Categories
Education Games

MapMaster FREE – Geography Game [Android App]

App Name: MapMaster FREE – Geography Game [Android App]

Cost: Free

Developer: droidplant

App Market: Download Page

Description:

Can you pinpoint Paris on a map? Prove it with MapMaster – Geography Game.

MapMaster is an educational geography game where your mission is to pinpoint places around the World. MapMaster includes hundreds of places like capitals, state capitals, rivers, mountains, and more.

Features:

  • 9 Pinpoint challenges with 3 levels
  • 4 Time attack challenges with 3 levels
  • Beautiful off-line maps with 4 zoom levels ( 5 in full version)
  • 450 places including all continents capitals,US state capitals, large US cities, mountains, famous places, rivers, lakes, islands and mountain ranges
  • Wikipedia integration
  • Flags icons for countries and US states
  • Tablet support
  • Study Mode, study before you play (Only in full version)
Categories
Education Education

Udacity – Learning on the go [Android, iOS App]

Ever since I worked for AppoLearning.com, I have kept an eye out for educational apps. Well I was recently introduced to a new one: Udacity and if you are into technology, you should take a look at this program.

Udacity is in the news again because they just launched their Android app; their iOS app has been out for some time.

All Udacity courses are now available on Android, in a classroom specifically built and optimized for touch screens Now, you can stream lectures wherever your Android device goes, and test yourself with quick and fun quizzes and you learn on the go.

Flexible Classroom

Android variations in screen size is actually one of the big advantages that Android holds over Apple devices, one that gives Udacity students flexibility to access a larger classroom.

If a user wants a giant phone, they have a large selection to choose from. The Udacity Android classroom takes advantage of the entire  real estate of the device.

Fast Loading Time

Mobile users (and lifelong learners!) demand efficiency. They want  the fastest possible route to what they are looking for. Udacity has worked hard to ensure that the interface is responsive and that classroom content caches intelligently so that it’s readily available when you’re learning on the go.

More To Come: Offline Mode

Offline mode, a super popular feature on iOS, allows you to download videos so that you can learn wherever you go.  They are in the process of bringing it to Android too.

A Udacity course is created to study at your own pace. They have released four new courses with Google experts on Android and Scalability so you canlearn what goes into a great Android app, and how to make your own Android app.

You can download the app for Google Play or iTunes

A quick note: Courses are $150/hr, though there is an option for free courses as well. More information on pay vs free: https://www.udacity.com/faq#section-0-1

udacity

Categories
Education Reviews

Helping your 2nd Grader learn [iOS App Review]

For the past year or so, one of my projects has been writing for AppoLearning. AppoLearning is a site dedicated to highlighting great educational apps for both Android and iOS devices. It has been a great project. The area of educational apps is growing and definitely is a great tool to help kids learn.  Today I am reviewing an app for elementary school children, specifically for the iPad:  iTooch 2nd Grade from the folks over at eduPad.

While writing at AppoLearning, I have come across a few of eduPad’s educational apps. Overall they are excellent and very well targeted to the grade they list. So if you are looking educational apps for both Android and iOS, check them out in the appropriate market.

iTooch 2nd Grade covers two areas for your 2nd graders: Language arts and Math, and each area breaks down as follows:

Language arts:

  • Foundational skills
  • Language
  • Reading for information
  • Reading literature

Math:

  • Solving problems
  • Operations
  • Numbers and operations
  • Measurements & data
  • Geometry

For each areas, students will have a number of multiple choice questions they need to answer. The app will provide immediate feedback to each answer, so students can see what they did wrong. Students can either work in Practice or Test Mode. The app allows questions to be skipped and students can pull out a virtual scratch pad to work out problems.

The app provides a very kid friendly and inviting atmosphere, making it fun to learn. The app layout is very nicely done and the on screen controls are simple to you. I would recommend a parent to initially setup the app and show their student how to use it. After that, the student can go to town!

This app is a great tool to help kids review what they are learning in school, get extra practice problems, or maybe work ahead. Not sure what else to say about this app. It does the job and does it well. I definitely can recommend this app to any parent with a 2nd graders who wants to work on language arts and math. 

Unknown app
Unknown app
Developer: Unknown
Price: Free
Categories
Education

iMemento Deluxe [iOS App]

App Name: iMemento Deluxe [iOS App]

Cost: $3.99 USD

Developer: Thomas Busse

App Market: Download Page

Description:

iMemento Deluxe is a new flashcard app for iPhone and iPod touch devices. iMemento Deluxe allows users to create, study, and test self-provided content on flashcards.

The app is very easy to use and should come in handy for those students looking to create ways to review their material.  Learning topics in the app are created from books and lectures on the device or can be imported from CSV and TXT file formats. iMemento Deluxe comes with several pre-installed flashcards that are meant to demonstrate the use of the program.

When students create their own flashcards, they can do so on the device and can customize the look and feel of the cards. They can even import images. Now you might say it will take a bit of work to make the flashcards but hey as they make the cards, they will be reviewing the material- isn’t that the whole point?  The app also has some nice features on it on number of cards to review a day and more.  A neat thing is that students can save and share their notecards via Dropbox.  Not a bad little review app for under $4 USD.

Some feature:

  • Ability to create, edit, and delete flashcards
  • Easy correction of typos in fast edit mode
  • Exam mode tests and grades answers
  • Show Card” Mode for initial learning
  • Tracks learning progress with statistics
  • Multiple Choice available in Study mode
  • Import via iTunes File Sharing or Dropbox
  • Landscape and portrait mode

Some info on how the app works: When opening a book or lecture, iMemento Deluxe offers four different options: Check, Learn, Exam, and Statistics.

In the Check mode, first the Question (front) side and then the Answer (back) side of the flashcard is displayed. The user is prompted to input whether they knew the answer or not. Depending on the input, iMemento Deluxe will rank the flashcard and display it according to its rank. As each flashcard is displayed in Check mode, it receives a star ranking. A known flashcard gets an additional star while an unknown flashcard loses a star. When the flashcard reaches the maximum number of stars, it is considered Learned and will not display again.

The Learn mode allows users to become familiar with the contents of a book or lecture by giving them access to both the questions and answers on the flashcards. When the flashcard displays, only the question will be visible. However, after tapping the device, the answer shows up. All modes can be limited to certain lectures. 

In the Exam mode, users can test their knowledge or learning progress with an exam.

Categories
Education Reviews

Having a great ride with Fergus Ferry [iOS App Review]

So who is Fergus Ferry?

Fergus the Ferry isn’t the biggest boat on the harbour but he’s the friendliest, bravest and most helpful. He stands up against bullies and rescues passengers, ferries and other vessels from dangers such as fire, sharks and sinking.

If you have an iPad and kids from 2-6, then you need to take a moment and head over to the App Store to download the Fergus Ferry App.

As a side note, the app is totally free until Jan 31,2014, so there is no reason not to.

Before I get into the specifics of the app, parents and teachers can head over to the official website of Fergus Ferry to learn more about this cute ferry and what is he is all about.

Fergus Ferry is available for both Android and iOS. There are two main versions, one for phone and one for tablets. There is also a lite version of each app too. I tested the HD version on the iPad mini.

The app is beautifully designed and very well done. You can tell that alot effort was put into this app to create a great tool for young kids.

The app is broken up into four sections:

  • Stories – 24 e-books you can listen to or read by yourself
  • Go Fergus – a game, where you steer Fergus to help rescue people, save boats, scare sharks
  • Explore the harbor – where you can learn about the different places and friends of Fergus
  • More Fergus – shows general information on Fergus website and apps

The app is very easy to use. The buttons are big and easy to push (especially for small fingers). One of the neat things about the app, is that it reads everything to you, so make sure your sound is on. This makes is simple for a small child to play the game or read the book on their own (assuming you gave them permission to use your iPad).

When listening to the stories, you can easily pause or go back at any time. The books look great on the iPad and with a total of 24 different stories your kids will want to read and re-read them.

The game Go Fergus is a cute one. You get to steer Fergus and determine your speed. You are charged in going around the harbor and complete a number of tasks. If you can complete them with the time limit, you can go on to the next level.

Overall I was very impressed with the app. I remember sitting and reading with my kids when they young. Those are great memories. If we had the iPad back then, I definitely would have great educational and entertaining apps like Fergus Ferry on it. It is nice to see a well done and positive app on the market today for kids.  Also remember that the app is completely free for the month of January so there is no reason to give it a try.

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Unknown app
Developer: Unknown
Price: Free
Categories
Education Games

NotesDeMusique [Android]

App Name: NotesDeMusique [Android]

Cost: free

Developer: Progmatique

App Market: Download Page

Description:

With NotesDeMusique, learn music theory and have fun! This educational game offers several game modes for you to discover or rediscover reading musical notes on a staff.

Features:
– 3 modes: Training, Game timed (finding the maximum score in 1 minute or 2 minutes) and Survival mode
– 2 clef (Treble Clef and Bass Clef)
– 3 options (Treble Clef, Bass Clef and two keys randomly)
– 4 Octaves
– Play sound when the note is correct
– Vibrate
– Help
– Learn
– A/B/C Notation or Do/Ré/Mi Notation (in play menu)
– Recording mode games by scores
– Share your score on Twitter, Facebook, Google +

Categories
Education

The Math Machine with Spanish [iOS]

App Name: The Math Machine with Spanish [iOS]

Cost: $2.99 USD

Developer: Gingerbread Kids

App Market: Download Page

Description:

The Math Machine with Spanish is a fun iPad app that gets your kids practicing their basic math skills – largely because it doesn’t feel like they’re practicing anything other than beating their last best time.

Designed for use in the classroom and at home, The Math Machine reinforces everything your child is learning at school. But because it’s presented as a Space Invaders type of game, you might have trouble getting them to do anything other than their homework.

Fourteen skill levels and bi-lingual voiceover instructions allow The Machine to be easily shared. The pre-literate new entrant can practice their basic number sequencing, while the ‘has it all sorted’ 11 year old stands by to master their fractions – and any friend who wants to challenge their speed.

While they’re playing The Math Machine your kids are gradually mastering:

– Sequential counting up to 20, 40, 100 and 1,000
– Instant recall of times tables
– The relationship between doubles and halves and how to estimate answers
– Different representations of numbers: how a fraction relates to a decimal number and percentage.