My Favorite EdTech Apps of 2019

This year brought a slew of apps to teachers. Even though they aren’t technically new, they were new to many teachers who tried them out for the first time. As a technology coach, part of my job is to find those apps that teachers can easily pick up and and play, so to speak. That is, that they’re easy to learn and easy to use in the classroom. I want teachers to see how accessible an app is. The last thing I want if for a teacher to be overwhelmed by learning a new app.

Below are five apps that I found easy for teachers to learn and, most of all, were easy to implement in the classroom in 2019.

• Equatio. Equatio is an easily accessible math app that allows teachers and students to insert math into their Google Documents. Equatio is not only great to use with Google Docs, but it works well with Google Forms as well. Equatio solves that eternal conundrum of working with math on a Chromebook.
• Nearpod. The first of the interactive presentation apps on the list. Nearpod is great in that it provides total classroom engagement through it’s interactive presentation lessons. Nearpod provides everything from short answer, to drawing, to quizzes. Nearpod provides an end of session report, showing the teacher where students excelled and what they need to work on.
• Wakelet. Wakelet was app that I discovered this year and shared with teachers. Wakelet is essentially a curation tools that allows for so many other uses. Wakelet can not only be used to collect resources for students or fellow staff, but it can serve as a class website and student portfolio as well.
• Google Forms. Of course Google Forms has been around for awhile, but now that many schools are going 1:1, it’s getting used more and more. Google Forms is great for using in an opening warm up activity, posing inquiry questions or as an exit ticket, asking students what they learned that day. It’s great for assessment too! One thing that took it up a notch was the new “Locked Mode.” Essentially locking down students Chromebooks while their working on an assessment.
• Google Classroom. In the age of a Chromebook classroom, a classroom management system has become a must, and Google Classroom is one of those that teachers have come to rely on. Google Classroom serves as the classroom hub that turns your classroom into a paperless one. From distributing and collecting work, to posting announcements and having online discussions in the stream, Google Classroom has proven to be a valuable teacher tool.
• Pear Deck. Another totally engaging classroom presentation tool. Pear Deck, like Nearpod, engages students in activities while the teacher presents the lesson. Students take part in the presentation using drawing tools, answering questions, watching a video, hovering a selector over the right answer, or taking a quiz. Like Nearpod, Pear Deck allows for a report for the teacher to review student data of the lesson.

If you haven’t explored the above digital tools, you owe it to yourself to make your 2020 school year a more productive and engaging one by checking them out.

Blogger in the Classroom

Blogger is a fantastic blogging platform (I’m a bit biased). Not only is it great for personal blogging but It can be used in many different ways in the classroom by teachers and students.

Teachers

1. Share what’s going on in your class. Write about the daily goings on, from what students learning to projects they’re working on.
2. Self reflection. Keeping a journal can help a teacher reflect on their day.
3. A staff blog. I’ve written about this before. Create one blog for the school site and ask the staff to contribute.
4. Share notes and assignment directions with your students.
5. Weekly updates. For the administration, use Blogger to share a weekly update about what’s going on around the campus as well as upcoming events.

Students

1. Student journaling. Students can use Blogger to keep a daily journal, sharing it with their teacher.
2. Assume an identity. Students can assume the identity of a historical or literary figure and blog as if they were that figure. What kinds of things would they say?
3. Exit ticket. Student can use Blogger as a daily exit ticket, reflecting on what they’ve learned that day. A great way to keep a journal of their learning.

Google Sites in the Classroom

Some districts are opening up the use of Google’s web site creation tool, Google Sites. Although they’re Google districts in that they use Google tools such as Classroom and Docs, Sites sometimes can take time for districts to warm up to, citing student privacy concerns and hard to manage what exactly gets posted to the site. Anyway, with some districts using Google Sites now, I thought I’d put together a few ways the digital tool can be used in the classroom.

1. Post student work. Students tend to give a bit more effort if they know their work is going to be published for all to see. You can create a site that’s strictly for sharing student work. You can upload a variety of things from an image, to a video, to a Google Doc. Then, share the site with parents and staff.

2. Keep parents in the loop. Create a site that’s strictly for letting parents and guardians know what’s going on in your classroom. From topics being covered to what the students are working on.

3. Insert a contact form. Use a site that enables parents or guardians to get in touch with you. Insert a Google Form that includes their name, contact information, and why their contacting you.

4. Embed a calendar of classroom and school events. Use a site as a calendar. Insert a calendar that includes school and class upcoming events.

5. Supplement your lessons. Use a site to supplement your lessons. Perhaps you want the students to research or put together a project using only the supplied information. Direct them to your site. Everything’s in one place for them to conduct their research.

6. Keep a classroom blog. The obvious, keep a classroom blog. It can be a personal diary of sorts. It can you reflect on your day and teaching practice.

7. Create a page that explains lessons and provides directions with examples. Use the site to post examples of student work or detailed directions on an assignment. If students have a question about an assignment or want to see a examples, simply direct them to the site.