Video Conferencing on the iPad


Video Conferencing is an excellent addition to any teacher's set of classroom tools. Video Conferencing allows you to bring an expert into your class. It lets your students collaborate with students from around the world and it gives you the opportunity to participate in virtual excursions. Video Conferencing also lets your students connect with other schools to discuss issues relevant to them, things like social justice, sustainability projects or even outreach programs. So here is a list of apps that allow you to tap into the positive benefits of Video Conferencing and connecting to the world outside your classroom.

Skype for iPad: FREE
Bring your Skype contacts closer with full screen video at your fingertips. Beautiful and simple, this is Skype built especially for the iPad. Call, video call, or instant message anyone on Skype. Join Skype on their website or just sign straight in to your account. If you already have a Skype account, your Skype contacts will automatically be there on your iPad. 


http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/skype-for-ipad/id442012681?mt=8

ClickMe Online Meetings: FREE
ClickMeeting, the world's easiest online meetings just got easier. How? They combined it with the world's easiest tablet. Instantly schedule or participate in online meetings and webinars. Schedule live online meetings and webinars. Stream live audio and video. Meet with up to 25 and present to up to 1000 people. Present documents, videos reports and presentation.


http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/clickmeeting-online/id503160300?mt=8



GoToMeeting: FREE
GoToMeeting is the easiest and most convenient way to attend online meetings – and now you can take it to go! Download the free universal app and join a meeting on your iPad in seconds just by tapping the link in your invitation email. View slide presentations, design mockups, spreadsheets, reports – whatever meeting presenters choose to share on-screen. 


http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/gotomeeting/id424104128?mt=8

Adobe Connect for iOS: FREE
Attend Adobe Connect meetings anytime, anywhere with Adobe Connect Mobile. Download the Adobe Connect Mobile application and enjoy new capabilities that enable you to host online meetings from your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch. Participate in multi-point video conferencing, with 2-way video, using your device’s camera. 


http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/adobe-connect/id430437503?mt=8

Fring: FREE
The only group video chat app. Group Video with friends on iPhone/iPod/iPad. Up to 4 participants can group video call, jam, reunite, sing, dance or whatever you do when you get together. 4 friends on 1 screen. The highest quality video chat possible! fring's video calling DVQ technology (Dynamic Video Quality) gives you the best video and audio. 


http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/fring/id290948830?mt=8

Mikogo: FREE
Mikogo is a desktop sharing and online collaboration software solution that enables one or several guests to see your computer screen live over the Internet. Mikogo allows you to easily conduct secure online meetings with customers, business partners, and coworkers without having to leave your office.


http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/mikogo/id413663486?mt=8

BeamYourScreen: FREE
BeamYourScreen is a desktop sharing and web conferencing software solution that enables one or several guests to see your computer screen live over the Internet. BeamYourScreen allows you to easily conduct secure online meetings with customers, business partners, and coworkers without having to leave your office.


http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/beamyourscreen/id413662832?mt=8

MegaMeeting: FREE
MegaMeeting provides full-featured and flexible web conferencing software, video chat server and webinar software. Participants can communicate by voice, instant messaging chat and see each other by video/videoconference.


http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/megameeting-mobile/id473129119?mt=8

Fuze Meeting: FREE
As Seen on Apple's new TV Commercial. Signup now and get meetings with two participants free. Want larger meetings or Video Conferencing? Upgrade instantly via in app purchase. Get Fuze Meeting HD and you’ll be running online meetings from your iPad in minutes. You can also attend any Fuze Meeting without registering.


http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/fuze-meeting-hd/id389446884?mt=8

vSocial - VideoChat: FREE
vSocial - VideoChat is easy to use for 200+ million Facebook mobile users. It works on iTouch/iPhone/iPad. It is featured by AppStore!! It also works even if you don't have Facebook account. Great functions for social networking and communications: Face-to-face chat.






Jackpot: iPad Lessons

Lisa Johnson from Techchef4u has put all of her iPad lessons onto Pinterest. This is like finding the the mother load of iPad gold. We have posted before about the work that Lisa does around building great resources and then sharing then with teachers. She is a prolific content creator.

Lisa is also the author of a fantastic ebook Hot Apps 4 Hots which can be found on iTunes and of course she co-comperes the "Appy hours" blogtalk radio show. An absolute task this weekend - check out his resource.






Different Types of Distance Education

If you are wanting to return to college to finish your degree, you may feel that you cannot commit to a college program that requires you to meet on campus at a particular place and time. Many working adults have other family and professional obligations that hinder them returning to college. Thankfully, there are many different types of distance education programs currently available.

Distance education is divided into two different overarching categories, asynchronous and synchronous. Synchronous instruction requires that all students participate at the same time. The method of delivery is usually interactive and includes telecourses, teleconferences, web conferencing, and internet chat sessions. This mode of distance learning instruction is far less flexible than asynchronous because it requires students to be online at a specific time.

Asynchronous is far more flexible because this mode of instruction does not require simultaneous participation by all students in the class. These modes of instruction give students the freedom to interact with the material and instructor at a time that is convenient for them. However, the one drawback is that students are responsible for their own motivation in getting the work down. Some examples of asynchronous distance learning include online courses, videotaped courses, and correspondence courses. These tend to be more popular among students who are also working professionals.

Due to the upgrades in computer technology and the easy access to the web, online courses have continued to grow in popularity and are now the most popular out of all of the distance education formats. According to a report issued by the Sloan Foundation, online programs continue to grow at a rate of 10 to 15 percent each year. With online programs, students have a digital classroom they can access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They will typically have discussion board postings, readings, and assignments that must be done by a particular day of the week.

Correspondence courses differ slightly from online courses in the fact that they provide the student with even more flexibility in their program. Students use printed material that is often supplemented with audio or videotapes. Lesson plans and study guides are provided to the student and they can submit their assignments at any time during the course. Courses typically have a time limit associated with them. Some may be as long as a year to complete a course.

Distance education is a great way for adults to start or complete their degree. There are many programs to choose from. Many are currently enrolling!
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Classroom Set up for the iPad

Greg Kulowiec is in the process of documenting a project of a paperless research task with a Yr 10 English class. He is recording this on his blog Kulowiectech. One of the things that I like about greg's blog is his conversation about technology and how it best serves the learning outcomes. This is a conversation that all schools need to have especially around iPads. I have seen a number of school purchase multiple devices and then struggle with the idea of how to use them to substantially improve learning outcomes. Greg suggests that this conversation needs to happen before any project is embarked upon. I would suggest that this conversation needs to happen well in advance of the devices being purchased

He is currently in his 8th year with the Plymouth Public Schools. His role now consists of being a Technology Integration Specialist and History teacher at Plymouth South High School. Check out his site for the full article


Reading and Grammar Apps for Early Learners

There are some great apps available for little ones who are learning their alphabet or are actually learning to read and write. Here are a couple that might work in your classroom.

Super Why $4.49 AU
The SUPER WHY app is a partnership with PBS and the producers of the preschool series SUPER WHY. The series is designed to help kids ages 3 to 6 with the critical skills that they need to learn to read! Students can play along with each of the main characters from the TV series while practicing the alphabet, rhyming, spelling, writing and reading. Super Duper! 
Super Why Alpha Boost:$1.99 AU
Are you ready to “Alpha Boost”  With over 120 party-themed words and five kinds of parties, “Alpha Boost!” provides hours of fun that will reinforce letter recognition and word formation. Search the skies for Super Letters that will form a super party password that gets you to a celebration. Tilt your iDevice left and right to catch the floating letters. 
Kids Write Text Types: $0.99 AU
Kids Write Text Types is a tool to help teachers and students with writing. Each  text type includes the structure/format, features, and examples. The many ideas/writing prompts are provided to help get students started. Students and teachers may use the planners included to plan for their own writing. They may annotate over them, save them and email them. 
Montessori Crosswords: $2.99 AU
Montessori Crosswords helps kids develop their reading, writing, and spelling skills by building words from a set of 320 combinations using a phonics-enabled movable alphabet. Montessori Crosswords helps kids learn and understand fundamental concepts. The app helps kids understand that words are made up of sounds. 
Word Wizard: $2.99 AU
Word Wizard is a unique app that lets kids hear the sounds of letters and words using a talking movable alphabet. Featuring advanced text to speech capabilities, the app can pronounce and spell-check an unlimited number of original words. Word Wizard also provides spelling practice with a list of more than 1,400 questions and answers.
Martha Speaks Dog Party: $2.99 AU
Includes FOUR fun-filled games starring Martha, the talking dog from the popular TV series MARTHA SPEAKS. Players pick a plate to match the right word and then have their dog lick it clean by moving each dog's tongue around with their finger. Eww! The game introduces these words: striped, nature, nautical, mauve, triangular, colorful, teal, round, square.
Rocket Speller: FREE
Rocket Speller is a fun and engaging spelling app for 3-7 year olds. Educators, special education teachers, and parents agree that kids are engaged and learning with this app. Students do not realise that they are learning to spell. Kids will play this in their play time because it does not feel like work.
Licking Letters: $0.99 AU
Jump into the pond and help your friend, Hoppy the Frog, lick letters to spell words! Kids will have a blast with this exciting and fun spelling adventure! Each word is shown and spelled out before each round of play. There are a total of 150 words to spell starting with 3 letters, then gradually moving up to 5 letter words. Game difficulty adjusts based on your child's skill level.
abc Sequence: $1.99 AU
A fun and educational app for children, helping them to learn the alphabet and the names of the animals! Choose the letters in alphabetical order from the right hand side. The letter will transfer to the board and a flashcard will appear at the bottom with an animal. The name of the letter and animal can be heard aloud and is pronounced correctly!
Grammer Jammers: FREE
Catchy animated songs and rhymes make English language arts exciting! Grammar Jammers animations will have you tapping your toes to the beat while learning grammar usage and mechanics. Each animation unlocks a quiz. Answer all the quiz questions for all the Grammar Jammers topics and unlock an interactive reward. 


Maths Apps for Primary School


I got a great phone call the other day from a teacher who had been given the opportunity to develop a intervention program. The school had identified a group of students who had been struggling with their Maths. 

We talked about what outcomes were important and came up with a cross section of apps that might cater for Counting, Operations and Place Values. Obviously some of these are more appropriate for the younger students but we have looked for ones that will make maths a fun thing to learn about.


Math Magic: $0.99 AU
Math Magic is an application for kids to have fun with math and at the same time learn addition, subtraction and multiplication.  Kids need to just touch the answer. Every time they pick the answers they get appreciated with surprise appreciation (real voice) Once they identify the correct answer, shaking the iphone will take them to a new problem. 

Montessori Place Value: $0.99 AU
Review, practice, and expand your child's place value math skills the Montessori way. Practice forming numbers from 1 to 4 digits, emphasizing each place value. Gain visual reinforcement of place value position and the sum that creates the larger number.  MontessoriTech is a member of Moms with Apps, which seeks to promote quality apps for kids.

Stamp Game: $5.49 AU
Montessori math materials on an iPad. Teaches multi-digit addition and subtraction in a visual form, leading to deeper understanding. An innovative new incarnation of a classic "Montessori" math “game.” This Stamp Game app was created collaboratively by incorporating ideas from teachers, parents and most importantly children themselves.  

Place Value: $0.99 AU
Practice place value of 2,3 and 4 digit numbers using multi-touch. The scoreboards spin and a number appears, you are asked with words and audio "How many tens". You must then use your fingertips to indicate how many of each digit there are. The aim is to see how quickly you can answer 10 questions. 

Maths Bingo: $0.99 AU
Get a pattern of five Bingo Bugs in a row by correctly answering math problems. Math problems are presented at the top of the game screen. Feedback is presented at the bottom of the game screen.  There are three levels of game play in Math Bingo: easy, medium, and hard. Math Bingo displays high scores in the Score Board. 

Counting Caterpillar: $1.99 AU
A counting app for preschoolers and kindergarteners. Counting Caterpillar teaches the basics of counting with fun game play, great graphics and quality sound effects. Catch aphids in the correct number sequence to feed the caterpillar and fill its belly. Curriculum based counting practice covers counting in ones to 100.

MathSmart: $0.99 AU
MathSmart breaks down first grade math in 60 built-in difficulty levels and finds the difficulty level that suites the individual student. To do that MathSmart comes with a unique adaptive engine that learns about the student with time and matches the learning speed to each student.  MathSmart asks questions depending on how the student performs. 

Motion Maths HD: $1.99 AU
Developed at the Stanford School of Education, Motion Math HD follows a star that has fallen from space, and must bound back up, up, up to its home in the stars. Moving fractions to their correct place on the number line is the only way to return.  Motion Math gives learners a physical experience of the number line and an intuitive feeling for fractions. 

Pearl Diver: FREE
Throw on your diving helmet, and head into the depths of the sea! Dive amidst shipwrecks and sunken ruins for the valuable pearls, maybe even the elusive black pearl. But watch out for that pesky electric eel!  Addresses number and operations standards. Games developed by the Learning Games Lab undergo a rigorous instructional design process.

Princess Math: $0.99 AU
Princess Math challenges you with addition and subtraction problems. Boost your Math Skills! Draw on the screen to work out the harder problems. The app inclues addition and subtraction problems, perfect for kindergarden to 3rd grade. This is a good app to balance out some of the male oriented app narratives that are used in maths apps.




Special Education Inclusion

Special education inclusion signifies the participation of special education students in regular education classrooms and provision of support services to these students. The main objective of inclusion education is that all students in a school, regardless of their strengths and their weaknesses in any area, become part of the school community. Every student develops a feeling of belonging with other students, teachers, and support staff. In segregated special education, children will not learn how to function in a non-disabled world. For instance, children who are disabled in terms of communication and are emotionally distressed would not communicate and might remain in a more emotionally disturbed state in segregated settings. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) holds it mandatory for schools to educate children with disabilities in general education classrooms.

The prime advantage of special education inclusion is that both disabled and non-disabled students are brought together in an environment of togetherness. Children learn to accept individual differences in inclusion education and this would lead to the development of new friendly relationships. Inclusion education also enables active participation of parents in their child's education. The law also states that students with disabilities have a legal right to attend regular classes and receive an appropriate education in the least restrictive environment. Although the advantages are many, inclusion education creates an uncertainty regarding the roles and responsibilities of regular classroom teachers and special education teachers. However, researches show that inclusion education can be made effective by a healthy collaboration of special education teachers and regular teachers. With the assistance of services that would be available from the health department, physical education department, occupational therapists, speech therapists, etc., the school administration can aid the teachers to develop active lesson plans for inclusion education. Thus schools can create a cooperative learning environment and promote socialization.
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Dictionaries on the iPad

Dictionary.com: FREE
Everything you love about Dictionary.com on the iPhone is now available on the iPad! The free Dictionary.com app for iPad delivers trusted reference content from Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com. No internet connection is needed to search words. The app includes nearly 2 million words, definitions, synonyms and antonyms. 




Merriam-Webster Dictionary: FREE
Most useful and respected dictionary, designed and enhanced especially for iPad. In addition to all the definitions from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, the app offers voice search – to let you look up a word without having to spell it – along with an integrated thesaurus, example sentences, Word of the Day, Favorites, and more.




Wordbook: $1.99 AU
WordBook is a comprehensive, quick and intuitive dictionary and thesaurus of the English language. It's a great combination of comprehensive contents and fast intuitive interface. 150,000 entries with more than 220,000 definitions, 70,000 usage samples. 23,000 root word origins (etymologies). 




WordWeb English Dictionary: FREE
The WordWeb English dictionary and thesaurus: fast searching, spelling suggestions, definitions, usage examples, synonyms, related words - and no adverts. An offline audio version is available separately.  The intelligent word entry suggests possible correct spellings as you type, as well as listing words that sound the same or are often confused. 




Dictionary!: FREE
Dictionary is an easy to use, no fluff dictionary app for your iDevice. Helps you find words when you need to without getting in your way. The entire dictionary is installed on your Device.  If you have a connection you can look it up online for a more detailed definition. Built the way a dictionary should be!





Blends: $1.99 AU
Blends is a simple and fun dictionary for the english language. Simple and fun interface design. Browse through relationships to find the best suited word. Examples, synonyms, antonyms, hypernyms, hyponyms and more. Based on the Princeton University WordNet Project. Save bookmarks, navigate and view your history. 




Dictionary for iPad: $2.99 AU
Dictionary is a consistentand  hyperlinked English illustrated dictionary and thesaurus, spell checker, vocabulary builder and Wikipedia browser.  Equally useful as a dictionary with intelligent word lookup, as a fast spell checker or as a Wikipedia web browser, Dictionary is fast and easy to use.





Advanced English Dictionary and Thesaurus: FREE 
Instead of following the standard dictionary format, the WordNet dictionary is organized with an innovative and convenient approach. In addition to the straightforward definition the dictionary shows how each word is linked to other words in terms of synonyms, opposites and similar words, but also hyponyms and hyperlinks within the group.




Concise English Dictionary: $0.99 AU
Concise English Dictionary is a premium quality reference for the English language. It is fast, reliable, up-to-date and really easy to use. You will love it! Concise English Dictionary is developed by the author of the best-selling English Dictionary for Symbian and Blackberry – UIQ Open and Handango People's Choice award winner!





Dictionary: $1.99 AU
Dictionary is an intuitive, talking and integrated English illustrated dictionary and thesaurus, spell checker, vocabulary builder and wikipedia browser. Equally useful as a dictionary with intelligent word lookup, as a fast spell checker or as a Wikipedia web browser, Dictionary is fast and easy to use.






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