With the recent release of iBooks Author from Apple, I started to think more about using Apple products as learning tools. The iBooks Author announcement and accompanying video certainly generate some excitement at the possibilities using the iPad in classrooms and that is great, but I became curious as to what type of applications were currently available in the Mac App Store.
I began exploring and trolling for educational applications. We’ve done roundups on educational tools, such as note taking aids and other utilities of that nature, so I wanted to focus more on applications that directly help you to learn something. This wasn’t an easy task as they proved to be quite difficult to find. Here’s a list of fifty to get you started.
I decided to restrict my search for educational applications to the Mac App Store. I searched for just about everything I could think of and naturally the applications I discovered fell into some fairly clear defined categories. If you’re searching for something in a category that I don’t have listed that means I had trouble finding anything that fit into that category.
This is definitely not a definitive list, but it is a pretty good cross-section of this space. There are a mix of paid and free applications, but a large majority of the apps that I found are paid and some are rather expensive in fact. Some are very well and thoughtfully designed and some could arguably use a little work on that side of things. There’s a very wide variety of applications in this list and I hope it encourages you to explore the App Store even more and learn some things using your Mac.
Art
Art Authority for Mac
This application enables you to explore the art from over 1000 artists from many different places and times. In-depth artist information is also included.
Price: $9.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.5.0 or later
Developer: Art Authority
Fine Art – Realists
Includes work from twelve Realist artists. Easily explore their work and learn about about this artistic period. Not the most beautiful application, but it makes art exploration in this period easy.
Price: $1.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later, 64-bit processor
Developer: Robert Schoenburg
Fine Art – Romantics
Another application similar to the application above. It’s a simple app that enables you to explore art from the Romantic period. This developer does also offer apps covering other periods as well.
Price: $1.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later, 64-bit processor
Developer: Robert Schoenburg
Astronomy
Solar Walk for Mac
Explore our galaxy and everything that’s a part of it. From planets to satelittes. Explore planets in depth with important landmarks noted.
Price: $2.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
Developer: Vito Technology
SkySafari Plus
An application that enables you to explore the skies using images from NASA. Also has the capability to connect to and control telescopes.
Price: $19.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
Developer: Southern Stars
Cosmographia
This application calls itself a Solar System simulator. You’re able to fly alongside satellites and explore astroids and planets and just about everything else in our solar system.
Price: $4.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later, 64-bit processor
Developer: Chris Laurel
Saturn
Here’s an astronomy application that focuses specifically on Saturn. You’ll explore the planet through all sorts of images and other graphics in a pretty cool, space-worthy package.
Price: $2.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: David Barnhardt
Biology
Skeletal System Pro III
This application enables you to explore the skeletal system in truly amazing fashion. Interactively navigate, adjust, annotate around the entire human skeletal system.
Price: $19.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later, 64-bit processor
Developer: 3D4Medical.com, LLC
Visible Body 3D Human Anatomy Atlas
This one is pretty spendy, but it does provide a wealth of information about all of the systems of the human body. Explore models of each system along with accompanying information.
Price: $59.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
Developer: Visible Body
OnScreen DNA Model
I remember my freshman Biology class in college and specifically discussing DNA. I can’t help but think being able to study a 3D model would have really helped my understanding. That was my last Biology course.
Price: $3.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
Developer: OnScreen Science, Inc.
Perfect Tooth
This one is a little specific in that it explores the tooth. It is an expensive application so maybe it’s only for dentists, but those curious about the human mouth and teeth may find it useful as well.
Price: $59.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
Developer: eHuman, Inc.
Frog Dissection
Replace that time honored middle school biology tradition with it’s virtual counterpart. It would also be great for home school kids to help get them an experience they wouldn’t otherwise get.
Price: $4.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.5 or later
Developer: Emantras Inc
3D Nervous System
Learn about the human nervous system by exploring a 3D model of its intricacies. This developer has other $0.99 apps to study various other systems as well.
Price: $0.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
Developer: USaMau03
Grays Anatomy Premium Edition
Study the iconic human anatomy book Grays Anatomy in digital format. Take notes, zoom in on pictures, search and take advantage of other features not possible in the original format.
Price: $6.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.7 or later, 64-bit processor
Developer: Archibald Industries
Sharks Encyclopedia
How about some wild life biology to round off this section? Study sharks with this Sharks Encyclopedia Mac application.
Price: $4.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.5 or later
Developer: Scott W. Hotaling
Chemistry and Physics
iElements Periodic Table
Very nicely designed interactive periodic table of elements application. Explore the table and even view photos of the actual elements.
Price: $1.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: Mobile Science Apps
Atomic Dashboard
Another application to explore the periodic table. This one goes a little more in depth and offers microscopic and molecular level views of the elements.
Price: $14.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
Developer: Bitwixt Software Systems LLC
iMass
A simple and cheap application that is able to calculate the molar mass of any compound or element give its chemical formula.
Price: $0.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: Mobile Science Apps
Molecules
View 3D models of more than 250 pre-installed molecules. This app also has the capability to view molecules built and store in common 3D molecule building format.
Price: $4.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.5 or later
Developer: Mobile Science Apps
FlatMol
This application is an aid in drawing molecular models. There is no 3D modeling with this one. It more closely mimics pen and paper results.
Price: $4.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4.0 or later
Developer: Judy A Long
Physics 101 SE
Physics 101 SE helps you solve over 150 common physics equations. To add to the mix are also simulators to help you better analyze your results.
Price: $4.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4.4 or later
Developer: Praeter Software
Algodoo Physics
This application makes testing your inventions and running some simulations fun. You can even check out other “scenes” for inspiration.
Price: $18.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
Developer: Algoryx Simulation AB
Geography
Earth 3D
Explore our planet from space. Check out 65 sites as well as 467 geographical names in a beautiful 3D-like view.
Price: $1.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
Developer: 3Planesoft
Stack the Countries
Learn world geography in a fun and engaging format. I think we can all brush up on our world geography from time to time and why not have a little fun while we’re doing it.
Price: $1.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.5 or later
Developer: Dan Russell-Pinson
World Explorer PREMIUM
Explore the world through photos and articles of over 600,000 points of interest. Multiple languages are also supported so you can explore in your native language.
Price: $4.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later, 64-bit processor
Developer: AudioGuidia
History
Chronica Pro
This is an application that allows you to study history and does so through timelines. Search and compare the timelines of many famous figures through world history.
Price: $38.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4 or later, 64-bit processor
Developer: Maxicode
American Revolutionary War Images
This application gives you a little different way to explore an historical event. Explore the Revolutionary War through images, illustrations, and other graphics. There are also apps focused on other events from the same developer.
Price: $1.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later, 64-bit processor
Developer: Trevor D’Arcy-Evans
Vatican Museums
Walk through the tunnels of the Vatican yourself and explore more than 200 of its pieces. Descriptions are also included with the images.
Price: $3.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
Developer: bLab SA
Dinosaur Encyclopedia
Explore the lives of the those amazing, prehistoric creatues, dinsaurs. Browse text and images along your way to discovery.
Price: $4.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.5 or later
Developer: Scott W. Hotaling
Declaration for Mac
Learn about one of the most important documents in United States history. Not only will you learn about the doucment itself, but also the people that were involved with it.
Price: Free
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: Clint Bagwell Consulting
Languages
Human Japanese
Learn the Japanese language from square one. This application uses text, spoken word, images and animations along with quizes to teach you the language.
Price: $18.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
Developer: Brak Software
Learn French – Complete Audio Course (Beginner to Advanced)
Take an audio French language in the comfort of your home. This app enables you to learn from multiple voices through a series of exercises and claims to be a language lab for a Mac.
Price: $49.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: Innovative Language Learning, LLC
Learn Spanish Now
Learn the Spanish language through the method of flash cards. You can skip quickly through the stuff you already know and the developer promises to continually improve the application so could be the perfect base for learning Spanish.
Price: $9.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: Live Doodles
German in a Month
Children are able to pick up new languages much quicker than adults. This application wants to teach you to learn German like a child would an claims to be able to do this in a month.
Price: $3.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: Elky Entertainment, LLC
ASL Basic
Learn the basics of the American Sign Language through this simple visual application. Practice through quizzes to track your progress.
Price: $0.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: Brazzai Software Inc
Literature
Shakespeare In Bits: Romeo and Juliet
I wasn’t able to find a lot of applications in this area in the App Store, but I did find a few for learning Shakespeare. This one focuses on the classic romance, Romeo and Juliet.
Price: $19.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
Developer: Mindconnex Learning Ltd.
Shakespeare In Bits: Macbeth
Here’s another by the same developer. This time we’re exploring Macbeth. Shakespeare isn’t the most easy to understand so applications like this can be very beneficial to the literature student.
Price: $19.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
Developer: Mindconnex Learning Ltd.
Shakespeare In Bits: Hamlet
And a third application by this developer also explore more Shakespeare. These applications will take you through line by line translation. I really wish there was something like this around when I was attempting to learn Shakespeare in high school.
Price: $19.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
Developer: Mindconnex Learning Ltd.
Mathematics
Mathemagics
Math is a tricky subject area for a lot of people. This application helps to learn some mental math strategies and tricks and practice them in a fun enviroment.
Price: $2.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: Blue Lightning Labs
Conic Sections
Explore a specific mathematical concept with this application. Dive into the world of conics by adjusting equations and seeing the visual representation.
Price: Free
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: Pacific Tech
2D Grapher
Graph functions, relations, and inequalities in rectangular and polar coordinates. And as a bonus, you can create math movies. Yeah, that’s right.
Price: $4.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: Pacific Tech
Mathlete
Practice your addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The application allows for multiple skill levels by giving you varying problems at four difficulty levels.
Price: $2.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later, 64-bit processor
Developer: Clever Coding LLC
Statistics Tutor
This is an application to help you learn basic statistics. There are a variety of completed problems to examine and even some videos.
Price: $14.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: Bluewater Publishing
TrigAid
Work with trig laws, vectors, logarithms and all sorts of other trigonometry components. This really is an excellent study partner.
Price: $1.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4.0 or later
Developer: Praeter Software
DragNMath
Build and create your own mathematical functions in drag and drop style. This application is very simple to use and packaged in a nice clean interface.
Price: $2.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
Developer: Christophe Lestrade
Fractions/Decimals Calculator
As you may have guessed from the name this app deals with a small portion of math that a lot of people stuggle with. Not only does it make the conversions for you it provides the information as to how and why the conversion ended up like it did.
Price: $0.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: Essence Computing
AroniStat
AroniStat is a statistical reference tool for beginners through advanced statisticians. It provides a quick reference point for common statistical components as well as their relationships with one another.
Price: $9.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later, 64-bit processor
Developer: AroniSoft LLC
Statistics Pro
This application is able to make most basic statistics calculations for you and that is certainly helpful. It goes one step further and actually shows you why the solution is correct helping you to actually understand the calculation.
Price: $4.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4.0 or later
Developer: Praeter Software
What Have You Learned Lately?
There you have it! These fifty apps should enable you to learn a new language, brush up on your history, master those pesky math problems and even explore the galaxy all right from the comfort of your desk.
Leave a comment below and let us know if you’ve tried any of the apps above. Also be sure to tell us about other Mac apps that have taught you something recently.