Title: Face Juggler

Platform: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, but optimized on iPhone 5 and requires iOS 5.0 or later

Cost: Free

I first stumbled across this app when I heard a couple of co-workers giggling about something at work. When I wandered over to their desks, I was overcome with laughter to see a picture of two co-workers with their faces swapped onto each other’s bodies. You can’t help but want to try it yourself with every single picture of family and friends you can get your hands on. So that’s just what I did. I quickly downloaded the app and here’s what I found:

When I launched the app I was faced with two decisions: first, I could take a shot or second, I could choose a photo from my camera roll. If you choose the first, the app launches the camera for your convenience and allows you to easily snap away. If you’re like me and you want to swap faces using your formal wedding pictures that are saved in your phone, you would want the latter option to “choose photo.” Once you have taken your photo or made your selection, hit the button “Juggle” and the screen will flash “prepare to be juggled.” A few moments later, it’s time for the big reveal and your newly juggled faces appear on the screen. Everything in the photo remains the same except the faces, which is the most hilarious part. (more…)

Title: Schoology
Platform: iOS, Android, Web
Cost: Free

This week’s app comes to you from Kayla,  a teen who works as a page at my library. The other day she came to tell me about the easy way she was doing biology homework on her phone. Since she was using the app, and if I downloaded it I would not have a class to practice with, I asked Kayla to tell us about how it works:

“Your teacher can upload multiple choice questions for you to answer for homework. They can limit how many times you can answer them, so it can give you a challenge by only having you do it once, or you can re-do it a few times and fix your mistakes. It’s a good learning site, because it’s hands on.  It’s a good way to review for big tests because the multiple choice questions reflect what you’ve done in class.  Teachers and students can post notes on it, and can comments on each other’s notes.  You can look at the schedule for future assignments.  You can put photos, vidoes, and files from drop box to share with the class. Students might upload their notes.”

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Title: Shakespeare in Bits: Macbeth

Cost:  $14.99; free lite version available which includes two scenes; district pricing available

Platforms:  iOS, Browser-based

When I learned about Shakespeare in Bits at the fall 2012 YALSA Lit Symposium in St. Louis, it seemed like a great fit for our  English Language Learners (ELLs), who are assigned Macbeth in 10th grade. Animation, audio and text combine to offer the reader a multimodal approach to reading and understanding Macbeth. After playing with the lite version, I wanted to see more.
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Title: Cinemagram
Cost: Free
Platforms: iOS, Android (this review refers to the iOS version)

For those who love to make short videos or gifs on their phone, Cinemagram is a great option. In many ways, it is similar to Vine, an app that exploded onto the scene a few months ago. As in Vine, users of Cinemagram create short (in this case 4 second) looping videos. And, as in Vine, Cinemagram is focused on sharing these videos online, with options to share finished videos via Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or email. To add to the social aspect of the app, you can also connect with friends from Facebook, Twitter or from your phone’s contact list or search through videos or users to find other people to follow.
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In the mad rush to get out the door in the morning, I’ve left behind my keys, my wallet, and my MetroCard (The card those living in New York City use to get on public transportation). By the time I realize my mistake it is always too late (or I’m too lazy to run back to my apartment) and I make it through the day as best I can without these vital tools of a New Yorker.

But I have never, ever, forgotten my cell phone. If I realize, half-way down the block, that I have, I run back for it. When I chaperone school trips, I’m that weird lady who pulls out a charger and plugs my phone in to the nearest outlet, be it in a Starbucks or a courthouse. It’s my lifeline, and I feel strangely vulnerable without it; like this will be the one day my mother has an accident, my best friend has a break up, or my apartment catches on fire.

I use it for music. I use it for reading. I use it for maps, and games, and to keep track of my notes. I use it when I’m bored, I use it when I’m tired, I use it when I’m stuck between stations on the subway. My phone goes with me everywhere, and I am never without it.

Your teens are the same way. They would rather go without water than a data connection. They use their phones for enjoyment and work; reading and classifying if an animal is a llama or a duck (it’s a harder distinction than you might think). Their phones have become constant companions and guides. I wrote in my last article about what this means for the next generation of digital literacy; training on these devices is paramount is we want to produce a generation of informed information and device users. But no less important that providing information and training is providing consumable content– stuff for teens to do with their phones.

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Title: UYH
Platform: iOS 4.3 or later
Cost:Free ($6.99 Gold package available)

UYH (Use Your Handwriting) is an app that allows users to write with their finger, instead of a keyboard, to take notes and create lists on an iPad or iPhone. It’s a quick and easy way to write down what you, or the teens you work with, want to remember. The video below gives you an idea of how it works.

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Title: Finish
Platform: iOS 5 or later
Cost:.99

The Finish app was developed by teens who were looking for a way to help themselves and their friends manage their time. It’s an easy to use and useful to do list app. One of the best features is the ability to set timeframes for short term, mid term, and long term tasks. That way users can easily see what’s due in the very near future and when it might be OK to let a little procrastination set in. Check out the screencast to get an overview of how the app works.

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Title: NightSky
Platform: iOS and Android
Cost: 4.99

This game is really pretty. It’s also really hard. NightSky begins with the premise of a mysterious glowing orb found on a beach. The nameless narrator’s text tells us that upon bringing it home he or she began to have strange dreams. This, combined with a soundtrack that is quirky bordering on eerie, sets the tone for a strange dream of a game.

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Name: Invisibility 3D
Platform: iOS
Cost: $o.99

Augmented reality remains one of the less-explored frontiers in mobile computing. Apps like Layar, HistoryPin, and WhatWasThere have combined geolocation capabilities with external databases to link data to places, but the enriched experiences they provide are sometimes too cumbersome to become second-nature.

At this spring’s SXSW Interactive, Levity Novelty introduced Invisibility 3D, a gaming app that uses a mindbending overlay of real and virtual worlds to great effect. The game itself is rather simple, using your device as a sort of paddle to sink a projected ball in a projected hole. But the object and its target are overlaid on whatever surface you designate, and the device’s camera makes the rest of your environment remains visible just behind the game field.
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Title: Solve the Outbreak
Platform: iPad with iOS 5.1 or above
Cost: Free

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a new iPad app that lets you take a stab at solving the types of outbreaks that the CDC’s “disease detectives” must respond to at a moment’s notice. Right now, there are three outbreaks to choose from with more planned for the future. In each, you are presented with the same sort of data and information that would be collected in a realworld outbreak. Using these clues, you must decide what actions to take to limit the spread of the disease and to determine what caused the outbreak in the first place. Each correct choice that you make earns you points and allows you to advance from a Trainee to a Disease Detective along the way. (more…)