Create Narrated Slideshows with SonicPics

SonicPics is currently my favorite app! It is like Microsoft's PhotoStory for iPod touch. Simply select photos to bring into a SonicPics project. Then record a narration for the project, flicking the screen to advance to the next image. You'll need a microphone to record your narration on iPod touch. After recording, SonicPics combines the narration and images into a movie. You can email the mpeg-4 movie, share through WiFi to a computer, or upload to YouTube.

As an example, I was going to take lots of screenshots while using SonicPics. I was then going to narrate the screenshots using SonicPics. edumacnation had the same idea and already posted a video to YouTube. Check it out below.

Keep in mind that images used in a SonicPics project can come from many different sources. They could be screenshots from other apps, photos synced from a digital camera, edited photos from Photoshop.com Mobile, pictures exported from a drawing app, comics made in Comic Touch, saved images from Safari, etc. 

There are loads of student uses for SonicPics. There's sharing personal narratives, reviewing curriculum, telling about field trips, creating presentations, and so much more. In fact, read about how Louise Duncan's students are putting together app reviews using SonicPics.

SonicPics is usually priced at $2.99. Today it's on sale for the price of free--and this is no April Fools joke!

Alien Equation: Math Game App

Alien Equation is a game that is great for elementary students who use iPod touch. While there are plenty of apps like Math Drills (read Buzz Garwood's review) for straight-up drill and practice, Alien Equation also involves number sense and spatial reasoning.

Alien Equation has a story behind the game:

When the navigation computer on your interstellar spaceship contracts a nasty virus and reverts to the intelligence of a three year old what do you do? Can you reteach the computer math while fending off the contagious invaders. Rearrange a grid of numbers and operators into enough valid equations before your system shuts down and strands you on a planet full of bipedal, hairless apes.

The backstory actually isn't very important when playing. Playing involves sliding columns of tiles left and right and rows of tiles up and down to line up tiles that make equations. When you start your first game, you are presented with four slides of instructions:

Alien Equation keeps track of progress, adapts to a player's abilities, and allows for isolation of addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. It's certainly worth the current price of 99¢.