Projects must be aligned to the lessons and curriculum or they won't make sense. I have my students use technology to create/synthesize the end objective, to conduct research, to practice a skill. I have also used computers as a station to work on a project, to watch videos to go along with a persuasive unit, for research, and for word processing.
It's extremely important to hold them accountable for each station so that you can assess their progress and to ensure that they do the work and aren't playing around. You can also see with what area they may be having difficulty.
As a teacher of newcomers, I plan to use many of the websites as a station. I will most likely use Studyladder and Learning Games for word study and vocabulary station.
With regard to IPAD apps, there are many I would use in my classroom for a station. For my newcomer social studies class I would use American Presidents, Daily history, Flashcards+ and Onthisday. For my newcomer language arts class and my regular language arts class I would use Brainpop, Comic Touch, Daily history, On this Day, Dragon Dictation (for SPED students), Flashcards+, WordWarp, gFlash and MacGenius Books.