iPad App Wish List - Paid Apps

As I shared last week, we're becoming a 1:1 iPad school next year, and we're now in the early stages of determining what apps to purchase and how to roll out teacher professional development. One of my first tasks in this process was to create a list (in rank order) of the top 10 apps that I thought we should have. When I first read that task, I decided that if my list is limited to 10, then perhaps I should make a list of 10 paid apps and 10 free apps. What follows is the current version of my paid app wishlist.

(All of the prices listed assume individual purchase of the app. I'm sure we'd get lower prices with volume purchasing.)

1. GoodReader - $4.99
This app is a very robust .pdf reader that allows students to read and annotate texts using a variety of annotation tools. It is easy to use, and it works with a large variety of document formats. It would be a vital app to have if we were trying to go relatively paperless.

2. KeyNote - $9.99
In addition to being a presentation tool, this app could be used for students' word work and word study journals. I had students build illustrated math dictionaries and journals using the slides in KeyNote.

3. iMovie - $4.99
While it doesn't have all of the features of the computer version, this is still a great app for student use.

4. Book Creator - $4.99
A fantastic app for writing that allows students to design, write, and publish their own eBooks that are compatible with other eReaders. Easy to use with amazing design potential.

5. Explain Everything - $2.99
I haven't had the chance to play with this one yet, but it shows up on virtually every educator's top 10 list that I've seen. It appears to be a design tool that lets you annotate, animate, and narrate explanations and presentations. In that way, it may be similar to Show Me or ScreenChomp, but it appears to do more. I've also read that the clips produced through this app can be imported to other apps (e.g., iMovie).

6. Pages - $9.99
A versatile word processing app for the iPad that will be useful for publishing student work.

7. Dictionary.com - $4.99
Yes, there's a free version of this app, but this one is ad free and will work offline.

8. GarageBand - $4.99
Music and sound editor that can be used for creating student podcasts.

9. PhotoSync - $1.99
Allows wireless transfer of photos and videos between devices -- iPads, computers, etc. May be very useful for having students turn in their work.

10. WolframAlpha - $3.99
Great reference resource for quick information about many cross-curricular topics. Probably safer and more reliable for quick answers than sending students to Google.

There's my list of paid apps. Tomorrow I'll share my wish list of free apps.

Are there other paid apps that you use in the classroom? I'd love to hear about them in the comments section. I still have about a week to revise my list before it's officially due to the powers that be!

Thanks for reading!