Teacher Only Day 2014 iPad apps with Paula Jamieson

What an inspiring day! Despite it being nearly a month ago, I am still thinking about how I can use this learning in the classroom. 

We started out with Operational Bingo, took a scenic route through Augmented Reality apps and engaging writers, then ended with an iMovie challenge! 

The iPad Operational Bingo was fairly easy for me - would have been a problem if it wasn't - given my role as ICT Troubleshooter! However, it was a good chance to remember some iOS7 tips and tricks that I had forgotten.

The augmented reality apps we looked at we're amazing! I am in awe of how it works and found myself  wondering how people can be so brainy to come up with an app that shows a 3D picture from a 2D marker! 

Here are my brief thoughts on each of the apps we looked at:

AR Flashcards: Great, as it speaks the letter and name of the item. However, I am a fan of depicting real creatures, rather than cartoonish recreations. 

Mojo Masks: I like this app but I did find it quite limited...that is until Paula shared the story of a child who used it when story telling to increase his confidence sharing aloud.

Write About This, Writing Challenge & Things to Think About: All seem like good apps, and I will be trialling them over the next few weeks with my new class.

Epic Citadel: A virtual reality app which I had fun playing with. Would be great to inspire boys to write as they travel through the city. Again, I'll be trialling this one in class.

AR Flashcards, colAR Mix, Spacecraft 3D and AR Dinopark were all very cool apps to use with students for writing inspiration, and are very engaging. I keep wanting to play on Spacecraft 3D when I should be planning or marking!

We also looked at Fotopedia Heritage, LIFE for iPad, and NZ Fauna which are great photography apps for use in class. I especially liked LIFE for iPad, although more because of my love of photography than for use with my students. I can see how having these apps available for times when certain images are needed is useful. However, due to the memory space of an iPad Mini I will be taking Paula's advice to delete the app from my iPad and keep it in the Cloud until needed.

So far I have not had (or made) much time to trial these apps but it is only the beginning of Week 4 and I will look forward to planning for this and loading onto our school website (Matua School) in the near future.