Apps. Apps and More Apps!!

So there is this wonderful thing called an app for our tablets and spartphones and other electronic devices.  Can something so fantastic and exciting also be used for  educational purposes as well?  The answer is YES!  I have done a little research and found some apps that could be exceptionally useful in the classroom!

The Capital Quiz app is one that will test your knowledge on different countries, and will be very helpful to students as then begin the journey of knowing the capitals and flags of these countries.

The Kids Numbers and Math app gives children the opportunity to learn their numbers and guides them in learning the basic math skills that they are going to need.  This would be an excellent app for any preschool students.

The My Pocket Prof app is useful in that an entire class can be organized in it with all of the notes and everything.  This will help students to stay organized if the information is shared with them, and it allows an educator to share information with other educators.

The iWriteWords app is offered by Apple and would be helpful in a classroom of young children that are just learning to write, or those that need to improve their handwriting.

The Word Wizard app is also offered by Apple and would be a good app for students that are working on phonics, so this would be best used in kindergarten or first grade.

Why not explore the apps available for the classroom?

 
For more apps here are a couple of good websites for you to check out!

http://www.onlinedegrees.org/top-25-android-apps-for-education/

http://www.apple.com/education/apps/

1 Corinthians 10:14  "Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry." 

I think that there is a line between using apps for a good purpose and becoming addicted to these apps.  Once something becomes an obsession, then I do  not think that it is a good idea to continue using that thing.  There is  a limit to the amount that you should do anything, because once something becomes the only thing that you can think about, it becomes an idol, and that is something that is against God's word.

Copyright

You may think that it is all right to just look past the copyright laws because your are not going to be the one to get caught, but the truth of the matter is that you need to be mindful of the fact that it is important to keep these laws.  

Romans 13:1-2 says, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.  Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment."   

This means that we need to obey the authority that was put over us, meaning that we must obey the laws put in place for copyright.  We must not overlook the fact that we are supposed to get a license for the use of other people's work.  It is our responsibility to do the right thing even if it is going to make the task more difficult.  We must not try to get around the laws, but rather follow them because we are under the authority of them.

Podcasts

I have found that a podcast can be a wonderful thing for every student that you have in the classroom.  There is no one student in particular that a podcast would be specific to, therefore it is good for all of them and will be beneficial to all of them.  For a student that is struggling, the podcast can act as a review of the material that was covered in class.  It gives these students to hear the lecture or lesson one more time rather than relying on the one time that they would hear it during class.  For the average student, or average learner, again it would act as a review for them as they prepare for an exam or if they did not catch something during the lecture or lesson.

For the advanced students I think that I would take advantage of the podcast and give them an extra lesson that they could listen to as an additional part of the lesson.  It would be optional for them, but it would be useful for them to expand their knowledge if they felt like it was too easy for them.

This tool is also excellent for when a student misses class.  They can get the exact lesson that was taught during class, so they are not missing out on anything.   It will be more efficient for the student and for the teacher, and gives more time for the teacher to answer the student's questions rather than taking that time to teach it to them.  The student will also be able to do it when he or she has time because there will be a lot of work to make up in all of his or her classes after missing a day of school.

 

http://theresurgence.com/files/2010/11/07/Proverbs19.1.jpg

This verse talks about how we are to walk in integrity.  This principle can be used in the classroom in regards to electronics for the class because the students are to use these things only as the teacher has instructed them to.  The students need to remember to follow the rules set by the teacher for these electronics, and not take advantage of them by using them for cheating purposes.  As a teacher you need to set specific guidelines for the students for what they can use things like a podcast for and what assignments they may not use them for.

Online Games

As I was searching for some games to incorporate into the learning in my classroom I cam across some pretty interesting ones.  Here are some that I came up with:


Jeopardy

This first link is one that gives a template for a jeopardy game that can be edited to fit into the curriculum for your specific classroom needs.  I thought this was interesting because you could use it with a variety of age groups for any subject.  I would use this to do review over the material that was previously covered during class.

Math Arcade
http://www.funbrain.com/kidscenter.html 


I would use this website to allow students to play games that pertained to the math lessons that we are covering in class so that it can reinforce the material in a different, fun manner.  There are a variety of different games for the students to chose from.

Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?

I think that this would be another fun review game for the kids to use, probably for grades three and up.  The children can use buzzers to answer the questions that would come directly from the curriculum.    You could use a template from a website to make it seem like a more realistic version of the game as well, using music from the show in the background to get the students excited about learning.

Mad Libs
http://www.itsamadlibsworld.com/index.php?edition=2

I distinctly remember having a lot of fun filling in Mad Libs puzzles when I was in elementary school, and I think that this online website would be great to use with students because it teaches them grammar as they can have fun and be silly filling in the puzzle.

Word Scramble
http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/membergames/scramble/scramble.php?d=204

This site gives a kindergarten student the ability to work with letters and words and will help to review the alphabet concepts that the students are learning so diligently during the year.  It will give them a break from listening to you as a teacher, but will still allow for learning to be done.

On TeacherTube there is a channel for Special Education, which I will use in the classroom to help with the inclusion portion of the classroom.  This channel gives a good variety of videos that can be used to aid in the learning of material by all intellectual levels.

The DiscoveryEducation channel on YouTube will be a channel that I will use in my classroom to  show different aspects of the field of science and for technology in the classroom.  This channel has several videos of different types of technology that one can incorporate into the classroom, so I think this channel would be very useful in the future.

The Elementary channel on TeacherTube is another one that will be very helpful in the future.  It give a wide variety of different videos that are appropriate for younger children.  These videos will be good teaching aids in all subject areas that need to be covered at the elementary level.

The Bill Nye channel on YouTube is something that will be useful when teaching the students different aspects of science.  This will give the children a fun break from listening to me as a teach talking and will allow them to learn from a different medium.  These videos will be both entertaining and educational for the students, and can be used with multiple age groups.

I would also use the videos from AdaptedMind in the classroom.  This collection holds numerous math and counting videos and can be accessed through TeacherTube as one of its collections.  These videos would be helpful when teaching math lessons to children.

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
-Proverbs 22:6 ESV

This verse from scripture clearly states that the parent is responsible to raise their child in a manner that will teach them what is right and what is wrong, and what is true in this life.  A parent is to teach their child which things are good for them to do and the things that are harmful for them.  Therefore, parents should be mindful of the things that there children are doing, whether it be watching a television show, surfing the internet, or what they are doing with their friends.  The parent should be directly involved in every aspect of the child's life.

Children are going to use technology, because that is just the type of world that they are growing up in.  Parents need to monitor the things that their children are doing with this technology, which means putting filters on the internet and only allowing them to do certain things with the technology.  Something helpful, especially with younger children would be to only allow the use of technology when the child is with you.

As an educator, one needs to respect the limitations that the parents have set for their children and not stretch outside of those boundaries.  There should be no material used that is not age appropriate for the children, and an educator must be exceedingly cautious as to what they use in the classroom in the areas of technology and other media. 

WebEx is an efficient way to hold meetings from a long distance, and it is just like everyone else is present.  It is free for meetings with up to three people.

Image taken from: pcworld.com

This can also be used for webinars, online training, and to share ideas over its organizer.  WebEx eliminates the need for a lot of travel for business meetings and allows the informations sharing and discussions to occur in a secure online environment.   The cost of WebEx ranges from free to $49 a month and ranges from a three person meeting to a twenty-five person meeting.  

This can also be used in the classroom for children to collaborate on projects and put all of their information into a presentation.  It allows for video chat conversation when they are away from school so they can continue to work on the project outside of the classroom.  It allows for a secure environment for this to take place in.