Study Skills and Visual Thinking

Study Skills

Using apps on the iPad to help students study and learn is a great application for the classroom.  In Quizlet teachers can create flashcards and students are able to practice with and learn the content needed for their class.  I really liked the matching feature for the card set that I made.  I thought that would be a fun game to play with the cards and that students would enjoy that.  The only thing that would make this better for lower elementary kids is if you could click to have it read to you.  Here is the a screenshot of the Quizlet app.

In art class I could use this app for art terms we are using.  I could also upload pictures on the website and create a set that students could identify like: portrait, landscape, still life, etc.

Mind Mapping

Popplet is a mind-mapping application that is great for brainstorming or creating presentations. Here is a Popplet I created about Vincent Van Gogh. 

I think students could easily manipulate the features in this app to create a similar Popplet about their favorite artist or art style.  I like that it's so easy to add photos and that you can change the colors.  Linking the Popples is quick and easy and I also like that you can easily move them if needed after they are created.  I think another great use for this would be to do a seating chart, assign centers...making a popple for each student and then moving their popple to where they will be working.  I also like this idea from a teacher who used Popplet to assign jobs in her classroom.

I think I could easily make something like this up ahead of time and then display it on my SmartBoard.  The free version is limited, but I think I could have students work in teams or share by taking turns creating their popplet.  I am actually thinking about how I will manage iPads better in my classroom next year.  Im thinking of doing a punchcard or checklist of the apps I would like them to try.  This way they aren't always using the same apps and they are trying new things.  Still thinking about how that will work in a class though.