Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas - Slide.ly

Slide.ly reminds me a lot of Animoto and the application allows users to create a digital photo story using images from Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, Picasa, etc.  Users can then take music from SoundCloud or other audio sites and then add various effects to create a video slideshow of all the images.  Sharing of the slideshows is simple with all the usual sharing options provided.

On the front page there is the ability to browse through shows already created and there is no way to ensure that they are appropriate, so do be mindful of that.  Those previously made can also be navigated through and searched, so there possibly could be one already created that a teacher could use.  You can sign up by connecting to Facebook or creating an account. 

Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day One - Edcanvas
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Two - Cubby
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Three - NextUp
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Four - Otixo
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Five - Quiklinkr and Listango
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Six -  Educlipper
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Seven - Share My Lesson 
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Eight - Podbay
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Nine - Quotebook 

Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas - Quotebook

Quotebook is an App for iDevices that allows users to easily track, capture, copy and paste quotes into a central location (app).  Each quote can be categorized and tagged with keywords.  I could see teachers using this to track quotes that they want students to use in the classroom and I could see students using this app to track quotes and parts of a book they are doing for research.  I could also see this being used by students who are avid readers as a way to save their favorite parts of a book.  Quotebook is available in the App Store at a cost of $2.99.

Quotebook is synced to iCloud and Instapaper.  You can also link to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr accounts as well.  The service allows users to also mark the author and source of the quote making it easier for students to document where they get the quote from and also so they can look up other quotes by the same author.  For a quick glimpse at how it is used, see the video below.



Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day One - Edcanvas
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Two - Cubby
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Three - NextUp
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Four - Otixo
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Five - Quiklinkr and Listango
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Six -  Educlipper
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Seven - Share My Lesson 
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Eight - Podbay

Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas - Podbay

Podbay.fm, an open culture of podcasting, is a website dedicated to providing the best way to search, play, and listen to podcasts.  Through the site you can do a search, or browse through various categories as well..  Once you find a podcast that you are interested in, you can listen to them directly through the website. 

Each Podcast Channel comes with a description reviews, stats, an option to open in iTunes, open an RSS Feed, and visit the website for the publishers of the Podcast.  All that has to be applicable to each podcast however.  I do warn you that each podcast episode has a comment section, so preview them before showing to ensure that there are not inappropriate comments.  There is an option to "Popout" the podcast, thus removing the comments.  I highly recommend taking advantage of that.

By hovering over the title of the podcast, you can get a short description of what you will be listening too.  The only aspect missing is a way to see how long the podcast is prior to clicking on it.  After you listen to a show, there is a drop down menu at the top of "Recent Shows" that highlights what you recently listened too.  You can clear that list at any time as well.

You can also take advantage of Podbay.fm by downloading an App for your iDevice. 

Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day One - Edcanvas
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Two - Cubby
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Three - NextUp
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Four - Otixo
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Five - Quiklinkr and Listango
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Six -  Educlipper
Apps for the 12 Days of Christmas Day Seven - Share My Lesson

InkleWriter - Interactive Writing and Adaptive Reading

InkleWriter is a website that helps writers tell interactive stories while also providing opportunities for adaptive reading.  The software aims to give readers a choice as they read to what happens next.  As a writer, you develop those choices and the software makes it easy for you to continue the writing.  I like this idea because it creates an engaging avenue for readers to the text they are reading.  After writing a story, users can actually have it converted to an eBook for Kindle.

Google Santa Tracker

Christmas is just around the corner and the kids in your classroom or at your house are probably interested in seeing when Santa will be where.  Well, Google has their Santa Tracker read to assist you.  There is currently a countdown that kids can see.  From this page you can find Santa on Google+, download an Android App or install a Chrome Extension.  And what is fun this year, is tracking Santa on Google Earth.  My son is 5 turning 6 and enjoys my iPad as much as I do, so I am looking forward to sharing this tracking tool with him.

Through the Google Tracker site there are graphics and games as well that kids can play related to Christmas and Santa Claus.  A cool feature is a virtual "chat" with Santa to set up personal phone calls, messages on Google+, and an email.  You provide some information, and Santa will contact your kid. For more information about the Santa Tracker, click here.

If you don't want the Google Santa Tracker, the NORAD Santa Tracker is a good option as well.  It has a countdown as well and here is a short video about it.