Authors: Bob Smitka & Maria Zorn

Introduction:
The iPhone and the iPod Touch have drastically changed the way we access our information, allowing us to have our email, weather, and other web2.0 resources at the touch of a finger. Recently, the view of the iPod and Touch have moved past the general public and towards the classroom with many developers writing and releasing apps specifically designed with the student and teacher in mind. While many of the apps from the iTunes store cost money, many educational apps available are free to download and use, making it an affordable option for many school districts, teachers and students.

Note: Most apps reviewed are free of charge to download and use.

All app photos will link directly to the app store in iTunes to let you download, install and use on your own iPhone or iPod Touch!

Getting Started:
The App Store by Apple has been developed to be a user friendly application allowing the user to download thousands of free and paid apps directly over the air via 3G or WiFi, or through their computer using iTunes. The App Store comes pre-installed on every iPhone and iPod Touch, requiring only an account that can be set up through iTunes by the school district. iTunes even offers accounts that allow only for free apps, podcasts, and videos to be downloaded.


Free Educational App Examples for the Teacher and Student:



Teacher Apps:

• TeacherTool One
• 
• TeacherTool One is a comprehensive class management app, allowing the teacher to input grades, attendance, calendar dates, and remarks about students. TeacherTool One is limited to only one class set (perfect for elementary/middle school), and can be upgraded to the paid version, unlocking the ability to offer additional class sets.
• Simple Timer
• 
• Simple Timer is just that, simple. Allowing the teacher to time labs, speeches or projects, or offering countdowns to time quizzes and tests, this app can easily become one that is used day in and day out.
• WiFi HD Free (Wireless Hard Drive)
• 
• Never be without that file you need for class! With the WiFi HD Free app, you can transform your iPhone or iPod Touch wirelessly into a hard drive. Upload your files from your home computer, then log on from school to download your files. Easily could replace a USB flash drive.
  

Student Apps (Categorized by Subject Area):

• Science
• The Chemical Touch: Lite Edition
• 
  
• The Chemical Touch: Lite Edition is a powerful, interactive periodic table perfect for the chemistry classroom. Allowing the student to pull atomic data on each element, as well as categorize elements based on atomic mass, density, melting point, boiling point, atomic radius and electronegativity, it creates an app that far exceeds print periodic tables. The Chemical Touch also links to wikipedia, allowing the student to research each element in more detail if needed.
• Planets
• 
• The Planets app makes a great companion to any astronomy student. It allows the student to plot the location of the planets and star constellations in the sky based on current time and geographic location, as well as giving the rise and set times of the moon, sun and other planets. The Planets app also allows the student to view 3D images of the planets in our solar system and links to astronomy podcasts to learn more.
• LabCal
• 
• LabCal can quickly become one of the the chemistry student's best resources. LabCal allows the student to quickly calculate molarity, moles, and dilution of chemical stocks that they may make in a chemistry lab.
• Prism Lab
• 
• Prism Lab acts as a valuable resource to any physics students. This app allows the student to simulate points of light refracting through a variety of settable prism shapes, showing angles of refraction and entrance.
• Temperature Converter by MMXPX
• 
• The Temperature Converter app is a simple app that can be used by the science student hopefully after they have properly learned temperature conversions already. By simply imputing the temperature, the student can easily convert between Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin scales.
• Chirp! Bird Songs USA Lite
• 
• Chirp! makes a excellent resource for biology students. With this app, it allows students to find local birds, see their pictures, and hear their call. The student may change location to look for other local birds and discover what people all over the United States are hearing in their backyard.
• Molecules
• 
• The Molecules app makes a great resources for both biology and chemistry students. With this app, the student can search and manipulate 3D images of molecules such as DNA, insulin, and other useful chemicals, making it easy to see what makes them up and how individual atoms connect.
• Science Glossary @ Vision Learning
  
• 
• The Science Glossary app provides a searchable database of scientific terms branching across all levels of science. Although free, this app requires the 3.0 firmware to run.
  

• Language Arts
  
• Shakespeare
• 
• The Shakespeare app can prove to be the essential Shakespeare app for the Language Arts student. This app offers the complete works of William Shakespeare, including all his plays, poems, and sonnets in full, easy to read text, remembering where the student leaves off for later reading.
• Dictionary.com - Dictionary & Thesaurus
  
• 
• Offering one of the most complete dictionaries and thesauruses in the app store, this app acts as an essential resource for any language arts student.
• Kindle
• 
• The Kindle app offers one of the most comprehensive directories for ebooks. Ranging in a variety of prices, students may choose to download a digital copy of the book required for class, reading it from their iPhone or iTouch and easily being able to carry it with them in their pocket.

• iAmerica - The Pocket Guide to Presidential History of the United States of America - First Edition
• 
• iAmerica offers the most comprehensive resource on presidential history in the app store to date. This app allows the social studies student to research any president, branch of government, and historical building, giving the student access to full text articles and photos.
• AllTheCountries
• 
• All the Countries is an excellent resource for the social studies student. Allowing the student to find detailed information, such as current ruler, flag, capital city, population, ethnicity, government, and economics, for any country in the world, it makes a perfect companion for reports and research projects.
  

• Math
• Number Line
• 
• Number Line is a great app for the student learning relationships between decimals, fractions and percentages. Number Line challenges the students to arrange a series of mixed values along a number line, helping them to understand how each variation of a number relates to one another.
• Calculator
• 
• Coming pre-installed on any iPhone or iTouch, the calculator app allows the student to access a versatile standard and scientific calculator to help solve a variety of problems in both math and science.
• Quick Graph
• 
• When the standard calculator won't cut it, Quick Graph offers a free and powerful graphic calculator for the math student. Allowing the student to create 2D and 3D plots of entered equations, this app may soon become a replacement for the $100 graphic calculator that once was required by many teachers.
• iFormula
• 
• iFormula is an excellent resource for math and geometry students. With this app, students can search through a large database of mathematical formulas, helping them to solve the area and volume of a variety of shapes as well as help solve even more complex problems.
• Factorial
• 
• This is a free application makes a useful tool for the math student, helping them to calculate factorials.
• Geometry Stash
• 
• Everything Geometry…theorems, postulates and corollaries for the math student.
  

• Physical Education/Health
• GymGoal ABC
• 
• GymGoal ABC offers the Physical Education student a large database of workouts, exercises, and health calculators. Allowing the student to link to videos showing proper technique and offering free health tips of the day, GymGoal ABC can quickly become a guide to use in the physical education class or during sport training workouts.
• Lose It!
• 
• Lose It! offers one of the best health related programs in the app store. With this program the health student is able to keep a daily log of all exercises, body weight and foods and calories consumed (searchable through a large online database), allowing them to keep up with their active lifestyles.
  

• Arts
• Art Lite
• 
• Art Lite makes an excellent resource for the student artist. Art Lite allows the student to browse through the complete works of Cezanne, daVinci, Picasso, Rembrandt, and van Gogh, as well as read the history and background of each artist. Upgrading to the paid app allows access to many more artists and their complete works.
• Art Gallery Free
• 
• Art Gallery Free offers the art student access to over 7,500 masterpieces through a searchable database. Allowing the student to save pieces of art to their photo gallery, they may be then transferred to a computer, inspiring them for future projects. Art Gallery Free is ad supported and upgrading to the paid version will remove the ads.
  

• Study Skills and Organization
  
• myHomework
• 
• The myHomework app makes it easy for any student to keep themselves organized in school. By allowing the student to set up their personal class schedule and enter in upcoming assignements, tests, and quizzes, myHomework keeps track of assignment due dates and class times; even allowing the student to download their homework list to their computer at home.
• gFlash+ Flashcards & Tests
• 
• gFlash+ is a user editable flashcard app, allowing the student to study and review for upcoming tests and quizzes. This app allows the student to either download preexisting flashcard sets or use Google docs to set up and upload their own user created cards.
• SimpleMind Xpress
  
• 
• SimpleMind Xpress is an excellent free mindmapping tool that can be used by any student to organize their thoughts, plan out a paper, or brainstorm ideas for an upcoming project. Easy to use, it even allows for the student to export their mindmaps as photos to share with the class.
• SmartTime Class Scheduler
  
• 
• This is a resourceful free application can help students organize tasks and keep their calendars organized and even syncing with Google calendar.
  

Additional Uses in the Classroom:
Beyond the educational apps available through the App Store in iTunes, the iPhone/iPod Touch offers many additional tools that can be used within the classroom. Below are just a few...

• Podcasting (Apple Podcast Tips) (Apple iTunes Podcast Link)
  
• The iPod is an excellent resource for both listening to educational podcasts, allowing the student to obtain free audio files from a variety of sources such as the New York Times, National Public Radio, ESPN and other well known sources.
• Beyond just listening, the iPod is an excellent tool to help create educational podcasts. By having students create and record audio reports, they can further their learning and share their knowledge with each other.
• iTunesU (Apple iTunesU Information) (Apple iTunesU Direct Link)
  
• iTunesU is quickly become the biggest free source of educational podcasts available. Breaking down these podcasts by educational subject, iTunesU, according to it's website, allows the student to..."Explore over 75,000 educational audio and video files from top universities, museums, PBS stations, and other cultural institutions around the world."

Additional Resources:

• iSchool Initiative - a non-profit corporation dedicated to bringing technology solutions to classrooms across America
• 100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better - Online Education Database
• 100 Best iPhone Apps for Serious Self Learners - Learn-gasm