Check out these reviews of some available cloud based apps.
After reading the review, give the app a rating.
Great, easy to use, free social networking site for education
Edmodo is appropriate for use with all levels of students, though it especially appropriate for grades 4 and up. Edmodo functions as a learning platform, and teachers can use it to deliver curriculum to students via the Internet. The site allows students to work individually and to work collaboratively with their teacher and each other. Once a student has an Edmodo account, all he or she has to do is input the code provided by the teacher to add additional classes. It is a secure platform and only the students and teachers in each Edmodo group have access to the information being posted.
Edmodo acts as a teacher tool to help streamline classroom routine, but it also provides teachers the opportunity to teach responsible interaction via digital means, reinforcing good digital citizenship. In addition, it gets students ready to use online tools after they graduate from school.
Edmodo is a free social networking site for education that includes many popular features of pricey learning management systems. Teachers are able to create classes, make assignments, upload resources, create quizzes, administer polls, start discussions and send announcements in a secure online environment. While Edmodo lacks some of the course management features that other services offer, its ease of use more than makes up for its shortcomings. Students self-enroll, meaning that even secondary teachers who see well over 100 students per day can easily build an online learning community. Designed specifically for the K12 environment, Edmodo has safety in mind, and there is no second-guessing about which safety buttons a teacher should choose. In addition, parents of students can request a code to track their student's progress and can even opt to receive notifications about upcoming projects and overdue assignments. Edmodo recently opened its platform to outside developers, so what is already good should only get better.
Edmodo is appropriate for use with all levels of students, though it especially appropriate for grades 4 and up. Edmodo functions as a learning platform, and teachers can use it to deliver curriculum to students via the Internet. The site allows students to work individually and to work collaboratively with their teacher and each other. Once a student has an Edmodo account, all he or she has to do is input the code provided by the teacher to add additional classes. It is a secure platform and only the students and teachers in each Edmodo group have access to the information being posted.
Edmodo acts as a teacher tool to help streamline classroom routine, but it also provides teachers the opportunity to teach responsible interaction via digital means, reinforcing good digital citizenship. In addition, it gets students ready to use online tools after they graduate from school.
Edmodo is a free social networking site for education that includes many popular features of pricey learning management systems. Teachers are able to create classes, make assignments, upload resources, create quizzes, administer polls, start discussions and send announcements in a secure online environment. While Edmodo lacks some of the course management features that other services offer, its ease of use more than makes up for its shortcomings. Students self-enroll, meaning that even secondary teachers who see well over 100 students per day can easily build an online learning community. Designed specifically for the K12 environment, Edmodo has safety in mind, and there is no second-guessing about which safety buttons a teacher should choose. In addition, parents of students can request a code to track their student's progress and can even opt to receive notifications about upcoming projects and overdue assignments. Edmodo recently opened its platform to outside developers, so what is already good should only get better.
Impressive organizational tool has limitless uses
With a history of rave reviews on the business, personal, and home-management fronts, Evernote has moved into the classroom. A cloud-based storage system, it allows teachers and students to access information from multiple devices and locations. Students can create notes, snap images, make checklists, or record audio on a mobile device or computer and make the information available on any other device or computer. The information in the notes is searchable, and notes can be tagged with keywords for easy retrieval. Location tagging is also automatically on. Students can create multiple folders to organize notes. Premium accounts can be linked automatically, but even in the free version, kids can share links to their notes or information.
This productivity app can shift the way kids manage information in school and the way teachers share it. Once kids learn how to use it, it can enhance their learning by keeping information on hand and organized. The interface is easy to use, especially for the touch-screen generation. Notes save quickly and can be accessed easily. With audio, text, and image capabilities,Evernote can track almost any piece of information. The search function makes finding notes easy, even if kids forget to tag topics. However, the text-within-image searches are hit or miss. The portability of data is really impressive. In a time when many teachers have a personal smart phone and a tablet for school, Evernote takes away the worry of not having the right device when needed.
Teachers and students can use Evernote for a range of tasks. Students can collect research for an upcoming project or paper, or teachers can share assignments, resources, or reading materials. A student misses a class brainstorming session? Snap a picture of the whiteboard or capture the smart board and save it on Evernote.
The developer's website has many ideas on how to use Evernote for lesson planning, classroom management, and instruction. Ideas are organized for teachers in traditional K-12 classrooms, higher education, and 1-to-1 initiation schools.
This review of Evernote was written by Amanda Bindel
With a history of rave reviews on the business, personal, and home-management fronts, Evernote has moved into the classroom. A cloud-based storage system, it allows teachers and students to access information from multiple devices and locations. Students can create notes, snap images, make checklists, or record audio on a mobile device or computer and make the information available on any other device or computer. The information in the notes is searchable, and notes can be tagged with keywords for easy retrieval. Location tagging is also automatically on. Students can create multiple folders to organize notes. Premium accounts can be linked automatically, but even in the free version, kids can share links to their notes or information.
This productivity app can shift the way kids manage information in school and the way teachers share it. Once kids learn how to use it, it can enhance their learning by keeping information on hand and organized. The interface is easy to use, especially for the touch-screen generation. Notes save quickly and can be accessed easily. With audio, text, and image capabilities,Evernote can track almost any piece of information. The search function makes finding notes easy, even if kids forget to tag topics. However, the text-within-image searches are hit or miss. The portability of data is really impressive. In a time when many teachers have a personal smart phone and a tablet for school, Evernote takes away the worry of not having the right device when needed.
Teachers and students can use Evernote for a range of tasks. Students can collect research for an upcoming project or paper, or teachers can share assignments, resources, or reading materials. A student misses a class brainstorming session? Snap a picture of the whiteboard or capture the smart board and save it on Evernote.
The developer's website has many ideas on how to use Evernote for lesson planning, classroom management, and instruction. Ideas are organized for teachers in traditional K-12 classrooms, higher education, and 1-to-1 initiation schools.
This review of Evernote was written by Amanda Bindel
Microsoft dubs OneNote a note-taking and management program.
OneNote is clearly intended to be used by one person, as the program creates a single Notebook in which all notes are saved. Within the notebook, there are folders, sections, pages, and sub-pages. Navigating through the notebook is easy enough, but one can become confused until comfortable with the controls. Users can move pages of notes or portions of notes around and this is one of its greatest strengths. You can use OneNote to plan a project, conduct research for the project (there are some built in features to help with online research, as well as integration with an encyclopedia and thesaurus). Research notes can then be arranged to come up with a structure for written materials related to the project. Other features include flagged notes that are readily accessible via a task pane, prioritized lists, the ability to share notes with others via net meetings, the ability to incorporate handwriting and audio clips, and an outstanding screen-clip feature.
OneNote is an excellent, easy to use tool for students, writers, people looking for away to organize notes, or anyone who needs more flexibility than Word provides in the creation of documents. OneNote is intended to be used in conjunction with either or both Outlook and Word. It will not be as effective used as a stand alone application.
Review By James Marshall
OneNote is clearly intended to be used by one person, as the program creates a single Notebook in which all notes are saved. Within the notebook, there are folders, sections, pages, and sub-pages. Navigating through the notebook is easy enough, but one can become confused until comfortable with the controls. Users can move pages of notes or portions of notes around and this is one of its greatest strengths. You can use OneNote to plan a project, conduct research for the project (there are some built in features to help with online research, as well as integration with an encyclopedia and thesaurus). Research notes can then be arranged to come up with a structure for written materials related to the project. Other features include flagged notes that are readily accessible via a task pane, prioritized lists, the ability to share notes with others via net meetings, the ability to incorporate handwriting and audio clips, and an outstanding screen-clip feature.
OneNote is an excellent, easy to use tool for students, writers, people looking for away to organize notes, or anyone who needs more flexibility than Word provides in the creation of documents. OneNote is intended to be used in conjunction with either or both Outlook and Word. It will not be as effective used as a stand alone application.
Review By James Marshall
Store Your Files In The Cloud. Access Files Anywhere, Anytime.
The first thing you'll notice when opening a document in Google Docs is that it is very user -friendly. The menu options are in the expected places as well as the important editing toolbar buttons. While navigating the application we felt as though we were using less powerful version of Word, however we also liked that fact that we could access our documents from anywhere that offered an internet connection.
One of Google Docs’ word processing software features that no one else offers is that when you save your documents you have instant access to them from any other computer. As long as you have an internet connection and can remember your password you are able to log into the website and have access to the program and all of your documents without having to download anything. Users are provided with 1GB of storage space for uploaded files. However, keep in mind that this is only for Google Docs. Photo and email storage does not count towards the Google Docs word processing application limit. Google Docs editing features are limited to the basic commands of find and replace, cut, copy, paste, undo and redo. However for the average user these are the only tools that are really used.
If you are on a budget and are looking for a word processing software application that can handle an average work-load then Google Docs is an option that you should look into.
By Kirsten Buck
The first thing you'll notice when opening a document in Google Docs is that it is very user -friendly. The menu options are in the expected places as well as the important editing toolbar buttons. While navigating the application we felt as though we were using less powerful version of Word, however we also liked that fact that we could access our documents from anywhere that offered an internet connection.
One of Google Docs’ word processing software features that no one else offers is that when you save your documents you have instant access to them from any other computer. As long as you have an internet connection and can remember your password you are able to log into the website and have access to the program and all of your documents without having to download anything. Users are provided with 1GB of storage space for uploaded files. However, keep in mind that this is only for Google Docs. Photo and email storage does not count towards the Google Docs word processing application limit. Google Docs editing features are limited to the basic commands of find and replace, cut, copy, paste, undo and redo. However for the average user these are the only tools that are really used.
If you are on a budget and are looking for a word processing software application that can handle an average work-load then Google Docs is an option that you should look into.
By Kirsten Buck
Handy online tool helps teachers track and manage student behavior
ClassDojo can help individual children as well as an entire class identify areas for improvement in their behavior and set related goals. Teachers set the behaviors, and goals can be based on schoolwide systems or areas identified by you. You can use the mobile app (iOS and Android) to give points from anywhere in the room, which frees you up to move around while providing feedback on students' academic efforts or on behaviors from critical thinking to kindness. The reports feature can be used at the end of a class to show students where their behavioral strengths and weaknesses are.
According to the online reviews and testimonials on the ClassDojo site, many teachers have found a complete transformation in their classrooms after implementing the tool. At the same time, ClassDojo may not be for everyone. Its design has the feel of a carrot-and-stick approach to behavior management, so you may find it doesn't match your classroom management style or teaching philosophy. In addition, its effectiveness depends on how you use it.
You can create different classes and add students to each class. Each student is assigned an avatar. The avatars can be customized. Teachers then input the behaviors and skills they want students to display, such as being on time, participating, or working hard. Students can earn points by behaving the right way.
When teachers click Start Class, the student avatars appear as a list on the screen. Each avatar has a number next to it indicating the number of points that student has. These numbers are green when they're positive and red when they're negative. You can award points through the computer or by using the app on your phone or tablet. If you feel it might be effective, the cute student avatars can be projected onto the board.
At the end of class, teachers can display a summary of behavior point totals for a class or by individual student. These reports can be emailed to parents, and parents and students can log in with a personalized, secure code to view their progress from home.
This review of ClassDojo was written by Mary Beth Hertz
ClassDojo can help individual children as well as an entire class identify areas for improvement in their behavior and set related goals. Teachers set the behaviors, and goals can be based on schoolwide systems or areas identified by you. You can use the mobile app (iOS and Android) to give points from anywhere in the room, which frees you up to move around while providing feedback on students' academic efforts or on behaviors from critical thinking to kindness. The reports feature can be used at the end of a class to show students where their behavioral strengths and weaknesses are.
According to the online reviews and testimonials on the ClassDojo site, many teachers have found a complete transformation in their classrooms after implementing the tool. At the same time, ClassDojo may not be for everyone. Its design has the feel of a carrot-and-stick approach to behavior management, so you may find it doesn't match your classroom management style or teaching philosophy. In addition, its effectiveness depends on how you use it.
You can create different classes and add students to each class. Each student is assigned an avatar. The avatars can be customized. Teachers then input the behaviors and skills they want students to display, such as being on time, participating, or working hard. Students can earn points by behaving the right way.
When teachers click Start Class, the student avatars appear as a list on the screen. Each avatar has a number next to it indicating the number of points that student has. These numbers are green when they're positive and red when they're negative. You can award points through the computer or by using the app on your phone or tablet. If you feel it might be effective, the cute student avatars can be projected onto the board.
At the end of class, teachers can display a summary of behavior point totals for a class or by individual student. These reports can be emailed to parents, and parents and students can log in with a personalized, secure code to view their progress from home.
This review of ClassDojo was written by Mary Beth Hertz
Handy cloud storage and document sharing
Dropbox is a cloud-based storage system that allows users to upload and access files from multiple devices. Files that are too large to be emailed transfer without a problem. Documents can be shared with anyone by emailing them a link. After creating a free account with Dropbox, you can upload files -- including Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, text, PDFs, music, video, and images -- and access them from other computers or a mobile device (or multiple devices). You can share files, folders, and links to documents with anyone, even people without a Dropbox account. Your files can be shared and edited by people who do have Dropbox accounts, and you can "star" certain files to make them available offline for review. Deleted documents can be recovered, giving data some security when multiple participants are working on a document. Dropbox is available on both Android and iOS devices and on Kindle Fire and Blackberry.
Dropbox can introduce students to cloud-based file storage, which has become a common way to organize electronic documents in schools and the workplace. However, many learning-management systems offer file-storage solutions that are easier to use and more integrated with classroom work and communications. Still, it's a versatile tool for inside and outside the classroom.
Teachers interested in getting students set up with cloud-based storage should consider all options. Students might take to Dropbox, but a product like Edmodo offers unlimited storage within an educational space kids already access on a daily basis (if you're using it). Still, this tool can help organize your life. Students can create shared folders with documents for groups to work on collaboratively and can turn in projects or papers to an assigned folder. One feature allows you to see deleted files, which can help mitigate accidental deletions or mistaken corrections. It also serves as a storage system for syllabi, notes to parents, assignments sheets, or rubrics for students, and files can be accessed at home, at school, on tablets, and on phones.
This review of Dropbox was written by Amanda Bindel
Dropbox is a cloud-based storage system that allows users to upload and access files from multiple devices. Files that are too large to be emailed transfer without a problem. Documents can be shared with anyone by emailing them a link. After creating a free account with Dropbox, you can upload files -- including Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, text, PDFs, music, video, and images -- and access them from other computers or a mobile device (or multiple devices). You can share files, folders, and links to documents with anyone, even people without a Dropbox account. Your files can be shared and edited by people who do have Dropbox accounts, and you can "star" certain files to make them available offline for review. Deleted documents can be recovered, giving data some security when multiple participants are working on a document. Dropbox is available on both Android and iOS devices and on Kindle Fire and Blackberry.
Dropbox can introduce students to cloud-based file storage, which has become a common way to organize electronic documents in schools and the workplace. However, many learning-management systems offer file-storage solutions that are easier to use and more integrated with classroom work and communications. Still, it's a versatile tool for inside and outside the classroom.
Teachers interested in getting students set up with cloud-based storage should consider all options. Students might take to Dropbox, but a product like Edmodo offers unlimited storage within an educational space kids already access on a daily basis (if you're using it). Still, this tool can help organize your life. Students can create shared folders with documents for groups to work on collaboratively and can turn in projects or papers to an assigned folder. One feature allows you to see deleted files, which can help mitigate accidental deletions or mistaken corrections. It also serves as a storage system for syllabi, notes to parents, assignments sheets, or rubrics for students, and files can be accessed at home, at school, on tablets, and on phones.
This review of Dropbox was written by Amanda Bindel
Mover.io wants to transport the world’s data, one cloud at a time
Mover is a free web application that is developed by a startup company that is currently based in Alberta, Canada. With this application, you can securely transfer or move your files from one cloud storage service to another. This means that you can seamlessly transfer your files from Google Drive to Dropbox to Copy to SugarSync to SkyDrive to AmazonS3, etc. Plus, there is no need for you to download or install any software. Just create a free account, setup or schedule a new transfer and simply wait until everything is all done.
Pros
Mover is a free web application that is developed by a startup company that is currently based in Alberta, Canada. With this application, you can securely transfer or move your files from one cloud storage service to another. This means that you can seamlessly transfer your files from Google Drive to Dropbox to Copy to SugarSync to SkyDrive to AmazonS3, etc. Plus, there is no need for you to download or install any software. Just create a free account, setup or schedule a new transfer and simply wait until everything is all done.
Pros
- Allows you to transfer files between cloud storage accounts without having to download the files to your computer first. In other words, direct transfer of files from one cloud storage account to another.
- NOTE: When you transfer a file from one cloud storage account to another with Mover, Mover essentially creates a copy of your file on the destination cloud storage account. In other words, Mover does not delete files from source/original cloud storage accounts — it makes copies of files and stores those copies on the destination cloud storage account.
- NOTE: To transfer your files from one cloud storage account to another, your files are temporarily stored on Mover’s server (the file transfer process is: cloud storage account 1 servers -> Mover servers -> cloud storage account 2 servers). The developer of Mover says files are automatically deleted off Mover’s servers after they have been transferred to your destination cloud storage account.
- Supports many types of cloud storage services such as Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, SugarSync, SkyDrive, AmazonS3, Copy, SmugMug, SharePoint, etc. Also supports FTP file transfers, Flickr – Picasa photo transfers, etc.
- You get a $10 worth of free credits that is equivalent to 10GB of data transfer. This allotted data is consumable and once it’s all used up, you can add more but you need to pay $1 for every 1GB of data that you want to add to your account.
- You can schedule your file transfer sessions to automatically happen at a later time or date
- There is no limit to the number of transfers that you want to make with one account (although, as mentioned above, each transfer is counted towards your data usage quota)
- Provides a detailed list of your current and previous transfers which basically includes the date and time that your files were successfully moved, etc.
- Uses 256-bit of AES encryption
- You don’t have to provide your cloud storage account usernames/passwords to Mover for most, if not all, of the supported cloud storage services. Mover acts as an app for the supported cloud storage services, meaning you have to grant API access — you don’t give Mover your usernames/passwords. It is just like adding an app on Facebook or Twitter.
- Is a web app/website, so no download required — just run it in any modern web browser
- Is easy to use and configure
- Is not instant transfer from one cloud storage account to another. How long it takes to transfer a file depends on current server load, but you may have to wait a few minutes before a transfer actually happens.
- Website is not mobile optimized
- As mentioned above, the way Mover works is by creating a copy of the original file from source cloud storage account and storing that copy on destination cloud storage account. This way of transferring files has its usefulness but, for anyone that doesn’t want to keep original files on source cloud storage accounts, there appears to be no option to make Mover delete original files from source cloud storage accounts and only keep files on destination cloud storage accounts.
- Occasional bugs and glitches such as failure to add a new connector, failure to select a new source or destination, etc.
- There are still a lot of cloud storage services that aren’t supported such as ADrive, Cubby, Carbonite, JustCloud, Mozy, myPCBackup, Backup Genie, etc.
- For every connector/cloud storage account, there are certain file size limits. According to Mover’s developer, Box can only cater up to 500MB file sizes while SkyDrive can only cater up to 300MB file sizes, but Dropbox has no file size limit.
The primary function of Mover is to move or transfer your files from one cloud storage account to another. It doesn't go beyond that, but it doesn't need to because that is the whole purpose of this web app. My favourite aspect of Mover is that you don't need to download files to your computer to transfer between cloud storage devices - Mover handles that all for you. If you transfer a lot of files you will end up needing to pay for it but everyone gets 10GB of free transfers, which should be more than enough for the casual user. This web app does have some bugs and glitches that need to be ironed out, but it is very commendable. Check it out.
By Kent
The Read With Me Fluency app offers a simple and convenient way to assess student reading to teachers, parents, tutors, and others who need to monitor progress. The app allows users to administer an informal reading inventory (a common tool) to single students or entire classrooms or groups.
Features include:
This app is a great value. Purchase allows users free access to the online site, and together they form a powerful tool for assessing young readers. Professionals can make their own informal reading inventories, which is time consuming, or purchase commercial versions with some investment. Compared to the price of most inventories, this app is extremely economical, and when you factor in the convenience and time saving aspects, it’s a must-have for any reading teacher’s collection.
Reviewed by: Sandra Fleming
Check out more information at http://bestappsforkids.com/2014/01/read-with-me-fluency/
Features include:
- Convenient system for conducting fluency assessment
- Optional companion online system
- Built-in library of passages
- Three passages per grade level
- Grades 1-8, Lexile range 40L to 1270L
- User can add other passages
- Recording and timing options
This app is a great value. Purchase allows users free access to the online site, and together they form a powerful tool for assessing young readers. Professionals can make their own informal reading inventories, which is time consuming, or purchase commercial versions with some investment. Compared to the price of most inventories, this app is extremely economical, and when you factor in the convenience and time saving aspects, it’s a must-have for any reading teacher’s collection.
Reviewed by: Sandra Fleming
Check out more information at http://bestappsforkids.com/2014/01/read-with-me-fluency/
Cute bug bingo draws kids in but offers little depth
Math Bingo wraps addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division practice into a bundle of germy bug fun. Kids choose a username and silly avatar, then individual operators or all four at once, and then easy, medium, or hard difficulty level. Kids try to earn the fastest times among five local users displayed on a device-level scoreboard. High scores are rewarded with bingo bugs that can be slingshotted at a matrix of gold coins in a separate game with separate score. The easiest level features single digits; the hardest includes three-digit sums and products. All operations are single-step.
Kids solve simple expressions by tapping the correct answer on a 5x5 bingo card. As with any bingo game, the goal is to get five in a row –- horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. Incorrect answers trigger a quiz show-like buzzer with the correct answer displayed at the bottom, eliminating the opportunity to try again. Incorrect answers are multiplied by two and added to the time score (so lower is better). Be warned: You can't turn off the annoying music.
The "bugs" are disgustingly adorable, and colors are bold and bright, but the slingshot game is a bit of a distraction and only mildly fun. Choices empower kids so they’re less likely to get frustrated. Math Bingo doesn't offer any constructive feedback or instruction, so it won't help kids deepen their understanding of math concepts, but it's a useful tool for practicing math operations.
This review of Math Bingo was written by Leslie Crenna
Math Bingo wraps addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division practice into a bundle of germy bug fun. Kids choose a username and silly avatar, then individual operators or all four at once, and then easy, medium, or hard difficulty level. Kids try to earn the fastest times among five local users displayed on a device-level scoreboard. High scores are rewarded with bingo bugs that can be slingshotted at a matrix of gold coins in a separate game with separate score. The easiest level features single digits; the hardest includes three-digit sums and products. All operations are single-step.
Kids solve simple expressions by tapping the correct answer on a 5x5 bingo card. As with any bingo game, the goal is to get five in a row –- horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. Incorrect answers trigger a quiz show-like buzzer with the correct answer displayed at the bottom, eliminating the opportunity to try again. Incorrect answers are multiplied by two and added to the time score (so lower is better). Be warned: You can't turn off the annoying music.
The "bugs" are disgustingly adorable, and colors are bold and bright, but the slingshot game is a bit of a distraction and only mildly fun. Choices empower kids so they’re less likely to get frustrated. Math Bingo doesn't offer any constructive feedback or instruction, so it won't help kids deepen their understanding of math concepts, but it's a useful tool for practicing math operations.
This review of Math Bingo was written by Leslie Crenna
Common Sense Media welcomes you to Graphite, a platform created to make it easier for educatiors to find the best apps, games and websites for the classroom. A great website for reviews of a large variety of apps, websites, devices and games, sorted by subjects, grade levels and price. There are top picks, best apps and games, and recomendations and reviews by teachers who have used them in their classrooms. Take a look for many more apps: http://www.graphite.org/reviews