message that it is Flash appears, I click on the lightening bolt which then runs the flash video perfectly.

PowToon

Format: Web Based (Flash only)
Price: Free and Paid versions
Vendor: PowToon

PowToon is a brand new presentation software that is so simple and intuitive, it allows anyone who ever used PowerPoint or KeyNote to easily evolve their presentations to AWESOMENESS!
PowToon contains themes of animated characters, props and cool transitions which you can just drag and drop into a slide to create eye catching and fun presentations that can be presented in person, or turned into animated videos at the click of a button - to be shared on YouTube, Facebook or Twitter.

RH: This is a pretty neat presentation creator. I have made two, so far, and although the learning curve was a little tedious I would use it again here and there. It is currently in beta so it allows you to use it free of charge. I believe they have an educator account as well. I don't know how long before it becomes totally fee based.  In my view I wouldn't use it for content. I would use it for introduction, poster videos, and other announcement type of videos. They are fun to make. Below is Jennifer Cobb's and my first attempt and an AIM High video.

Format: iOS
Price: Free (for now)
Vendor: iTunes Store

Description: This app lets the user create mind maps, which can be save either locally on the iPad or, after setting up an account, in the Cloud.

JH: I used Inspirations frequently in the classroom. This may be a replacement! I have only started playing with it, so it is too early to tell, but being able to use the iPad's tactile functionality seems to make it easy enough to drag and drop elements of a mind map.

MentorMob

Format: Computer
Price: Free
Vendor: www.mentormob.com
MentorMob, a site that allows users to curate online content into step-by-step lessons on any topic.

RH: This is the free version and lets the user gather video, document, and web articles together into  a play list that students can access. One could put together an entire unit or area of study so students could access them all from the same location. Check out the tutorial video collection I put together for my students about Edmodo. I used ScreenCast-O-Matic to screen capture  and uploaded the videos directly to You Tube from the program. Very easy.

Create your own Playlist on MentorMob!

Format: Computer/iPad
Price: Free Resource
Vendor: iTunes


This ed site, which you can be a member or not, has provided a spreadsheet with 100+ must have iPad apps for education and personal use. All subjects are available and is in one place for easy scanning. The list includes free and fee based apps and are available in iTunes.

 RH: If you are like me and may be overwhelmed with the many resources available for the iPad. This spreadsheet may simplify your search for apps that you may want to try out for both your class room and personal use. You may have to either go "full screen" or resort to your desk top as you will have to move the slider at the bottom of the page to view the entire spreadsheet.

ScreenCast-O-Matic

Format: Computer
Price: Free
Vendor: ScreenCast-O-Matic

This is a free computer download that allows you to capture anything on your computer screen and posted to the Internet giving you a URL to be pasted or embedded on your site. You may play videos, show images, show power points within the capture and more.  


RH: This capture tool is not for the faint of heart. It can do a lot of things and therefore has somewhat of a learning curve. It is relatively easy to use but has the ability to zoom, draw focus to a spot on your screen, and be edited after the fact. My first experience resulted in a lot of noise in the audio. I don't know if it was because I just used my mic that was built into my laptop or what. The free version limits the recording to 15 minutes but a good screencast should  be less than 8-10 anyways. The pay version is only $15 a year and opens up more possibilities. This would  be a good choice if you have a lot of content on your computer and don't want to bother moving it to your iPad  or can't in order to use an iPad app to screencast.