Updated at: 27-03-2023 - By: Eden Wise

Overview

Given that there are over 567,000 educational apps in 2023, finding ones of high quality may seem like an impossible task. Finding high-quality education apps that actually improve classroom instruction is a challenge. We invested many hours investigating and evaluating popular learning and education apps that come highly recommended by professionals in the field. Young children can benefit greatly from the use of educational apps in the early stages of their education.

Most educational tablet and smartphone apps are designed to enhance the learning process for both students and instructors. There are tens of thousands of educational apps available in the App Store and Google Play Store. Apps for education are enhancing student participation, immersion, and engagement in and out of the classroom.

These carefully selected children’s educational apps cater to learners of varying ages, skill sets, and preferred pedagogical approaches. All types of students can be accommodated in the classroom and the learning objectives can be maintained with the help of these apps.

The use of educational apps has been shown to increase student participation, interest, and achievement. Apps designed specifically for learning are a great way to keep lessons interesting and maintain students’ interest in schoolwork.

Apps are proven to be useful in the classroom by educational research or are created with the help of teachers and curriculum designers. The great learning apps we cover in this guide are not designed to make kids smarter, to drill facts, or to replace in-school learning; rather, they are great because they are entertaining and engaging for both children and their parents.

Find out what the top school-related apps are for iOS and Android right now.

Best Educational Apps For Schools

Best educational apps for schools

ChatGPT 

In November of 2023, OpenAI released ChatGPT, an innovative AI chatbot system that showcases the incredible potential of AI. Users can ask a plethora of questions and get answers almost instantly with this revolutionary tool.

Changes in how we live and work have been permanent results of ChatGPT’s innovative technology. In order to adequately prepare students for their futures, educators must now face the challenge of adjusting to a world driven by artificial intelligence. Under these conditions, teachers need to actively seek out means to create a productive learning environment that takes into account the advances in modern technology.

Novel Effect

Novel Effect

Novel Effect is a voice-activated app that works in tandem with printed books to create a dynamic reading and listening adventure. When you read aloud from the book, the app can recognize when you’ve read certain words or phrases. This occurs when the story is accompanied by music, sound effects, or other audio clips. Using it is like reading a whole new book!

The novel element of surprise and delight that Novel Effect provides makes it a favorite tool among educators. Young listeners appreciate storybooks that include sound effects because it helps them feel more connected to the plot and empathize with the main character’s experiences. More than that, it helps educators spark students’ interest in reading.

You can play Novel Effect on your mobile device, desktop computer, or web browser. The App Store, Google Play, the Microsoft Store, and the Amazon Appstore all stock it.

Prodigy

The Prodigy Math Game is an exciting and effective way to hone your mathematical knowledge and abilities. The Prodigy Math Game allows students to work at their own pace while getting instantaneous critiques of their efforts. The game’s ability to adjust to the skill level of each player makes it a useful resource for individualizing lessons.

Teachers create lesson plans based on the topics currently being covered in class, and students log into Prodigy using their Google accounts or generic usernames and passwords. The curriculum is adaptive, so if a student is having trouble with one standard after another, they will continue to see new problems to practice as they move forward in the program.

The best part is… Since Prodigy is a game, kids get to experience all the excitement of playing while also gaining a firm grasp on mathematical concepts. In this at-home assignment, students create avatars to represent themselves in a battle against their peers.

When looking for a fun and interactive way to teach math concepts to elementary school students, many teachers turn to Prodigy Math Game. You can get it for your iPhone, Android, or on the web.

Book Creator

Book Creator

Even if you don’t know how to read or write, Book Creator makes it easy to create your own digital books. Children can make their stories more interesting by including pictures, videos, and drawings. It’s straightforward enough for toddlers, but flexible enough for college students or working professionals. Book Creator is a simple program that can be used to create multimedia electronic books on any topic, from elementary school level and up.

Listen to your book being read aloud to you in a variety of languages, complete with highlighted text and page turns. You can publish your book in a variety of formats, including ePub, PDF, and HTML, and share it online.

Book Creator is compatible with any device running iOS or Android, as well as any computer running a modern web browser, such as Windows, macOS, or Chrome OS.

BOOKR Class

The English-learning app BOOKR Class uses animated stories and games to engage students through the power of narrative. Teachers now have a dependable digital resource that is easily accessible through the curated library app and can be used at any time with their students. Using real-time reading data and assigned books, the Teacher’s Dashboard helps educators plan lessons, maximize their time, and differentiate instruction. They can monitor students’ interest, reading habits, homework completion, and linguistic and cognitive growth as a whole.

ABCmouse.com

ABCmouse.com The preschool program at Early Learning Academy lays the groundwork for future academic success by teaching students the fundamentals in the four core areas of Reading, Math, World Around Us (beginning science and social studies), and Art & Colors.

The educational games on ABCmouse.com are both entertaining and engaging. Preschoolers aged three and up can use their preschool alphabet games, preschool art games, preschool number games, and preschool shapes games to learn the alphabet, numbers, and shapes.

The games’ voiced instructions make them accessible to even the youngest players. The complete ABC Mouse review is available on this page.

Edmodo

Edmodo

Edmodo is a social learning platform for K-12 institutions and their associated educational systems. Edmodo can be used for a variety of purposes, including group chat, surveys, homework and tests, and more. Students can easily send their teachers private messages or materials, and teachers can more easily manage their classes.

Using Edmodo, teachers can streamline their communication with students and reduce administrative tasks. Millions of useful teaching materials have been created and shared by other educators on Edmodo. Edmodo has helped millions of educators reach more students, boost student achievement, and make better use of existing curriculum.

Parents can keep tabs on their children’s Edmodo progress and activities with a parent account. Parents will have access to their children’s academic information such as homework, grades, teacher notes, the school calendar, and more.

Vivi

Vivi rocks, man. It’s a wireless presentation tool that also acts as a screen mirroring app (so that all of the class’s devices display the same content).

Content can be annotated and saved in real-time by both students and teachers. No matter if a student uses an Apple, Microsoft, Android, etc. device, they can access it.

You can move freely about the classroom without being tethered by plugging in a blue box. Because of its high price tag (around $300 or £230), I would recommend that your school invest in this option.

Nonetheless, I am confident that you will enjoy using them if they become available in your school.

Flipgrid

To use Flipgrid, all your students need is a device with a camera.

Essentially, you can have students record video responses to assigned topics or questions. today’s students devote a great deal of their time to social media; this app brings that mentality into the classroom, where it can (hopefully) be translated into a more active participation in lessons.

In addition to facilitating participation from students who might not otherwise speak up, this strategy gives those students who are more reserved an opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions with the group. No more of that with Flipgrid!

Students are able to provide visual responses to homework questions and elaborate on more difficult concepts.

Students can share their thoughts on assigned readings, class videos, or anything else they’ve learned in a YouTube-style review.

It’s pretty cool, and I’ve seen it used by students to record videos in a news reporter style.

Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts is essentially a messaging app, but it has a lot more functionality built right in.

Easy communication with parents, students, and fellow educators (especially helpful if you need another educator or leader to come collect a student needing to be removed!) are two of the most obvious applications. However, it has a wide range of additional applications.

Video content (such as a visiting speaker that not all students/teachers can get to see) can be recorded and saved in Google Hangouts, then sent to whoever needs to see it.

Students can prepare for exams virtually in groups (e.g., classes) that you create for them.

I’ve even used it as a form of flipped homework by assigning a video discussion to my students. The following class we reviewed the students’ exchange and talked about the issues that were brought up.

PBS KIDS Games

The free app PBS KIDS Games is a fantastic addition to PBS’s legendary lineup of kid-friendly TV shows and original productions.

Games based on popular PBS kids’ shows like Daniel Tiger, Elmo, Curious George, Wild Kratts, The Cat in the Hat, and Dinosaur Train are sure to be a hit with young players.

Safe, ad-free programming for preschoolers gives parents peace of mind. Letter and word recognition, object naming, geometry shapes, and puzzle solving are all a part of the learning experience.

The app’s target audience is children ages 2 to 8, but those under 5 will get the most out of it. Those who haven’t yet started kindergarten will benefit the most from it, as older children may find it too simplistic.

BrainPOP

BrainPOP, like Khan Academy, is a comprehensive learning tool: Interactive quizzes, activities, and games complement the hundreds of animated instructional videos.

The app includes sections on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), STEAM (health, social, and emotional learning), STEAM (arts, music, and theater), and STEAM (engineering). BrainPOP caters to students in upper-elementary and middle school, whereas Khan Academy is more appropriate for those in high school.

Children in grades K-3 can use BrainPOP Jr., while those learning English can use BrainPOP ELL. Many school districts use BrainPOP as a supplementary learning tool because it is aligned to the Common Core and state standards and because it is available in Spanish and French.

A home subscription to BrainPOP costs around $16 per month, which may be prohibitive for some families. A school or teacher’s license may, however, allow many students access. And it’s a great choice for kids who learn at home.

BrainPOP’s Featured Movie (available in Spanish and French versions), BrainPOP Jr.’s Movie of the Week, and BrainPOP ELL are just a few of the free apps available on mobile devices that are affiliated with BrainPOP.

FAQs

How Effective Are Apps at Providing Educational Instruction?

Most of these apps have been around for a while and are considered valuable learning resources; however, they cannot replace direct teacher instruction. Math apps have been shown to have some effect on improving students’ test scores, but reading apps have not.

How Should I Use Educational Apps With My Younger Children?

In accordance with the recommendations made by pediatricians, app use should be restricted for younger children. Children under the age of two years old shouldn’t have any screen time at all, and kids aged two to five should have no more than an hour per day. In addition, pediatricians advocate for parental participation in these apps with their young patients. 1

The most effective learning apps include tools that keep kids interested and focused on the material at hand while also building on their prior knowledge and experience. Most importantly, children are more likely to be actively engaged in and learn from open-ended, choose-your-own-adventure-style apps than they are from linear, adult-led ones.

Conclusion

The digital landscape is constantly changing, and with it comes a seemingly infinite number of options for educational apps. However, not every app is built the same. Do your homework and find the best app for your classroom, whether it’s a reading app to boost literacy or a math game to supplement student learning.

We hope you found some useful information about educational apps in this article that will help you better serve the needs of your students. Please share your own personal favorites that we missed and feedback on how some of our suggestions worked for you.