Tonight we explored many different educational apps that are available for the iPad. Three apps that I find very exciting and can imagine using in the classroom include the language arts apps Shakespeare and Dictionary and the social studies app Globe.
The language arts app titled Shakespeare could be a very valuable resource in any language arts classroom when studying the various Shakespearian plays. This app allows users to read all of Shakespeare's plays on the iPad and to navigate through the plays act by act. The app also provides scene breakdowns that summarize the various scenes. Some of the tools include the options to change the backgroud and font colors, changing the font styling, and changing the size of the font (which could be very useful for visually-impaired students). If the user were to upgrade to the Pro Edition for $9.99, he or she would have access to 40,000 words in a glossary, 18 portraits, 80 quotes, and facts about the birth, life, and death of William Shakespeare. I really like this app because it contains all of Shakespeare's plays, facilitates easy navigation within the plays, and provides scene breakdowns. If students were one-to-one with iPads, it would be cheaper in the long run to access the plays through this app rather than buying hardcopy Shakespearian texts. I wish the Pro Edition were free, but it is reasonably priced and I can imagine the glossary feature in particular being very useful for students who struggle to understand the many archaic words in Shakespeare's writing.
I also like the language arts app titled Dictionary. This app allows users to look up words by typing them or speaking them. The results of a word search provide the definitions, origins, synonyms, and anonymous of the searched for word. The user can also listen to a digital recording of the word's correct pronunciation. I love this app because it is so comprehensive. Dictionary is a one-stop shop for definitions, pronunciation, and a thesauras. I can imagine asking students to use this app as a supplemental resource to hardcopy dictionaries and thesaurases when exploring new vobabulary and synonyms.
The third app that I really like is titled Globe. This app presents users with a 3-D interactive globe that t can be rotated every which direction. Users can tap countries to quickly pull up the related Wikipedia articles with information such as the country's history, demographics, culture, economy, etc. I really like this app because it could help students to become familiar with the locations of countries and help them quickly review background information on individual countries. I can imagine using this app in an English language arts classroom when studying multi-cultural literature that requires students to quickly assimilate background information. Students may also use this as a secondary resource when gathering background information for a research paper pertaining to different countries.
I am excited about these apps and the many other educational apps already available and currently being designed for future use in the classroom. I believe that in the years to come we will see apps transforming the way learning is approached in the classroom.
Excellent!
ReplyDeleteThank you. :-)