I know you've heard it.  Every Keynote presentation, commercial, or blog you read is talking about the thousands of apps to choose from through the iTunes App Store.  How on Earth do you choose the best app for your educational purpose?  Sadly, there is no one method to keep up with this ever changing and updating stream of possibilities.  I've listed the best methods I've found through web sites/RSS Feeds, blogs, & Twitter.

Web Sites

	Easily one of the best educational sites to read, learn, watch, and share about apps is I Educational Apps Review.  Organized by my friend, Scott Meech, the site really has taken off over the past few years and has gathered a solid following of contributors who help educators make informed choices on iOS app purchases. RSS Feed
	One of many sites specifically developed to follow new apps, price changes, and updates.  AppShopper focus on iOS & Mac apps and has many useful features (ratings, reviews, up-to-date prices, etc...) as well as top 100 lists.  The most powerful feature of this site is the ability to set up a RSS Feed for Educational Apps which go free or drop in price! RSS Feed
	Outside of watching this video several times and tinkering with a few searches, I haven't really used Quixey.  The site claims to be a search engine for apps, "Quixey is a functional search engine for apps. We invented functional search specifically for apps. Find apps that do what you want."
	What about an app that gave you advice for other apps?  Well for $1.99 at the iTunes store you can download AppAdvice.  I know what you're wondering, is it worth it?  Based off a few days of work, I would say so!  Constantly updated articles of all varieties and the occasional article of recently free apps makes this one of my favorites.
	"Appcessories are App and Accessory combo devices - where an add-on for an iPad or iPhone has been specifically engineered to interact with a matching app to provide new functionality not otherwise possible. Appcessories.info is proud to be a part of a network of other supportive sites such as Slide2learn.net, iEAR.org, Learninginhand.com, Mactalk.com.au, and MomsWithAps.com." --from the Appcessories about page
	"a4cwsn is committed to helping the families and carers of children with special needs and the wider community of educators and therapists who support them, by producing videos that demonstrate how products designed to educate children and build their life skills really work from a user perspective." --from the A4CWSN about page Each app is cataloged alphabetically with a brief paragraph description which links to a longer description and video review of each app.  AMAZING work!

Blogs & Twitter

	In 2007, Fraser Speirs began blogging a this site and hasn't looked back.  Many iOS device users have cited his insight and guidance as they have begun using devices like the iPad in education.  Named to the 2011 European class of Apple Distinguished Educators and educational consultant, Fraser has really marketed himself well.  He's also worth following on @fraserspeirs.
	This is the guy who helped me start it all.  Tony Vincent was a teacher in Nebraska who began looking into mobile computing devices in education with Palm Pilots.  After a huge grant and a ton of practical experience, Tony left the schools and has been a consultant for all types of mobile devices ever since.  He's just as excited about iOS devices as I am and his Learning in Hand site offers a TON of practical information.  I encourage others to follow his blog, watch his learning in hand podcasts, and follow him on @tonyvincent.
	Gregory Swanson is a high school teacher from Australia and regular blogger about apps in education.  His Apps in Education blog claims, "One of the hardest thing with using the iPad in the classroom is finding the time to go through all of the apps in the iTunes Store listed under the education banner. We have started to list some of the apps we've found under each of the Key Learning Areas" (Swanson, 2011).  I only stumbled on this resource due to my Twitter subscription, but I've learned a TON from him! RSS Feed
	One of the summer institute projects for the Apple Distinguished Educators, Class of 2010 was to create a an web site promoting apps in education.  Appitivities was the result, although contributions have tapered off since spring 2011 when people started applying to the 2011 institute.  Prior to the 2011 summer in Phoenix, ADEs were asked to collect their favorite apps in education with a brief description on use via the Hottest Apps used by Apple Distinguished Educators.
	The Canby Oregon District created an opportunity for its educators to write innovative use-case grants supporting iOS devices in the classroom.  These grants were awarded with the expectation that the educators receiving them would blog about their experiences (successes and challenges).  Stop by this collection of blogs at the Canby iPod & iPad User Group Wiki and read/learn from what they did.  RSS Feed
	Mike Fisher is an instructional coach and consultant out of Buffalo, NY.  He uses Livebinders to host an ever growing collection of information about using the iPad in education.  He updates it quite regularly and you can follow him on @fisher1000.
	All kinds of visual aggragates collect general inforamtion about this topic.  Scoopit! has an iPad Recommended Educational App page, iPads and Tablets in Education, iPad & Literacy, and iPads in Education.  I have started one entitled Learning on Demand, but I haven't been as ambitious as the other two authors.

Articles

Sometimes there are great independent articles that suggest apps or resources.  Below are some of the ones I've collected along the way:

I tried to stay off Twitter as long as possible.  At some point my defense was that I was "too young" to be on there [most Twitter users are middle aged adults (citation)].  I did jump on board during the fall of 2011 and my only regret was that I didn't connect earlier!  Build a network of tech-ed peers and watch your resources and up-to-the-moment knowledge explode! 

Works Cited

Swanson, G. (2011). Home. Apps in Education. Retrieved November 7, 2011, from http://appsineducation.blogspot.com/