23 Mobile Things - Thing 18 : Education

Thing 18 suggests we look at educational apps and how they might fit into our personal and work lives. 

Boy for students I sure think that a dictionary and thesaurus would be a great app to have! This one is free and offers over 140,000 entries with more than 1.4 million words! Advanced English Dictionary and Thesaurus By Mobile Systems. Plus it has some fun looking word games-- a plus for downtime or between classes.

Here's a snip:

Khan Academy is a website that I often suggest to students who are looking for a little extra help with subjects. So it makes sense that their app would be the same great resource. I'll have to check into this one a little bit more!

Here are a few snips:

Video too -- score!

Another area where I see that students need help is in scheduling their homework time and knowing what projects/papers/assignments are due and when. This myHomework app looking promising. It's available for a variety of formats. jd+points 

Free options plus pay-- and it won't blow the bank! 

23 Mobile Things - Thing 17 : Connecting to Community

Thing 17 is about using local apps to connect with our communities. 

One app that I use, although admittedly not too often, is for one of our local TV news stations. NNC-Now from our Northlands News Center. It's easy to pop up on my phone when I'm looking for a quick update or a current news story. I do hate that 1st up is an advertisement but I understand it pays their bills.  

Here are a few snips:

Another "local app" that I use  is 511MN from our MN Dept of Transportation. This app provides details on road conditions, road construction/detours, and crashes that might affect traffic movement. I use this often during the winter to check road conditions. I travel about 1/2 hour each way to & from work so this is handy for determining my best route of travel during bad weather. 

Here are some snips:

You can zoom in to view closer details. 

The icons depict various conditions. 

You can click on the icons for more details. 

Another app that I love that isn't a "local app" but you can use to find local restaurants is OpenTable. I simply love this app! Locate, reserve and you're ready to go!

23 Mobile Things - Thing 16 : Audio

Thing 16 is all about using the microphones on our mobile devices to make recordings. But I'm not sure that I have a need for doing this? Other than possibly a talk-to-text option. So instead I checked out the social platform SoundCloud. SoundCloud can be used via iPhone, iPad, Android, or PC. It's social media so you can follow people, share with friends, family & fans, find communities, and upload your own audio content. 

I tried the explore area and selected one of the music genres. It was a mix of unknown artists (to me at least) as well as known artists. I opted to just let it stream through the lineup & overall it was pretty great. Plus I loved the sound quality-- super for just cheap computer speakers (I happened to be on my office PC). 

Here's a snip of a playlist as it was playing. 

Because it is a social platform, you can "like", repost, and share. Other options are to add to your own playlist and some you can download or buy. I did run into one song that really wasn't my style-- wish there was a ratings button or a skip option. 

Here's a song that I enjoyed-- it was the 1st song I listened to on SoundCloud. Andrew Bird's "Three White Horses" 

https://soundcloud.com/andrewbird/three-white-horses 

I'm definitely going to revisit SoundCloud and explore some more-- I think it'll be a great option for in my office when I get tired of the same old stuff & need a refreshing alternative.