Finding Apps

My evaluation of Duolingo.

Activity choices in Duolingo. 

Duolingo is an app that teaches you a new language.  I have used it to learn more French. It starts off with basics and gets more complicated. It gives you a barometer of how you are doing and emails you to remind you to do your lessons.  Our French teacher at school uses it with her students. It is free and has no ads.

A task in Duolingo.

Apps Gone Free

Apps Gone Free is a service that collects apps that are on promotion.  It is a great way to get an app you may want, but are not willing to pay for.  I got The Elements this way. That app normally costs $13.99, but I got it for free.

Apps Gone Free is one of the easiest ways to find new apps. They are not always ones I would use in school or even want myself, but there are often educational apps featured.

Dropbox

Dropbox is one of my favorite apps. I use it for online storage. The great thing about Dropbox is that is saves files in the cloud and on your computer. Dropbox is free to start, but if you want to add more storage you need to pay for it.

The Elements is a paid app. It is a splashy update to the Periodic Table.  It normally costs $13.99.  If our chemistry teacher wanted her students to use it, she could get it for $6.99 each.  That's half the price.

I wanted to use Explain Everything in my classes. We did do the volume purchase.  We got it for roughly half the price.

Volume purchase for Explain Everything.

The volume purchase information for The Elements.

I am always on the lookout for new apps. I use Apps Gone Free, but I also listen to podcasts. Some are literature-related and some are technology related.  They often have a segment at the end where participants suggest new apps.  I also go to workshops like Google Camp or take online classes like this one. Finally, I just talk to other teachers.  They are a wealth of information.

Because money is tight, it is often easier to get free apps. When I find one that is paid, I better have a good reason.  That reason is often because it does what I need it to do better than the rest or there is no alternative.  As an English teacher, I have my student read books in iBooks.  I can get them free from Project Gutenberg if they are out of copyright. If I want a contemporary one, I have to have our tech director do a bulk purchase. She has done this for The The Five People You Meet in Heaven among others.  The advantage to ebooks is that students can highlight, take, and save notes. The disadvantage is it is hard to share an ebook.