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My name is Steven. I'm an independent iOS developer at slidetorock.com.

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Apps for special education

Screen_shot_2011-06-14_at_9

My friend Joe just sent this to me. It's a list of apps suitable for
use in special education published by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in Victoria.

Chapters is listed as a core app, strongly recommended for use in the classroom.

I'm honored and excited.

Here's the full list of apps.

Filed under  //  education   ipad   ipad apps   special education  
Comments (0)
Posted by Steven Romej 
 

Counting money on iPad makes cents

The post title is perhaps cringeworthy, but it's very true. The
surface is the perfect canvas for all kinds of great educational
games.

(download)

MakeChange is an iPad app that lets you practice counting money, which is to say that it's also a way for kids to practice math problems.  Hopefully some schools will be able to have at least one iPad per classroom.  It could be a great way for teachers to walk through various scenarios before letting the kids play.  Right now, most classes use money worksheets that depict the outlines of coins.  Students write the quantity of each coin needed to obtain the sum.

With MakeChange, you slide coins below the line to be counted.  You can tap a coin to see the reverse side if you don't recognize it (or just for fun).  You can repeat a problem until you get it right, or move on to a new one.  

If you answer correctly but miss an opportunity to make the sum with fewer coins, the app will show you the alternative way to reach the total.

Filed under  //  counting   education   educational   iphone   iphone apps   math  
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Posted by Steven Romej 
 

Learn the amino acids, do better on the MCAT and other tests

The AminoBuddy app is now available at the App Store. It's great for students that need to learn the amino acids so they can do better on chemistry and biochemistry tests, as well as standardized tests such as the MCAT.

My wife had to learn all of these before med school and again during med school.  She had a fat stack of cards.  You can have all of that and more in your pocket.

The app comes with nine flashcard decks that you can review several different ways.  Resize the fonts, switch things so that you see the back side of the card first, enable answering so you can provide a yes/no for each card.  View amino acids by Lewis structure or carbon skeleton.  Check out the ball and stick models, learn the short abbreviations, get familiar with the side chains.

The app is built on the Touchcards 2 engine.

Filed under  //  apps   chemistry   edtech   education   iphone   mcat  
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Posted by Steven Romej 
 

Add images to your Quizlet flash cards

Touchcards-iphone-quizlet

Support for adding images to flashcards has been available in
Touchcards 2 since its debut. This picture shows an actual card from
a set on Impressionist art from Quizlet.

This is a great way to study not only art but medicine, geology, biology, and architecture.

Filed under  //  education   flashcards   quizlet   studystack   touchcards  
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Posted by Steven Romej 
 

Top iPod Touch resources for the classroom

Teachers across the country are finding and sharing ways to use iPod Touches in the classroom. I would have loved an iPod Touch in elementary school; hopefully more kids will be able to use them for interactive learning in the future.  Here are several links to these often hard-to-find education resources.  Most of them are written by teachers that are actually using them with their students. Please leave a comment if you know of others.

http://angela-cunningham.blogspot.com/2009/12/itouch-futurehopefully.html

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/feb/05/touch-of-02/

http://web.me.com/crrichardson/Title_IID_Grant/iPod_touch_in_Education.html

http://projects.minot.k12.nd.us/groups/chris/weblog/5ce29/Why_an_iPod_Touch_i...

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgkxbfp9_92spf6m9dt

http://blogs.scholastic.com/classroom_solutions/2010/01/teaching-with-iphone-...

http://blogs.canby.k12.or.us/leeipod

http://kerileebeasley.com/2009/08/19/ipod-touches-meet-kindergarten-2/

http://teachinglearningspanish.blogspot.com/2009/07/more-ipod-touchiphone-app...

The following document is available as a Word file (the original URL is located in the description on Scribd).  I couldn't view the file locally, thus the Scribd version.  The author of the original document will have the most up-to-date classroom app recommendations.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/27590350/iPod-apps

My apps for education (some featured in the links above!):

http://slidetorock.com/apps/Touchcards-flashcard-learning-system.html

http://slidetorock.com/apps/Touchcards-free-flashcards.html

http://slidetorock.com/apps/Playscape-kids-matching-game.html

http://slidetorock.com/apps/MathLegend-math-game.html

Filed under  //  children   classroom   education   ipod   ipod touch   kids   learning  
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Posted by Steven Romej 
 

Announcing Math Legend - Practice math on your iPhone

Apple has been amazing with their App Store approval process lately,
so the week or two I used to take to prepare things after a submission
has been cut down to about a day or two.

Math Legend should be instantly familiar to anyone that's seen Guitar
Hero. It's a game for math practice you can play on your iPhone or
iPod Touch. A variety of speed and difficulty settings make it easy
for anyone to start playing and improving their math skills.

Tap the correct answer as it passes over the fret board at the bottom
of the screen. If you tap at just the right moment, you get max
points and bigger effects. If you miss an answer or don't know it,
don't worry. Math Legend will let you know what the correct answer is
and you'll soon get another chance at getting it right.

Play speed rounds with your friends, or help your young one learn
math. Use the scores in the hall of fame to track progress,
strengths, and improvements.

(download)

Filed under  //  apps   education   educational   iphone   math   software  
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Posted by Steven Romej 
 

Touchcards 2 featured in iTunes Staff Favorites section

Touchcards-love

As I write this, I'm booking a ticket to Cupertino so I can hand out a few hugs. 

I put a lot of work into Touchcards 2 and have more things planned (mainly making import a little easier).  There's also an update in the offing that should be approved in a couple days for easier font sizing.

Filed under  //  app store   education   flashcards   iphone   iphone apps  
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Posted by Steven Romej 
 

iPhone app for kids

As the iPhone Mom says, "The iTunes App Store is like a giant box of chocolates offering a little something for everyone".  There are many kids games for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and now there's another: Playscape Matching.  More on this interactive matching game coming soon.

(download)

Update If you have an iPad, you can learn to do math and count money with MakeChange.

Filed under  //  education   educational   games   iphone   k12   kids   preschool  
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Posted by Steven Romej