Kindle Fire Education Apps

Regardless of which tablet you own, there are good apps available for use in the education setting. If money wasn't a factor I'd have some form of a tablet in the classroom for daily use. In fact in my ideal world, every student would have a tablet, but that's neither here nor there. For Christmas I received a Kindle Fire. Although a little disappointed at first it wasn't an iPad or Galaxy Tab, I've come to really like it.  My only complaint- I wish it had a camera. So I thought I would post some apps that I've found that you might like if you have a Fire of your own or have access to any type of tablet as these apps are (more than likely) available for other devices.  

50 States- Learn about each state with maps, total population, the state flower, largest city, etc. Even test yourself with a quiz. 

Pocket Penguins- Peek in on the penguins at the California Academy of Sciences with this cute app that lets you check out three different views (including underwater!) of their habitat. Not only is it interesting to see how the penguins live and behave, but the experience can also provide story starters. Have language arts students use this app to inspire creative writing.

NASA Nowt- The app includes breaking news from NASA, the image of the day, topical news updates, and the latest news from their missions- including the International Space Station. Use this app in science classes, current events and other discussions. 

Geo Quiz-  A challenge in categories such as: countries and flags, capital cities of the world, oceans/rivers/lakes, mountains and peaks, forests/deserts/plains, extremes, the big picture, the great explorers, climate change, and food.  There is also the option of mixing the categories into a random choice of 20 questions. The quizzes are difficult, but still lots can be learned.

 



I forgot to mention best of all these examples are all FREE.

What About Me?

I've been a little obsessed lately with Infographics. I can't help,  I think they are great and that there are tons of educational value in them. A simple search will turn up many different kinds and although I hadn't realized it until a few months ago, infographics are a part of our daily life. They are everywhere.  Anyways, here's a great site to create an infographic about yourself. What About Me? is free infographic generator made by Intel. Using your Facebook, Twitter and YouTube activity, it creates an infographic about you. You'll find parts of your Facebook posts, what time you generally use any of the three networks and what you most commonly post about. What About Me? even tells you what the average tone of your messages are. Are you happy or angry most of the time when you post?  When you've completed your infographic you can even download. Go ahead, give it a try, you might be surprised at what you find out! 

PS. The educational purpose of this? Getting high school students to look at their digital footprint. The overall question, what are their social networking skills saying about them?

Check out my What About Me? below: