Tech EDGE
Tech EDGE Mobile Learning in the Classroom Review
Tech EDGE, Mobile Learning in the classroom is a series of podcasts from the University of Nebraska. One of the missions of Tech EDGE is to prepare the students of UNL for effective teaching incorporating technology. Tech EDGE Podcast Catalog is a great resource for all teachers to learn more about apps that can be used in the classroom to enhance student's learning. The catalog is easily accessible through their YouTube channel, Tech EDGE. The Tech EDGE podcast catalog offers a wide variety of informational videos about apps that are great to use in the classroom. These videos range from history, reading, and writing to math and science. These informational videos explain why the apps are helpful in the classroom and how the teacher can incorporate it into their curriculum. Technology is becoming a big part of today's classroom and it is important for teachers to take advantage of the amazing tools technology offers students. I recommend watching the Tech EDGE videos because there are so many apps out there that I didn't know about before. Tech EDGE is a great resource because they are regularly adding new videos and reviewing new apps. As teachers we are continuously improving teaching methods and learning new ways to enchance our student's learning. After watching several of the Tech EDGE videos I have found a few different apps that I plan to incorporate into my future classroom that I have reviewed below. All of the apps I have reviewed are accessible through the App Store for iPad users. I enjoyed learning more about Tech EDGE and I hope this review will motivate teachers to learn more about the wonderful resource of technology!
Tech EDGE's YouTube channel here
Yodel-Oh!
I watched Tech EDGE's review of the app called Yodel-Oh. Yodel-Oh is a math app for elementary students. This app has math games that help students gain proficiency in addition, subratction, multiplication, and division. The games are more fast paced and Tech EDGE does not recommend it for students who are just learning math because it would be frustrating for the students. However, the app is recommended for students who have learned math and are wanting to gain proficiency in calculating math quickly. This app would be great for students to play after a math lesson to review what they have learned and to assess if they understood the lesson. In the game there is a character climbing up the mountain. A math problem will pop up on the screen and the student will select the answer on one of the targets. If the answer is correct the target will be green and if it is incorrect the target will be red. The goal is to answer the questions correctly and keep the character from falling off the mountain, so if the student answers a question correctly then the character will stay put and if the answer is incorrect the character moves one step up the mountain. This is a fun easy app to use. It can be used for younger students and also older ones. The app has options for difficulty and the students can choose to play the more difficult game that switches between division, multiplication, subtraction, and addition problems. I would like to incorporate this app into my classroom someday because I think it would be a fun and helpful app to use as a review after a lesson or before a quiz. One of the features of the Yodel-Oh app that I really like is how it keeps track of progress. If one student was doing really well in division but struggling in subtraction, I could have the student play the subtraction game to help increase skill. Math has always been one of my least favorite subjects so I am always looking for fun math games to incorporate into my classroom! Yodel-Oh is available through the App Store for iPad users for $2.99. Although this app isn't free, I think it would be a great investment and would enahance math review.
Check out Tech EDGE's review of Yodel-Oh!
Properties of Matter
The second app I reviewed is Properties of Matter: Pirate Adventure. This is a science app designed for elementary age students, specifically for Pre-K to 2nd grade. Properties of Matter is a fun and engaging game designed to help students learn more about the properties of matter. This game is engaging for younger students because it has bright colors, audio, fun interactive games, and a pirate theme story line. The game is set up with different islands that teach the students about the different properties of matter. For example, one island focuses on learning balance and weight. For the balance and weight game the student needs to keep the ship balanced by adding different items of different weight to each side of the ship. Another island teaches the students about the different states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. However, this app is designed for younger students in mind so it really only focuses on solid and liquid. The last island incorporates all of the lessons learned on the previous islands. This is a great review for what was learned before. I think this app would be great to incorporate into the classroom because it is engaging and helpful for students. One feature I really like about this app is that the app keeps track of the students progress. The teacher can go back and see how the student answered the questions. This helps the teacher to assess where the student is at. Properties of matter can be a hard concept for younger students to grasp so having an extra resource like this app is great. I would like to use this app in my classroom to review after a science lesson about the properties of matter. I think my future students would enjoy this app because it is a fun way to learn. This app is available for free for iPad users from the App Store. I enjoyed watching Tech EDGE's review of Properties of Matter and provide the YouTube video below!
Check out Tech EDGE's review of Properties of Matter!
Theme Poem
The third app I will be reviewing is called Theme Poem. This is an app designed to help students of all ages incorporate poetry into language arts. This app is very simple and easy to use. One point Tech EDGE brought up that I also really like is that it doesn't make you set up an account when you start. The app will have you choose a name or nickname but there is no account set up or long process at the beginning. The students can easily log on and begin creating a poem. First the student will pick a theme. There are many different themes such as nature, school, celebration, shapes and sports. The next thing the app has the student do is pick out a shape. Then Theme Poem will prompt the student to choose words that describe the shape they picked out. The words the students choose can be used in their poem and this also helps the students think critically about vocabulary. After the student has picked out different words then they can start writing their poem. The words will be listed on the side next to the shape and the text of them poem will conform to the shape. After the poem is written there is an option to print out the poem. This is a very easy app to use. I think this would be beneficial to students because poetry can be hard to write but this app is helpful because it gives the students ideas of different themes and different shapes to write about, such as a tear drop. I think this app would be great for a wide range of students. I would like to incorporate this app into my classroom someday. If my class read a story that incorporated nature in it I could have my students pick the nature theme and write a poem about nature. I love how simple and easy this app is to use. I think my students would have more fun writing a poem on this app versus on a sheet of paper. This app is available for free from the App Store. I have included Tech EDGE's review of Theme Poem below.
Check out Tech EDGE's Review of Theme Poem!