After a semester of co-teaching our middle school students in a new class, Digital Literacy, I decided to get some information from the 7th graders. The question: what apps are essential to your life and education at school? Here is the list.
Notability – digital note taking app. (price $2.99)*
Box – access to Box.net cloud storage. (free)
Pages – word processing/publishing software for iOS. (free with iOS 7)
iMovie – movie editing software. (free with iOS 7)
Gmail – access to student email accounts via Google app. (free)
Google Drive – access to Google Drive cloud storage for editing, collaborating and sharing work. (free)
Keynote – presentation creation software. (free with iOS 7)
Destiny Quest – our library catalog and book reservations. (free)
QR Reader – for scanning QR codes. (free)
Canvas – access to learning management system by Instructure.Canvas (we are currently piloting this LMS in middle school). (free)
Safari – web browsing and research. (free, built into iOS)
GarageBand – music creation and editing. (free with iOS 7)
Blio – book reading app. (free)
Meraki MDM – our mobile device management app, let’s manage the iPads and distribute apps. (free)
Educreations – a simple white board and screen recording presentation app. (free)
Adobe Ideas – for drawing, mind mapping, note taking, annotating pdfs and doodling. (free)
Free Graphing Calculator – self explanatory. (free)
Facetime – video conference and chatting service. (free, built into iOS)
iBooks – book reading app. (free)
Messages formerly iMessage – instant messaging service built into iOS. (free, built into iOS)
App Store – the place where all of the apps come from. 🙂 (free, built into iOS)
The next question I asked: what are essential iPad skills that you need on a daily basis at school? Check back for the answers.
*Many paid apps are eligible for a discount through Apple’s Volume Purchase Program.
I wrote this post originally for the Allendale Columbia School blog – ACSRochester.org.