App-O-Da-Week #10

With only a few weeks of school left, now is a PRIME TIME to learn about some primo apps! 

Many of you have heard of Brain POP. If you haven't, it's a fantastic, educational site that contains a plethora of content and curriculum. From videos, activities, and quizzes, if you can't find the topic on Brain POP, then the topic just may not exist. Brain POP has a few sites too - including one for K-3, 4-8, ESL, and Espanol!

The drag is that you need to pay for this program but that hasn't stopped them from putting out there Featured Movie App. The App can be found in the Apple iTunes Store, the Google Play Store, and the Chrome Web Store. When you can find an app in more than one place, you know it is something that can be  all teachers and students can enjoy.

Brain POP summarizes there app:
"The BrainPOP Featured Movie and BrainPOP Jr. Movie of the Week apps regularly deliver fresh movies, quizzes, and bonus features right to your handheld device. They cover a breadth of relevant topics including current events, historical figures and milestones, holidays, curricular subjects, and more."


Commonsensemedia.org lays it out pretty well what students can learn in 3 minutes: 
"Kids can learn the main points about a range of different topics -- science, math, social studies, art and music, language, and more -- through brief videos. For example, there's a three-minute video on how digital animation is made. The app features one video every day (although kids can browse topically to watch others anytime), and kids can take a quiz after each video. Quizzes are designed to help kids not only retain the content in the videos but also practice vocabulary and reasoning skills. BrainPOP Featured Movie provides well-presented material on many topics that kids learn about in school."

So there you have it! Two apps for you to digest this week. Please share these with any and all students, teachers, and educators that you know! And remember, same App time, same App channel next week!

App-O-Da-Week #7

It's that time of the week again!

It's APP-O-DA-WEEK time! 

Thanks for coming back! We are going for nearly two months now. We have brought you both paid and free apps but this app is a bit different... it's both. 

The app that we will be highlighting this week is called "Puppet Pals."

Now, this app is free but to access all the content, you do have to pay for an upgraded version. These apps are generally refered to as "freemium apps" because they rope you in the the FREE word but then make you purchase more to access everything you want to. 

You might be saying to yourself that this is a waste of a FREE app - and most times, you would be correct. But, I would also argue that the paid version of Puppet Pals, which is $2.99, is well worth the investment. The full version is called "Puppet Pals Directors Pass" and you get a lot with it. 

This app allows you to create free puppet shows with user created or app created content. You can do voice overs  move characters around, and create some seriously wicked presentations! The app is easy to use and is one of those creation and collaboration apps that can be scaled for any age group from grades K-12.

Here is how the app makers describe their own app via http://tinyurl.com/a9deaat:

STAR IN YOUR OWN CARTOON in this creative, award-winning app!

Kids and adults alike love the simplicity of puppeteering and voicing characters while creating movies to share.

Simply pick out your actors and backdrops, drag them on to the stage, and tap record. Your movements and audio will be recorded in real time for playback later. 

This app is as fun as your own creativity. Act out a story of Pirates on the high seas, fight as scary monsters, or play the part of a Wild West bandit on the loose. You can even combine any characters however you want! 

Your creations are only limited by your imagination!

FEATURES 

- Create an actor from a photo

- Use a photo as a backdrop for your storytelling

- zoom and rotate your characters using two fingers

- flip them around with a double tap

- a wide variety of creative characters to download (including famous talk show hosts and politicians)

- limitless possibilities of story creations

All in all, its a pretty great app. Students can get engaged and tell stories using premade characters or they can take pictures and put themselves in the story! Other in app-purchases may set you back some but the basics should keep people coming back!