Review by Patricia Monticello Kievlan, Common Sense Education | Updated July 2014

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iPhoto

Name: iPhoto
Item: iPhoto
Rating: 4
Author: Patricia Monticello Kievlan

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Easily and elegantly edit, organize, and share photos on mobile devices

Subjects & skills

Grades This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.

6–12

Great for:

Productivity

Common Sense says (See details)

Teachers say (1 Review)

Take a look inside

5 images

Apple's photo-storage and photo-editing software comes to the iOS.

Users can organize, edit, and share photos from their iPads.

Options are provided for importing and exporting photos, including those for publishing webpages and books.

Photo-editing features are extensive and go far beyond those available in the camera roll.

Extensive overlays reveal helpful tips and explain core features.

Pros: The more time you spend with the app, the more terrific features you discover.

Cons: Serious photo editors might prefer a mouse or stylus.

Bottom Line: A great way to edit, organize, and publish photos in the iOS ecosystem.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Teachers might offer iPhoto as a tool students can use to edit and manipulate photos they download from the Web or capture with their devices’ cameras. Teachers might also encourage students to use the Slideshow or Web-Journal feature to tell a story or enhance an oral presentation.

What Is It?

iPhoto for the iOS is a tablet version of Apple’s photo-organization and photo-editing app. Most of the features from the Mac version are included here, and they’ve been updated to work seamlessly with a touchscreen. The photo-editing features are extensive: Users can apply filters, adjust exposure and color balance, and sharpen and soften an image. These features go far beyond the simple cropping and adjustments available in the device’s built-in photo album, and they’re intuitive and elegant to use.

Users can create three types of “Projects”: slideshows, albums, and Web journals. Slideshows and albums can be shared device-to-device, or via iCloud or email, and there’s an option to send albums away for printing by Apple. Users with iCloud accounts can use the Web-Journal feature to create a digital scrapbook and publish it online as a webpage.

Is It Good for Learning?

Although iPhoto wasn’t designed for education, it has great learning potential. In a school already heavily invested in iOS devices, this app is an efficient and engaging way to make the most of a device's built-in photo album. The connection with iCloud makes iPhoto especially valuable as an easy way for kids to create a quick webpage from a simple gallery of photos.

Rating Details

Overall Rating

Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

A wealth of tools for editing and publishing photos make this a great one-stop app for visual storytelling.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Learning isn't an integral part of the experience, but teachers can find many ways to use the app to extend in-class activities.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

Every section of the app features extensive help text, revealing hidden features and enhancing intuitive ones.

Common Sense Reviewer

Patricia Monticello Kievlan Foundation/nonprofit member

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Teacher Reviews

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Featured review by
Michelle N. , Classroom teacher

Classroom teacher

Lebanon Senior High School
Lebanon, PA

Must Have Tool to Keep Student Photos Organized

The great part about using Photos over other apps is that it comes as part of the Apple Suite of software, and that means students are never left without their images. They can access them on any device that is tied to their iCloud account, allowing for portability and creativity. Photos does have serious limitations when it comes to expanding student creativity or knowledge of general art principles, but, it is a must-have tool that will help students stay organized and provide them with better images to transfer into other creative apps.

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