Advisor-bar

Top 20 Must-Have Educational iPhone & iPad Apps Used By Real Teachers in the Classroom

Posted September 19, 2011 11:40am by Shara Karasic Tags: Education, iPad, Curated Lists, best apps, teachers

Apps mentioned:

With the advent of the 2011/2012 school year, teachers who have access to mobile technology are scrambling to find the best education apps for the iPod Touch, iPad and iPhone. Educators use apps for everything from communicating with students to inspiring creativity to dissecting virtual frogs. Luckily, we have lots of educators (including Apple Distinguished Educators) on Appolicious who share their lists of the best education apps for elementary, middle school, junior high, and high school.

These are the education apps most listed by educators on Appolicious.

1. 3D Brain (iPad, iPhone. Free)

Reviewed by educator lmorris: “This is a great learning tool for any student. It shows and describes all the parts of the brain.”

Subject/Grade: Science (Biology). 4-12.

Listed by: Alline, techsupv, and SkylineiPads.

2. Art (iPhone, $0.99)

Reviewed by educator lmorris: “This is a great app for learning about priceless pieces of art. With many pieces of art, the human form is the subject matter. Several paintings in this collection show the human body so teachers will need to use their best judgment. There is also an option to link high quiz scores to an online social gaming site. Appropriate for older students.”

Subject/Grade: Art. 6-12.

Listed by: justatitch, uwcsea and LaurieFowler.

Add your own list of educational iPhone or iPad apps or add a comment with your favorite education app or username of your favorite educator to follow on Appolicious.

3. BrainPOP Featured Movie (iPad, iPhone. Free)

BrainPop movies teach kids different each day in a variety of subjects, and include quizzes.

Subject/Grade: Language Arts, Math, Science. Social Studies. K-12.

Listed by: d9091, mnelson438, SkylineiPads and  Alline.

4. Early Jamestown (iPad. Free)

Reviewed by educator lmorris: “This app is a chapter from an interactive textbook series [of the early days of the Jamestown settlement]. At the end of the chapter, they give review questions. The chapters are written to keep student interest and the pictures are great.”

Subject/Grade: Social Studies. 3-6.

Listed by: klbruni331.

5. Edmodo (iPhone, iPad. Free)

Reviewed by 9th grade teacher justatitch: “We have an iPad pilot program at my school and this app is the most commonly used app for sharing stuff. It's easy to use and great for sharing documents and other information. I love it!”

Subject/Grade: Classroom Management. 8-12.

Listed by: sjunkinsAllineakuswara and justatitch.

6. The Elements: A Visual Exploration (iPad, $13.99)

Learn about the periodic table in a hands-on way. Choose any element -- copper for example, and see various copper objects - a Persian weave chain, a brass ring, a Chinese bronze - and then rotate them with your finger to get a 3D view. This is one of those iPad apps that brings learning to life.

Subject/Grade: Science (Chemistry). 8-12.

Listed by: Alline and elemenous.

6. Frog Dissection (iPad, $3.99)

Kind of amazing that instead of a real scalpel, and a slippery, formaldehyde-reeking amphibian that you dread slicing into, you can now dissect a virtual frog. The virtual frog is complete with pins to hold down the limbs, a marker to identify where you'll make the cut, scissors to open up the smooth abdomen, and forceps and scalpel to prod and poke at the internal organs. A robotic-sounding female voice guides you through the dissection.

Subject/Grade: Science (Biology). 6-12.

Listed by: Alline and meesterkurt.

7. History:Maps of the World (iPad, iPhone. Free)

Lots of different maps including ancient maps. Can be displayed on VGA.

Subject/Grade: Social Studies. 4-12.

Listed by: Alline, janstearns, and uwcsea.

8. GarageBand (iPad, iPhone. $4.99)

Reviewed by Apple Distinguished Educator  and K-5 teacher mrneedleman: “Great fun for creating music. Improves students' rhythm and counting ability.”

Subject/Grade: Music. 2-12.

Listed by: Alline, mrneedleman, and iteachlounge.

9. Mad Libs (iPhone. Free)

Great for reviewing parts of speech while creating a silly story.

Subject/Grade: Language Arts. 1-5.

Listed by: Alline, LaurieFowler, and mrneedleman.

10. MathBoard (iPad. $4.99)

Drills for basic math (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division). Quizzes can be generated from wrong answers and timed or saved.

Subject/Grade: Math. 1-5.

Listed by: Alline and LRoe.

12. Motion Math HD (iPad. $2.99)

Reviewed by educational technology specialist randyrodgers: “Motion Math HD is a challenging game that requires players to place numbers (decimals, fractions, and percentages) on the proper location on a number line. This is done using the iPad's gyroscope. Players tilt the iPad left or right to make falling figures land in the appropriate spot on the line. It is easy to learn, but it becomes substantially challenging after a few levels. A great game for kids learning number sense, probably most appropriate for the upper elementary grades.”

Subject/Grade: Math. 3-6.

Listed by: elemenous.

13. NASA App (iPhone. Free)

NASA’s official app has space images and videos, a calendar of their missions, a and a launch schedule. You can also tap on satellites and learn about how and why they were launched into space. Inspiring to future astronauts!

Subject/Grade: Science (Astronomy). K-12.

Listed by: techsupv and wfryer.

14. Number Line (iPhone. Free)

This game has you put fractions, decimals, and percentages in order. Great for kids new to these concepts.

Subject/Grade: Math. 2-8.

Listed by: techsupv, Alline, SkylineiPads and LRoe.

15. Professor Garfield Cyberbullying (iPad, Free)

Teach kids anti-bullying messages and strategies for dealing with cyberbullies with the help of Garfield and friends.

Subject/Grade: Internet Safety. 3-6.

Listed by: mnelson438 and SkylineiPads.

16. Project Noah (iPhone. Free)

Spot and document flora and fauna in your local area.

Subject/Grade: Science (Biology, Botany, Ecology). 2-12.

Listed by: akuswara.

17. Stack the States (iPad, iPhone. $0.99)

Reviewed by educational technology specialist randyrodgers: “Stack the States is a geography quiz game in which users are asked trivia questions (e.g. What state's capital is Austin?) about U.S. states. When responding correctly, users drop the state onto the bottom of the screen, attempting to stack the states beyond a line about a third of the way up. When the line is reached, users are awarded a state as a prize.”

Subject/Grade: Social Studies. 1-5.

Listed by: elemenous and kellerisd.

18. Star Walk for iPad – interactive astronomy guide (iPad, $4.99)

Star Walk is a virtual planetarium. Point your iPad at the sky and see what stars, constellations, and satellites you are looking at in real-time.

Subject/Grade: Science (Astronomy). K-12.

Listed by: Alline.

19. StoryKit (iPhone. Free)

Students can create their very own storybook with this app by adding text and images.

Subject/Grade: Language Arts. K-12.

Listed by: elemenous, techsupv, wfryer and cchausis.

20. Toontastic (iPhone, iPad. $1.99)

Reviewed by assistive technology specialist hillavee: “Toontastic is so much fun! The interface is easy to use. Toontastic explains the elements of a story arc, breaking it down into segments that are manageable for any user. Multiple backgrounds are available, or use your own. Characters can be placed in the scene from the Toontastic library, or make your own. To "animate", simply record the story by moving the characters while talking! How much fun it is to spark the imagination with this ingenious app.

Subject/Grade: Language Arts. K-12.

Listed by: elemenous and hillavee.

Check out more iPhone and iPad education app lists submitted by educators.

Add your own list of educational iPhone or iPad apps or add a comment with your favorite education app or username of your favorite educator to follow on Appolicious.

sharakarasic

Sharakarasic

Do you have other good education apps you recommend?

Reply to comment Posted September 19, 2011

maplekey

Missing

I'd like to recommend an app I wrote called Picturebook
http://bit.ly/picturebookApp

Picturebook lets you create and share illustrated stories on the iPad. It's great as a creative writing tool as well as a custom bedtime story maker for little ones.

Associated Apps:  Picturebook

Reply to comment Posted September 19, 2011

sharakarasic

Sharakarasic

Thanks @maplekey! I'll definitely check out Picturebook.

Associated Apps:  Picturebook

Posted September 20, 2011

Sharpie

Missing

Great list!

Take a look at Oscar's Apps - we build educational apps specifically for 2-5 year olds (www.oscarsapps.com) and have had plenty of sales to education institutions as well as being positively reviewed by independent early childhood educators.

Thanks

Reply to comment Posted September 21, 2011

sharakarasic

Sharakarasic

Thanks for letting us know about Oscar's Apps! Great to have you stop by Appolicious.

Posted September 21, 2011

TeacherNotes

Notes-for-teachers-icon-fixed_1_

Great write up, Shara! What a great resources for educators and administrators!

Hopefully next time our app, Teacher Notes, will make the cut. The free app functions as an easy way to file written notes, photos, movies or audio notes on multiple children, domains and content areas all at one time. Then when it is time to write reports cards or evaluations, Teacher Notes has a quick way to sort notes by any combination of children, domains or content area. You can then e-mail your organized notes, or email just one note with its accompanying photo, movie or audio file. You’ll find that Teacher Notes functions much more rapidly than jotting down notes on a clipboard and you’ll be able to find your notes much faster than looking in a notebook.

Features
1. Have a different notebook for each class, each with its own kids, domains and content areas
2. Jot down notes, but also take pictures, movies and audio clips
3. Effortlessly file notes on multiple children, domains and content areas
4. Quickly find any note you have taken
5. Rapid sorting engine lets you order your notes the way you like
6. Email all your notes organized as you wish
7. Email single notes and access its photos, movies and audio from anywhere

We are in the process of updating the app to have an export feature and eventually will incorporate integration with the iPhone!

More info can be found on www.facebook.com/teachernotes

Thanks!
Aaron

Associated Apps:  Teacher Notes

Reply to comment Posted October 04, 2011

sharakarasic

Sharakarasic

Thanks Aaron! Teacher Notes looks great.

Posted October 04, 2011

gowmukhi

Missing

I also found some great educational apps for school kids above 10.
Check them here
http://www.thetutors11plus.com/home/

Reply to comment Posted February 06, 2012

cocreations

Missing

I'd like to recommend two apps recently developed by Co-creations -

Trio (http://drawonthe.net/trio/)
Trio Mastermind (http://drawonthe.net/trio_mastermind/)

These puzzle games are fun and really stretch the pattern-matching part of your brain.

Associated Apps:  Trio Mastermind, Trio

Reply to comment Posted March 04, 2012

iquestionbanks

Missing

Hi,

We have many educational apps right from Grade 1 to Grade 10. We would like to recommend our latest "Workbook: Grade 2 English, Math, Science":

http://itunes.apple.com/app/workbook-grade-2-english-math/id518694082?mt=8

We will appreciate your feedback.

regards,
iquestionbanks

Reply to comment Posted April 29, 2012
View All Comments »