Classroom Apps

• 2Screens - Presentation Expert ($3.99):  VGA output, can show PowerPoint, Keynote, Word, Pages, Excel, Numbers, pdf, and photos; has a browser for showing web pages; files show on iPad screen and on projector screen; navigation tool for moving forward, back, go to page #, and pointer.  This app is far better than Keynote for iPad.  A whiteboard function will be available in a near future update.
• 2Screens LE (lite) ($1.99):  Has limited features.
• 2Screens Remote ($2.99):  For iPhone/iPod Touch to control 2Screens on iPad via Bluetooth.  With this app, your iPhone/iPod Touch acts like a PowerPoint remote clicker and you won’t have to keep walking back to your iPad to move to the next slide.  This is a great app for presentations in a classroom.  Note:  Many thanks to the developer for developing this app (Bluethooth) per my request. :-)
• Keynote for iPad ($9.99):  Not ready for classroom use; in VGA out mode, the iPad screen is black with only forward and back buttons plus a laser pointer.  If you have URLs on slide and want to go to a web site, you have stop the presentation mode, then tap on the link that will open in Safari Mobile.  See 2Screens above for a better option to either Keynote or PowerPoint slides in a classroom.
• Attendance ($3.99):  Great app for quickly taking class attendance.  As a Mac user, I create a group for each class in Address Book and import students’ email addresses, type in their name, and add a head-shot photo from their D2L Profile page.  Then I import the group into Attendance.  You can re-order the students based on their seating arrangement in the classroom.  After you take attendance, you can send an email to those who are absent notifying them of what ever you want…students are usually surprised the 1st time this happens.
• Videos (built-in app):  I download YouTube videos with RealPlayer for Mac, convert to iPod and iPad, then import to iTunes to sync to my iPad.  Videos works with the VGA connector.  There are many short videos that I show in class.