2 Games for Learning: Alge-Bingo and Remembus

I’d like to introduce the readers of the blog to 4TheKingdomApps, a father and son team who have developed a couple of apps for learning. Kevin Scritchfield is a veteran high school math teacher and his son Tad is a high school student. They have each created a game style app to help students improve memory and practice skills.

Alge-Bingo

Alge-Bingo, created by Kevin Scritchfield, won the 2012 National STEM Challenge in the High School Educator Division. Named appropriately, it is a game that helps students master algebra while playing Bingo. The game grows with students as they make progress, offering them more challenges and requiring them to develop mental math skills that are faster and more automatic.

Users have the ability to self-select their entry level and also the difficulty of the bingo game itself, making this game fun, flexible and leveled. The game can be addictive as students gain confidence and build skills. Students who are trying to improve their skills should try this game.

Watch this video created by Kevin to learn more about Alge-Bingo.

 

Remembus

Remembus is an app created by Tad Scritchfield, a high school student. This app combines a Concentration memory game with a rebus puzzle. Here is how Remembus works.

Players select can one of four subject areas to reveal a Concentration type game board. Players begin by selecting a number on the game board which reveals a question or an answer. Players must remember where the questions and answers are located on the board while testing their knowledge of the content to find a match. Once a match is found, the cards disappear to reveal part of a rebus puzzle. When all of the matches are found, players are rewarded and challenged to solve the rebus puzzle.

Try These Apps for Yourself

Both of these apps are available for $.99 in the iTunes store. Click on the ad in the sidebar of this blog to jump directly to the iTunes preview of each of these apps. Follow @Remembus and @kscritch to keep up with more from this father and son team, 4TheKingdomApps.

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3 Engaging Note-Taking Apps

As a teacher and life-long learner, I take a lot of notes. One of the best changes for me has been taking notes on my iPad because now I often find myself having fun trying to create attractive and useful notes. The note-taking process keeps me amused during meetings and the task keeps me challenged and attentive as I try to draw and explain the ideas being shared.

Here are 3 engaging apps to try to help put a  little fun back into note-taking sessions. 

Live Notes

Live Notes is a colorful note-taking and sketching app that allows for simultaneous audio recording. Draw shapes and doodles during a lecture or meeting. Type text and choose from a variety of fonts and bright colors. Tap parts of a sketch to hear the audio that was recorded at the specific point in time when the sketch was drawn. 

Live Notes is a paid app, but you can try Live Notes Lite for free. 

Note Anytime

Note Anytime is an app for taking notes, sketching, and annotating PDFs. Caligraphy tools support improved letter formation providing assistance with sloppy iPad penmanship.  Use the app to easily import and markup PDFs. Export notes to popular social media sharing sites, like Twitter, Facebook and Drop Box. 

Note Anytime is currently a free app available in iTunes.

ScratchWorks

ScratchWorks is a note-taking app that allows users to take notes on one side of the screen and browse the web on the other. Type text notes or insert a sketch area into the notes for doodling. It also provides a custom math keyboard. 

ScratchWorks is a free app, available in iTunes.

Exploring Apps Today

Today I get to collaborate with my peers to explore and share iPad apps for teachers. With so many apps, so little time, and so many contributors, the decision about which apps to share could get complicated so I tried not to over-think it. Here are some apps I’ve chosen to share. 

Watch this list grow as I add the ideas of others to my playlist!

http://www.mentormob.com//learn/widget/205233/580/99cc33/3-0

Create your own Playlist on MentorMob!

Pulse for iPad: A Gorgeous News Feed Reader

Pulse is an iPad app that collects multiple sources of your favorite news feeds and displays them in a convenient and attractive way to create a highly enjoyable reading experience. 

News sources you select are arranged as a stream. Just drag the screen vertically to scan all your sources, then drag it horizontally to view particular articles within each source. Tap the screen to read an article in text view or  view it as a full webpage. Pulse will even collect and display your Twitter stream.  Sharing is as easy as a couple of taps.
 
To get a glimpse of what Pulse can do, please watch the video below and try Pulse for yourself, available from the iTunes store.