175+ Apps to Personalize Learning 

Applications (apps) are everywhere, whether used on a cellphone, tablet, or other device. I’ve compiled this list of over 175 free apps for education arranged by category. This list was shared with a packed room of educators at the annual Georgia Educational Technology Conference (#GAETC15) in November. I personally use many of these apps in my classroom. This list includes web, iOS, and Android apps and a few extensions and add-ons. A brief description of what each app can do is provided for most of the apps. Many of these apps have paid versions that have advanced features outside of the scope of what the free versions can do but I have found that the free versions work very well for the classroom. This list is continually updated. Please feel free to leave a comment to share your favorite apps for education.

Presentations

Powerful Presentations – Presentations beyond a standard PowerPoint (Some of these apps can be used for videos too!)

• Canva – Design flyers, posters, E-magazines, E-books, social media covers, blog graphics, presentations, etc (iPad/Web) (Some options and templates can be used and shared for free)
• Haiku Deck – Presentation software (iPad/Web)
• Emaze – 2D & 3D online presentation software (Web)
• Powtoon – Online animated videos and presentations (Web)
• Animoto – Use photos and video + music to create slideshows (lite version – 30 sec./free trial) (Web)
• SlideDog – Combines most media types (PPT, Pdf, Prezi, etc) into one seamless multimedia presentation (Web)
• Glogster – Put together text, audio, images, video, etc into a multimedia presentation. Also can be used for an E-portfolio. (Note: Free for a limited time)
• Flowboard – Presentations are interactive and can contain documents, videos, galleries, and navigation (iPad/Web)
• GoAnimate – Make professional animated presentations and videos (Note: Only some templates are free) (Web)
• Kizoa – Create slide shows, collages, or videos
• Photo Peach – Create slide shows with pictures and text (Note: Cannot download finished product without purchasing the premium version)
• Keynote – Apple’s version of PowerPoint (Note: Free on some devices) (iPhone/iPad/Mac)
• SnapGuide – Create a How to Guide with pictures & videos, can also add captions (iOS/Web)

Videos

• VivaVideo – Create a video story that can be edited (iPhone)
• Animaker Beta – Unlimited animated videos (Note: 2 minute length and limited characters) (Web)
• Vimeo – Create, watch, upload, and share videos (Web)
• PresentMe – Simply talk and record to add video and/or audio to your document or presentation (Web)
• Vyclone – Merge multiple videos (from different phones) into one video to create a multi angle video – great for group assignments (iPhone/iPad/Google)
• Windows Movie Maker – Create videos. Simply talk and record to add video and/or audio to your document or presentation. Can be used for podcasts. (Web)
• Picle – Capture moments (photo or video), turn them into stories, and share (iPad/iPhone/iPod)
• Videolicious – Make a video in seconds just tap and talk (Note: 1 minute length/ 10 supporting shots, and 1 sound bite). (Web)
• iMajiCam – Create videos with video effects in real time (iPad/iPhone/iPod)
• iMovie – Create, browse and share movies created on an iOS device. Can be used for podcasts. (Note: Only some versions are free)
• Screenchomp – Recordable whiteboard/ Take iPad screenshots and explain concepts (iPad)
• Educreations – Record voice and iPad screen to create video lessons that are shareable (iPad)
• Masher – Put together photos, video, text, and effects (Web)
• Wideo – Put together videos in a flash (Note: only 30 seconds of video is free) (Web)
• WeVideo – Video editing (Chrome/Android)
• Moovly – Create animated videos (Web)
• Renderforest – Create slideshows, use animation, add music, etc (Note: Cannot simply view video (with free version) have to download to view and it takes a minute) (Web)
• Splice – Mix video clips, music, photos, visual & sound effects, text, audio, and voice-overs (iOS)
• Video Editor Free – Video editor (iOS)
• Jahshaka – Must download (Windows) ?
• Action Movie FX – Place an item into a video you have already recorded, can also record a video and add the effect (example: a disaster) (Note: Some options are free) (iOS)
• Super Power FX – Add in “Super Power” effects (iOS)

Videos – Screenshots/ Screen Recording/ Screencast videos

• ShowMe – Record whiteboard tutorials with voice over that can also be shared online (iPad)
• Screenr – Create web-based screen-cast videos with audio (iPhone/Web)
• Screencast-o-matic – Create a screen-cast recording 15 mins max (Note: ELHS students do not use because you cannot save your video at school.)  (Web)
• Screencastify – Screencast recording free version 10 mins per video (Chrome)
• Explain Everything – “An easy-to-use design, screen-casting, and interactive whiteboard tool that lets you annotate, animate, narrate, import, and export almost anything to and from almost anywhere.” Makes videos (iPhone/iPad) (Note: not free)
• Jing – Share images and videos of your computer screen
• Snag it – Take a screenshot, screen capture, or screen video recording (Chrome)
• Awesome Screenshot – Capture screenshots only (Web – Chrome, Firefox and Safari)

Videos – Short Videos Narrated by a Character

• Voki (Web)
• Tellagami
• Facetalker
• Blabberize – Use a picture and blabberize it (Web)
• Plotagon – Create a 3-D animated video (iPhone/iPad)
• Myidol – Take your picture and customize it into an avatar which you can use to direct your own show (iOS)
• Insta3D

Video and Presentation Related

• Periscope – Broadcast live video from any where (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch/Android)
• SlideShark – Simply upload a PowerPoint file to your online account and the slides are automatically converted to a mobile format. The app can be used to download and show your presentation on your mobile device, projector, or broadcast over the web. It has the ability to share an online version of your presentation for others to view on-demand, anytime from any device, and track viewing results.
• SlideShare – Upload and share presentations, infographics, documents, videos, PDFs, and webinars. (Android/Web)
• Thinglink – Make images and video interactive

Find Pictures/Photos

• Compfight – May be some cost involved depending on the photo
• Iconfinder – Find icons (Note: Some free options are available)
• Creative Commons

Audio/Podcasts

Podcast – Audio or video; a digital file recording, often part of a series, that can be downloaded from a website to a computer or other device such as a cell phone.

• Audacity
• GarageBand (OS X) – can be used for a podcast
• Capti – Plays audio of pdfs – can be used for a podcast
• PodOmatic– Create and share podcasts. (Note: A music file from another source is used to create the podcast.)
• SoundCloud – Music & audio ?

Picture/Photo Gallery

• JAlbum – Creates slides of pictures a sort of photo gallery (Note: Free trial only)

Drawing

• SketchNotes – Draw and take notes on an iPad (iPad)
• A Web Whiteboard – Draw on a whiteboard using the computer, tablet, or smartphone. (Web)

Cartoon/Comics

• Toondoo – Create cartoon strips
• Make Beliefs Comix
• Chogger
• Pixton (Note: May be best to log in with Gmail and need parent’s permission if under a certain age)
• Witty Comics
• Comic Master – Create a comic book

Games/Assessments

• Socrative – Create and share online quizzes, surveys, and games (Android/Web)
• Kahoot! – Online quizzes & games (iPad/Android/Web)
• Nearpod – Create and download presentations and lessons to share with students, students can interact (answer questions) and teachers can receive data on students (iPad/Android/Web)
• Plickers – Collect real time formative assessment data with or without mobile devices (iPad/iPhone/Android)
• Jeopardy Rocks – Create an online Jeopardy game (Web)
• Act it Out – Game (iPhone)
• GradeCam
• Zaption – Embed questions for students to answer in a video
• Quizziz – Games and quizzes online (similar to Kahoot! (Quizziz is Kahoot 2.0 – but allows students to see their answers on their device, etc)
• FlipQuiz – Create a game show style game board for review games

Infographics 

• Easel.ly – Infographic templates
• Infogr.am – Create online infographics (Web)
• Venngage – Infographic maker

To Do List/Calendar

• Any.do – Sync all of your tasks across several different devices (iPhone/Android/Chrome app/Chrome extension/Web)
• Wunderlist – To do list app (Chrome)
• Calendars 5 – Calendar app with tasks, reminders -syncs with Google calendar (iPhone/iPad)

Online Meetings and Collaboration

• TodaysMeet – A back channel for discussion and collaboration
• Chatzy – Back channel  for communication
• Ning – Back channel to ask students questions and check for understanding
• Fuze Meeting – Host and attend online meetings/web conferences with up to 25 people (Android/iOS)
• Google Hangout – Have group conversations and meetings (Android/iOS/Web)

Communication

• Groupme – Send group texts which allows for sharing of videos, photos, etc
• WhatsApp – Text message people all over the world

Flash Cards

• Quizlet – Create and use study tools such as flash cards, tests, games, etc (Web)
• Flippity.net – Turn a Google spreadsheet into online flashcards.
• Evernote Peek – Turn images, notes, audio, etc into materials for study. (iPad)

Social Media Story

• Storify – Allows for the creation of stories from social media posts (Web)
• Tagboard – Track hashtags – Can search and collect (Web)

E-book or E-Magazine

• Madmagz – (Note: Provides only one template)
• Glossi
• Flipsnack – Create digital publications such as magazines and books (Web)
• Fodey Newspaper Clipping Generator – Can create a newspaper clipping
• Joomag – Professional online publication editor
• zinepal – Create an E-book and/or turn your website or blog into an E-book or E-magazine
• Simple Booklets – Make web booklets – Can be  used as an E-portfolio (Note: Teachers can use for free for limited time only)
• PressPad – (Note: Not free)

News

• Zite – Articles from the web tailored for you based on your likes and dislikes and areas of interest (iPad/Android)
• Flipboard – A personal magazine, filled with the things you care about. A single place to discover, collect and share news of importance to you (iPad/ Android/ Web)
• Wibbitz – Receive news as a video summary (iPhone/iPad/iPod)

Videos (Pre-made for viewing)

• Ted – Short videos on various topics (Android/Web)
• SchoolTube – Videos from students and teachers

Read Books Online

• OverDrive
• Audio Book Cloud
• One Click Digital
• Tumble Book Cloud

Read Magazines Online

• Zinio – Read digital magazines (Note: Free from many local libraries) (iPad/Android/Web)

Photo Collage or Compilation

• PicCollage – Create a photo collage of your pictures with background and text options (Andorid/iPad)
• Flipagram – Allows for putting together short “video” stories from your photos (iPad/Android)
• Camera 2 – Photo app, can record and change the way the video looks based on different time periods 1980’s, etc, has lots of cool filters

Reading, Writing, &/or Notes

• Evernote – For notes, writing, capture photos, record audio, with searchable entries. Can also be used as an digital portfolio. (Android/iOS/Web)
• Read, Think, Write
• Notely

Online Forms & Surveys

• Wufoo – Create and share online forms
• Survey Monkey – Create online surveys
• Typeform – Create online forms that are mobile ready;Has a template gallery

Music (Free!)

• Freegal – Stream and download free music, movies, and videos (Note: Available free through many local libraries) (iPad/Android/Web)
• Creative Commons – Find free music and images
• Freesound – Find free music
• Spotify – Listen to playlists in order but only so many skips per hour
• Pandora – Listen to music based on artists or genres
• YouTube – An oldie but a goodie with millions of videos

Group Maker

• Make My Groups – Put people in to groups with this app
• Team Shake – Put students in groups based on rosters and put them into certain groups

Word Cloud Generator 

• Tagexdo
• Wordle
• WorditOut
• other word cloud generators

Digital Portfolios/E-Portfolios (E-folios)

E-Portfolio – an electronic collection of evidence that shows student learning over time.

• Shown’d – Portfolio for illustrations, photos, videos, etc
• Mahara – EPortfolio
• Learner Journey
• Folio spaces
• Foliobook – Present visual and photo artwork.
• eduClipper – Portfolio tool allows students to create portfolios of things they have clipped (aka bookmarked) online.
• Easy Portfolios – Record audio, write text, capture picture and record video directly into portfolio – can also import it on Dropbox. (Note: $1.99) (iOS)
• WeLearnedIt – Create digital portfolios that contain files from Google Drive, Dropbox, links from the web, images and videos captured with iPad, and whiteboard videos created within the app. (iPad)

Non-Traditional Options for E-Portfolios

• Lino – Add sticky notes and photos to a virtual board. Also can be used to curate info.
• Prezi – Can be used for presentations as well as for an E-portfolio (iPad/Web)
• Pinterest – (IPad/Android/Web)
• Live Binders – Online binder to organize links and files – allows upload of documents on shelves, can copy other binders
• Zoho docs – Can be used as a presentation as well
• VoiceThread – Talk, type and draw on the screen – students can flip their work and explain it and teachers can use to flip the classroom. (Note: Not free) (iOS)
• Google Drive – Create and share files in one place. Upload the files and give access to anyone anywhere. (Note: 5 GB free)

Curation Tools/Online Corkboards (could serve as E-Portfolios too)

• Popplet – Virtual wall thoughts can be connected – Must login to use (Free version: limited to 5 popplets)
• Corkulous – (Note: not free)
• Padlet – Virtual wall on the web that allows for collaboration and posting of videos, files, links etc
• Scoop.it – Search for discover and curate information from the web – you can also add your own comments. Can post on social media with one click. Also can be used for an E-portfolio
• Tacck – VirtuaTackboard for everything – can create blog posts, webpage, flyers, and more with pictures, media, maps, etc
• Noteapp
• Spaaze
• TuzzIt
• Trello – (Note: Have to upgrade in order to add pictures)

Websites (Provide another option for E-folios)

• Webs – Website
• Weebly – Website or blog (Web)
• Tumblr – Website or blog (IPad/Android/Web)
• WordPress – Blog or website (iPad/Android/Web)
• Wix
• Google sites – Websites through Google

Blog – a regularly updated website detailing an individual or groups experiences, observations, and opinions. Often written in a conversational or informal style. Usually has images, articles, and links to other websites.

• Flavors.me – Personal website or blog that allows you to combine your social media sites, photos, videos, etc without ads
• Blogger – Blog (Google)
• Tumblr – Website or blog (iPad/Android/Web)
• Edublogger – Blog
• Google Apps and Google Sites – This feature has been much improved over the years

Online Resumes 

• OPResume – Create an online resume
• Do you buzz – Resume

Social Media/Marketing

• Hootlet – Allows users to quickly and easily share content to their Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn from anywhere on the web. In the current window, users can highlight text, share content, images and videos easily. (Chrome & Firefox)
• StayFocusd – Limits the amount of time spent roaming the web. Users can set it to block certain sites, allow some and restrict browsing by time. There’s even a “Nuclear Option” that can block access to the entire Internet. (Chrome)
• AdBlockPlus – Blocks video ads on YouTube, Facebook ads, banners and much more (Chrome)
• Tweetdeck – Simply login to twitter using tweet deck and you can customize how everything is displayed including hashtags you are monitoring and your dashboard

Quote Generator  – Input a quote an customize the output

• Quozio 
• Pablo
• Kwote

Image Editor/Illustrator

• Pixlr
• PicMonkey
• GIMP
• SVG-Edit
• Inkscape
• Serif DrawPlus Free/X5

Link & File sharing

• Dropittome – Quick and easy online file sharing (Web)

Bookmarking 

• Symbaloo – Bookmark with large buttons that take site visitors to websites
• Diiago – Social bookmarking tool – can link to blogs, etc

Timers

• Online Stopwatch – Online timers/ stop watch options (Web)
• Classroom Timer Lite– Online Stopwatch app (iPhone/iPad)
• Countdown Timer – Countdown timer – can add a soundtrack
• Online Timer –  Digital look timer. can adjust the background colors and size of the clock, can only set the timer in minute increments
• Tick Tock Timer – Plug in the numbers for the time, and then start or clear your time but it is small on the screen
• Egg Timer – Enter in the time in words and press go. The timer then takes up the ENTIRE screen
• iPad Online Countdown Timer –  Large on the screen timer and can be adjusted by using +/- buttons.
• Timerland – Farm animals will fill the screen as the clock runs – fun for younger kids

Miscellaneous

• Doctopus – (Add-on) to organize student work
• Flocabulary – A source for educational songs, videos, and activities
• Noisedown – Keep track of the noise level in the classroom sounds an alert when level gets to loud (iPhone)
• ThreeRing – Digital environment for capturing, storing, and using educational artifacts and documenting learning. Capture anything, regardless of format. Students can take a picture of any paper, drawing, or board work and Record presentations or discussions with audio or video. Students can upload their own work from any mobile device or computer. (iPad/Web)
• Class Dojo – Record behaviors and accomplishments in class – Award and recognize student successes / Provide real-time feedback. Share data with parents and students. Parents, teachers and students can sign up.
• Class Kick – Students work on a teacher-made Class Kick assignment on their iPads, teachers see every students’ work progressing all at once. Students can privately raise hands, teachers give individualized, real-time student feedback.(iPad)
• Smore – Online flyer, newsletter, that can be linked to a webpage
• MentorMob – share “educational playlists”
• BrainPop
• QR Codes
• Skitch – Use shapes and sketches; Mark up info
• Class Charts
• Spritzinc
• MYGr
• Chirp – Airdrop files
• World lens – Translates text automatically through the camera (Android)
• Eyejot – Create and send video mail (Web/iPhone/iPod)
• Pix lip – Whiteboard with or without webcam or audio
• Quick key – Use phone to scan answer docs to grade assessments (Note: not free)
• Voxer – Two-way radios that can be used across the world
• Rightinbox – Email scheduling and reminders (Web)
• ColorSchemer – Select colors; complementary and beyond
• Block posters – Make a large poster from a single image or file
• Spiral

Create, Take, or Manage Online Courses 

• iTunes U – Online Courses
• Google Classroom – For teachers
• Course Builder – Create and deliver courses through the open source platform

Adobe Apps

• Adobe Voice – Create an animated video (iOS)
• Adobe color
• Adobe slate – (iOS and web)
• HDR
• Adobe premiere clip

Google Apps – Google is your one stop source for several apps such as:

• Google Drive
• Google Slide
• MyGroups – Google Groups
• Google Docs
• Google Forms

Need an alternative to an application listed above? Check out alternativeTo for an alternative.

What are some of your favorite apps for education? Leave a comment and include your favorite apps.