The 21st Century Principal

Sunrise Calendar App is an excellent way to gain access to your Google Calendars across multiple platforms. Recently, Sunrise became available as a stand-alone Mac App in addition to being available for iOS devices, Android devices, and Chrome. The best thing about Sunrise right now is that it’s free. It is easy to use and simply gives you easy access to your Google calendar. You can also connect some social media accounts such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as Evernote. It’s simple interface makes it an excellent choice for a Calendar app across all your devices.



Here are some other interesting features of the Sunrise Calendar App.

• Compatible with Google Calendar, iCloud and Exchange
• Synchronizes in real time
• Quick Add Event Feature
• Reminders
• Connect to multiple Google Calendars
• Supports Mac notifications
• Offline Mode

If you’re looking for a calendar app for your Mac, Desktop or handheld device, you will find Sunrise Calendar App's simplicity and ease of use reason enough to download it today. For more information about the Sunrise Apps, check out their web site (https://calendar.sunrise.am/).

Daybook Pro, the iPad app that allows teachers to deliver lessons and teaching content through their tablets, has just gotten better. Users can now directly add files to the app from their Dropbox account. Their website also offers a new set of video tutorials that will get users started with Daybook Pro. If you want to see how this app can meet the needs of classroom teachers, you can check out their onsite introductory video here.  Daybook Pro is also quite affordable at $10 a year or $1 per month.

Daybook Pro Interface

I experimented with Daybook Pro, and it is an excellent option for teachers looking for a content and instructional delivery system using their iPads.

Boxer is an email app that might be of interest to those looking for an email application for their iOS device. This email app approaches email in a slightly different manner than others. It supports email accounts with a variety of services such as: Gmail, Outlook, Exchange, Yahoo, Hotmail, iCloud, AOL and IMAP accounts. It does not support POP3 accounts, however.

Boxer Email Interface

Even better, Boxer allows you to connect your email to your Box, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts too. With this feature, you can add a photo from you Dropbox photos, or you can save a message right into Evernote. As a heavy Evernote user, this expands the functionality of that application even further. Some of the other interesting features of Boxer include:

• Quick Reply: This feature allows you to choose from a list of "Quick Reply" messages to respond to a message. Some of those replies are: "I've added this to my to-do list," "I'm on it and I'll follow up shortly," or "Can you give me a little more detail?" The Quick Reply feature makes it easier to manage and respond to many routine email messages you receive.
• Easy-to-Use Action Grid: When dealing with an email, you simply bring up an Action Grid (See below) from which you decide the fate of the message you're reading.

Boxer's Email Action Grid

• Push Notifications: Receive notifications when you receive an email message.
• Support of Multiple Email Accounts: You can set up Boxer to access email across multiple email accounts.
• Use Gmail Labels: If you're like me and use Gmail labels, Boxer allows you to do this as well. Boxer also sets up a "To-Do Label/Folder in your Gmail lineup as well, so you have access to those emails you assign to your Boxer To-Do list in your Gmail account.

PlayScience II is an interesting iPad app that covers all essential topics in Grade 2 Science, such as Plants, Animals, Earth, Weather & Sky, Matter and Motion & Energy. It also has several activities such as a memory game, jigsaw puzzles, crosswords etc. along with animations, voice over and interaction that make learning fun for children. Because it caters to the entire Grade 2 syllabus, it can be used by parents to complement what their children learn at school or can be used by elementary teachers in their classrooms. The app does not require internet connection, and can be used anywhere - at home or at school. The makers of PlayScience II currently offer a "Lite" version for free and the paid version for $7.99.

For more information about PlayScience II check out them out in iTunes here.

PlayScience II Interface

If you’re looking for a much, much simpler app for your iPad or iPhone to keep track of meeting information like meeting notes, talking points, action items, there’s an app for that called QuickAgenda. QuickAgenda makes note taking easy, and best of all, you can sync those notes to your Dropbox account and email a copy to those you would like to share them with. Here’s the main features of QuickAgenda:

• You can enter all the logistical information like Name of Meeting, Date/Time, Location, Purpose of Meeting, Main Points of Meeting, Attendees (including their email addresses), List of Action Items, and Notes from the Meeting.
• You can sync your QuickAgenda notes through your Dropbox account should you have the app on multiple devices.
• You can share your QuickAgenda notes with others by email by simply entering their email addresses. (The only issues I see with this so far is that apparently you must use the native iPad email app and you do not have access to a contact list.) These two drawbacks aside, it still easily to email your notes.
• It is currently free in the iTunes store.
• This app is quite easy to use, even easier that the Journal App that I wrote about earlier in the week here.

QuickAgenda App Interface

QuickAgenda is an easy-to-use meeting note app that would be quite useful for the school administrator or educator who isn’t looking for a powerful note taking app; just something simple. You can check out QuickAgenda in the iTunes store here.

QuickAgenda Will Email Notes to Others

Stickyboard 2 is an interesting app because of its simplicity. Users might find this app quite useful in note-taking situations, mindmapping, or brainstorming. With Stickyboard 2, users can use a combination of "stickynotes" and handwritten text to do any of these things.
Here are a list of features of the Stickyboard 2 iPad app.

• Create multicolored sticky notes on your Stickyboard. You can also choose from 3 different fonts for the typed text.
• Handwrite notes or draw using multiple colors. Ideal for using a stylus.
• Email your whole stickyboard to someone as a PDF or as Text.
• Create multiple storyboards and save them in your gallery.

Though short on features, Storyboard 2's simplicity and features offer a great deal of possibilities for both the classroom and for other educators looking for a simple app for note-taking. Best of all, Stickyboard 2 is currently free. Click here for more information on Storyboard 2.

In November 2010, I wrote a blog post entitled “Top iPad Apps for School Administrators.” That post has been one of the most popular on my blog for quite sometime. Now, two years later, I have found myself using many of the same apps, but also some newer ones as well. I thought it time to revise my list of iPad apps now that I have returned to using the iPad. Not all of these apps are free, but I consider the price for these apps to be well-worth the costs. If you are new to the iPad and are looking for apps for your tablet, these are a  good start. If you are a power iPad user, hopefully you will find an app or two here to add to your list, or maybe you can suggest some of your own top apps. You will also notice I have included some entertainment apps on my list as well, after all, even principals need to wind down once in a while.


Here’s the “Revised 21st Century Principal’s Top iPad Apps for Administrator’s List.”


E-Book Apps and Reading Apps

Free Books: This is an excellent app for those educators and administrators who love the “classics.” With this app, users get access to over 23,000 classic works. The former English teacher in me loves this one. For more information on the Free Books App for iPad, check out the iTunes Preview of the Free Books App.

GoodReader: This is my favorite app for reading major PDF files. GoodReader allows users to annotate and manipulate text in so many ways. You can highlight, underline or draw a box around important passages of text. You can insert your own text on the PDF document. You can also insert “sticky notes” as well. GoodReader is a great way to read PDF files. For more information on the GoodReader App check out the iTunes Preview of GoodReader.

iBooks: This excellent ebook app allows users to read books bought from the Apple bookstore, and it also allows users to upload and read PDF documents too. For more information on the iBooks app check out the iBooks iTunes App Preview.

Kindle: The Amazon Kindle app is also a must-have e-reader for the iPad as well. Amazon has the most extensive offerings of ebooks available. The Kindle app can also be used to read documents from the web as well as well as other PDF documents. Add the “Send to Kindle” app to your Chrome browser and you can send almost anything to be read in your Kindle app on the iPad. For more information on this app, check out the Kindle app iTunes App Preview.

Nook: Those of us who are serious e-book addicts, have purchased ebooks from both Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The Nook app gives you  access to those purchases from Barnes and Noble. For more information on this app, check out the Nook App iTunes Preview.

(Google) Play Books: Google has ventured into the ebook market as well with their Google Play Books. This app allows you to access those books you get through the Google Play Bookstore. For more information on this app, check out the Google Play Books App iTunes Preview.

All of these e-reader apps have access to free book titles too. So, it is well-worth it to install all of these e-reader apps on your iPad.


Media Apps

EPIX: For those who are movie addicts and have a cable subscription to the EPIX movie channel, you can now add access to your EPIX movies to your iPad. For more information on this app, check out the EPIX iPad App iTunes Preview.

HBO GO: If you have a subscription with your cable provider to HBO, you can bring those movies to your iPad in streaming form with this app. For more information about this app, be sure to check out the HBO GO iPad App iTunes Preview.

MAX GO: The Max Go app gives iPad users access to programming from Cinemax. If you have a paid Cinemax subscription with your cable provider, you can access on your iPad a wide variety of Cinemax programming. For more information on the MAX GO App, check out the iTunes MAX GO Preview.

Netflix: Netflix offers users a wide variety of movies and  TV show episodes for a low monthly subscription price. You can access your Netflix subscription right on your iPad with this app. For more information, check out the Netflix iPad App iTunes Preview.

Vevo: Even school administrators like music. With the Vevo app users can listen and watch music videos of their favorite music artists. You can search and play existing music playlists, or create your own. For more information on this app, check out the Vevo iPad App iTunes Preview.

Pandora: Pandora is a personalized radio that plays music to your preferences and does so across multiple devices, from your desktop to your phone. You can listen to existing music channels or create your own around a favorite artist. For more information on this streaming music app, check out the Pandora iPad App iTunes Preview.


News and RSS Reading Apps

Feedler RSS Reader Pro: Feedler RSS Reader Pro is my personal RSS reader of choice. This app connects to your Google Reader account and pulls your chosen RSS feeds down to your iPad, where you can read them, share them on social media, or curate them to your Evernote account. For more information on this app, check out the Feedler RSS Reader Pro iPad App iTunes Preview.

Flipboard: Flipboard advertises itself as “your personal news magazine.” It is your personalized news source and then some. Users can easily add favorite sources of news like NBC, ABC and others. It is a way to get the news delivered to your iPad like you want it. For more information on this app, check out the Flipboad iPad App iTunes Preview.

Google Currents: This app functions in very much the same way as Flipboard. It is a way to personalize your news sources and have them delivered to your iPad in magazine-like format. For more information on this app, check out the Google Currents iPad App iTunes Preview.

The Weather Channel: This app is self explanatory. Users of this app have access to weather information, both their own and the world’s. Users can also access some of the other programming found on the app’s counterpart cable channel. For more information on this app, check out the Weather Channel iPad App iTunes Preview.


Productivity Apps

Blogsy: With this app, you can create and post to your blog from your iPad. Blogsy has a number of additional features as well such as drag and drop media from applications such as Facebook and Picasa. This app also allows users to work with multiple blog accounts as well. For more information on this app, check out the Blogsy iPad App iTunes Preview.

CamScanner: You can turn your iPad into a document scanner with this app. CamScanner is a free app that allows you scan items and then store them as PDF files. For more information on this app, check out the CamScanner iPad App iTunes Preview.

Dropbox: This app gives you access to your Dropbox cloud storage account. It is like having your office file cabinet on your iPad. You can also set this account up to automatically receive any photos you take with your iPad. For more information on this app, check out the Dropbox iPad App iTunes Preview.

Evernote: This is one of the premier note taking apps and much more. Users can create notebooks and place specific notes in each as well as photos and other files that are uploaded to the account. For more information on this app, check out the Evernote iPad App iTunes Preview.

Google Drive: If you have a gmail account, you have a Google Drive. With this app you can access both the files you have uploaded to your Google Drive for storage, and you can create Google docs and spreadsheets in this app as well. For more information on this app, check out the Google Drive iPad App iTunes Preview.

iKeePass: This app allows users to store and retrieve passwords in a single place. You only need remember one password for all your log-ins with this app. It is also completely compatible with the well-known open source password program called KeePass. For more information about this app, check out the iKeePass iPad App iTunes Preview.

Keynote: Keynote is a presentation app created specifically for the iPad. Users can create and show presentations. Keynote also opens PowerPoint files as well. In comparison to other apps, this is a bit more expensive but well worth it. For more information on this app, check out the Keynote iPad App iTunes Preview.

Outline: Outline is a Notebook app very similar to Microsoft’s OneNote desktop application. It allows users to create notebooks and then populate those with content. For more information on this app, check out the Outline iPad App iTunes Preview.

Pages: Pages is a word processor created for the iPad and mobile devices. Create documents or open Microsoft Word documents. This app's functionality as a word processor makes it also worth the price. For more information about Pages, check out the Pages iTunes Preview.

Printer Pro: This app is the only app I have been able to find that allows me to print from my iPad through my wifi. I can print to a printer attached and shared through my desktop computer. For more information about this app, check out the Printer Pro iPad App iTunes Preview.

Wunderlist: Wunderlist is an excellent, simple to use To-Do List App. Users can create multiple task lists, and those lists are automatically synced to the web version of the app and back to any desktop versions. For more information about this app, check out the Wunderlist iPad App iTunes Preview.


Social Media Apps

Diigo: This app gives users access to their Diigo accounts. Users can access their bookmarks and notes uploaded to their Diigo accounts. For more information on this app, check out the Diigo iPad App iTunes Preview.

Edmodo: Edmodo is the premier social media environment for educators. Users can use the iPad app to access their Edmodo accounts. For more information about this app, check out the Edmodo iPad App iTunes Preview.

Facebook: The Facebook app gives iPad users access to their Facebook accounts. It is quite simple and easy to use. For more information on this app, check out the Facebook iPad App iTunes Preview.

Google+: For users of Google+, there is also an iPad app as well. With this app users can access content from their Google+ account. For more information about this app, check out the Google+ App Preview in iTunes.

LinkedIn: The LinkedIn app gives users access to their LinkedIn account. Check out the LinkedIn app preview in the iTunes Store.

Skype: Skype is an app that allows users to video conference and message others. It is an excellent option for out of state interviews for prospective teachers, as well as for bringing experts into the building that would normally be inaccessible. For more information about the Skype iPad App, check out the Skype iPad App Preview in the iTunes Store.

Twitter: The Twitter app gives users access to their Twitter accounts. Users can use this app to join in the conversation on Twitter right from their iPad. Its simplicity and ease of use make it great choice for an iPad Twitter account. For more information about this app, check out the Twitter iPad App iTunes Preview.


Web Apps and Web Browsers

Chrome: The Chrome browser for the iPad gives users the Chrome web browser experience on their tablet. This browser has the same look and feel as its desktop counterpart. By logging in, users can access their Chrome bookmarks as well. For more information about this web browser, check out the Chrome for iPad iTunes Preview.

Browsing Pad: This web browser is also a powerful note taking and curating browser as well. It is a browser for the user who needs to take notes while perusing web resources. It also integrates with your Evernote account. For more information, check out the Browsing Pad iPad App iTunes Preview.

Google Voice: Google Voice gives iPad users the ability to send and receive text messages through their iPad. All you need do is set up a free Google Voice account and number to use this app. For more information about Google Voice, check out the Google Voice Preview in the iTunes Store.

Google Search: This app gives users access to all of their Google apps. In particular, this app works extremely well to access email. I have two Google email accounts, my school account and my personal account set up through this app. It works very well for users who have multiple Google accounts. For more information about the Google Search App for iPad, check out the Preview for this app in the iTunes Store.


No doubt many of you also have your favorite iPad apps too. Feel free to those too.

The new Kindle iPad app just became even better. After the latest Kindle iPad app update, Kindle owners and Kindle app users will be pleased with these two additional features.

• Read your magazines on your iPad in your Kindle. Before this update, I was unable to access my magazines on the iPad Kindle app. Now, users can access their Newsstand items too.
• Send documents to your Kindle and now read them on your iPad. Before the update, I was only able to do this on my Kindle. Now, users can access any documents they send to their Kindle account. Add the Chrome Extension, Send to Kindle, and you can easily send Web items to read later using your iPad. I now can easily read those PDF reports right in my iPad Kindle app.

New Kindle iPad App Document Interface

Those two added features add a great deal of functionality to the iPad app. Great job Amazon! Thanks for giving users more and more features in your Kindle App.