Top 10 #EdTech Apps: March 2022 Edition
One of my favorite discussion topics on Twitter is a good “Top 10” list: Beatles songs, hip-hop artists, hair band songs, whatever! In this instance, I came across a post that was being shared by Lori Roberts (@EdTechLori) and a few others sharing their Top 10 #EdTech Apps and it got me thinking what would make my list right now and what criteria would I use to draft my list?
I set off on a small journey into what tools I use on a daily basis, what apps or software makes my technology integration life easier, and what is just so cool, new, and beginning to shine that could benefit from a share. A few were SUPER easy to come up with and HAD to have a spot on my list. I use them almost every day, trust them wholeheartedly, and see tremendous benefits either in the classroom or when delivering professional development with educators. Then came the hard part, rounding out the rest of the list that only has 10 spots allocated to it with a plethora of amazing software tools to choose from. (Last year, I created a list for Twitter in this same vein, but totally allocated like 15 spots instead of 10, so I felt obligated this year to stick to the “Top 10” ideal.)
I did not rank the list in order of importance or use…I’m not sure my heart could ever settle on an actual “order” for these applications that made it to a spot on the list. I also made sure to note that this is a “March 2022 Edition”, knowing how fast things can change in the #EdTech landscape. I also kept right to the point of just including specific software or applications…so things that matter exponentially like Accessibility (Microsoft’s Immersive Reader feature, for instance) or add-in components (Microsoft’s amazing Reading Progress feature inside of Teams) but were not available as a stand-alone application or software would not be included in my list, either. Lots of self-imposed rules and restrictions for a Twitter post, right? I take this gig seriously!
Without further ado, let’s take a look at what I shared as my Top 10 #EdTech Apps: March 2022 Edition:
Canva
Minecraft: Education Edition
OneNote
Microsoft Teams
Wakelet
Pear Deck
Nearpod
Gimkit
Flipgrid
Padlet
Again, these application/software tools that made my list are not in any specific ranking or order…they all managed to make my Top 10 list after careful consideration and lots of revisions! Now, let’s digest this list further, with some
Canva (website, @canva)
Canva is an online graphical tool that allows for anyone to create absolutely anything! From logos to websites, presentations to social media posts, documents and certificates and so much more, Canva allows for it to be done! Canva has 100s of elements and design templates ready to select from, and with the free Canva Education accounts for verified teachers, it has quickly become an educator’s best friend. I absolutely love creating designs for this website, post announcements for Twitter, and presentation templates for conferences all from within Canva!
Minecraft: Education Edition (website, @PlayCraftLearn)
Minecraft: Education Edition is game-based classroom learning through the use of Minecraft! Students can take advantage of their love for Minecraft and combine it in schools to work collaboratively with other students on build projects and lessons, use built-in accessibility features including Microsoft’s Immersive Reader which can read in-game text and translate it, as well as engage directly in immersive learning experiences that only Minecraft can deliver. There are over 600 standards-aligned lesson plans already available at the website, and worlds can be assigned or shared to students via Microsoft Teams. Lesson plans span the curriculum from STEM, coding, SEL, history, language arts, 21st century learning skills, and more! I love the way students’ eyes light-up when I go into a classroom and help with a lesson using Minecraft.
OneNote (@OneNoteEDU)
OneNote (a part of Microsoft 365) is what I refer to as your giant “trapper keeper” in the cloud! If you know, you know. OneNote allows for all of your notes to be stored in the cloud and synced across devices, making them accessible from anywhere. Handwriting notes with a stylus or typing notes with a keyboard, the functionality is amazing. There are numerous content types that can be directly embedded into OneNote versus traditional links: YouTube videos, Microsoft Forms quizzes, Microsoft Stream Videos, TED Talks, Flipgrid videos, and much more found here. I love using OneNote at conferences for notetaking, and then being able to share my notes with colleagues who are interested but missed a session, or in the classroom when connected via Microsoft Teams to organize and distribute materials for students to browse in a “one-stop-shop”, without the need for multiple links to be sent.
Microsoft Teams (@MicrosoftTeams)
Microsoft Teams has truly transformed the way many people work, and educators teach, over the past four years. Similar to other LMS platforms (Classroom, Schoology, Canvas, etc.), Teams allows educators and workplaces to keep content, files, and conversations threaded in a single location, helping to reduce the amount of lost or mis-placed emails, files, and more. As a dependable hub for sharing, Teams allows educators to quickly provide access links to resources students may need, while also helping to provide electronic assignments and virtual meetings through the power of the connected Microsoft 365 applications. Reading Progress has far and away been the standout feature this year, providing fluency practice for students to read with AI-provided feedback that can be used to facilitate learning discussions with students, who can then go back and try again! Keep your eyes peeled for more updates coming soon in regard to Reading Progress in 2022!
Wakelet (website, @Wakelet)
Wakelet is an online content curation tool, allowing anything with a web link, images, and PDF’s to be added to a digital collection, that can then be shared with anyone. Wakelet can be used individually, to create and organize content for quick finding later on, or collaboratively like when planning an event or curating conference materials and slideshows when at a large conference. It also has a tremendous browser extension that allows for content to be added to collections with a single-click, and a mobile app that does the same! Wakelet has transformed how I offer and share resources when conducting a professional development session, with electronic copies just a click away while participants can write and take notes on the physical copies in front of them! My other favorite use for schools is when students need a tool to create and manage a portfolio of their work for potential college or trade-school admission procedures.
Pear Deck (website, @PearDeck)
Pear Deck slides help make your content in PowerPoint or Google Slides interactive, providing more engagement and involvement in the lesson for the students, while providing educators with data and insights that show whether the learning is progressing on track or not. Interactive slides can include multiple choice questions, text questions, number questions and many premade template questions including SEL components and Critical Thinking aspects. I like to use Pear Deck when showing a lesson, as it allows me to pivot quickly during a lesson if the students show they do not know the content, I can quickly add new interactive slides on the fly from the teacher dashboard to figure out where students are stuck, and circle back to make sure learning is covered before moving on.
Nearpod (website, @Nearpod)
Nearpod is an amazing online tool that allows educators to use slide-based teaching both in-person or remote. Nearpod has one of the most extensive learning libraries of premade lessons that I have ever seen from an edtech tool! Nearpod VR is great for students to visit and view biomes or locations that are being covered in class but field trips to those locations are not feasible. Nearpod also has a plethora of Activity Slide templates to choose from, making it a tremendous teaching and assessment tool in the classroom, but in a very fun way. Many educators I have worked with say Nearpod is the single tool they could not see themselves teaching without! That should speak for itself!
Gimkit (website, @gimkit)
Gimkit is a live-learning game show application that works great for both large groups and singular student review. One of the main benefits to Gimkit versus the multitude of other quiz show applications is that instead of having an ending point determined by the number of terms or questions in the “kit” or game bank, Gimkit games are cyclical and ended on a timeframe. If playing a kit game based on the 50 states of the United States, the students will answer more than 50 questions if given enough time and if they answer fast enough! Gimkit helps to build up the repetition of the questions and answers, with many different modes of play available too, to keep the Gimkit use fresh and exciting for students. Another amazing feature in Gimkit is the algorithm that when a student misses a question from the kit, it places that question back in three more times per missed question, so the likelihood of seeing that question again and fixing the error will be greater than the questions they answered correctly!
Flipgrid (website, @Flipgrid)
Flipgrid is a video discussion tool from Microsoft that creates a platform to express student voice and creativity through short-form video responses. Students can record and re-record as needed, stitch together mini-clips, add filters, text, inking, split-screen, virtual backgrounds, stickers, and frames that add a major element of creativity to a video response, helping make each video response different! The Shorts video tool also allows for students and educators alike to take advantage of the same video power features and create a video not linked to any discussion for any purpose, and they are saved inside of the users Flipgrid account. This was especially helpful for educators during the pandemic, as they could quickly make educational videos for their students to play back with loads of creativity options, but without any special tools or software needed.
Padlet (website, @padlet)
Padlet is a what I always refer to as a digital bulletin board, able to be used for sharing of ideas and mapping out mind maps or tricky concepts. Users to Padlet can post text responses, emjoi, images, videos, files, web links, GIFS, and more! They can be anonymous or have visitors log-in to track who added what content to the Padlet. This app is wonderful because it works across any device, be it Chromebooks, iPads, Windows laptops or Macs…even mobile devices! I love using Padlet during my professional development sessions to gather thoughts, ideas, criticisms, questions, and more to influence where the learning may go next. It is great for a digital KWL chart in class, and can be linked to Microsoft Teams and other LMS’s to allow for quick student access to record responses.
Again, these application/software tools that made my list are not in any specific ranking or order…they all managed to make my Top 10 list because of how each one has the ability to dramatically increase the productivity or effectiveness of learning inside the classroom (or professional development session). If you are unfamiliar with any of these tools, please give the links a click and learn more about the resources shared today! Ask me again later this fall and see how this list changes…it could be interesting. Happy edtech-ing!