20 iPad Apps
For Project or Product Based Learning by Karen Ogen
1. PicCollage (FREE)
Create posters with custom backgrounds, pictures, and text. When finished, students can save to the camera roll (library) or email directly to their teacher. Other posting options include: PicCollage, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram.
- About Me poster
- Sorting/classifying (e.g., states of matter)
- Labeling
- Life cycles - plants or animals
- Visual timeline
- Compare and contrast web (characters, books, etc.)
- Sequencing/retelling story events
- Visual Vocabulary
- How to books- illustrating steps
- Review/explain math concepts
- Frayer model for vocabulary
- Biography research project (use text and images to describe people and their accomplishments)
- Assess student knowledge on any topic
2. Popplet Lite (FREE)
Connect boxes of information that contain text, images, or drawings. Double tap to add a popple. Only one popplet can be created on the iPad at a time (with FREE version). Export finished image as a .jpeg to the camera roll and then email to the teacher or directly email a .pdf or .jpeg file to the teacher.
Mind-mapping/graphic organizer
Brainstorm ideas
Flowchart for explaining a process (with transitional words)
Sequence events in a story (story maps)
Describe features of water, land-forms, habitats, or ecosystems
- About Me poster
3. Shadow Puppet (Sometimes FREE, Usually $2.99)
Create narrated photo slideshows. Tap the screen to highlight or pinch/pull the image to zoom in/out while recording. To save and share finished projects, set up your Shadow Puppet account prior to using with students (on shared iPads you can set up a generic school account). Completed videos can be saved to the camera roll or emailed to the teacher. The email includes an embed code which can be used to place the video seamlessly into your website.
“How to” videos
Personal narratives (import pics of students’ own writings & illustrations)
Research presentation (Science/SS)
Share a classroom activity or grade-level event with parents
Inferring through primary sources
Oral history project
My community
Culture (e.g., holidays around the world)
- Biography research project (narrate a photo story about a famous person)
4. Educreations (FREE)
- Explain/demonstrate a math concept
- "How To" Videos
- Explain a scientific process
- Label scientific materials, parts of a plant, parts of a cell, the water cycle, etc.
- Narrate a story
- Create a music video and sing the lyrics
- "Flip the classroom"
- Locate items in a text
- Define vocabulary
- Practice foreign language narration
- Share research (social studies or science)
5. Story Me (FREE)
- Retell about an event in history
- Create a biography or an autobiography
- Import images from a science activity and have students explain the process
- Label a curricular image
- Practice new vocabulary
- Practice social skills/conflict resolution (anti-bullying, anti-smoking, etc.)
- Practice life skills (classroom rules, how to study for a test, how to interview for a job)
- Creative writing
- Use to generate writing ideas, brainstorming, or story-boarding
- Writing dialogue
- Writing opinion
- Make art from your photos
6. Trading Cards (FREE)
- Practice writing for an audience
- Critical thinking to determine most important facts
- Character studies
- Famous people in history
- Famous events
- Vocabulary
- Foreign language study
- About Me
- Share what you know about a place or event
- Scientific cards (elements, rocks and minerals, planets, etc.)
7. Tellagami (FREE)
Import your own background behind your avatar to set your scene. Finished projects can be saved to the camera roll, emailed, or sent to Twitter or Facebook.
- Tell a story and import your own background
- Read a poem and import a picture that represents the theme
- Recite a famous story or speech
- Share what you know about any topic
- Explain a process or image behind the avatar (ex: the water cycle)
- Explain the scenery or location behind the avatar (ex: the rainforest or Egypt)
- Explain an event pictured behind the avatar (ex: Paul Revere's famous ride)
- Persuasive writing
- Practice speaking a foreign language
- "Flip" your classroom
- Report the weather (Import a weather map or outdoor scenery)
- Explain a math concept
- Review or introduce a book
- Practice a foreign language
- About Me
8. RWT Timeline
- Historical events
- Biographies and autobiographies
- Number theory
- Life cycles (butterfly, plant, etc.)
- Sequence of events in stories
- A timeline of the school year
- Personal timeline
9. Chatterpix (FREE) or Facetalker (FREE)
Export the video by email or to Facebook.
- Biographical/historical reports
- Animal reports
- Tell a story from a character's point of view
- Have an object explain itself or its function (a magnet, the sun, etc.)
- Book reviews
- Persuasive Writing
- Explain a math concept
10. Venn Diagram (FREE)
- Versions of a book
- Versions of a story (print vs. movie)
- Characters
- Perspectives of a place: past and present/morning and night
- Events in history
- People in history
- Characteristics of plants or animals
- Presidential candidates
- Countries
- Technology (and how it has changed)
- People/students
- Science
11. Audioboo (FREE)
- Record a poem
- Record a short story
- Record an advertisement
- Create a study guide for your students
- Explain a math problem
- Practice reading (fluency)
- Record an interview
- Practice using descriptive words to explain (characters, settings, outcomes, etc.)
- Create a news report
- Assess students on knowledge of any topic
- Document learning on a field trip
12. Bill Atkinson PhotoCard (FREE)
Create a virtual postcard with your own images or select from the library of beautiful photos. Students can practice writing while telling about the image. Then record themselves speaking and add thematic stamps and stickers! Email or export your image to the camera roll or Twitter when done. The app requires a log-in prior to using. You can set up a generic account prior to using with your students.
- Write to a character
- Write to a historical figure
- Write about a place/travelogue
- Write about a historical event
- Share about a school or classroom event
- Write about landforms, biomes, weather, etc. using images from the photo library
- Find images to explain a concept: geometry, art, science
- Explain or tell about a concept learned in class
- Practice writing for an audience (write to the principal, parents, friends, community members, etc.)
- Use photos to inspire creative writing or poetry
13. Haiku Deck (FREE)
Create beautiful presentations! Don't miss Haiku Deck's graphing/chart feature to add meaning to your presentation. The app requires a log-in prior to using. You can set up a generic account prior to using with your students. When the presentation is complete it can be shared publicly or privately by email, URL, blog, Facebook, or Twitter.
14. iMotion HD (FREE)
Create an impressive stop-motion animation. Your video can be saved to the camera roll when complete.
- Animate a short story
- Explain science concepts (ex: force and motion)
- Recreate a historical event
- Illustrate a scene from a book
- Demonstrate a process with time-lapse (ex: seed to plant)
- Make a character come to life
- Record a music video
- Spell words or explain math concepts
15. Skitch (FREE)
- Label and spell in a different language
- Vocabulary
- Show how to do something
- No more labeling worksheets- label maps, parts of a flower, body systems, parts of a cell, etc.
- Show math concepts from real life examples
- Highlight what is happening in a science experiment
- Blur out student images or names in photos
- Create informative posters that teach a process
- Show a process
- Locate places on a map
16. Write About This (FREE or $3.99)
Students write using image prompts and record. The free version comes with a limited library of images- but no problem because your students can take and import their own images! Students can also only save one writing prompt at a time in the free version. When projects are complete they can be saved to the camera roll.
- Retell about a school or community event.
- Creative writing
- Share factual information or opinions
- Practice writing conventions
- Create custom writing prompts to engage your students
- Write poetry based on images
- Explain a science or math concept
17. Thinglink (FREE)
Thinglink makes images interactive. Students can add pins to any image and link to websites, videos, text, or audio. Completed projects can be shared by email or published to the ThingLink library. The app requires a log-in prior to using. You can set up a generic account prior to using with your students.
18. Greenscreen by DoInk ($2.99)
Put your students right in the action with the magic of greenscreen. Create unique videos that can be saved to the camera roll or emailed when complete.
- Report the weather or the news
- Create book trailers
- Retell a story
- Report from another country, planet, or historical event
- Biographies
- Historical reenactment
- Creative writing
19. Book Creator (FREE or $4.99)
20. iMovie ($4.99)
- Book trailers
- Read a poem
- Tell a story
- Document what was learned on a field trip
- Create a movie on social skills or social issues
- Explain a science lab, curricular content, or classroom activity
- Share what you know about any topic
- Introduce your students to a new person, topic of study, or idea
- Create a newscast or movie trailer about a historical or famous person or event
- Share an arts event or student work
- Get students excited about an upcoming event or unit of study