The cell interactive learning tool

Learn how iCell is not only offering an alternative approach to learning, but is making a difference in the classroom. To date, iCell has surpassed 1,, downloads. Download iCell and join the digital education movement! First time in my life that I've been excited to learn about cells. I'm 21, and I'm very interested in science and especially biology. This highlights some of the benefits of this technology, I think, in regards to learning styles like mine.

First of all this app is very well designed, so bravo to those involved. Makes for an interesting, smooth experience in which the user has control over the pace at which the information is absorbed, and exactly what is absorbed when. Personally, I like to guide myself. Interest in each aspect of these models arises at random and that is when I absorb the information the best As interest arises.

This app makes it easy for interest manifest itself. I love the iPad! It makes learning really fun, this app is great for biology class. I think it could use some updates though for a larger selection of cells.

I love how you don't look at a boring picture! In this app you see a 3-d image of the cell and you can zoom in or out and observe it in detail. This app is great for learners new to the subject or advanced. Clicking on different parts of the cell will bring up text boxes explaining what it is and what it's purpose is inside of the cell. If you are a new learner, you can click on basic for a basic explanation, if you are advanced you will receive a more in depth explanation.

Beautiful interactive graphic design. As a teacher, I appreciate having the text available at three levels of complexity. This will allow students to learn at the reading level best suited to them. Couldn't find the cytoplasm, and perhaps the vacuole could occupy a more defined space, but overall, this is an excellent visual tool for students. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students.

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Text Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Interactives Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. Related Resources. Cell Biology. View Collection. Unicellular vs. Or, students can make entire videos, post them to YouTube, then share them with the class.

Audio recording can be used to similar effect, acting as a voice over for projects. If students have cell phones, teachers can also use different apps to help deliver instruction and lessons to students.

As documented at the Technology, Entertainment, and Design blog, there are plenty of apps that can be used for instructional delivery. These apps target different subjects and can help engage students more closely with their lessons.

Duolingo , for instance, can be used to help educated students taking a foreign language course. The wide variety of ways students can learn make the app that much more engaging. Another useful app is Instructable. This app contains over , do-it-yourself projects and instructions for getting those projects done. This app is perfect for maker classrooms that put an emphasis on creation and making projects that put science and engineering lessons to use. Students can also use more general apps to help them with their daily work.

This makes it far easier for a teacher to use classroom time effectively instead of having to worry about daily handouts. As can be seen by this brief review, there are multiple apps available to instructors that can help enhance classroom lessons. Evernote, meanwhile, allows for lessons to be distributed without time consuming handouts, which is beneficial to both students and teachers.

This helps students stay on top of their work more closely. So, here are just two of the ways that cell phones have been integrated into the classroom. A specific example of how cell phone technology was integrated into the classroom was laid out by authors Warnich and Gordon. In this specific example, educators used Poll Everywhere, which is a free audience response system. An audience response system works by allowing the audience to vote on a topic or to vote, as a group, for what they believe the correct answer to a question is.

In this example, History teachers received immediate feedback from their students. The teachers simultaneously displayed the answers using a projector. After all votes had been taken in, the instructors used the responses to determine whether the lesson was appropriately taught, determine how many students had accurately picked up on the lesson, and used the responses as a springboard to further discussion about the topic.

The use of an automated response system was therefore important to generating increased participation from the class as well as important to increasing teacher awareness about how well students were learning. Another example of using mobile phones to enhance learning was found in lessons developed by a group of Sri Lankan science educators. The researching duo Ekanayake and Wishart published a study about how these teachers were enhancing their lessons using cell phones. These teachers used the media features of cell phones to make science lessons that much more interactive, to help engage students more heavily with their lessons, and to help students learn in an inquiry-based style.

This approach asked students to capture images and video on their mobile phones from outside the classroom. To help support a discussion about household chemicals, the instructors asked students to go around their homes and take photos they found of chemicals within their own homes.

Then, during the class, the students transmitted their images to the teacher using a Bluetooth connection. Once a collection of photos were gathered, group discussion broke out about whether to classify these chemicals as detergents, medical supplies, or other classes of chemicals.

This approach helped to promote independent investigation on one hand but also collaborative work on the other. Within the classroom, students can become more engaged because the cell phone itself allows for direct communication with a teacher. In these two examples, the examples took the forms of poll responses and images. However, once individual responses are collected, this can lead to an increased level of classroom collaboration as group discussions and projects break out based on individual responses.

Researchers, of course, have wondered just what the impact of cell phones might be when used instead of other devices, such as computers. Authors Sung, Chang, and Liu put these devices to the test to see which had the best impact, a computer or a cell phone.