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Students use a rocket to get up close with outer space and the planets. Makes the learning more of a game and helps students to really grasp the unique characteristics of each planet.

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Space by Tinybop (Tinybop Inc.) - Best App For Kids

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An interesting list of apps that can support students with different prior knowledge or skills.

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Do you like apps? Do you use them in the classroom? Not every district, school, or parent has the ability to support apps in the day-to-day learning environment, but for those that can, there are some fun, effective, tried-and-true apps that can make a tremendous difference in the lives of diverse learners.

Many states now require incorporating technology into standardized testing, so the number of systems with the ability and willingness to support apps and software is also increasing. Many teachers and parents enjoy apps just as much as students. Naturally, the apps that are optimal for student learning are those so engaging that students forget or never know that these things were designed as educational tools. In addition to classroom use, apps are a terrific and effective way to encourage continued exploration and engagement over evenings, weekends, or summer break. There are tons of apps to explore, but here are a few favorites that may benefit your diverse learners!

Staying on Track

EpicWin is an organizational or executive function tool that is great for keeping students on task, keeping them from procrastinating, and using gaming to incentivize their tasks. Homework, projects, and chores become a lot more fun with this gamified role-playing app. The more of your everyday life tasks that you complete, the more your characters grow and develop within the game, leading to better scores and adventure. It's a great work/life balance game that is fun for teachers, parents, and students. Simply set up an avatar, enter tasks to complete, assign "epicness" or priority, finish the task, fight a battle, and earn rewards based on the task's epicness.

Picking Up on Social Cues

Sōsh helps students develop social skills and cope with stress or anxiety. It's ideal for students on the autism spectrum, especially those with Asperger's, but it can benefit any student who struggles socially or with anxiety. Sōsh is a fun interactive coaching app that offers a variety of features geared toward socialization and regulating behaviors. The app focuses on the 5 R's to help users:

Students can browse the emotions gallery, set priorities, shred their emotions in the shredder, or pump up the balloon to express their stress level. Sōsh Lite is the free version. While the paid version is pricey, it offers several additional features for enhancing social skills.

Prioritizing Time

Parents, teachers, and older students will appreciate RescueTime's approach to time management. This app is especially effective for older teens, or for anyone who has trouble regulating time. Whether the issue is time spent gaming, on the phone, or on social media, RescueTime helps optimize technology use by identifying wasted time. Students might discover that the time they spend on their choice of digital entertainment borders on addictive. Some may be surprised to learn that they're spending too much time on their phone. RescueTime reveals personal peak times that might be better spent on homework (or grading papers), and it provides visual data of the big picture. There's also a terrific RescueTime blog that shares how other users maximize their time with video commentary. Download the app, set preferences, goals, and alerts, and you're on your way to developing healthier habits and optimizing your time.

Strengthening Math

Todo will send younger elementary students on fun-filled, multi-leveled missions as they advance or as they show deficiency. It's entertaining and provides reinforcement that doesn't feel like reinforcement -- or even like work. Choose the mode of play, set the practice time for up to 15 minutes per session, and solve math quizzes or play along free style. There are multiple levels, and the content has been aligned to meet math standards. Todo has an educational charm that is appealing to diverse learners and abilities. (You can find a demonstration video on Todo Math's homepage.)

Sharpening Language

DuoLingo remains one of the best apps for teaching languages and is equally usable for English-language learners. The app teaches 16 languages and has earned the App of the Year designation from Apple. The best feature of this app is the cost: absolutely free! Getting started on DuoLingo is straightforward -- download, choose the language you want to learn, and you're ready to practice. They have a pictorial guide that can answer most of your questions. The app offers several methods of learning that will meet diverse learner preferences. You can even set timers to remind you to practice at bedtime or in the car.

When parents, teachers, and students partner to use apps for reinforcement, they can make a world of difference in the everyday lives of diverse learners. Mutual understanding of the apps' purposes and features, as well as consistently using them at home and at school, can be incredibly effective. And for most apps, the big plus is that they're free. If there is a cost involved, check with the creators or developers to see if educator or school district discounts are available. In many cases, they are!

What are your favorite apps for diverse learners? Please tell us about them in the comments below.

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Apps to Support Diverse Learners in the Classroom | Edutopia

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Do you like apps? Do you use them in the classroom? Not every district, school, or parent has the ability to support apps in the day-to-day learning environment, but for those that can, there are some fun, effective, tried-and-true apps that can make a tremendous difference in the lives of diverse learners.

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The effects of integrating apps in the classroom - Moore

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The effects of integrating apps in the classroom - Moore

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This article seeks to determine whether technologies in the form of mobile devices are actually effective when used in the classroom.

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The effects of integrating mobile devices with teaching and learning on students' learning performance: A meta-analysis and research synthesis

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Mobile devices such as laptops, personal digital assistants, and mobile phones have become a learning tool with great potential in both classrooms and...

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Michael Allara-stop motion stories in science (and beyond)

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Michael Allara-stop motion stories in science (and beyond)

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Many of my students struggle to express themselves fully in English on the page or through speech. Though we want to improve those skills, it is important to give those students opportunities to demonstrate mastery. The two apps described below do just that.

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Jules Picuri - Amination in the classroom

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Jules Picuri - Amination in the classroom

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Since students don't always have the voculubar to demonstrate learning and/or understanding, including opportunities to  show understanding in a different way. In this article, it highlights different animation/cartooning apps that allow students to draw/represent learning.

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Using Animation Tools in the Classroom

Animation tools can be a valuable resource in your classroom. Not only will students demonstrate their understanding of concepts while they are creating the animations but the finished product can then be uploaded to an online learning space. This provides an authentic audience for student work and also provides opportunities for students to critique / review work by other students.

1. Use animation to teach key concepts

Have the students create animations that will show key concepts you are trying to teach. For instance, if you are teaching the water cycle, instead of having the students write a report that they will forget next week, have them create an actual model of the water cycle using free animation software.

2. Use animation to teach mathematical equations

If you use a free animation program such as Scratch, students will have to create linear equations and understand geometric concepts in order to create their own cartoons.

3. Using animation for students who are reluctant to present to the class

Many students are afraid to stand up in front of a class and tell everything they know about a concept. Those same students are usually the first ones to create a cartoon or animation that will describe that same concept. Using avatars or animation software can make learning come to life.

Resource Links

Animation projects are a great way to integrate technology, encourage project-based learning and have a lot of fun.

Fluxtime
The site includes a library of background templates and objects. Add them to the canvas, move and record the movements. Completed projects can be emailed and/or published to a gallery. Great for Middle School.

DigitalFilms.com
Choose a background scene, characters, animated actions, dialog,
introduction, and ending credits. Put your name as the producer
and email the movie to your friends!

Doink
Doink is a powerful, frame-by-frame, animation tool. It features easy to use vector drawing tools one-click frame cloning. After an animation is created (called a drawing), it can be inserted into another, larger project called a composition. This is great practice before introducing you to Adobe Flash.

Xtranormal
For more involved, 3-D looking animations, try Xtranormal. The finished product is a full motion video which can be shared and even loaded to YouTube.

Powerpoint Animations
This website will teach you how to use the animation features in Powerpoint.

Scratch
Create and share your own interactive stories, games, music and art.

How to Create a Stop-Motion Animation Movie on Your Mac Using Your Digital Camera and iLife
This tutorial is to show you how to create your own amateur stop-motion animation short movie using a digital camera and a Mac running the iLife software suite (iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie, iDVD).

Pencil
2-D animation software.

GoAnimate
Choose your backgrounds and characters and create scenes where the characters speak The quality of the graphics is amazing and the user interface is very intuitive. Check out the Go-animate below about setting up your home study.

For younger students, Kerpoof is an all-time favorite. This site has a suite of creative tools for children that are perfect for the elementary classroom. Another great feature is the ability to create free teacher accounts to manage your students. To create animations, choose the Make a Movie tool. Numerous themes, backgrounds, characters, etc. are available for your students to get to work quickly.

ABCYa.com is a very simple animation site for young students. It provides 40 frames and a blank canvas...similar to hand drawing frames in a notebook and then flipping the pages. It's easy and kids love bringing their drawings to life.

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Animation tools can be a valuable resource in your classroom. Not only will students demonstrate their understanding of concepts while they are creating the animations but the finished product can then be uploaded to an online learning space. This provides an authentic audience for student work and also provides opportunities for students to critique / review work by other students.

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The past year I've used a lot of game type apps in my classroom. I've used Kahoot!, Quizizz, Quizlet and Gimkit (not an app) depending on the situation and the engagement from different students. It's a great assessment tool but also something fun when I need students to memorize basic facts. Plus I like playing along with them and crushing them! (Except they usually all team up against me and I don't win as often as I'd like...)

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Game show classroom: Comparing Kahoot!, Quizizz, Quizlet Live and Gimkit

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The best features of game shows can be used to review and teach in the classroom. Kahoot!, Quizizz, Quizlet Live, and Gimkit can help. See their pros,

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Meghan Dayringer - 10 apps for classroom management and student engagement. 

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Meghan Dayringer - 10 apps for classroom management and student engagement. 

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I used Nearpod for NTI this year and I found it to be REALLY useful and student friendly.

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All of these apps can be utilized for classroom management and just integrating technology with basic activities such as note taking and checking for understanding or review!

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This is a video given on the JCPS Digital Learning Youtube channel. This channel has A LOT of videos, on A LOT of topics.

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Deirdre Johnson, apps to personalize learning

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Deirdre Johnson, apps to personalize learning

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https://www.edutopia.org/blog/apps-transform-teaching-personalize-learning-ann-feldmann

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Autodesk Sketchbook and Autocad (drawing and engineering/mapping software) are free to educators!
https://sketchbook.com/

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Student and Education Software | 1-Year License | Autodesk Education Community

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Unlock your creative potential with access to 3D design software from Autodesk. Software downloads are available to students, educators, educational institutions.