iPad Apps for School

The Best iOS Apps for Students and Teachers

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A Great Deal on a New iPad and a Cool Augmented Reality App for Kids

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Last week I upgraded my iPad at what I thought was a great price of $289. It was a great price. However, I wish I had known that Amazon was going to discount them even further to $249! I just checked on Amazon and this deal is still available on the gold colored, current generation iPads. Earlier in the week the deal was available on the silver and gray colored models, but it appears the deal is only available on the gold model now (2pm ET on December 11th).

Should You Upgrade Your iPad?

In my case, I upgraded my iPad because my old one was made in 2014 and doesn’t run the latest virtual reality and augmented reality that seem to be popping-up on a weekly basis. A secondary motivation was to get an iPad that has more storage space. My old one has half the storage of the new one that I just purchased. If either of those things appeal to you, then this is a great time to get the latest iPad at a great price. I’ve never seen new iPads available at this price.

If you don’t have a desire to try the latest AR and VR apps or don’t feel the need for more storage space on your iPad then there is no compelling reason that I can give you to replace a working iPad unless you’re still using the first generation that doesn’t have a camera.

Cool Augmented Reality App to Use on a New iPad!

Wonderscope is a cool AR app that brings children’s stories to life and enables kids to interact with those stories. Watch this video to see Wonderscope in action.

How to Make a Screencast of Your iPad’s Screen

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ipad-606766_640One of the best ways to help people learn how to use an app or complete a workflow process on an iPad is to show them. Every year schools have workshops dedicated to showing teachers how to use their iPads. The trouble comes after the workshop is over and teachers have forgotten a key step or two. The solution to this problem is to create screencast videos that teachers can refer to throughout the school year.  There are a couple of ways that you can create a screencast video of your iPad’s screen.


Method 1 – If you have a Mac computer:

Connect your iPad to your Mac by using the Lightning cable (the cable that came with your iPad). Then open QuickTime on your Mac. Next select “new movie recording” from the QuickTime menu. You can then choose the name of your iPad and click record. When you’re done recording your new screencast will save to your computer as a video file that you can then edit in iMovie if you want to cut out portions of it or lay a music track under your narration.


Method 2 – If you have a Windows computer:

You will need a third-party service that allows you to mirror your iPad to the screen of your Windows computer. Air Server is the service that I recommend for mirroring an iPad to a Windows computer. Air Server includes a recording tool that  you can use to make a screencast video of your iPad’s screen. With Air Server running you can just tap record and instantly start capturing your screen and your narration. The video will save on your Windows computer where you can then edit it and or upload it to your favorite video hosting service.

Change Your Google Slides Themes and Layouts in the Latest iOS App

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Screen Shot 2014-09-22 at 8.28.40 AM The Google Slides iPad app received a nice little update this week. Now you can change your presentation theme and template in the Google Slides iOS app. Previously, you could only do that in your web browser or in the Android app. Make sure you run the update in order to take advantage of this new feature.

This update brings the Google Slides iOS app to closer alignment with the experience of using Google Slides on an Android device or in the web browser on a laptop or desktop. This is good news for teacher working in BYOD or BYOT environments. Speaking of which, one of my summer workshops is focused on teaching in BYOD settings. You can learn more about the Practical Ed Tech BYOD Workshop here.

Create Educational Games With Tap n’ Type from TinyTap

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tinytap_new_logoTinyTap is a popular tool for creating your own educational games. TinyTap lets you create educational games on your iPad. Games that you create can be played by your students on their iPads, Android tablets, or in the web browser on their laptops. Earlier this month TinyTap introduced a new game format that you can use. That format is calledTap n’ Type.

TinyTap’s Tap n’ Type format allows you to create games in which students type letters and or numbers to complete a puzzle. See Tap n’ Type in action in the video below or click here to try a game.

A Helpful New Feature Coming to the Google Drive iPad App

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Screen Shot 2014-09-22 at 8.28.40 AM In a week full of Google Apps updates, here comes another one. According to the Google Apps update blog, over the next week the Google Drive iOS app will add the option to select multiple files for offline use. Enhanced file organization functions will be added to the app too.

This might not seem like a huge update to the app, but it will be helpful to students who don’t have regular access to the Internet at home. Likewise, it could be a good back-up plan for those times when your school’s network bogs down or crashes entirely. Just make sure that you remind students to select files for offline access before they go offline.

Click here to learn more about the Google Drive iOS app.