The Best Free Back-To-School Apps | engage2learn
School is almost back in session! As teachers decorate their classrooms and prepare for a new school year, it’s the perfect time to find new tools and resources to help make this year even better than the last. Here’s a list of our favorite free back-to-school apps that teachers can use to be more efficient in the classroom. Add your favorites in the comments!
Epic! is a free reading app for elementary educators and librarians. Its library contains over 25,000 age-appropriate free books for kids to read on their iOS or Android devices. Epic! has a lot of features, like offline reading, badges, and a reading log. Encourage your students to read more both in and outside of the classroom with Epic!’s free app.
bulb is a clean, modern portfolio app that both teachers and students can use to show their work. Teachers can use bulb to publish lessons and share them with students. Students can also use the app to share writing, videos, and photos as part of their digital portfolio. The free version of the app lets you create unlimited pages and has 5GB of storage for videos and photos. It also integrates with Google Drive to make life a little easier. Try out bulb to help students show their work in a modern, digital format.
Slack is a communication app. You can create separate channels to communicate with fellow teachers, parents, and even students. Share files and even take video calls through Slack to make communication inside and outside of the classroom a breeze.
Google Classroom is a suite of different tools teachers can use to be more productive. There are quite a few features in the suite, but a few notable ones include real time feedback on student work, parent communication, co-teaching, and polling. Google Classroom lets you harness the power of digital tools to streamline lessons.
Wolfram Alpha is a repository of knowledge similar to Google, but all of its content is authored by experts. Be sure that your students get access to quality information on their iOS devices–maybe now they’ll stop trying to use Wikipedia as a source.
Teachers are masters of many trades and have to juggle tight schedules. The Evernote app takes weight off your shoulders by decluttering your digital life. Store articles, to-do lists, links, spreadsheets, and even handwritten notes all in one place. Evernote syncs across your devices so you can access your saved items on your phone, tablet, or computer. You can also use Evernote in the classroom to help students collaborate and store information in one shareable location.
Kahoot is a fun, free app that lets you create learning games. Learners can complete educational challenges on their mobile devices. You can even add video and images to your Kahoot game, which displays on a shared screen in the classroom. It’s a great way to encourage classroom engagement and collaboration.
Kudzu is a different application. It functions like badging, but with real-world rewards. Students can earn rewards for their good grades and classroom achievements as an incentive to perform well and engage in the classroom. Students can earn deals and giveaways from their favorite stores, concert tickets, experiences, and even scholarships.
We know teachers are busy. Check out a few of these apps to streamline your life a bit before the school year starts. Be on the lookout for an up-and-coming app from the engage2learn team launching at the start of 2018. Happy learning, everyone!
What’s your favorite teaching app?
