Apps+for++Teaching+and+Learning

= Apps for Education =

**Apps According to Bloom's Taxonomy** Many iPad Apps can be useful for helping students develop higher order thinking skills. This article categories lists of apps according to Bloom's Taxonomy, and provides lesson ideas and some great insights into how specific apps can be used to promote cognitive skills.

Students and teachers can create their own hand-drawn animations with the free Lite or the Premium version of this app. The interface, which resembles the real working environment of a professional animator, allows users to easily hand draw their illustrations using their fingers on the iPad, and save their animations as short videos. This app would be a great way for students to creatively tell a story or demonstrate a concept. Here's a fun sample I found on YouTube with an Olympic theme: media type="youtube" key="EGI3WWvicqw" height="315" width="420"
 * Animation Desk**

Here is a vast collection of over 1,300 apps for education, identified by the Apple Distinguished Educators (ADE) program and organized in a variety of helpful categories, including Special Education, Multiple Intelligences, Blooms's and educational themes. All of the apps in this truly amazing directory include summaries and pricing information. You will never have to browse the iTunes store again!
 * [|Appitic]**

[|ToonTastic] This is a great app to demonstrate story development! Toontastic allows students to create their own cartoon and determine setting, characters, plot (conflict, challenge, conflict, resolution) all while animating and providing diaglogue for their own cartoon. This app even allows students to add "emotional energy" with music to add feeling to their story. Stories can be modified for length (i.e. less then 5 scenes) as well. Though this app might be best suited for younger students, it could easily be adapted for older students depending on the level of conflict and sophistication of the stories created.

[|Speech Journal]

Don't be fooled by the name! This is a great app with many, many uses with your students. Simply use a photo (or take a photo) and hit record to allow the student to share his or her ideas, writing, etc. Pictures can be added to create more "pages" and you can stop, re-record and keep going. It's really kid-friendly and a great way for students to be proud of their work or "publish" work in a different way. $3.

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 * [|Stack the Countries]** and **Stack the States** are fun tetrix-style games for practicing geography skills. There is a free version of both apps with some limited capabilities; full versions are available for a low cost.




 * HistoryMaps** is a free app that includes a library of high-resolution historical maps--too many to count! This would be a great app to have at your fingertips to show students as part of a history, social studies, or lesson, especially with a VGA connector to show on a big screen.