Emergent technology has become a big part of the classroom. Well used technology can help prepare students for future careers, while developing key skills such as: collaboration, responsibility, and creativity. The integration of diverse devices, apps, or games create digital citizenship skills and maintain the students engaged.
For many teachers the big issue is where to begin or how can it be implemented in a low budget classroom. The good thing about technology is the accessibility of it.
There is a world of digital tools that can be used while educating; I’ve narrowed it down to 9 great apps that are user friendly, interactive, and best of all, free.
1. Class Dojo:
Class Dojo provides positive reinforcement and encouragement in the classroom instead of discipline and punishment. It has gone viral with thousands of users in dozens of countries and is now available in several languages. It has evolved from a website to a mobile app that teachers, parents and students can easily access from anywhere. The app also has tools for activities in the classroom: Stopwatch, Think Pair Share, noise meter, group creator, music program, random selection, and more.
This has become my favorite app! Everyday I do roll-call with the app by projecting the main screen and having a student call out the names. I control the app from my phone or tablet and the kids love seeing their avatars on screen. If the students need to moderate their voice volume, I just use the noise meter. Behavior is improved by far because I can give the students points (individually or as a group) and I can use those points as an award at the end of a month or semester (Bonus points, pizza party, gifts, certificates, etc.). I can also use the app during writing workshops for the older students. Each student has their own journal where they can submit assignments as text, or picture.
Google Drive is a free cloud-based storage service that permits users to store and access files online. The cloud syncs stored documents, photos and more across all the user's devices (must have GMAIL). This tool is great for collaborative projects because many users can be connected to one document and work on it simultaneously. The Google Drive Office Suite includes Google Docs, Google Slides, Google Sheets and Forms (Most can be compared to Microsoft Office Apps). Through Forms we can create quizzes and surveys, Google Slides can be used for lessons, Google Docs to elaborate lesson plans and Google Sheets for grading and roster.
The best thing about Google Drive is that everything is saved automatically, and you can access the information from anyplace.
Through Google Classroom teachers can create an online classroom in which they can invite their students (using their emails) and distribute assignments. Within the Google Classroom students and teachers can have forums about a topic and teachers can track the student's progress.
This is a great way of assessing and maintaining organization and communication with students.
4. Kahoot:
Kahoot is an interactive quiz tool. Teachers can create quizzes constructed as a competitive game. This app allows classes to be fun and dynamic. Best of all, the students don’t need an account. Once the teacher creates the quiz and starts it, all the kids need is a device to log in with a unique code.
The students love Kahoot! They have an adrenaline rush looking for the best answer in the shortest amount of time.
5. Bloomz:
Bloomz is an app created to help teachers, parents, and school administrators stay informed and connected. Teachers can share pictures and important data with parents instantly.
It includes tools such as: calendar, sign up sheet, announcements, and news feed where the teacher can share class updates.
6. Bitmoji:
Bitmoji is an app that allows you to create a personalized cartoon avatar (Remember Lizzie McGuire's animated self? Well, something like that). Your avatar can be used for assessments, classroom decor, and even classroom management. This method is great because the students are related to it due to its use in social media, it calls their attention, it can be used in various ways, and it gives the classroom a pop of color.
7. Edmodo:
Edmodo is an app where teachers can share content, videos, announcements, and assignments with their students online. Teachers can also send and receive private messages and create folders where students can upload the assignments.
8. Epic:
Epic is a children's subscription book service offering access to over 25,000 high-quality illustrated books and chapter books for children ages 12 and under. The app includes Read-to-Me books, Audiobooks, educational videos, and fun educational quizzes.
I’ve found great famous books and have been able to use them for free. This service is great for teachers and parents. It makes reading accessible, easy and fun!
Weebly and Wix are both website builders. These online tools make it easy to build a professional, mobile-optimized site to create a business or use for educational or blogging purposes.
These apps have been great resources for me and my students. I use Wix for my teacher blog and Weebly for my students’ blog (it’s a bit easier to use), which is part of their writing workshop; this makes the publishing step much more meaningful. Once you create the website (which is pretty easy because both web creators are really user-friendly), you can upload documents, videos, images and much more. You can organize it in thousands of ways and make it completely yours!
There is a ton of options for technology integration in the classroom or using online tools to help administrate classes as Learning Management Systems (LMSs). As we know, sometimes teaching can be hard, but with the help of a few innovative tools there’s nothing we can’t do. Go online and look for more tools that suit your teaching style; classroom technology is a click away!
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