Educational Mobile Apps for the I-pad

1)  Feed the Animals is a great app for toddlers, preschool, and kindergarten students who are at-risk.  The activity is eye catching, teaches about animals, what animals like to eat, and is great for eye-hand coordination.  Also, the app strengthens cognitive skills and provides opportunities for problem-solving. 

2.)  Toddler Puzzle Shapes is a great app and appealing to the eyes.  The games are made for toddlers.  However, I have students who are functioning on this skills level.  The app provides activities to strengthen eye-hand coordination, gives positive feedback, and sets the student up for success.  Additionally, the app offers several languages that can be beneficial for bilingual students.  The app offers puzzle games that provides problem-solving in order to complete the puzzle.  This app is a lot of fun for kids.

3)  Clean Up is a great app for young children to develop language, reasoning, sorting, and classifying skills.  The app provides 75 photographic images of toys, clothing, and food to be put away in the appropriate area.  Correct answers are rewarded with visual and audio rewards and incorrect responses are corrected by visual cues.  The photo images are appealing to the eye and very clear for the learner.  My students enjoy this app. 

4.)  Proloquo2Go is an expensive app.  However, it can take the place of high tech very expensive communication devices.  It is a full-featured augmentative device and a great app for students who have difficulty with speaking.  It has a library of over 14,000 symbols, powerful automatic conjugations, two researched based vocabulary organizations, advanced word prediction, multi-user support, and the ability to fully customize vocabularies for users along a broad continuum of abilities from beginning symbolic communication to full literacy.  2008-2013 AssistiveWare

Delicious Link

https://delicious.com/jagger1412

Good Digital Citizen

It is important to practice good digital citizenship by monitoring your online behavior and reputation.  A good digital citizen demonstrates appropriate ethics, etiquette, online safety, and more. 

Remember to be polite when posting blogs, comments, pictures, and more.  Be respectful to others and refrain from aggressive behavior toward others.  Also, refrain from gossiping and constant annoying posts.  Additionally, post only important information and/or comments.  Refrain from posting every moment of your life. 

Keep in mind to keep personal information private like address, phone number, place of employment, present location, and living status.  Also, your daily social interactions, relationships, and friendships can affect your present reputation, future reputation, and job opportunities.

Desktop Generators

I use Desktop Publishing software.  It is beneficial in designing newsletters to send home to parents.  It is a lot more appealing to the eye and is easy to access.  Also, I would use the worksheet generator.  This software would be most beneficial in the classroom for extra practice and/or to take home for practice.  My students are working toward success on the Extended Standards on grade level.  It is difficult to find resources in line with these standards.  Therefore, the worksheet generators would be beneficial in designing worksheets to accommodate individual needs.  Additionally, the Graphic document maker will be great for designing awards, certificates, and acknowledgement certificates.  My students take pride in their individual work and enjoy getting immediate feedback concerning success.  I have given my students various award certificates that were purchased.  However, I will enjoy creating certificates that acknowledges an individual skill.  This will motivate our students and continue to make learning exciting.

Does Virtual Life Change "Real" life?

Does Virtual Life Change "Real" life?  I believe technology has provided a faster means of getting things done.  We are able to connect with more family members, share family photos, and connect with family/friends more often.  Also, technology has provided us with means of engaging in innovative ways to complete projects, plan for the future, and learn new problem-solving skills.  

Software

There are five types of Instructional Software Functions

1) Drill & Practice Software functions allow students to….

• ·         work on previously learned skills and retain skills
• ·         gain confidence in acquired skills
• ·         build a foundation for higher level thinking
• ·         receive feedback
• ·         become motivated
• ·         manage time

http://funschool.kaboose.com/preschool/index.html

2) Tutorial Software functions allow students to….

• ·         learn at one’s own pace
• ·         engage in other learning strategies that may be more individualized
• ·         receive instruction when teacher is unavailable
• ·         learn an instructional sequence from start to finish

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/placevalue/value.htm

3)  Simulation Software functions allow students to….

• ·         engage in a real or imaginary system
• ·         interact/engage in a hypothetical situation
• ·         learn step-by-step procedures

http://www.kokogiak.com/megapenny/default.asp

4)  Instructional Games Software functions allow students to…

• ·         gain motivation and interest
• ·         practice problem solving in an interactive and fun way
• ·         continue playing along while learning at the same time
• ·         continue to focused on the skill in an interactive way

http://www.abcya.com/alphabet_number_magnets.htm

5) Problem Solving Software functions allow students to...

• ·         be motivated due to engaging in challenging activities
• ·         gain experience in problem-solving skills and strategies
• ·         practice problem-solving

http://www.turtlediary.com/kindergarten-games/math-games/color-by-number.html

Purpose

Reminder-  Make sure kids have a purpose to learning.  It will be exciting and motivational!