Follow @ed_apps   Watch this youtube video/digital story on Biomagnification.   Pretty good, right? Well, I think so. It’s concise, accurate, and fun to watch. The cool part? It was made by a student for a school project. So, how come my students’ video’s were never this exciting? No, it’s not because my student are lame! When I first started consulting and helping other teachers make digital stories, I quickly found out how underwhelming it was to watch 10 videos all on the same concept. Then, by accident, I found...

Follow @ed_apps On Monday past, I emcee’d a Film Festival for students in Junior and Senior High. The festival was a huge hit thanks to my amazing team of colleagues and dozens of talented teens. But my proudest moment of the evening was one video in particular – created by a kindergarten class. Before you watch this inspiring video, let me tell you a little bit about it. This was a 2 month process, from start to finish. Kids making a volcano – it was huge – and amazingly executed...

Follow @ed_apps Recently I hosted 20 teachers in my school district at the zoo for an afternoon. The idea was to explore how we might use iPads during a field trip. It was certainly an exciting form of professional development. Instead of sitting at a desk and listening to someone like me talk about what you could do, we just went out and did it! Teachers had a lot of fun, and many ideas were shared. Below are some of the activities that we (I co-hosted the afternoon with a...

Follow @ed_apps   One of my favourite apps to sit down with and learn is Qwiki. Qwiki must have millions of ‘articles’ that are actually interactive videos. Using the simple english from wikipedia and a series of photos and videos from wikimedia, Qwiki generates videos that you can watch, pause, interact with, and explore new learnings. A feature that I fell in love with while at ASCD12 in Philly is the location feature. Qwiki takes all of their video articles and embeds them on a map, allowing you to explore...

Follow @ed_apps This Years NSTA Conference has 14 sessions focused on iPads in the classroom – Wow! I was asked to present at this years NSTA conference, but unfortunately had to turn the offer down. I’m pretty sad about that. NSTA is an outstanding conference – probably the best science teachers conference outside of Canada. I fully intend to follow all of the action via twitter – and here are the times and descriptions for All 15 iPad specific sessions at #NSTA12. Enjoy the conference. Thursday, March 29 8:00–9:00 AM...

Follow @ed_apps Looking for neat ways to teach concepts about light such as reflection, refraction, and lasers?! This ingenious app, Bobo Explores Light, is loaded with informative content, Fun Facts, and interactive activities that will engage and get students of all age levels talking about light! This app can be used in elementary science for Colours… or for bioluminescent organisms for secondary sciences. Pull down menus in the various topics offer great Fun Facts and videos for those students who just want to know more! This app goes for $6.99...

Follow @ed_apps The number of first class physics simulators in the app store is impressive. The first one I want to share with you is Ripple Tank. It Is s much easier to use than a real ripple tank, and students can interact with it so easily. It does everything regarding waves that a high school physics class could ask for, including single and double slit simulations. Check it out for free, or pay only $5.99 for the full version. Follow @ed_apps