eSchool News | app of the week page 1

App of the Week: Sworkit Kids

What’s It Like?

Both physical education (PE) and classroom teachers can use Sworkit Kids to get kids exercising. It’s a perfect short activity to get students moving after a long lesson or first thing in the morning, or as a longer activity during gym class. Sworkit Kids can be used anywhere that the app can be shown to students: in PE class, in a regular classroom, at home, outside, inside, while watching television, while doing homework, or with friends or family.

No sign-up is needed to use Sworkit Kids, and there are no ads. Because the exercises are demonstrated visually, it’s useful for English language learners (ELLs) as well as students with hearing impairments. Very little space is needed for each student, but the exercises will still get them moving enough to get a good workout. Students can share their favorite workouts with friends and family, and students can also do these workouts at home.…Read More

App of the Week: Human Resource Machine EDU

Ed. note: App of the Week picks are now being curated by the editors of Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. Click here to read the full app review.

What’s It Like?

Human Resource Machine EDU can be used with a wide variety of learners–from beginners to experts. However, most teachers using the game will need some understanding of coding to make this a truly useful learning tool. There’s very little support for students who have difficulty with different levels of the game, and very little support material for teachers on how to teach the concepts that are inherent parts of each challenge. Teachers will have to compensate for the lack of hints, examples, and actual instructions. The teacher dashboard is an effective tool for pinpointing students’ strengths/weaknesses and designing targeted instructional support. As some of the levels can be quite challenging, most students will eventually run into roadblocks. Teachers without some experience with coding concepts may find it difficult to help these students (undermining the potential of this well-designed game).…Read More

App of the Week: Mentimeter

What’s It Like?

Mentimeter helps to solve the problem of always calling on the same students by getting feedback from the entire class. Start your day with a class poll to gauge mood, warm up, or ask an essential question. Use an Action Priority Matrix to determine which skills to teach first (involving students in instructional planning) and perform quick assessments using the quiz feature to anonymously check for concept mastery. Host a March Madness-style tournament, letting students vote weekly on their favorite books, scientists, characters, or historical figures. Crowdsource a word cloud to brainstorm character traits of famous leaders throughout history, innovative inventions, or solutions to real-world problems. Group discussions with questions related to themes or scientific discoveries are easily implemented.…Read More

App of the Week: Stack the States 2

What’s It Like?

Teachers can use Stack the States 2 as a fun way to learn or review geography facts. For students who prefer to have an existing foundation of knowledge before being tested, review state capitals, state locations, major cities, and other U.S. geography features with them. Then allow them to play the game, earning states and unlocking the additional games. For students who like to just dive in and learn as they go, this app also teaches its geography facts very well through repetition and fun.…Read More

App of the Week: Google Applied Digital Skills

What’s It Like?

Google Applied Digital Skills can be used as a semester curriculum to teach a digital literacy course or as stand-alone lessons integrated into a core class on an as-needed basis. For example, the If-Then Adventure Story unit fits easily into a creative writing class, but would also be a good project for a history class where students use real events to envision alternative histories. There are several spreadsheet budgeting activities for personal finance class, and librarians can get on board with multiple units focusing on research and technology ethics.…Read More

App of the Week: Bear

What’s It Like?

Bear is refreshing in its simplicity, managing to be useful without being complicated. Use Bear for teacher and student productivity — teaching note-taking and list-keeping skills to help students organize their work and manage assignments. Promote student collaboration by having students share sets of notes to a class document in order to provide more breadth and multiple perspectives, or improve classroom communication by designating a class minutes keeper so that absent students can stay caught up.…Read More

App of the Week: Kiddom

What’s It Like? …Read More

App of the Week: Bandimal

What’s It Like? …Read More

App of the Week: Anti-Defamation League

What’s It Like? …Read More

App of the Week: Otus

What’s It Like?

It’s not often that teachers come across a technology tool that delivers as much as Otus, much less a free one. With many opportunities to manage grades, class content, and student data, the site can feel overwhelming at first; however, with some up-front investment, teachers will find it a valuable resource for managing instruction and pulling in valuable data points from third-party resources such as Khan Academy, PARCC, NWEA, and more. Use Otus to create and grade standards-based assessments, to get feedback from and about students, including video responses, document uploads, and quick polls, and to access detailed reports to disaggregate data and create more individualized assessments and targeted skill practice. Host topic discussions and cultivate writing skills via a class blog. Draw from the item bank to address specific skills, and then automatically assign an assessment to a group of students you’ve identified.…Read More