Best of the Best Lists

M-Learning Apps, Tools, and Resources That We Love

Are you looking for M-learning apps, tools, and resources that you can use with your students? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.

Brainmint – This is a mobile learning management system that aligns the learning and development of teams with an agile model of learning on the go. The app works both online and offline and is available on Android and iOS platforms. It uses gamified learning experiences to teach and assess students; for example, its leaderboard shows the top performers, which motivates children to perform better.

CellCast Mobile Learning – CellCast is a mobile platform that provides mobile learning, content creation, delivery, and management. CellCast is available on iOS (iPhone and iPad), Android, Windows, and web browsers. It has a customizable user interface and supports a wide variety of content formats.

Kedzoh mLearn – Kedzoh mLearn is a mobile learning app that allows users to take, create, and share simple, three- to five-minutes lessons on their Android devices. Lessons can be created and shared anytime with or without an Internet connection. The app is aimed at enterprises that require close interaction and feedback. Users can access the app on Android or iOS devices while being part of an existing team or creating their team. The app also offers the use of multiple languages for flexibility.

Scriyb  – Scriyb is a synchronous, cloud-based, mobile learning engagement platform that allows a teacher to instruct thousands effectively. Scriyb can be used to conduct live real-time training where instructors can train their workforce about new technologies, latest releases, and rapidly evolving practices in cybersecurity. This tool

LSAT Preparation Apps, Tools, and Resources That We Love

Are you looking for apps, tools, and resources that you can use to prepare for the LSAT? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.

7 Speed Reading– This app can help you become a proficient reader in the English language while eliminating old habits that hold you back. With 7 Speed Reading, students can learn to recognize large clusters of words and read without first vocalizing in their heads**

Study.com – With over 25,000 video lessons and other resources, Study.com allows students to extend their knowledge of course content from home, or it can be incorporated into classroom lessons to meet student differentiation needs. There are options to take coursework for college credit, to receive homework help or complete study prep, and engage in professional development work. With videos ranging from the history of Sparta to working with fractions, Study.com can be used with students from K-12 and beyond. Any college credit earned is easily transferrable to over 1,500 U.S. colleges and universities. Teachers can enroll their classroom, assign videos and lessons, and even access printable resources such as worksheets designed to pair with video content.

Literacy Apps, Tools, and Resources That We Love

Are you looking for literacy apps, tools, and resources that you can use with your students? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.

Whooo’s Reading – The goal of Whooo’s Reading is accelerated reading comprehension and improved writing skills. By using open-ended questions instead of the standard true/false and multiple-choice style, students are required to think independently about texts. The Whooo’s Reading program automatically reminds students to improve their writing by asking them to cite evidence or answer all the parts of a question. Teachers can monitor student’s reading with automatic quiz results, graded by the Whooo’s Reading app, available in the teacher dashboard. To increase student motivation, students earn Wisdom Coins for reading and writing. These can be spent on accessories and items for their Owlvatars (owl avatars).

BiblioNasium– A website exclusively for children between the ages of 6 and 13. It aims to promote the reading habit among children. Equipped with peer and parental controls, it presents an effective and stimulating program for the user. Using this app, you can adapt reading to fit the child’s needs, monitor his/her reading log, and help the child explore a variety of reading genres. Reading data is saved online and is always accessible.

Curriculet  This reading platform aims at overhauling and changing the way children study and the way teachers teach. Programmed questions and instructions pop up while a child is reading a text from the class. Using this tool, teachers can personalize the reading experience for their students; it also helps them to create and share the contents of their study digitally.

Kids A-Z– Children can select from a library of eQuizzes, eBooks, and hundreds of developmentally appropriate eResources by using the Kids A-Z mobile app. Students can complete corresponding quizzes to improve their comprehension skills and use interactive annotation tools that aid in the development of close reading skills. Kids A-Z mobile app is a must-have for kids that have access to Raz-Kids, Science A-Z, Headsprout, or Raz-plus.

Teach Your Monster to Read – In Teach Your Monster to Read, children can create a monster and take it on an adventure through a magical world while learning to read. The game starts at the most basic building blocks of reading, such as letter recognition and letter-sound matching, and progresses all the way to reading full sentences. Teach Your Monster to Read was developed to complement in-class synthetic phonics programs and can be used by students in the classroom or independently at home. The website also includes an interactive teacher’s toolkit with additional games, classroom activities, and resources. The web version is free to use through a grant by The Usborne Foundation, but there is also an app version for purchase.

The Joy of Reading – Designed to support early reading, The Joy of Reading includes nine multi-level games with explicit instruction in phonics and phonemic awareness. The Joy of Reading includes these foundational skills, which are all aligned to Kindergarten Common Core State Standards: phonemic awareness, letter tracing, letter recognition, rhyming and blending sounds, differentiation of long and short vowel sounds, spelling, recognition of compound words, recollection of common high-frequency words, and reading emergent-reader texts with fluency. There are three different game modes for teachers or parents to choose from, including a guided learning path, free play, and practice with specific words in the ABC dictionary. This app can be used as an early preparatory tool at home or as a complement to in-class instruction.

FunBrain– FunBrain comes with hundreds of free interactive books, videos, games, and printed material that help kids from Pre-K to 8 years old develop and master math, literacy, problem-solving, and reading skills. Vital skills and subject areas such as fractions, addition, shapes, and vowel sounds are included in each book, game, and video to give parents and educators a sense of confidence in the learning process.

Imagine Learning– Imagine Learning provides award-winning educational software to thousands of students around the globe. It provides a solution to literacy and language issues. Imagine Learning provides students with individual instruction on various activities, particularly designed to meet their personal needs and provide a real outcome. The essence of our business is to find solutions to our customers’ issues.

Lexia PowerUp Literacy– Lexia® PowerUp Literacy™ is made for middle school students to help them master their reading skills. Working with typical reading lessons, teachers can use this app to fill in learning gaps, allowing students to practice skills such as comprehension, analyzation, evaluation, and comparison. It allows for online and offline activity, to be available for all students’ learning needs and activity levels. This can be used in combination with Lexia® Core5® Reading and Lexia® RAPID™ Assessment to optimize reading experiences and reading groups in schools.

Literacy Assessment Online– Literacy Assessment Online is a browser-based tool that can be used to track students’ reading progress. Testing typically takes up a lot of time and energy from both teachers and students, but not anymore. The teacher can track literacy standards quickly and easily with Literacy Assessment Online. Whether tracking reading speed, word accuracy, reading comprehension, main idea identification, plot review, character analysis, or any skill, teachers can get immediate feedback on how each student is doing. Having this information readily available helps classes to keep improving and allows teachers to figure out what is and is not working for their pupils.

Phonics Genius– Learning phonics is not just limited to kindergarten children; it is a continuous process that requires reinforcement in the early elementary levels. This app teaches fluency in addition to basic letter sounds; it features over 6,000 words categorized by sounds. Language proficiency and literacy are developed by creating phonic awareness, something that Phonics Genius well. The objective of this game is to help students learn to identify words by their sound.

Science A-Z– Science A-Z guarantees that educators have the resources needed to develop a student’s science knowledge and practices. It also assists in learning essential literacy skills drawing on thousands of resources to educate students on core science ideas and practices. This platform offers multilevel books to distinguish reading instruction, hands-on experiments, and projects that utilize science concepts.

Sound Literacy – Sound Literacy is an instructional tool for building literacy, including phonemic awareness, phonological processing, and morphemic word building. It is primarily meant to be used by a teacher or tutor with the student as no themes or concept packages are included. The app is composed of letter tiles, blank tiles, and all common spelling patterns. Specially designed spelling ladders allow students to build and compare phonemes. Also included are phoneme maps, the ability to customize tilesets, and popovers that indicate various ways to spell each phoneme from most to least common. Sound Literacy is a valuable addition to any word study program or literacy time.

Linguistic Apps, Tools, and Resources That We Love

Are you looking for linguistics apps, tools, and resources that you can use with your students? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.

TurnItIn for Educators– TurnItIn for Educators is a website that helps support academic integrity in schools. Teachers can detect plagiarized content with the world’s most effective plagiarism detection software. Using forensic linguistic analysis and Natural Language Processing (NLP), TurnItIn can determine if students are writing their own papers or using a third party. The website also provides professional development resources for teachers to improve the feedback they provide for students and lesson plans to use with students to build integrity skills.

Teach Your Monster to Read – In Teach Your Monster to Read, children can create a monster and take it on an adventure through a magical world while learning to read. The game starts at the most basic building blocks of reading, such as letter recognition and letter-sound matching, and progresses all the way to reading full sentences. Teach Your Monster to Read was developed to complement in-class synthetic phonics programs and can be used by students in the classroom or independently at home. The website also includes an interactive teacher’s toolkit with additional games, classroom activities, and resources. The web version is free to use through a grant by The Usborne Foundation, but there is also an app version for purchase.

The Joy of Reading – Designed to support early reading, The Joy of Reading includes nine multi-level games with explicit instruction in phonics and phonemic awareness. The Joy of Reading includes these foundational skills, which are all aligned to Kindergarten Common Core State Standards: phonemic awareness, letter tracing, letter recognition, rhyming and blending sounds, differentiation of long and short vowel sounds, spelling, recognition of compound words, recollection of common high-frequency words, and reading emergent-reader texts with fluency. There are three different game modes for teachers or parents to choose from, including a guided learning path, free play, and practice with specific words in the ABC dictionary. This app can be used as an early preparatory tool at home or as a complement to in-class instruction.

Letter Recognition Apps, Tools, and Resources That We Love

Are you looking for letter recognition apps, tools, and resources that you can use with your students? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.

Teach Your Monster to Read – In Teach Your Monster to Read, children can create a monster and take it on an adventure through a magical world while learning to read. The game starts at the most basic building blocks of reading, such as letter recognition and letter-sound matching, and progresses all the way to reading full sentences. Teach Your Monster to Read was developed to complement in-class synthetic phonics programs and can be used by students in the classroom or independently at home. The website also includes an interactive teacher’s toolkit with additional games, classroom activities, and resources. The web version is free to use through a grant by The Usborne Foundation, but there is also an app version for purchase.

The Joy of Reading – Designed to support early reading, The Joy of Reading includes nine multi-level games with explicit instruction in phonics and phonemic awareness. The Joy of Reading includes these foundational skills, which are all aligned to Kindergarten Common Core State Standards: phonemic awareness, letter tracing, letter recognition, rhyming and blending sounds, differentiation of long and short vowel sounds, spelling, recognition of compound words, recollection of common high-frequency words, and reading emergent-reader texts with fluency. There are three different game modes for teachers or parents to choose from, including a guided learning path, free play, and practice with specific words in the ABC dictionary. This app can be used as an early preparatory tool at home or as a complement to in-class instruction.

Letter Formation Apps, Tools, and Resources That We Love

Are you looking for letter formation apps, tools, and resources that you can use with your students? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.

Kids Academy– With Kids Academy, your kids will learn to write letters and develop handwriting skills in a very interesting way. The app helps students to learn while playing a game that uses a proven multisensory approach to teach children how to lowercase and uppercase letters. Kids are guided by arrows and dotted lines through the letter tracing process.

Dexteria offers therapeutic exercises developed to improve fine motor skills and handwriting in kids and adults. It can also be used to build strength and improve motor control. For best results, the exercises should be done regularly in small sessions. Dexteria is also designed with an automatic tracker and self-reporting feature so that parents, teachers, and therapists can monitor both compliance and progress.

Handwriting Heroes– As the name implies, Handwriting Heroes is a perfect, multisensory program that helps kids get a strong foundation for writing fluently and legibly. Through music, stories, and animation, your kids will learn the formation of lowercase letters and be able to explain why they are formed that way. The app comes with three levels of difficulty to entertain and educate elementary school kids of different abilities.

Handwriting Without Tears: Wet-Dry-Try– This app allows students to practice writing letters and numbers on a virtual chalkboard. Kids learn correct ways of writing numbers, lowercase letters, and capitals while practicing along. Kids can learn handwriting skills most productively and easily through the simulation of Blackboard and Slate Chalkboard with Double Line.

Lesson Planning Apps, Tools, and Resources That I Would Use If I Were Still in the Classroom

Back in 2001, when I started as a teacher, the technology boom was in its nascent stage. I remember toting a large bag filled with papers home most nights and going to sleep drowning under a vast sea of student homework that needed grading. My classroom was even worse, cluttered with books, manipulatives, globes, maps, and learning stations that left little room for anything else. However, as I write this in 2018, things have changed dramatically. Today’s teachers have edtech in their corners.

Digital teaching and learning tools have streamlined education processes and provide learning experiences that stretch far beyond the materials that were available for me back in 2001. Teachers today will never know the hard work that it takes to develop a lesson plan from scratch, painstakingly developing anticipatory sets, learning experiences, formative and summative assessments, and aligning everything to relevant curriculum standards. Now, there are tens of thousands of tools that will do the heavy lifting for them. With a few clicks of the mouse, they have completed lesson plan in front of them, aligned to the necessary curriculum standards. If I were still in the classroom today, I’d use these lesson planning apps, tools and resources:

BetterLesson: This edtech company compiles thousands of lesson plans and resources into one convenient location. Each of the plans has been crafted by a teacher so you can be certain that they will work in your classroom. BetterLesson offers plans for math, ELA, science, and blended learning.

OnCourse Lesson Planner – This platform can be used to handle all the administrative processes of a school. The OnCourse Lesson Planner utilizes different features to reduce pressure on the teacher and to track student and staff performance.

SCASY – This system can be used to create a unique learning schedule and structure lesson plans to suit the needs of the school and each student. SCASY connects students and fosters relationships between parents and school administrators. It also has the features needed to support various school activities.

Common Curriculum: Common Curriculum aligns very closely with Common Core standards. It allows you to rearrange lessons, drag and drop items, and reschedule them for later dates. One of the unique benefits of Common Curriculum is that it allows you to collaborate on documents together. You can see and track changes that other teachers in your department are making in real-time.

LearnZillion: Edtech companies like LearnZillion are taking online lesson planning to a new level. The lessons here include teacher and student materials, teaching guides, and even assessments to go along with the curriculum. Educators can use LearnZillion’s instructional videos, easy assignment options, and more.

Did we miss any?

PreK Math Apps, Tools, and Resources That We Love

Are you looking for PreK math apps, tools, and resources that you can use with your students? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.

Adding Eggs– With this app, your children learn to count and solve related math problems by moving eggs around on the screen. The eggs can be moved around to discover numbers that can be summed up to arrive at the answer that was provided. For example, the sum of 6 can be 2 and 4 or 1 and 5, etc. There are 6 levels, and each level determines how high the numbers will go.

Learning Games for Kids– Learning Games for Kids provides children with games that help them t\o learn math, language, science, history, and more. Geared toward preschool to elementary aged children, these games are fun, visually stimulating, and auditorily appealing to keep kids engaged and wanting to learn more.

Kids Numbers and Math– Kids Numbers and Math helps preschoolers and elementary school kids learn to identify numbers and carry out basic arithmetic. It is designed with little mathematicians in mind with its large numbers and a bright color palette, orchards, balloons, and old-fashioned blackboard to keep your child engaged.

JumpStart Preschool – Your preschooler needs to have fun learning, and JumpStart Preschool gives you just that! It is designed for your little kids to learn pre-reading and critical-thinking skills while on the go. Your kids will learn to recognize and count numbers, practice shapes, and colors while on the search for the best wiggly creatures to complete the collection. They will listen to stories by flipping through pages as words are read aloud.

Happy Numbers –  helps PK-5 teachers differentiate instruction and deepen students’ conceptual understanding of math. The product is driven by pedagogy, while supported by technology (and not vice versa). We teach students to think math with elements such as visual modeling, virtual manipulatives, and multiple representations of math concepts to give students the opportunity to explore the meaning behind math, creating connections and developing deep conceptual understanding. Happy Numbers is learner-led, at the same time, integrated into the classroom routines to not be disruptive. While teachers differentiate in small groups, Happy Numbers differentiates with the rest of the class and gives teachers actionable insights about student growth.

Math Leaper– Math Leaper, is designed to help preschool through grade eight students master mathematics. With power-ups, candies, achievements, and levels, Math Leaper makes learning a fun game. There are over 200 ways that Math Leaper tests students’ problem-solving abilities, and, while having fun, students may not even notice that they are learning so much.

Preschool Puzzle Math– Preschool Puzzle Math is a puzzle-solving game that teaches children math. It allows them to practice counting, simple addition, and subtraction. Preschool Puzzle Math helps your child develop the fundamental math skills that will help them going forward with mathematics. Your child learns to count, add, and find their way around tasking puzzle games with free-flowing gameplay. Suitable for ages three to seven.

Preschool & Kindergarten Games– This is a collection of 15 immersive games that combine fun and entertainment in a unique blend designed to engage and excite your preschool and kindergarten children. Students’ progress earns them stickers that they can attach to their board. Essential features in the apps such as appropriate voice narrations, beautiful illustrations, and playful sound effects help children to learn letters, spelling, math, and more. The apps use the preschool and kindergarten curriculums that comply with the Common Core Standards. The collection comes with two free games; additional games are available for purchase in-app.

Park Math– Learn to count, add, subtract, sort, and do more things with numbers while you play at the park with Blue Bear and his friends. Park Math introduces your child to basic math concepts. It is designed for children in kindergarten and preschool grades, between the ages of one and six. Take part in seven fun activities engineered to solidify their knowledge base. The game has two levels: Level 1 for counting up to 20, and addition/subtraction with numbers up to five. Level 2 lets you count up to 50 and add and subtract with numbers up to 10.

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox– Preschoolers love games and are the best at learning, so Monkey Preschool Lunchbox combines both these elements. Designed for two- to five-year-olds, this app has six games to teach colors, letters, counting, shapes, sizes, matching, and spotting the differences. Fun monkeys assist the child, and cute sounds and designs make it appealing to young eyes and ears. Children will also learn fruits and numbers. Virtual stickers provide positive reinforcement for a job well done.

Lesson Plan Creation Apps, Tools, and Resources That We Love

Are you looking for lesson plan creation apps, tools, and resources that you can use to develop outstanding learning experiences? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.

LearnBoost– LearnBoost is a free, online grading software for teachers. It keeps everything in one place and is a safe and secure place for teachers to update grades and share with students and parents. Whether you are a teacher with multiple classes or one class with lots of students, it can be hard to stay organized and on top of everything. LearnBoost will streamline this work for you in the cloud. As a bonus, you can also create visually appealing lesson plans on LearnBoost using special tools and editing options.

My e-Coach– My eCoach is a safe and secure online environment where you can make a virtual classroom. You can create lesson plans, project guides, websites, and more—all centered around Common Core Standards that apply to all education. You can connect with other educators and teachers in a private area or share content with your students and the world. This is one giant “cloud” of information and content that is all in one place, accessible whenever and wherever you need it.

Learning Tool Interoperability Apps, Tools, and Resources That We Love

Are you looking for learning tool interoperability apps, tools, and resources that you can use with your students? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.

Academic Earth– Designed to make world-class education accessible to everybody by offering online classes and learning tools free of charge. Whether you plan to learn for fun or for career advancement, Academic Earth provides you with access to the world’s best universities and scholars.

Junyo– Junyo’s learning tools helps the teacher to understand the student’s interests, needs, and abilities better. We can help you to improve the student’s learning, increase classroom efficacy, and increase motivation through our analytics technology, which is for businesses in the educational sector. We love education, data, and learning improvements, which is why we run a classroom-facing tool called Junyo Streams. 

Kannu – Kannu is a cloud-based learning management system, which uses tools such as media libraries, direct messaging, and user portfolios to achieve digital learning. With the use of active learning tools and management tools, Kannu allows users to have customized courses, which are essential for the creation and reiteration system. The platform makes use of responsive media on desktop and mobile devices to enhance the user’s experience. The platform also includes Kannu’s analytics, which gives actionable insight into how users interact with the platform and reports that help the user measure success.

Microsoft Learning Tools– The Microsoft Learning Tools app is built-in extension tools that can be used to aid in writing and reading. This app is intended for all types of people, whether young or old, high or low learning skills. All the tools are designed with a complex function that is easy to use. These tools are all available in Office 365 products on Windows, Mac, iPad, Microsoft Edge browser, and so on. They are guaranteed to help with reading, writing, and comprehension, and they all are free.