inClass
This is a tool that can empower students, and it's just right for college students. High school students, especially those taking concurrent college courses or those with a heavy AP load, may find it helpful as well. No teacher dashboard is available to set up classes; students take full ownership of the app. Teachers in lecture- or discussion-based courses may want to tell students about it and encourage them to try it out for note-taking and sharing as well as for organizing their calendars.
Continue readinginClass looks like an old-school cloth-bound organizer, mimicking the pen-and-paper method of calendaring, note-taking, and organizing. This little black book is totally electronic, though, giving students a single place to organize their school lives. Students can create separate organizers for each term, adding instructors and their contact information, creating classes with assignments and due dates, and taking notes within each course's section. Within their notes, they can add audio, images, files, and drawings (with the in-app upgrade). They can share these class notes with friends as email attachments, notes within the app, or via iTunes file sharing. Assignment due dates can be viewed through the calendar, which shows a month-at-a-glance on the left side of the page and a list of the selected day's activities on the right. The coolest and most usable feature is the note-taking, with both audio and note-sharing capabilities. Even students without the app can receive and listen to, or review, emailed notes.
Several other apps exist separately as calendaring, note-taking, or sharing tools, but inClass is unique as a complete organizational resource. Getting started can be a bit intimidating, especially for a Google generation used to at least some auto-populated information: Students have to enter class schedules, instructors, and assignments manually. inClass then gives students a hands-on lesson on the benefits of putting in a little work on the front-end so they can keep track of and share assignments and class notes, with everything easily accessible in the app.
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