I’ve always enjoyed thinking of ideas about how we can utilise technology for purposeful means in the classroom. It is often we see the simplest ideas making the biggest impact on teaching and learning. I’m still asked regularly for apps for particular subjects, asking children to use devices as sources of information rather than vehicles or tools to express learning.
The iPad has always given us the opportunity to do so much more than consume information giving us opportunities instead to use our creativity to express our learning, to test our learning, to share and publish what we do. Therefore it has given me real pleasure to create this new Periodic table of iPad apps; this time focusing on tools to support younger learners.
I realise that not everyone will agree with my choices of apps but they have all been made with personal experience of using all of these tools with children and seeing not just how they work in the classroom but more importantly how they can impact on learning. Also to be clear, just because one app might be in one particular category, it doesn’t mean it can’t be used for other purposes.
I find it personally important to share with you that whilst being canvassed by a large number of different companies to include their apps on my next table, I have taken no remuneration for the creation of this free resource.
The impact of this resource has been global. Wherever I travel in the world through my work I see the table in staff rooms, being used in classrooms, hearing about it being discussed in meetings about teaching and learning. It is truly great to see how something so simple can have such an impact. This is why at the bottom of this post there is a link to download a free higher resolution version of the table for you to use if you wish. Please respect the license on the image though. As mentioned before, some schools have taken the table, removed my name and put their name in place of mine. This is not acceptable. Thank you for not doing it.
My big thanks go to @mralanellis for giving me feedback along the way which resulted in some really helpful thinking. Thank you Alan.
From my previous periodic table vol. 2 post:
First things first. It’s never just about the apps. End of. That said being guided around tried and tested apps from the classroom can be really helpful. With that in mind, back in 2014 I created my first periodic table of iPad apps. Little did I realise how popular it would be with more than 7 million downloads in those two years. As with most things to do with technology, times move on and apps change, new technologies bring new ways to use technology to enhance learning. What has been interesting in the process of creating the periodic table has been looking at the apps which still work really well at doing what they do best. Interestingly, many of the apps on this updated table were on the original table too but there are plenty of new ones to look at too. Overwhelmingly, the majority of apps shown are free too.
If you are interested in working with me to help you make your technology with iPad work for you in your school, then please get in touch via my contact page.
If you would like a higher resolution version of the table then please click here.
I hope you find the Periodic table useful. If you use it or share it in any way I would love to hear from you and your story about how you’ve used it in the comments section below!
Thanks!