Useful tools for teachers

appsgonefree

Apps Gone Free – a free iPad/iPhone app

Apps Gone Free, as its name suggests, is a source of free apps. While many of these apps may not be of interest to educators, there are enough that are useful to make it worthwhile installing Apps Gone Free on your iPhone or iPad. I download quite a few of the free apps to check out their features. It is easy enough the delete them later if I find something better.

As some of the apps are only free for one day. I usually check what’s available first thing.  The time sone difference with the United States means that some apps will have expired by the end of the day.

Triptico – a free downloadable app for PCs or Macs

Triptico is a free downloadable app  for computers that runs on Adobe Air, making it compatible with both Macs and PCs. Triptico provides you with a set of resources that you can use with your interactive whiteboard.  The great feature of Triptico is that it will work  with any make and model of interactive whiteboard unlike many of the commercial programs which are brand specific.

Triptico

 When you come to install the Triptico app you will be prompted to install Adobe Air if you don’t have it already on your computer.Once you have installed and launched the application, you can explore the different activities available by clicking on the tabs: Tools, Timers, Selectors and Quizzes. You don’t need to register with the application to use the resources.

Available resources include:

Tools: Word Magnets, Order Sorter, Class Count, Think/Link, Task Generator

Timers: Flip Timer, Hourglass, Circle Timer

Selectors: Student Group, Flip Selector, Pin Board, Text Spinner, Sliding Scores, Score Tapper

Quizzes: Find Ten, Match Maker, Word mix, What’s the question

An annual subscription of around AU$23 to Triptico Plus will give you access to additional resources such as Word Magnets PLUS, Card Board, Calculate, Student Selector PLUS, Image Spinner and Triptico Bingo and bonus features such as Save to Cloud.

Check your version occasionally. If there is a new version, be sure to uninstall your old one before installing the update.

Screen Time – a free iPad/iPhone app

This app enables teachers and parents to control the amount of time children spend on a device. It’s relatively easy to use: just set up a passcode, choose a time limit, set a user and hand it to your student. When the time runs out, the device will lock up and the only way to unlock it will be to enter the passcode.

This app is great for setting time limits when you need students to be purposeful in their use of apps. Teachers can use it to monitor their students and to support them with managing their time.

ScreenTime

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