Lucy Gray (@elemenous) is one of the most active educators on Appolicious (member since January 2010). Keep an eye on her education lists to know which apps are being discussed at the most cutting edge education conferences.
1. Tell us about yourself – where you live, your job, things you like to do.
I’m currently an independent education consultant, working with a variety of institutions on 21st century learning initiatives. One of my current roles is Project Director for the Consortium for School Networking’s Leadership for Mobile Learning Initiative. I previously served in various capacities related to educational technology at the University of Chicago’s Laboratory Schools, Urban Education Institute and Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education. My other professional interests include mobile learning, digital equity, information literacy, and the incorporation of social media technologies into educational settings. I’m an Apple Distinguished Educator and Google Certified Teacher, too. For further information, visit my web site at http://lucygrayconsulting.com.
2. Which iOS device or devices do you own?
I’m the delighted owner of a 3GS iPhone. My 12-year-old has an iPhone 3G, my son has an iPod Touch, and my husband has a 4G iPhone. I chose my iPad because it also works with my Verizon MiFi device. Looking forward to upgrading my iPhone in the next year, and getting an iPad 2!
3. Is there a particular category of apps that interests you the most?
My three favorite categories of apps are productivity, photography, and educational apps. I often use my children as guinea pigs to test apps in preparation for iOS device workshops that I lead.
4. What are your top apps and why?
My favorite apps are: Evernote, Trism, QuadCamera, GroupMe, Audioboo, SonicPics, the Audubon field guides, ArtRage, Toontastic, Motion Math, Sums Stacker, The Elements, Solar System for iPad, Animalia for iPad.
Evernote is fabulous for synching meeting notes between devices; I have a notebook for every consulting client and organization that I work with. Trism is my favorite addictive game, and Audioboo and SonicPics are great for creating content on the go. My favorite educational apps and books are highly interactive and well designed. Toontastic is an incredible app that leads kids through the storyboarding process before they create and post their own animated videos.
My kids’ favorite apps are: Stack the States, Train Conductor, More Pizza!, More Sundaes!, Netflix, SpinArt, Voices 2, Talking Carl+, Doodle Jump.
My hairdresser introduced us to AgingBooth and FatBooth — unfortunately and my kids and husband love these silly apps.
5. What apps are popular among your colleagues and friends?
Favorite apps of colleagues: Word Lens, ShowMe, Dropbox, SpellBoard, MathBoard, and Angry Birds.
6. Give an example of a time an app (or Appolicious) was truly useful to you.
I like how Appolicious limits how many apps you can put in a list. This keeps suggestions from becoming overwhelming to people. Thus, I try to create short lists for various education events such as our state ed tech conference, Illinois Computing Using Educators Conference (ICE), as a way to support our conference attendees.
7. What other Appolicious member do you admire the most and why?
I admire Brad Spirrison, an editor at Appolicious, as he’s been instrumental in this site. It’s a much needed resource for people who don’t have the time or inclination to wade through the iTunes store in hopes of finding good content. He’s also the younger brother of a high school classmate, so I’m excited about his success in the world of technology! I also recommend following another educator, Wes Fryer, as he is another active user of Appolicious.
8. Do you have a blog? Are you on Twitter?
Blog: http://www.lucygray.org, Twitter: @elemenous.
9. Anything else you’d like to share with the Appolicious audience?
I conduct workshops for educators on various 21st century teaching and learning topics including using iOS devices in classrooms. I’d love to expand this work to workshops for parents!
Check out elemenous’ Appolicious App Library here.
