Academic Technology: Nine Apps for Educators

By Dixie Somers
Technology is ubiquitous in most people’s lives, which means it can be extremely useful in classrooms, especially when working with diverse populations. Regardless of the grade level or ability level you are teaching, technology can have a significant impact on the efficacy of your students’ learning.
Below are nine apps for educators to know and utilize, divided into three different categories: organizational, communication and instructional.

Organizational Apps

• Google Classroom. Organize all class resources and materials, communicate with students, keep track of assignments and grades, collaborate with colleagues, translate documents, create and disseminate instructional materials, and much more with this app.
• TeacherKit. A full-service teacher administration tool designed to automate reports, attendance, and records for you. It also facilitates a broad range of analytics.

Communication Apps

• Remind. This app allows you to blast class announcements, hold group chats, private message students and translate messages into 70 different languages for your ELL students and parents.
• GetKahoot. GetKahoot allows you to easily convert any lesson into an interactive and engaging game for your students.
• SeeSaw. This is a student portfolio app that allows teachers to collect students’ work and share it with parents daily, weekly, quarterly or during parent-teacher conferences.
• Slack. Hold text-based office hours and send reminders to your students easily with this app. You can also use it to collaborate with other educators.

Instructional Apps

• TED Talks and TED-Ed. TED Talks is a massive library of phenomenal 15- to 20-minute video lectures by a plethora of experts. You can find high-quality lectures on almost any subject. TED-Ed offers a similar library of high-quality instructional videos, but includes interactive components and quizzes as well.
• Grade Proof.  This app is a writing support program to help students proof their writing and learn how to write better academic papers. It is a handy pocket editor.
• Doceri.  This app converts your iPad into an interactive white board which allows you to annotate presentations as you teach, create instant interaction with your students, and even record your class presentation to easily upload it to the Internet for later viewing.

A master’s degree in education is great, but along with your degree, technology can be a must in your career as an educator. While it is not possible for every teacher to know and use every type of technology available in the world today, it is highly recommended for teachers to find the technology that is effective in increasing student engagement and autonomy, and decreases the administrative workload.
For more, see:

• 10 Top Educational Apps for Students
• 6 Apps That Can Help With Student Assessment
• 10 Popular Apps for English Language Learners and Teachers

Dixie Somers is a freelance writer and blogger. 

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