My iPad tells me at I've tried out well over 800 apps so far. Despite having a 32 iPad2 I find myself having to delete apps to make room for new downloads. (wishing I had bought a 64!). It is a painful process, choosing apps to delete.
Apple's changes to the app store helps, of course. I can always go to the purchased section, not on this iPad, to find an app previously purchased, and deleted. But still, I find myself agonizing over which apps are worthy of my coveted space.
Even worse, my classroom iPads ONLY have 16gb's. Soon I will have to pick and choose from the 800+ apps to decide which apps are going to make the cut.
My criteria:
+educational- a broad term, I know.
+Fun
+Ease of use. Ie. Intuitive
+Free! (I will be much more selective of which ones I'll choose to pay for a class set. Some add up quickly!)
+Skill specific or easy to navigate. Ie. Work on short vowels only or clearly defined sections. This is important when choosing which folders to place them in.
+teaches and/or reinforces
-lite versions, or in app purchase versions
-obnoxious noises, and even worse 'wrong' buzzers
-expensive... Even with 1/2 off via VPP a set of 24 apps still adds up, quickly.
-Complex menus...
-tells their answer was wrong, but the correct answer is not shown
Apps I will pay for:
Montessori crosswords
Montessori 100 board
Park Math
Word wizard
Teach me K, or maybe Teach Me: 1st
Pocket phonics
See? Already just these six apps would cost a lot. Cost/2*24=yikes. I really want developers to make money... But my husband will only let me spend so much of my own money, and now that I'm in charge of the budget I can see why. Food for my family or apps?
I really wish the buy an app-put it on up to 5 devices rule applied to Education. I would still be buying 5 copies of the app and would be likely to get so many more.
So wish me luck. And if you have a list you've already made up, send it to me. I'd be curious to see if you've found any hidden gems. I will be sure to use applist.me to share my final classroom iPad apps for fall 2011.
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Thanks for sharing your recommended apps list! It IS hard isn't it once you realize you have to multiply the cost by classroom sets?! We came up with a list of apps for our elementary schools last year - and then had to cut the list by 75% because the list cost 4 times what our tech director had available :-(
ReplyDeleteHow many ipads do you have? And how did u get so many?
ReplyDelete