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TOP PICKS | 36 TOOLS
Great Apps for BYOD Programs in Schools
Top Picks
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Flexible Content-Focused Tools
ScratchJr
Drag-and-drop programming is an effective intro for budding coders
Bottom line: With a little adult help, this is a rich platform for getting kids into programming and digital creation.
Grades: K–2
Price: Free
Epic! - Kids' Books and Videos
Free, expansive digital library unlocks treasure trove of books
Bottom line: This large collection of books and videos on a wide variety of topics is an easy -- and free -- enhancement to any classroom library.
Grades: K–5
Price: Free to try Free to elementary school teachers and school librarians in the U.S. and Canada.
Dictionary.
Vast word reference features tons of content and word games
Bottom line: Powerful tool crammed full of games, classic reference information, and flexible controls.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free Remove ads for $1.99 in-app purchase.
Lab4Physics
Bring physics to life using lab sensors built right into your smartphone
Bottom line: Use your smartphone to gather data and study speed, gravity, waves, and other physics concepts.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free, Paid Premium costs $14.99 each year with a 45-day free trial.
Science Journal by Google
Turn your phone into a lab sensor to collect and analyze data
Bottom line: Science Journal does a good job recording real-time motion, sound, and light data using phones.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
NPR News
Top-notch digital content takes students beyond the airwaves
Bottom line: Provides an easy, fun, and effective way to engage students with radio.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free
Useful Classroom Management, Assessment, and Productivity Tools
Remind
Teachers' text reminders keep students -- and parents -- up to speed
Bottom line: Well-designed, highly effective messaging tool has the potential to keep students and families connected with their schools.
Grades: Pre-K–12
Price: Free, Paid Remind is free, but if you use it to fundraise for events, they charge a fee of $0.50 per transaction. School and district plans are also available.
Sesame
Portfolio and communication tool makes formative assessment a snap
Bottom line: A useful way for teachers, students, and parents to monitor progress and demonstrate holistic evidence of learning.
Grades: Pre-K–12
Price: Free, Paid The Lite version is free for up to five classes. The Pro version is $120/year and includes more analytical, feedback, and customization options. The School version is $1,000/year for every 10 teachers and includes year-over-year data, single student profiles, and Google Apps and SIS integration.
Bloomz
Full-featured parent-teacher communication platform
Bottom line: One-stop multi-tool for parents, teachers, and students.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free
Classkick
Easy-to-use, real-time monitoring, feedback, and assessment for 1-to-1
Bottom line: It's a great option for teachers who want to go paperless, provide specific feedback, and encourage collaboration among students in 1-to-1 classrooms.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free, Free to try, Paid The free version offers unlimited assignments and feedback options. After a free trial, the Pro version is $9.99 per month; users can access grade automation, chatting options, extra editing tools, and more. A school plan is also available via quote.
Nearpod
Interactive slideshow tool engages students, promotes collaboration
Bottom line: This effective tool leverages the capabilities of 1-to-1 environments and offers both teacher- and student-paced learning.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free, Paid The Silver edition is free for up to 30 students, the Gold edition is $120 per teacher per year for up to 50 students, and the Platinum edition is $349 per year for up to 75 students. In-app purchases are available for additional content, and schools and districts can receive volume discounts.
Seesaw: The Learning Journal
Versatile digital portfolio appeals to teachers, students, and parents
Bottom line: A powerful multimedia learning and communication tool that demonstrates student progress over time.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free, Paid Seesaw Plus is $120 per year, and gives teachers more privacy options and other features. Seesaw for Schools, which includes school-wide reporting, is priced per student.
Formative
Superb real-time assessment tool a fit for 1-to-1, BYOD classrooms
Bottom line: Cleverly designed for teachers, Formative offers a flexible and attractive solution for gathering a variety of student response types and offering individualized feedback.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free, Paid Basic features are free and include unlimited assignments and live student responses. Premium accounts add 22 customization features (including individual assignments and more question types). These accounts are $11.25 per month (paid yearly) or $13.50 per month (paid monthly).
Kahoot!
Game-like student-response tool can spark competitive fun
Bottom line: Effortlessly fun quizzing that can lead to productive formative assessment and student reflection if implemented effectively.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free, Paid While Kahoot! is free, there's a Plus version for teachers priced at $1 per teacher per month, which includes a shared folder for quizzes, co-creation and co-editing of quizzes, and advanced reporting. A $3 per month Pro version adds an image library.
LessonUp
Flexible interactive presentation tool engages kids at school and home
Bottom line: LessonUp is for teachers who like designing unique lessons to reach every learner.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free, Free to try, Paid Free basic subscription and a free 30-day trial of the teacher license; contact for the annual subscription cost.
Screencastify
Easy screen-recording tool facilitates outside-the-box instruction
Bottom line: If you have access to Chrome, Screencastify is an easy instructional tool that lets teachers and students communicate in new and creative ways.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free, Paid Free version offers a maximum length of five minutes per video with trimming and annotation tools; premium version ($49 per year) unlocks more features, including cropping and priority support. Bulk pricing is available for groups of teachers and districts.
Slido
Increase student buy-in with interactive polls and Q&A sessions
Bottom line: Engaging classroom response platform offers teachers and students real-time feedback opportunities.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free, Paid Basic plans are free and include up to three active polls and crowd-sourcing events for up to 1,000 participants. The teacher plan costs $75 per year and includes all basic features plus unlimited polls, moderation capabilities, data exporting, analytics, integrations, and more.
Edmodo
Manage classes, content, and communication with social LMS platform
Bottom line: This free platform allows for teacher-monitored classroom communication with basic tools.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free This website is free to use for all features, but it does contain advertisements on the teacher side.
Gimkit
Game-show group fun and independent study in one engaging tool
Bottom line: Put students in the driver's seat with collaborative setup and gameplay features.
Grades: 4–12
Price: Free to try, Paid Gimkit Pro is billed annually at $59.88 or month-to-month at $7.99. There's a group discount for 6+ teachers.
Kami
Versatile annotation tool helps users critically connect with content
Bottom line: Kami is an effective way to promote student interaction with texts, authentic documents, and pictures.
Grades: 4–12
Price: Free, Paid Free version includes basic annotation features and comes with in-app advertising. Teacher Plan is $99 per year, which supports 150 students and includes additional features. School/district pricing is available.
Pear Deck
Interactive slideshows offer a variety of ways to engage and assess
Bottom line: While it has some limits, the useful presentation features provide terrific options for formative assessment from any device.
Grades: 4–12
Price: Free, Free to try, Paid The Basic plan is free and includes integration with Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint as well as access to educator-created lesson plans. The Individual Premium plan is $149 per year and includes student-paced mode and more. Custom plans are available via quote and add report options and professional development.
Evernote
Organize digital content with full-featured web clipper and notebook
Bottom line: Students and teachers can learn to better manage their digital lives via this comprehensive organizational tool.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free, Free to try, Paid Basic, Plus, and Premium plans available. Basic plans are free; additional plans and in-app purchases range from $2.99 to $7.99 per month. Yearly pricing is also available. Plus plans give users up to 1GB of uploads per month and Premium plans add even more features.
Notebook - Take Notes, Sync
Curate and organize all kinds of content into customizable notebooks
Bottom line: From the novice to the super-organized student, Notebook's versatility is a rare free find.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
Microsoft OneNote
Note-taking giant built for flexible, collaborative work
Bottom line: A powerful (and free) tool for thinking and organization that's making smart strides in the education space.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
Todoist
Calendar meets to-do list in versatile multi-platform organization app
Bottom line: Mastering all of the features will take some time, but it's a dynamic app that promotes both individual and team productivity.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free, Free to try, Paid The free version includes up to 80 active projects. There's a 30-day free trial for paid plans, which are $4 to $5 per month (based on annual subscription). Month-to-month plans are $5 to $6 per month. Teachers and students are eligible for a 70% discount.
WordPress
Inviting, customizable mobile blog platform with easy-to-use interface
Bottom line: Wordpress's app makes it easy to create and edit blog posts, manage comments, and view friends' blogs, and could be an indispensable tool for communication and collaboration if well-implemented.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free
Inspiring Arts and Creativity Tools
Popplet
Cool mind-mapping tool good for organization, collaboration
Bottom line: Popplet is versatile and accessible and gives students an engaging tool for organizing ideas.
Grades: 1–12
Price: $4.99
DIY.org – Creative Challenges
From cardboarding to cooking, this app helps kids find the fun in DIY
Bottom line: Fabulous way for kids to get skills and share their projects digitally.
Grades: 3–8
Price: Free to try 14-day free trial then $15-20 per month depending on family size.
Explain Everything Whiteboard
Powerhouse tool for creating stellar multimedia presentations
Bottom line: Teachers and students can make dynamic presentations that involve different types of media in this innovative, fun app.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free to try, Paid There's a 30-day free trial. The Education Plan is $4.99 per user, per year (minimum of 5 users). Individual plans are $24.99 per year.
Canva
Create snazzy designs in seconds with flexible, cloud-based tool
Bottom line: A flexible, accessible way to get kids -- especially design novices -- creating digitally in your classroom if you have stable internet and time to get students set up to be successful.
Grades: 4–12
Price: Free
Photoshop Express Photo Editor
Top-notch photo editor helps perfect pics for creative projects
Bottom line: This is a powerful, free creation tool from the industry leader in photo editing.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
Adobe Premiere Clip
Decent on-the-go video editor shines when using other Adobe tools
Bottom line: It's a good tool that gets better when using other Creative Cloud apps, but the limited features make this a hard sell for anything other than introductory editing.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free Additional Adobe Creative Cloud storage available for a fee.
Sway
Create dynamic visual presentations on flexible storytelling platform
Bottom line: A seamless transition from design to presentation makes Sway a great fit for presenting carefully curated content.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free Sway is free with an Office 365 account.
Animoto: Slideshow Maker
Slick video slideshow tool lets kids tell stories and share them
Bottom line: Anything that happens during school can be turned into an engaging video slideshow.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free, Paid There's a free version. Basic plans ($4.99/month or $29.99/year) support slideshows of up to 10 minutes and longer video clips. Personal plans ($9.99/month or $59.99/year) include all the features of basic plus HD videos.
Autodesk Sketchbook
Impressive creation tool for teens serious about art
Bottom line: Gives students easy access to professional tools for creating digital art.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free to try While the app is free to try, the full Pro version is $4.99. This version adds a host of creative options from brush types to colors to more layers. There's also a $29.99 per year Sketchbook subscription that unlocks the Pro version across all platforms.
