APPy Holidays!
Our Favorite Educational Apps and Web 2.0 Sites for 2013!!
It is that time of year, time for giving and sharing! I want to share a list of our favorite educational technology tools and resources for this year! These are by no means all of the tools that we have discovered this year. This list represents the ones that gave my students and I a little thrill!!
You will notice that absent from the list are a few of our "work horse" tools. Google is my favorite all time tool that we couldn't live without!! iMovie, Keynote and Pages Apps are also staples in our technology diet!! See examples of our work at http://ohekidstech.blogspot.com/
Padlet is a virtual bulletin board that gives students the opportunity to collaborate in real time to the same virtual space! I love that students don't need a Padlet account or email in order to share their learning!! Here is an example!! http://padlet.com/wall/rx8gznzrcl
Tellagami is a mobile app that lets students create and share a quick animated video. Here is an example! http://youtu.be/WH8-vpgZwHE
Smore is a great way to send a virtual flyer electronically! I like that it gives me a fun way to share information with staff and parents!! This Smore flyer is an example!!
Slide.ly lets you add your favorite photos, music and text to make beautiful slideshows! It is super fast and easy to use! Here is an example! http://slide.ly/view/3f6523803ba46d30a5035b3904ecc2c3
Kodable is my favorite coding app for young students!! Students feel like they are playing a game rather than learning the basics of coding!!
My favorite educational game of the year!!! Geoguessr is a game based on Google Maps that takes students to locations all around the globe and asks them to use the available clues to make an educated guess about it's location. I works in the browser on any device including an iPad! So fun and very addicting! Here is my blog post about how we used it! http://ohekidstech.blogspot.com/2013/12/geoguessr-google-searching-world.html
Pixlr is my favorite image editor! I use it to add finishes, retro effects and create photo collages! Here are a few examples! http://ohekidstech.blogspot.com/2013/12/new-library-booksgifts-of-season-or.html
Spell With Flickr gives me a tool to create these great signs using a huge variety of letters pictured in our environment. I used it to make the title above!
FlipSnack is my favorite eBook creators!! I like it because it is so simple and easy to use! Students can collaborate on one presentation in Google Presentations. Once they complete their collaborative presentation, I am able to download it as a .pdf and upload it to FlipSnack and VOILA!! - eBook!! Here is an example! http://ohekidstech.blogspot.com/2013/10/1st-graders-create-ebook-to-celebrate.html
I like Symbaloo because it's PRETTY!! I know! That isn't the best reason to pick a new educational resource, but I can't deny that it did factor in! Symbaloo is a great visual way for me to share web resources with my students.
There are so many great educational coding tools, but Botlogic is my favorite! Botlogic works in the browser on computer and tablet devices. It gives students the opportunity to enter actual code it they choose, but provides operational tools for beginners.