A wide variety of educational apps for all grade levels is available in the App Store. The Education category currently offers 59 pages of apps that cover preschool through college. You can improve language skills, bone up on basic and advance math, look up words or concepts in a dictionary or encyclopedia, learn a foreign language, make basic and advance calculations, and a lot more. So, if you want give your toddler a head start on her language skills, help your 5th grader with his math, show a high school student how to stay organized, or provide a college freshman with a wealth of academic resources, check out the App Store. Even if you're not a formal student, there's an app there for you.
Best of the Best
BrainPOP Featured Movie (free, app2.me/2657) has great daily educational videos with quizzes.
History: Maps of the World (free, app2.me/2656) Fun and educational collection of high-resolution historical maps.
Star Walk ($2.99, iPad version also available, app2.me/171) Your personal planetarium. For amateur or professional stargazers.
The Elements: A Visual Exploration ($13.99 iPad only, app2.me/2654) Experience the beauty and fascination of the building blocks of our universe like never before.
Wolfram Alpha ($1.99, app2.me/2445) is the ultimate search engine for information and data.
K-6th Graders
iWriteWords ($2.99, lite ver. avail., app2.me/197) Fun game to help preschoolers learn the alphabet.
Math Flash Cards ($0.99, app2.me/2350) Fun to use math drill app looks and works like paper flash cards.
Monkey Preschool Lunchbox ($0.99, app2.me/2658) Six exciting educational games for your preschooler.
Wheels on the Bus ($0.99, iPad version also available., app2.me/178) A singing book and great educational tool that keeps kids entertained for hours.
Wurdle ($1.99, app2.me/2339) is another great word game for grade school students.
HS and College
CliffsNotes (0.99 each, bit.ly/9xWk7N) We all remember those summer reading lists and the desperate push to get all the books read in time. If I had had this app in high school, I would have never read a book. There are over 30 books available.
Convert–The Unit Calculator ($1.99, app2.me/169) Converts between units in dozens of categories: area, temperature, pressure, power, and distance.
Dictionary.com Dictionary and Thesaurus (free, app2.me/204) Great resource for students of all ages. Does not require an Internet connection to use.
EZ Read (free, app2.me/2661) Browse all the literature resources of SparkNotes.com. Get detailed plot overviews, character analysis, chapter summaries, key facts, and much more.
Math Apps
Graphing Calculator ($1.99, app2.me/2442) turns your iOS device into an intuitive, high-resolution function plotter and scientific calculator.
Math Ref ($0.99, Free version available, app2.me/174) is a math reference application that includes over 1,300 helpful formulas, figures, tips, and examples of equations and concepts.
Space Time ( $19.99, app2.me/219) is a powerful mathematics program and graphing calculator for the iPad that includes over 200 function
Instapaper ($4.99, free version available, app2.me/117) is great for long articles and blog posts that you find during the day and would like to read, but don't have the time when you find them. Save them with Instapaper, then read them later when you're commuting, in a meeting, or waiting in line.
myHomework (free, app2.me/2662) is a simple and easy to use app that allows you to keep track of your homework, classes, projects, and tests.
NASA (free, app2.me/2659) collects, customizes, and delivers an extensive selection of info, images, and videos from online NASA sources.
Stanza (free, app2.me/218) Ebook reader handles a wide variety of file types including DRM-free Amazon Kindle, Mobipocket, Microsoft LIT, and PalmDoc, as well as Microsoft Word, Rich Text Format, HTML, and PDF files.
Wikipanion (free, app2.me/2663) makes accessing and searching Wikipedia fast and easy.
Geography
GeoMaster ($0.99, app2.me/2668) Learn and improve your geography skills and knowledge.
Google Earth (free, app2.me/2666) Fly to far corners of the planet with just the swipe of a finger.
National Geographic GeoBee Challenge ($1.99, iPad version available, app2.me/2667) Three types of game play make sure you really know your stuff and never get bored.
National Geographic World Atlas ($1.99, app2.me/2665) contains 7 different levels of National Geographic cartography, plus 7 bonus levels of Microsoft Bing maps.
U.S. Geography by Discovery Education ($4.99, iPad version available, app2.me/2664) is the perfect way to become an expert in U.S. Geography while being entertained for hours on end.
History Apps
On This Day ($0.99, app2.me/2670) Dozens of fascinating events per day. Learn more about events with built-in Wikipedia browser.
American Museum of Natural History Collections: Dinosaurs (free, app2.me/2671) connects you to the world's largest collection of dinosaur fossils through hundreds of photos and renderings.
The History Clock ($1.99, app2.me/2669) gives you a new perspective on time by interpreting the digits on a clock as a year and showing a few notable events that happened that year.
The World Fact Book ($0.99, app2.me/2672) Up-to-date data for 250+ countries/territories. Topics addressed include natural resources, industries, GDP, religion, ethnic groups, legal system, and much more.
