Apps, Ideas, & Advice for Using Tablets (Android or iPad)

Our school will be experimenting with several Android tablets as well as the iPad this summer in hopes of starting a pilot program at some point next school year. Does anyone have any Apps, Ideas, or Advice they would like to share about using Android Tablets and/or iPads in the classroom?

Tags: 3.0, android, apps, classroom, honeycomb, motorola, samsung, tablet

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Permalink Reply by Scott Habeeb on May 24, 2011 at 8:13am

Interesting article that relates to this discussion:

http://www.convergemag.com/policy/Horizon-Report-K-12-2011.html?elq...

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Permalink Reply by Brad Wilson on May 24, 2011 at 10:38am

I have used 1 iPad and 1 iPod Touch all year with 4th graders. You can see all my apps & a learning checklist designed for those apps on my resource page here: http://www.21innovate.com/ipadipod.html

If I could get my hands on more, I would love it. We have a netbook cart which is used frequently for writing, publishing & flash-based activities. But the iOS devices really engage the kids & there are tons of great apps. I will assume that managing these devices & app purchases will be your biggest challenge.

My biggest hope is that people choose to use tablets for 21st century skills and not strictly doing old things in a digital way. (On my checklist you will see the verb CREATE a lot) -the iPad is not just a consumption device!

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Permalink Reply by Scott Habeeb on May 24, 2011 at 11:00am

Thanks, Brad. We'll check out your resource page!

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Permalink Reply by Scott Habeeb on June 2, 2011 at 8:05pm

Thanks to Mike Sebolt for finding this link: http://www.hhgregg.com/ProductDetail.asp?SID=n&ProductID=73891 Sounds like a potentially good deal.

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Permalink Reply by Alisa Burns on June 3, 2011 at 9:46am

I can already envision the iPad and/or an Android tablet replacing most paper/pencil assignments in most classrooms. As a high school math teacher, however, I am hesitant to believe that it will transition as "seamlessly" into my curriculum as it might into some. I know there are great math apps out there - flashcards, calculators, graphing programs, problem sets, and more! But, I imagine that working a math problem (line by line) will still need to be done on paper. I'm interested to see what's out there and how this new technology might work for my classroom and for my colleagues' classrooms!

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Permalink Reply by Scott Habeeb on June 3, 2011 at 10:19am

It would be neat if there was a way to write on a tablet to work out a math problem - wonder if there's an app for that? Right off the bat, though, I would have to say I agree - hard to see a tablet replacing paper. Not hard to see it replacing the math book though.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Entous on June 3, 2011 at 10:41am

There are plenty of apps which you can use on both Android and iOS that will allow students to write out their math work, but the problem is that they are just glorified Paint programs. They do nothing to process or interpret the math work. It is sad really, but I have looked for a math app which is more than what can be done on a website, and they simply do not exist.

The market for really good math apps is currently limited and will be as long as textbook publishers continue to provide only the basic material that they already make available on their textbook website resources. For example, the Houghton Mifflin apps on iOS are ok but they are definitely not web 2.0 as most are just versions of the flash enabled games and videos which are available on a computer (with Flash). Another problem is that they charge additional money for the iOS apps while the web apps are usually included for free for districts which have adopted their texts.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Sebolt on June 6, 2011 at 8:30am

Take a look at this app. It's free :)

http://www.appbrain.com/app/algebra-tutor/com.shanefulmer.algebratutor

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Permalink Reply by Jon Entous on June 6, 2011 at 8:43am

Mike that is an app which goes to show the issue with most apps for both iPad and Android when it comes to education. As essentially a quiz and short lesson app, it does what it was designed to do, but it doesn't go far enough. Using materials available like the Kahn Academy and various quiz based websites, you can do the same as the app with greater depth and detail through the websites. What I have yet to see for Middle and High School level students is an app that really reaches into the world of Web 2.0 and offers something more than what we have already. There are plenty of Web 2.0 and innovative apps for iPad and Android that focus on the youngest students, but really nothing for the older students.

For example, the Elements app which is often touted as a supreme and one of the first examples of an app for education is in my mind missing the point. It is a great app in terms of style, look, and functionality. However it is nothing more than a website with some nice video and animations. I think of it as a really nice book or reference material. I have yet to see an innovative app for the older grades which goes to the same level as many of the best educational websites that we have had for years.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Sebolt on June 6, 2011 at 8:45am

And you just make my case for netbooks/Laptops over tablets :)

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Permalink Reply by Jon Entous on June 6, 2011 at 9:07am

Thats true. I would agree that for middle and high school students the order of tech for use in school should proceed in the following order:

1. A full laptop (can do full web and apps)
2. A netbook (can do full web and most apps)
3. An Android tablet (can do full web and android apps)
4. An iPad (can do partial web and iOS apps)
5. An iPod or Android Based MID (can do partial web and iOS/Android apps)

Right now if we went with a tablet (either the iPad or Android) then we face the issue of getting limited access (to the web or apps) for the advantage of a touch interface and portability. I think the way the web is designed makes a full laptop a better choice. In just a few years though with the takeover of HTML5 and a more touch friendly web (even Windows 8 has tons of touch enabled changes) will the option of a tablet be more viable. I just hope that people don't let their desire for cool new tech toys to trump the logical analysis of what works best in the now and near future. Lets not forget that the lifespan of any tablet is only about 2-3 years.

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Permalink Reply by Beth Cook on June 22, 2011 at 7:54pm

I can see how a flashcard app would be useful to an elementary math student memorizing addition or multiplication tables.

For chemistry, I agree with Alisa as well that it would be difficult for students to show their work on unit conversions problems or stoichiometry. Honestly, there is probably an app or website that can solve any stoichiometry problem out there, but can the student show me their work to prove they can do the problem and understand the molar relationships behind it by using a tablet??... I am doubtful.

BUT wonder if I invented an app where students could drag atoms around on a tablet screen showing how the arrangement of the bonds changed after a reaction?? And then students would have to balance the equation by adding more atoms?? Well, I guess I would be a millionaire and I could buy myself an iPad : )