Technology App and Education

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Animated GIFs on your iPad

12:07 AM

An Animated Gif is a series of photographs that are contained within the one file in order to create an illusion of movement. The Graphics Interchange Format ( GIF) has been in existence since 1987 but has only really found favour on the internet in the last couple of years. Many websites actually use GIFs as part of their banners in order to create movement and interest in an otherwise static webpage. GIFs can be created to illustrate a single action at which point the animation ceases or they can be produced to create an infinite loop. Here are a couple of GIF creators for iOS in order to explore the possibilities of GIFs in your classroom, on your website or even just as an illustration of a concept. Enjoy!

Note: The GIF above was created by one of my students using an online tool called gickr.com and not an iOS app


Echograph: FREE
Echograph is a storytelling medium made for iOS. Explore new possibilities in animated photography. Created by artists for artists. Share your Echographs directly to Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter. Download your Echographs from iTunes for use in Final Cut, Keynote, iBooks Author, or HTML5.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/echograph/id491346516?mt=8


GifBoom: FREE
Gifboom lets you capture and share your moments. It's simple, fast and effortless to create amazing clips with added features. Gifboom combines video and gif editing with social networking features. Multiple capture modes: Stop Motion, Burst, Auto and Timer as well as dozen of vintage real time filters.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/gifboom/id457502693?mt=8



Moquu: FREE
Animate your photos! Create animated GIFs and share them with ease! Moquu helps you simplify the way you do and lets you focus on your creative side to create fantastic loops. On top of that, with our unique MultiMe feature you're going to be able to impress your friends with awesome multilayered photos.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/moquu-animated-gif-creator/id432058102?mt=8


Gif Camera: FREE
Top #10 Photography App in more than 50 countries! Shot pics into GIF animations, and easily share to social media. Tap the screen and capture frames from camera, one by one. Tap the play button at any time, to preview your GIF. Feel free to adjust the speed as your animation is playing. Save or share it!

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/gif-camera/id455641018?mt=8


GifMill: FREE
GifMill lets you create animated GIFs and share them via social media. Make animated GIFs with photos from your Camera Roll or take video or photos with your device camera. Adjust the frame speed, and rearrange and delete frames. Save GIFs to your device, or share it via email, text message, Tumblr or Twitter.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/gifmill/id600694806?mt=8


Gifmator: FREE
Ever wondered how to create Gif images. The kinds that move and repeat themselves? Have you made one of them and wondered how you could put some nostalgic creativity into them? Gifmator is your answer. Gifmator is an easy way to create animated GIFs on all iOS enabled devices.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/gifmator/id500941084?mt=8


GifNic: FREE
Gifnic lets you shoot animated Gifs just like taking pictures. Add filters and text, and share with your friends. Shoot Gifs like you would shoot a regular photo or by pressing and holding the shutter button. I like the ability to save your Gifs directly to your dropbox or Google Drive folders.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/id647672150


GifBox: $0.99 AU
gifBox is a powerful tool for converting videos into custom animated GIFs. With gifBox, animated GIFs are super easy to send to share with your friends. Include Text Message, Email, on Facebook or even on Twitter. It's simple and fun to use. No sign up or registration. Give it a try, we think you'll like it.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/gifbox-create-animated/id668632417?mt=8


GifQuick: $1.99 AU
Gifquick is the quickest and easiest way to share animated GIFs. With Gifquick you can share and play animated GIFs on Facebook!  Direct GIF URLs allow you to easily share your GIF just about anywhere: SMS, Message, Twitter, Email, Tumblr, Wordpress, your web site - anywhere you can post an image.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/gifquick-animated-gif-cloud/id707043898?mt=8


Giffer Pro: $4.49 AU
Giffer Pro provides double length longer GIFs. The best part about Giffer Pro is its powerful simplicity. Advanced features are there when you need them, yet unobtrusive enough to let you create a simple GIF in just a few taps. Create virtually any kind of GIF format available.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/giffer-pro-animated-gif-app/id521412113?mt=8



Studying Endangered Species

12:06 AM
There are 3079 animals and 2655 plants that are classified as Endangered worldwide. Many of these species are in danger because of the direct impact of man and the removal of their native habitat. These apps give students an introduction to the number and variety of species that are under threat. These would be good for Inquiry or Project Based Learning but are just as useful as classroom resources.

WWF Together: FREE
Experience the world’s most amazing and endangered animals in one app – together. This interactive experience brings you closer to the stories of elephants, whales, rhinos and other fascinating species. Discover their lives and the work of WWF in a way you’ve never seen before.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/wwf-together/id581920331?mt=8


Wildlife Monograph: FREE
A glimpse of some of the worlds increasingly rare and endangered species, captured on camera in their natural habitats. The spell binding intimate images captured by some of the worlds premier wildlife photographers breath with vivid insight and a sense of being closer than most of us can ever hope to be.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/wildlife-monographs/id464030905?mt=8


GeoEndangered: FREE
Animals all around the world are in danger but how familiar are you with vulnerable and endangered species? This app present you with a picture of an animal and you have to guess whether it is Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable. Raise awareness for endangered species as you educate yourself.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/geoendangered/id581303280?mt=8


My Environment: FREE
From the Australian Government, find the Australian environmental places and species that make up your neighbourhood. See the heritage places, wetlands, protected species, protected areas, weeds and invasive species near you. Drill down to see photos and location maps of environmental places and species.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/myenvironment/id458267028?mt=8


Threatened Species: $0.99
This educational app captivates your students with stunning high-definition photos and 17 informative videos with a total duration of more than 30 minutes on different endangered and exotic animals. Animals include Orang Utan, Komodo Dragons and the Asian Elephant.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/threatened-species/id529473459?mt=8


Animals in Danger: $0.99 AU
This application is a collection of the Worlds endangered animals. You will get all the information required about 60+ mostly likely endangered animals in the world. Go for this collection and get the information about the animals which we need to protect them before they get extinct.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/animals-in-danger/id421615194?mt=8


Species on the Edge: $1.99 AU
A guide to 365 species on the Red List, the most widely recognised list of threatened and endangered species, compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The Species on the Edge app allows you to browse and learn about threatened and endangered species from around the world.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/species-on-the-edge/id470500663?mt=8


Endangered Species - Last of their Kind: $2.99 AU
Learn about these rare and amazing creatures, who are on the verge of going away forever! App includes Hi-resolution images of endangered species as well as detailed information on each animal. The app has been built with retina ready graphics and includes a Challenging Quiz Game!

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/last-of-kind/id663482275?mt=8


Endangered Animals: $5.49 AU
Hundreds of species of animals are becoming endangered, and many more are likely to become extinct in the wild unless we do something to help them. This app focuses on 150 of the animals listed on the IUCN Red List, the internationally recognised list of the world’s most endangered species.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/endangered-animals/id505822281?mt=8


Britannica Kids Endangered Species: $5.49 AU
Learn all about the endangered species of the world in the latest addition to the Britannica Kids series. This app offers a fun andengaging way to explore a very important subject. Discover the variety of plants and animals on earth through a wealth of amazing images, videos, games, and informative articles.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/britannica-kids-endangered/id566340332?mt=8



Learning to Tell the Time

12:06 AM
Telling the time is one of those skills that many young children struggle with initially. Even in these days of digital displays the ability to read an analogue clock is an important skill, a skill that overlaps with other forms of numerical literacy.  The actual transfer of the skill between analogue and digital is just as important. Here are a number of apps that give kids the opportunity to learn to tell the time in both an analogue and digital formats.


Tell Time: FREE
Most students are at school for a couple of years before they start to learn how to tell the time, however this apps is appropriate for any students that is starting to show an interesting telling the time. If students can read simple books than they have enough skills to be able to tell the time.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/tell-time-little-matchups/id440944851?mt=8


Nanzoo Clock: FREE
Nanzoo Clock has been designed to assist your children in telling what time the hour and minute hand are both pointing at. With an efficient design for learning to tell time and kid-friendly animals, your children can experience learning to tell the time in a the fun friendly way.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/nanzoo-clock/id625986965?mt=8


Time Teacher Lite: FREE
Time Teacher is a great way to teach children how to read time. The app contains a number of activities that will help children develop an understanding of telling the time for your children, including; matching digital and analog time and setting the hands on an analog clock to match a digital clock.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/time-teacher-lite-learn-how/id644766778?mt=8


Tick Tock - Tell the Time: $0.99 AU
Tick Tock is an app aimed at helping children learn, explore and practice telling the time. It's child friendly design means children can learn and have fun at the same time! It is suitable for a range of abilities as the user can select the difficulty, allowing them to gradually make the questions more challenging.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/tick-tock-tell-the-time/id477046482?mt=8


iTellTime: $0.99 AU
iTellTime is a fantastic app that teaches and drills children who are learning how to tell time. Children need to be familiar with different ways of telling time,  hours, halves, quarters, minutes and hours and minutes. With iTellTime your child will enjoy learning how to tell time in no time.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/itelltime/id436706987?mt=8


Tick Tock: $0.99 AU
Kids can have fun learning to tell the time! Move the clock hands with your finger and press a button to hear the time, or the app can ask you to set a random time - the children move the hands to set the clock hands and then press a button to check the answer. All times are read aloud in English.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/tick-tock-clock/id545978133?mt=8


Interactive Telling Time: $2.99 AU
Interactive Telling Time is great for kids from ages 3 to 12 and comes in 5 difficulty levels so that it helps kids master telling time progressively. Beautifully illustrated with many adorable clock designs and accompanied by encouraging voice-overs to enhance their learning experience.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/interactive-telling-time/id477389150?mt=8


Around the Clock: $2.99 AU
Around The Clock is primarily not an app for learning to tell time. Instead, the app is an introduction to the clock, the different hours, and how a day can look.  Fine and clear illustrations make it both easy and fun to use this app. The 24 mini-games are all so intuitive that children can play all by themselves.

Tic Toc Time: $2.99 AU
The underlying principle for this application is to help children connect the concepts of digital and mechanical clocks. A child manipulates either the mechanical/analog or the digital clock using simple gestures and observes the effect on the other clock. The in app narration allows children to purposefully use Tick Tock Clock.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/tick-tock-clock-learn-how/id397925367?mt=8


Mingoville Fun Clock: $2.99 AU
Mingoville Fun Clock is a fun and safe educational game that will teach your kid to tell time. Fun Clock also contains storytelling, explaining how the clock works and it includes animations. Fun Clock app will teach your kid to tell time in a funny way by playing the game with animations and great sound effects.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/fun-clock-for-kids-learn-to/id463257815?mt=8


Jungle Time: $A2.99 AU
Jungle Time is an engaging, easy to use educational app that teaches kids how to tell time in multiple languages. For iPad only – takes full advantage of iPad screen size with special graphics and double-clock math problems. Animal faces smile and roar in a fun jungle theme with unlimited fresh problems every time.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/jungle-time/id373794287?mt=8


iPad Archaeology - Studying Ancient Egypt

12:06 AM
I always loved Egypt as a kid - I think was the mystery, the magic and the element of the unknown that created the romantic idea. That and Carter's discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb and the subsequent series of fatal events that surrounded the discover. I even thought I wanted to be an Archeologist at one stage. Whenever you go to a schools and see kids exploring Egypt for a project or inquiry based learning activity it always generates so much enthusiasm and energy. I thought it might be fun to explore some of the apps on offer for exploring ancient Egypt and the re-discoveries that have been made in the last 200 years.

Britannica Kids -Ancient Egypt: $4.99 US
The perfect app for exploring the secrets of hieroglyphics, mummification, the Pyramids, Tutankhamen, Cleopatra, and other popular Egyptian topics. Learning has never been more fun with this interactive and educational app that is based on school curriculum.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/britannica-ancientegypt/id388306550?mt=8


Ancient Egypt by Kids Discover: $4.49 AU
Travel back in time to a mysterious land where pharaohs still rule, mummies abound, and workers construct massive pyramids and sphinxes under the hot African sun. Kids will explore the Great Temple at Abu Simbel with a virtual animation, experience daily life and culture in Ancient Egypt.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/egypt-by-kids-discover/id682607482?mt=8


Egyptian Museum: $2.99 AU
The Egyptian Museum in Cairo contains the world's most extensive collection of pharaonic antiquities. The aim of the museum is to represent and display the diversity and heritage of Egypt. The museum creates a great experience for tourists by helping them connect history to the present.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/egyptian-museum/id558266935?mt=8


Pharaohs HD: The Ancient Egypt $2.99 AU
The whole history of Egypt, with all its pharaohs, religion, daily life, customs, monuments, dynasties in one wonderful work. The whole world of ancient Egypt with a description of each pharaoh known, with special reference to Ramses II, the mysterious Tutankhamen, and even Akhenaten.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/pharaohs-hd/id426867015?mt=8


Gods of Egypt: FREE
Gods of Egypt lists and displays basic information about the major Egyptian gods. The app contains info images about the Gods important in the rituals, life and afterlife of the ancient Egyptians. The application also contains surprising images of statues, amulets and jewellery related to Egyptian Archaeology.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/gods-of-egypt/id521577935?mt=8


Egypt Temples: $2.99 AU
This app features many of the major Egyptian Cult Temples in complete detail. All of the mysteries of Egyptian cult temples are explained and illustrated with videos, photos, drawings and 30 highly detailed computer generated reconstructions. Immerse yourself in the 3D reconstructions and get a feel for the life and times of real Ancient Egyptians.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/egypt-temples/id486820743?mt=8


TimeMaps Egypt and Ancient Civilisations: $5.49 AU
Follow step by step the history of ancient civilizations and the Egypt of the pharaohs. Sumerians, Babylonians, and Egyptians: the first big empires, who over five thousand years ago build imposing pyramids and temples, invented the wheel and developed sophisticated astronomical calculations and mathematics.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/timemaps-egypt/id618187195?mt=8


Ancient Egypt Virtual 3D: FREE
This scientific virtual archaeology application is an interactive 3D format reconstruction of Raneferef's hypostyle hall at the funerary temple in Abusir, Egypt. King Raneferef's hypostyle hall was virtually reconstructed according to available evidence and under the expert guidance.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/ancient-egypt-virtual-3d/id537986427?mt=8


The Pyramids: $7.49 AU
Fly around the pyramids and the Sphinx at Giza near Cairo. Enter and wander around the labyrinth of tombs and passageways. Examine wall paintings in incredible detail, rotate royal statues and spin 3D objects. Everything has been painstakingly recreated from ultra-high-resolution digital imagery.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/the-pyramids/id557865627?mt=8


Genius Quiz - Ancient Egyptian History: FREE
What was 'The Book of the Dead'? Did you know that in the construction of the pyramid of Khufu over 2,000,000 blocks of stone were used? Who was the 'heretic' pharaoh husband of Nefertiti? Discover the secrets of the civilization that, thousands of years ago, built towering pyramids and massive temples.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/genius-quiz-ancient-egypt/id583845786?mt=8


Egyptian Gods: The Mythology: $1.99 AU
For over three thousand years, ancient Egypt was the greatest civilization on the planet. Inscribed on the tombs of its Pharaohs were depictions of their gods, who ruled supreme over this world and the next. Understand more about their ancient religion, get Egyptian Gods today!

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/egyptian-gods-mythology/id652516234?mt=8


Egyptian Heirglyph Decoder: $1.99 AU
Egyptian Hieroglyphics Decoder app allows you to look at Egyptian columns with Hieroglyphics and actually translate the Hieroglyphics. Tap the Hiero-glyphics images and see what letters they translate too - even make sentences. Read Hieroglyphics with the Egyptian Decoder App!

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/hieroglyphics-decoder/id332591888?mt=8


Ancient Egyptian Anecdotes: $6.49 AU
The Ancient Egyptian Papyri translations have been edited to make them both easy for the modern reader and beautifully illustrated. The Ancient Egypt Magazine said of it "The full colour illustrations by the author will make the book particularly appealing to younger readers, although adults too will enjoy"

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/ancient-egyptian-anecdotes/id526697059?mt=8


Flow of History: $1.99 AU


It's history as it should be experienced: a dynamic fluid process instead of the standard names & dates approach to history you learned to hate in school, The Flow of History gives you world history in a series of 243 hyper-linked full-colour flowcharts. Now you can explore the connections between various historical events & processes, both across time & between cultures.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flow-of-history/id486231232?mt=8


Games for Learning about Egypt:

The Timeline Builders: Pyramid Rising 2: FREE
Become the Pharaoh’s architect, build historic temples, manage your resources skilfully and avoid enemies to succeed! Great Pharaoh Touti and his friends are back for an epic adventure that will take you on a journey along the Nile in TimeBuilders: Pyramid Rising 2!

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/timebuilders-pyramid-rising/id568947594?mt=8


Escape the Lost Kingdom: $5.49 AU
A young family is invited to visit the newly opened museum in Egypt; while touring the museum they discover the long forgotten tomb of a cursed Pharaoh named Raned. After being separated you now have to play as each character. Help the family reunite, escape this long-lost Egyptian kingdom and discover the story behind the fascinating tomb and treasures that are buried within.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/escape-the-lost-kingdom/id789834021?mt=8


Egypt: The Helipelis Prophecy: $2.99 AU
Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, a centre of learning, is one of the largest capitals of Egypt in 1360 B.C. A terrible epidemic is threatening to destroy the city  Tifet, a young priestess of Sakhmet, the Goddess of disease and medicine, sets out to find a remedy to save her adopted father and the inhabitants of Heliopolis.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/egypt-heliopolis-prophecy/id503536072?mt=8