Thing 12

#12 Books, Books, & More Books

It is nice to have free access to audio recordings.  In this app I appreciate the "Popular Books" tab with illustrated book covers.  The quality of recording varies but what a good resource for students and adults who want free access to the classics.  Something like a portable public library!

The new feature for Modern Books in this app is nice; "...featuring all of the books published after most of that in the public domain." (I didn't find a title in that category yet) The bookmarking and highlighting features are handy and helpful.

I like the many search categories, and the map option is helpful. I see this being a good app for connecting books with teen readers.  This is a well-designed tool.  I'll be spending some time here.

Thing 11

#11 Library & Reference

image:sharpemtbr

Our school library does not have a mobile app.  I'm impressed with the apps posted and plan to explore that option with Follett.
We do make use of the ELM site mainly with our JH students when they are researching.
I am curious about the Student Interactives on the site and if many schools are using the tools for online literacy learning.  We find useful tools/curriculum for online literacy with Commonsense Media.
Personally I use Overdrive from our public library on my mobile devices.  It is easy to use and many titles are available in electronic/print and audio formats.  Our school has not yet offered access to electronic books.

Thing 10

#10 Sharing Photos

Instagram and Snapchat are by far the most-used apps for photo-sharing among our middle school students.  

Professionally I can see uses for Instagram - creating hashtags related to reading, specific topics students are studying, etc.  The required age of 13 for account registration restricts the use of these apps in our school setting.  

I'm a bit uncomfortable using Snapchat with eligible students simply because it is difficult to manage - the images/videos disappearing after viewing.

On a personal note, it has been fun using both apps.  It keeps me connected/updated with our children. A picture is certainly worth a thousand words!

Thing 9

#9 Taking and Editing Photos

I never thought I would find use for these photo editing apps but found myself lost in Color Splurge.  It took me awhile to understand the app but once I did...let's just say I sent a few too many pics to my family that day!

The foam-tipped pen I've never use came in handy when making the fine edits.

Students could have some fun and be a bit creative with this app.  A taste of what some graphic designers/photographers do when using their advanced design programs.  

I also enjoyed using the Cam Me app.  Fun to have some selfie options! Very similar to a camera timer.  Interesting how a wave of the hand can activate the camera.  

Thing 8

#8 Social Media Management Tools

image:OpenClips

Trying some of the other media mgmt. tools in this Thing seemed not a good use of time.  I use Twitter to mainly follow leaders in the field and much less to post personally or professionally.

Our school has a Twitter account and we are beginning to use it a bit more. I do occasionally check TweetDeck - an app that organizes tweets.  The Deck allows a much easier view of Twitter activity for those I'm following.

Thing 7

#7 Content Saving & Sharing

Using Pinterest as a visual bookmarking tool has proven helpful.
(I do cringe a bit when I share "finding something on Pinterest.")
That said, the category organization, visual reminders, and many online opportunities to "pin" a site, make Pinterest an extremely easy and useful tool to organize and follow sites of interest.

Personally it was an extremely awesome tool for organizing a recent large family event. Professionally I have easily organized those sites I wish to regularly visit - many providing timely answers to work related queries.  

Thing 6

#6 Creating and Editing Docs

image by: Nemo

Our school recently added Google Apps for Education and so I naturally explored Quick Office Pro.  (Thank you very much for the iOS tutorial - much easier than trying to follow screenshots.)  I am one to prefer working on my laptop vs. iPad and am not certain I will make good use of this option.  

The Quick Office app is surprisingly easy to sync and edit documents.  One more option to having documents available via mobile devices is a comfortable thing.