Don't Let Apps Get in the Way

When people find out I’m a technology TOSA, one of the first questions I am asked is if I know any good apps for the iPad.  Well, I know a lot of good apps - after all, there are close to 800,000 iOS apps and more than 40,000 that Apple has added specifically to their education store.

Too often, we “discover” a great app and work to find a way to incorporate it into our classrooms. A good teacher can find an educational purpose for almost anything.  However, if we have to work to fit it in, we have to ask ourselves if it really belongs there in the first place.

So, I always respond by asking, “For what?”  After all, it’s not really about the app - it’s about the learning, right? Why should we treat apps any differently than we treat other educational resources?  In my opinion, we shouldn’t. So, these questions should be asked:

What do I want my students to learn? (standards? character traits? social responsibility?)

How do I want I students to learn it? (learning modalities? learning styles? Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences?)
How will my students demonstrate their learning? (essays? group projects? formal assessments?)

So, “begin with the end in mind.”  Then look for the resources that will support your goals. 

Now, to answer the question about apps – some places I recommend:

Apple Education Store: http://www.apple.com/education/apps/

Escondido’s iRead (K-6):
https://sites.google.com/a/eusd.org/eusd-iread/ipod-apps

Tech Tidbits Symbaloo:
http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/techtidbitsapps

If you see an app that has been suggested by multiple sources, it’s probably a good one.