schools

StudyDroid 2.0 is like an infinite deck of digital flash cards for your Android mobile device. With this app, you can create and study from flash cards on the go, without being weighed down or limited by the constraints of a traditional, physical deck.

With StudyDroid 2.0, you can create as many flash cards as you like and organize them into Packs. When you open a Pack, studying is as easy as swiping left or right to move between cards, or tapping a card to reveal its other side. If you feel like you've sufficiently memorized a … Read more

Is the MacBook Air the new mainstream MacBook?

The White MacBook is dead. The cheaper, plastic $999 legacy to iBooks and PowerBooks of old has finally been removed from the spectrum of Apple laptops, and suddenly the decision spectrum has narrowed to two choices: the MacBook Pro, and the thinner MacBook Air, updated this morning with a faster processor and preinstalled with OSX Lion.

The MacBook Air has walked an interesting path since 2008, first as a high-end executive plaything, then a more attainable but still specialty interest ultraportable. Last year's MacBook Airs debuted in October, well after back-to-school shopping.

This year, however, the new Airs have emerged in late July, perfectly timed for students planning their computer purchases. The MacBook Pro, meanwhile, last saw an update back in February.

A $999 MacBook still remains; the 11-inch Air's base model costs the same as that older white MacBook. Its 1.6GHz Core i5 processor feels far zippier than last year's Air, but its limited storage (64GB of flash memory) presents a limit to hold-everything-on-your-hard-drive people. On first boot-up, 48GB of drive space was free to use, which limits what you'd permanently keep on your computer. That 64GB of storage can be expanded up to 256GB at the time of purchase, but that drives the price up, too, by several hundred dollars.

Or, does that matter anymore?… Read more

GeoGebra, the free, open-source mathematics software is designed for math classrooms in secondary schools, but anyone who uses geometry, algebra, or calculus should check it out. It combines a flexible, easy-to-use geometry tool with direct input of equations and coordinates. It can create points, vectors, lines, segments, conic sections, and more using preconfigured tools and handle variables for vectors, numbers, and points. It's available in many languages and is supported by a community of users and developers as well as a useful Web-based Help file, a forum, and a wiki. It requires the Java Runtime Environment.

GeoGebra's default … Read more

Instead of offering student Mac buyers a free iPod--as it's done for the past several years--Apple this morning launched its annual back-to-school promotion with a $100 credit for digital downloads.

That $100 can be spent in iTunes, the iBookstore, and in the iOS and Mac App Stores. One trend you might notice there is that Apple's found a way to get a return on that $100, which could be the whole amount if someone ends up buying Apple's own software like iWork and Aperture, which can be found in the Mac App Store. Apple makes 30 percent … Read more

Awesome Note for iPhone lets you manage messages, memos, and ideas in several unique ways. An intuitive interface lets you use themes to help categorize information the way you want and get to the information you need quickly. Awesome Note includes a few demo categories (shown as folders) that you can use to see how your notes and info will be laid out. You can create new folders by hitting the add folder button in the lower right, selecting your preferred color, and adding a title. Opening a folder displays your notes for that category laid out as thumbnails so … Read more

Evernote (Free) is just one part of an excellent, access-from-anywhere note-taking system. In addition to using Evernote on your iOS device, you can also create and get to your notes from a variety of mobile devices (including apps for both the iPhone and iPad) and any Web browser on any computer. A free Evernote account links all your notes together.

Evernote is a mature and popular app, with an impressively streamlined interface that shares similarities across its multiple platforms and gives you many ways to create notes and collections of notes called notebooks. Your notes can be text, images, or … Read more

We encounter a surprising number of programs that are designed for business use but are themselves somewhat unprofessional. Unfortunately, QZ School Management System Free is one of these programs. Although it seems to have a lot of features at first glance, it has several drawbacks that undermine our ability to take it seriously.

The program's interface somehow manages to be both sleek and cluttered; it has a modern look to it, but each of its tabbed menus contains a whole lot of icons. Once you familiarize yourself with it, however, it's not too difficult to navigate. The program … Read more

Similar to Hipstamatic for the iPhone, Retro Camera is a popular Android application that lets you take six different styles of nostalgia-inducing photos.

Download and install the free app, then choose from the Barbl, Little Orange Box, Xolaroid 2000, Pinhole Camera, FudgeCan, and Hipsteroku cameras. Each combines its own levels of vignetting, film scratches, and camera noise to produce uniquely old-school photos.

When you open up the app, the first thing you'll notice is the beautifully accurate retro look and feel. Each camera has its own graphical interface and viewfinder, and each truly brings you back to the days … Read more

Notability might be the best note-taking application we've seen for the iPad, with tons of useful features that are easily accessed through the app's intuitive interface. Perfect for students or really anyone who needs to gather and organize information, Notability lets you use your onscreen keyboard (or a compatible Bluetooth keyboard) to keep track of information by grouping your notes into categories by subject.

You can start a new note by tapping on the Compose button, or open an existing note from the start screen. You have the option to open notes from Dropbox, or from your iDisk … Read more