Useful iPad Apps for Record-Keeping

After my post on our registration documents, Grace asked me what iPad apps we use so I thought I would show you some photos of how we use the iPad for record-keeping.

The photo above shows a page from our learning log. This is a simple app, called Dailybook, which I use for plain note-taking or journaling. It does allow photos and audio clips to be attached, but it can't be used to link to the Web or to attach videos.

As you can see, you can play around with fonts and styles to make it look less techie and it also has search and tagging functions. It allows for the creation of several different notebooks and each one can be password-protected.

Photos are displayed as thumbnails and they can be clicked on to see in a photo viewer.

The other app that I like to use is iNotebox HD.

I really love this app - it just has to be my favourite! It's very versatile and it synchronises so well with the other apps on the iPad. The photo above shows how customised icons can be used to navigate around the files and folders contained on it.

There are several alternative views, such as the list view, above.

The calendar, on iNotebox, synchronises with the other apps and can display colour-coded notes or calendar events. I have used this to get an overall picture of the balance in our activities, over the weeks, and also as a weekly or monthly planner.

A useful feature of iNotebox is the ability to link to the Internet to include YouTube videos, images, maps, audio and more. It also allows you to hand draw on a note. As far as I know, there aren't a lot of journal apps that can do all this and, so far, I've found this one to be quite reliable.

I like the fact that I write a note in iNotebox and then post it to a blog, email it or convert it to a PDF file. Dailybook has some of these same functions.

Unlike Dailybook, the photos, in this app, can be embedded into the text.

It is less like a journal than a directory but that is useful for the different range of activities that I record there. I use it for planning and recording schoolwork, as well as family photos, my own interests and household notes.

There is a choice of fonts and display options for personalising the app and, though I've been using it for a little while, I haven't worked out all that it can do, yet.

Finally, the third app that I use, in my day, is more for household chores than for schoolwork - though it could be used as a schoolwork planner. This is the Errands To-Do List app.

Although iNotebox also has checklists, I use this separate app for my daily chores. It shows me how many tasks need to be done in a day, sends reminders and logs progress. I find it works as a good and simple organiser. When I first used it, I made a second checklist for our homeschooling so that I could stay on top of read alouds, etc, but, I found that I preferred flexibility in our schooling, so I just use it now for my cycle of housework tasks and it works great for that.

So, there you have it! Just a few of the marvellous things you can do with a wee, little iPad:-)

What are your favourite apps?