Monday, October 3, 2011

More Helpful Apps for Students

With thousands of applications available for iPhone, iPad, and other smart devices, it can be difficult to figure out which are the most helpful applications for students. As we have done before, we want to bring a couple of apps to your attention, both of which are available for download on  iTunes.

Web Reader

Many students with reading decoding difficulties find audio textbooks to be extremely helpful. Listening to the words while reading along can boost comprehension and make challenging materials more accessible. For reading non-copyrighted materials, like computer documents, there are a number of text-to-speech programs on the market; we think Web Reader can be particularly helpful. Web Reader is an inexpensive (price: $1.99), user-friendly app that reads web pages and PDFs. Users can save the audio as .mp3 files for later listening, too. Web Reader’s voices are, unfortunately, just as canned as those of other text-to-speech programs , but its affordability and portability make it hard to beat. Male and female voices are available, and listeners can adjust not only the volume but also the speed at which the content is read. Web Reader can also work in conjunction with DropBox to read content stored in other formats, like Word or .rtf files.

KidCalc

Few educational apps for "iProducts" are as thoughtfully-designed and as well-reviewed as the KidCalc 7-in-1 Calculator (price: $.99). Parents can download this app to access a plethora of mathematical tools and games for their 2- to 10-year-olds. KidCalc features flashcards and games, but perhaps its best feature is its interactive calculator, which pairs imagery with the numbers the child enters to nurture his/her number sense. This app will take your child’s calculator way beyond just numbers.


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