A Fluid Resource of Quality Educational Apps and Sites That Can Be Used In The Classroom to Complement Traditional Student Learning
Maths Facts: Number Bonds offers a good introduction to the concept of number bonding (while building the scaffolding for future work with bigger fact families). The multi-sensory approach that has young learners dragging numbers to complete a bond helps reinforce their building number sense. This app is particularly strong in the way it pairs with the Singapore Math curriculum familiar to students in schools that incorporate this curriculum
Catchy Words is a great app that uses augmented reality to engage students in practicing spelling in a very interactive and multi-sensory way. Using an iPad, students can find letters that appear to be floating around the room and place them in the correct order to spell words. They can either access different words from a variety of lists already created and leveled, or they can add their own words that correspond to their own weekly spelling list, word study, or thematic unit.
The content for both VR and AR has grown exponentially in the past year, and Google Expeditions is a fantastic resource for students and teachers to gain a broader perspective about a range of topics. For teachers in a classroom, it is very easy to control all student iPads at once while guiding a tour. But even in the absence of a classroom experience, students can independently take advantage of this platform in a variety of ways. You can print off AR “markers” which act as a trigger to show a model in augmented reality, or simply move your device around a specified area until the model appears. For VR, you don’t actually need a VR headset to explore in a meaningful way. The VR content (which is a larger catalog than AR currently) can be viewed by moving your device (tablet or phone) around and exploring the content as if it is all around you.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Google will be phasing out Expeditions and it will no longer be active as of June 2021. It is worth taking advantage of this platform while it exists though, and after it ceases to exist, check out Google Arts and Culture where many of the tours enjoyed in Expeditions will transfer over.
Students don’t need to be just “consumers” of the content either. You can create your own VR tour in Google Tour Creator (or see that entry on this site to learn more) and upload it into Google Expeditions to view. Using the screen record feature on the computer, tablet, or phone, students can also record their voice while giving a tour of what they have learned or detailing features of an AR model while it appears projected right there in the room with them. There are lots of possibilities for app smashing (combining tech platforms) with this tool.
CommonLit is another alternative (also 100% free) to reading comprehension building, similar to ReadWorks. Educators can sign up for a free account and either choose to have students also create accounts or not. There is a huge catalog of reading passages for all different comprehension levels, as well as built-in extension activities for student enrichment. Many of the topics found overlap with our own curriculum throughout both lower school and middle school.
ReadWorks is another option for teachers looking to boost reading comprehension. This is a completely free site and teachers can use the large collection of fiction and nonfiction to curate lessons that accommodate all different reading levels. It has comprehension pieces built right in, as well as vocabulary building tabs. Within the same passage, teachers can also toggle between two different choices that adjust the reading level, while delivering the same content.
Educreations is an app and a site. We already have the app available on iPads so there is no need to create an account. However, if you end up wanting to use this resource often, we can create an account where you can keep track of your projects. Educreations is similar to Explain Everything and other platforms that let you create “how-to”s, presentations, etc…, though its simplicity and clean interface make it a great option for younger grades as well.
Rewordify is a great option for differentiating reading content so that different students get the same information while being delivered at their level. It is completely free and there are different avenues for use depending on what you are looking for. If you create a free account, you can take advantage of the more advanced features, but even just visiting the site allows you to plug in text and have it convert it to an easier reading level. For this reason, it can be as useful to younger students as it can older students.
Book Creator has also added a major update this Fall; the ability to embed content from
other sites and applications!
I would include Google Drawings in the “swiss army knife of digital resources”. On its own, it is easy enough to create stand alone projects, though it is most powerful when it is incorporated into other aspects of a larger project. Because of its consistencies with other Google publishing platforms, it is extremely easy for students to use independently. It is also beneficial to have students be able to share their work as they would with any other Google doc, make a copy of a template teachers could send out, or whatever else you can think of with using a digital canvas.
Below is one example of how teachers used Google Drawings to create a map that they had student partners duplicate and complete.
You may not have even been aware that Google has an Arts and Culture division that has a ton of content for classes to explore. From using our VR headsets to tour the Louvre, or delving into the culture of a particular country through art and architecture, this resource is worth checking out.
Padlet is still one of the more dynamic resources you will find today for teachers and students. We have a school subscription to the EDU version so your options for using it are not limited (though the free version is very strong). Padlet basically exists as a digital bulletin board that an entire class can access and collaborate together on at the same time. The most recent updated versions allow you to embed video, documents directly from Google Drive, audio, text, and and more. You can customize backgrounds, sort posts in a variety of ways, and can easily clone existing Padlets so many people can personalize their notes. As a note-taking tool, it is a fantastic option and you can customize fonts and features as you would in any other digital document. Students as young as third grade have had success using it, though obviously the older the grade level, the broader the possibilities. Check out some of our own student and teacher examples below!
CLICK HERE to see how 3rd grade student group used Padlet for taking notes:
CLICK HERE to explore a 4th grade note-taking Padlet
CLICK HERE to explore how 3rd grade teachers have used Padlet to present a lesson:
Augmented Reality is perhaps even more powerful than VR in an education setting because every student can have the same experience at the same time. It can easily be added into an existing lesson and be experienced concurrently with class lecture, group work, research, and more.
Imagine frog dissection without the smell! Students can look at the human body and dive into layers of a cell. If you have a topic you teach, there is an augmented reality visual experience you can draw on to reinforce learning. There are also numerous ways for students to take advantage of existing material, add to it, and incorporate it into their own project to showcase their learning.
VR has long been considered an extension of the video game industry and the assumption is that it is purely entertainment (or worse, excess screentime strapped to your face). However, the educational ramifications of putting students into space, geographically anywhere on the planet including in the oceans, in the midst of a battle fought long ago etc… are pretty powerful. Even as a short intro to a larger lesson, VR is a fantastic way to engage students and give them a more visceral learning experience to complement other more traditional components of teaching a unit.
Schools that have headsets, and can take advantage of apps like Discovery VR and Google Expeditions to instantly take students anywhere. 
Additionally, we have a top of the line virtual reality headset and equipment that lives in the tech training room. Although only one student at a time can actually navigate with the headset, classmates can watch on the big screen while they await their turn working on another “learning station”.
CLIPS is a relatively new app (also a site) that was released late last year. It is a FANTASTIC alternative to iMovie, especially for our lower school students as it allows for an engaging, visual project but can be condensed into a one-off lesson. It is simple in its layout and can be used in a variety of ways. From narrating and animating a story or poem, to labeling parts of the ecosystem, to breaking down the cause and effect of a moment in history, it is all very easy and engaging for our students. It can also be a powerful tool for our youngest learners because of its ability to show the words you speak in “real time”. The possibilities for students to be able to narrate and illustrate their own books with words that fly out on the screen in any style they choose is really exciting. Clips is available on all school iPads (including the Library if students would like to check one out for a project).
                                    
Check out a student-created example below!
Code.org is a free online platform that teaches students of all ages how to code at their own comfort level. Younger students can progress through different challenges using block-based coding, similar to what they will use when working with Scratch Jr.  The early lessons also let them click on the speaker icon to hear directions rather than rely on being able to read them, should they still be an emergent reader. Our oldest students will also be plenty challenged as they are given personalized lessons that suit their level of programming experience.
Hopscotch is a great early programming tool for students ready to transition from lesson by lesson tutorials, or who have progressed beyond Scratch Jr., and are ready to design their own games. Hopscotch also is unique in its approach to coding through art design as well.
Check out the video below to see how one of our 2nd graders created a game using Hopscotch, with a step by step tutorial given by the 2nd-grade coder themselves!
Tynker is both an app and an online platform that teaches early coding. Even the free offerings provide a large volume of coding lessons. For younger students, the “drag and drop” block-based coding is presented in a way that they can learn the basic elements of coding. There are a number of game-based tutorials that keep young learners engaged, and lay the groundwork for java and python languages down the road.
PicsArt is a more advanced photo editor than pic collage, but simple enough for a first grader to begin to explore simple editing tools as they develop their interest in photography. It is both an app available on school iPads, as well as a site. Older students can take advantage of this photo editing tool for “app-smashing” and incorporating into broader projects.
Bomomo is very simplistic in appearance and ease of use. It uses elements of symmetry and shapes to allow students to create somewhat of a kaleidoscope effect of an image. While it is somewhat limited in the style of art students can create, it is easy for even the youngest students to navigate as they learn texture.
MoMA Art Lab is a great app for JK through 5th-grade students to experiment with design. For older students, there are activities that reinforce various styles throughout art history. It is free and child-friendly. One great feature it possesses is the bank of activities that can help guide and teach students while they create.
Sight Words is pretty straightforward with what it does, but as to what sets it apart from other similar apps, you can record your own voice reading words that you plug in to make personalized lists
   
Integration Resources 
You must be logged in to post a comment.