iPads in Education: Notes and Apps from the NICE Workshop

This morning, I was treated to a smorgasbord of iPad discussion at the Northern Illinois Computer Educators' (NICE) iPad Workshop. Held at Loyola Academy, the workshop took the form of an "unconference" as 40+ attendees helped set the agenda and then broke out into small group sessions for lots of sharing and thoughts over how the iPad integrates into classroom instruction. Notes and a shared doc can be found via these links (backchannel, shared doc), and some of my favorite apps after the jump.

I've dabbled a bit now with possible classroom apps as we consider an iPad cart pilot initiative at ETHS. I found some great information at both a Chicago Public Schools presentation at IETC and a recent meeting of tech coordinators in our area. Below are some additional apps shared today that stood out for me (in no particular order). All are currently free in the iTunes App Store.

Flashcards* - features integration with Quizlet, a popular flashcard online site that is used by many of our teachers, especially in World Languages.

DocScan HD - for those without a doc cam or who want a quick way to integrate captured images, this app makes it easy to "scan" images or pull in images from your photo albums, edit and even annotate on them for sharing purposes.

PuppetPals HD and Sock Puppets - make for fun ways to create simple animations with your own voice recordings. Think xtraNormal/GoAnimate for the iPad except with fewer features, but simpler to use.

ScreenChomp and ShowMe - with classroom flipping gaining momentum, having the ability to record screencasts on the iPad becomes increasingly enticing and useful. Both apps provide similar capabilities.

WebPad and AirSketch - Charlene opened with a demo of the free version of AirSketch, and it was very easy to set up a whiteboard and share with a large group of users with a simple IP address. Potentially interesting applications for when students are not in the same room but still on the same network.

Who knew I would end up with a "puppets" category? Anyways, more apps can be found in the notes, or through various sites that specialize in recommendations, including the local favorite, iear.org.

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