iPad Apps for School

The Best iOS Apps for Students and Teachers

Elementary School

How to Make Green Screen Videos on an iPad

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The latest update to the iPad version of iMovie added a green screen capability. The new green screen capability in iMovie is easy to use if you know where to find the feature. In the video below I demonstrate how to use the green screen function in iMovie for iPad.

How to create a green screen video on an iPad. Blog post cover image.

Before you try to use the green screen function in iMovie for iPad there are a couple of things that you should do. First, you’ll want to record some video of yourself or your students in front of a physical green screen. You can purchase a green screen made specifically for recording videos, but if you’re just getting started a simple green bed sheet will work too. After recording in front of your green screen you’ll need to get some pictures to use as backgrounds. Pixabay and Pexels are good places to find pictures for those purposes. Once you’ve done these two things you’re ready to start using the green screen function in iMovie for iPad.

Dueling iPad Apps for Students

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I was recently asked for a suggestion for a fun iPad app that students can use to practice their math skills. One of the apps that I immediately thought of was Math Duel.

Math Duel provides a split screen so that two students can compete in races to correctly answer mathematics problem as quickly as they can. Each player is presented an addition, multiplication, subtraction, or division problem to answer in the app. Both players are shown the same type of problem at the same time.

The producers of Math Duel also produce a game called Geography Duel. Geography Duel allows two students to compete head-to-head on one shared iPad. In two player mode Geography Duel features a split screen with maps facing each player. Students compete to identify U.S. states, U.S. state capitals, and countries. In the app’s settings menu you can change the base map from political map to a satellite view map.

How to Use the Flipgrid iPad app

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Flipgrid is a great service for gathering video responses from your students. One of the best things about Flipgrid is that students can use it on any computer, phone, or tablet including iPads. And the iPad app is completely free to install and use.

Flipgrid does require that teachers use the Flipgrid website to post topics and prompts for students to reply to. Students can use any device including iPads to respond to those prompts. In the following video I demonstrate how students can use the free Flipgrid iPad app.

Over on my Practical Ed Tech site I recently published a comprehensive guide to using Flipgrid. If you have never used Flipgrid or you’re looking to help get colleagues started on Flipgrid, share the guide with them.

If you’re looking for an inexpensive external microphone to use with an iPad, take a look at these that you can get in a three-pack for $7.

iPad Apps About Animals and Cute Headphones for a Pair of Toddlers

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Yesterday, I spent the day flying from Maine to Florida with my family. We have a 28 month old and a 14 month old. As any parent who has flown with toddlers will tell you, you pull out all of the tricks to entertain your children on the days you fly. In our case that included as much iPad use as they wanted. There was plenty of Clifford watching. There was also a lot of time looking at animal pictures and videos on the Kids US Atlas and Kids World Atlas apps.

Kids US Atlas and Kids World Atlas are iPad apps that feature interactive maps. It is a freemium app which means part of it is free and part of it requires an in-app purchase. I used just the free parts with my kids. The free parts of Kids US Atlas and Kids World Atlas have an interactive map that features animals. Kids tap on the animals to see pictures and videos of the animals. The Kids US Atlas app features 25 animals and the Kids World Atlas app features 40 animals.

Mpow Headphones

The picture at the top of this post is one that I shared on my personal Facebook page and on Instagram last night. A bunch of people wanted to know where we got the headphones that our kids were wearing. We got them on Amazon, of course!

The headphones are Mpow Kids Headphones. They come in a two-pack which is perfect for those who have two young kids. But the best part is that you can plug one pair into the other so that both kids can watch and hear the same iPad or phone. The Mpow Kids Headphones are currently available from Amazon for $25.99 and are Prime eligible.

And if you’re thinking about getting a new iPad, Amazon still has current generation iPads on sale for $249!

Three VR iPad Apps for Social Studies Lessons

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Ever since Google launched Expeditions a few years ago every educational technology conference that I’ve been to has included sessions about virtual reality in the classroom. I’ve even given a few of those presentations. Often those presentations focus on using virtual reality apps within a VR viewer like these Google Cardboard viewers. But if your students use iPads in your classroom then you won’t be able to use those viewers and will instead have to find apps that can provide a VR experience without a viewer headset. 

Three VR iPad Apps for Social Studies Lessons

Sites in VR is a free iPad app that provides a 1700 virtual reality views of significant landmarks around the world. Sites in VR provides imagery that you can navigate through by moving your phone or tablet in a manner similar to that of using a virtual reality viewer headset.  To use the app simply open it then select a country, city, or landmark type. Then on the next screen select from a menu of landmarks to view. Once you’ve made a selection you will be able to view the imagery and navigate through it by moving iPad. You can also pinch and zoom to navigate the imagery.

VR Hangar is a free app produced by the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. The app contains three virtual reality tours that feature landmark moments in aviation history. Those moments are the Wright Brothers’ first flight, Chuck Yeager’s record-breaking flight in the Bell X-1, and the Apollo 11 mission. Each of these tours incorporates artifacts from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Google Expeditions can be used on an iPad. The iPad version lets students explore on their own or follow along as you guide them through one of the tours. Students can navigate the tours by touching their iPad screens or by moving their iPads. Watch this short video that I made to learn how to use Google Expeditions.