TeachersFirst BYOD Dream Tools: Free Tools that Work on ANY device!
This collection of reviewed resources and tools from TeachersFirst includes web tools and apps that are available for FREE on iOS (iPad, iPhone), Android, and web devices. Come here to find tools that your students can use as they do instructional activities in your BYOD or 1-1 classroom. In this collection, you will find tools and resources that include calculators, quiz creators, game makers, curation tools, interactive lessons, Venn-diagram creators, literacy accessibility tools, online time trackers, meme creators, podcast makers, translator tools, task list creators, and many other free tools that will work on any device.
Even the best device-agnostic resources have slight differences in capabilities on different devices. Encourage your students to share what they discover about additional or missing features on each type of device. Your class will quickly appoint experts for each resource or tool. TeachersFirst encourages our members (membership is FREE) to add comments and ratings to help other teachers and students who are trying these tools. Free resources and tools change quickly, so we welcome your comments on any changes that may occur to these tools and their free status.
(image credit: Jeremy Keith)
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Plickers - Nolan Amy
Grades
1 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): assessment (130), DAT device agnostic tool (125), game based learning (257), gamification (94), qr codes (15), questioning (34), quiz (62)
In the Classroom
Create greater student engagement and increased student interest in your classroom with Plickers. Students give their input anonymously. Print out Plickers' cards and hand out to students. Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to explain how the Plickers cards work. Create questions, with or without images, and add multiple choice answers. Project your questions and possible answers. Have students hold up their card in the position that reflects their answer. Use your mobile device and Plickers mobile app to scan the cards. You will see a bar graph with student responses on your mobile device. These can be saved to your Plickers account. Use Plickers to answer exit questions or to see what students remember from the previous day. Use for formative assessment to identify misconceptions that students may have at the start of a unit. There are cards with larger fonts for young students or the visually impaired. ENL/ESL teachers could use this for vocabulary or sentence structure practice. Unless your school or district has access to a matte-finish for laminating or matte-plastic pockets, you may want to collect the cards at the end of class.Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Google Photos - Google
Grades
K to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (125), images (256), Storage (6)
In the Classroom
Create a classroom Google account for students to upload video projects or images for projects. Share raw materials for student multimedia projects, such as photos of lab experiments or local historic sites. Share classroom projects privately and easily from your Google account. In elementary classrooms, teachers can use this tool to share photos from field trips, assemblies, project presentations, and other special events. Share the password with parents only. Have older students create their own Google account for collaborating on multimedia projects.Comments
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Bloomz - Chaks Appalabattula
Grades
K to 12tag(s): calendars (34), communication (117), DAT device agnostic tool (125), images (256), parent conferences (20), parents (53), Teacher Utilities (182)
In the Classroom
Use Bloomz for all your communications with your classroom community. Not only that, but share important documents (field trip permission slips, a syllabus, etc.) for others to access; post photos of special projects in class or from field trips. P.E. teachers and coaches can use this tool to post what skills students are learning and action pictures of student involvement in games and activities. Parents can download the free app or receive updates via email. Currently, there are three ways to invite parents and other class members. Email, enter the information manually, or upload an Excel spreadsheet and send a bulk invitation. Create groups within your Bloomz class and invite members. These groups might be volunteers in the classroom, volunteers for driving on a field trip, and more. Then you can communicate just to that group when necessary. Introduce Bloomz to parents at Back to School Night in the fall, Open House in the spring, or during parent conferences. Encourage resource teachers and others to join your class community to see what your class is doing. Update Bloomz on the go with your mobile device!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Wayground (formerly Quizizz) - Quizizz
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (233), DAT device agnostic tool (125), differentiation (79), flash cards (42), game based learning (257), gamification (94), polls and surveys (40), quiz (62), quizzes (86), spanish (105)
In the Classroom
Use Wayground (formerly Quizizz) to generate lessons and formative assessments that engage students in learning. Assign solo quizzes for students to review classroom information and easily differentiate learning by adjusting the reading level and content of the questions. Host a live quiz before starting a new unit to guide lesson planning based on students' prior knowledge. Create and share flashcards with students to use as a study tool, build flipped learning lessons using the interactive video option, or use AI features to generate questions using your documents and websites.Comments
Great way to conduct formative assessments that students love! Its got a great quiz creation interface and many useful customization options too.Deepak, , Grades: 0 - 12
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Random.org - Dr. Mads Haahr
Grades
K to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (125), gamification (94), probability (97), resources (80)
In the Classroom
Use Random.org to generate any kind of list you need such as groups for field trips, random dates for history research, and random places on a map. Use the name generator to select a student to do an activity or to answer a question. Allow students to use the name generator to choose the classmate who comes next. Use the generator tools as part of your probability unit to chart how often names or coins appear with random selections.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Oh nO - Martin Kool
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (125), logic (154), problem solving (245), puzzles (154)
In the Classroom
Oh nO is perfect for use on your interactive whiteboard, projector, or on individual computers. Introduce this game to students and then challenge them to move up in difficulty levels and speed up completion times. Use this site to challenge your gifted students. Share on your class web page or blog for students and parents to play together at home. Set up a station at your school's math fair for participants to try their hand at Oh nO.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Battle of Appomattox - Civil War Trust
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 1800s (82), civil war (141), DAT device agnostic tool (125)
In the Classroom
Use one of the short videos hosted by National Park Service historians to give students the context and details about the Battle of Appomattox and Lee's surrender. Share the video clips on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Some nice graphics give a summary of the battle, a map shows troop movements, and a gallery of photos can give students a look at the battlefield today.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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0h h1 - Martin Kool
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (125), game based learning (257), logic (154), problem solving (245), puzzles (154)
In the Classroom
Oh h1 is perfect for use on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use this site as a computer learning center or on individual computers. Challenge students to increase difficulty levels and elapsed time. Share this engaging site with your gifted students for some mind stretching fun! Be sure to include a link on your class website or blog (parents may want to try this one too). Have students challenge their parents to see who can complete puzzles the quickest!Comments
Great for logic practice.Melissa, , Grades: 0 - 5
Fun logic game-kids won't realize they are learning.Tammy, OR, Grades: 0 - 9
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Typeform - Robert Munoz
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (125), polls and surveys (40), quizzes (86)
In the Classroom
This free tool is an excellent way to determine the value or rating of various items. Use this in science class to poll students on multiple types of renewable and nonrenewable energies as cheap/expensive and clean/dirty for the environment. Poll students on types of cars, rating the cost and gas mileage. Follow up with research into the various makes and models. Poll about famous presidents and multiple influences on the economy and society. Compare characters in various novels in terms of motivation and other characteristics. In younger grades, gather data about students' favorite animals and why (such as fluffy/ferocious) or favorite colors and mood. Learn more about your students by polling them on various social and cultural topics, such as fashion, movies, and songs. Use this to identify misconceptions and resistance to various subject areas. Identify foods and feelings for each specific kind of food in Family and Consumer Science or attitudes towards multiple sports. Conduct specific polls for Introduction to Psychology or Sociology about various topics and reactions to the issues. Use to poll students on project ideas or to determine responses to current events. Older students may want to include polls on their student blogs or wiki pages to increase involvement or create polls to use at the start of project presentations. Use polls to generate data for math class (graphing), during elections, or for critical thinking activities dealing with the interpretation of statistics. Use "real" data to engage students in issues that matter to them. For Professional development, rate different technology tools based on ease of use and difficulty, as well as high and low value for instruction. Place a poll on your classroom web page as a homework inspiration or to increase parent involvement. Gifted students would love this tool to dig deeply into the multiple facets of issues they worry about.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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Canva for Education - Canva.com
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (125), graphic design (49), images (256), posters (42), slides (38)
In the Classroom
This site is ideal for enhancing, modifying, or transforming classroom technology, depending on the requirements of the assignments. Create a slideshow, invitations, or photo collages for any classroom presentation. Share what you created on your website or blog for students to review or for absent students. Deliver blended or flipped lessons using Canva Edu by adding links to videos, assessment information, and other learning activities. In the younger grades, teachers would be the ones creating the project. However, older students could easily create their own Canva presentations. Have students use this online tool as they would any presentation tool or image-enhancing site. Use this site for research projects about famous people from the past and present. Have cooperative learning groups create presentations about science or math topics. Have students create presentations to "introduce" themselves to the class during the first week of school. Link or embed the introduction presentations on your class wiki or website and have others guess who they are. Use this tool with your 1:1 art class for students to practice design principles and techniques. Create 2 to 5 circle Venn Diagrams. Share student projects with parents and others via URL. Be sure to demonstrate HOW to use this tool on your interactive whiteboard or projector.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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edpuzzle - edpuzzle
Grades
K to 12tag(s): assessment (130), blended learning (27), communication (117), DAT device agnostic tool (125), questioning (34), remote learning (31)
In the Classroom
Create short review videos or use your own narration with chosen videos to create flipped or blended lessons for your students. Is your school embracing remote learning? This is the perfect tool! Consider the power of students using Edpuzzle to annotate videos to explain the material in their own words. You or your students can use the tool to create and narrate "how-to" videos. Annotate by highlighting the significant features of videos through the creation of voice comments. Students can also create questions to play with each video. Ensure that students create a script to read from before starting their chosen video.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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MediaFire - MediaFire
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (125)
In the Classroom
Use MediaFire to transfer files and images between devices quickly in your BYOD or 1:1 classroom. Student groups working on projects in class can gather and share data easily from anywhere. Use for any work that students may wish to collaborate on. They can easily make documents public or private and share them with others. What a great way for students to turn their work in to you when completed on their devices! During curriculum development and other professional development activities, members of a department (or even the entire school) can easily share resources and documents with one another.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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WeTheEconomy - 20 Short Films You Can't Afford to Miss - Vulcan Productions/Cinelan
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (125), financial literacy (93), money (110), supply and demand (6)
In the Classroom
Sign up to download the support materials and plan one or several lessons to demystify the economy as part of a civics/government class or an economics course. Transform the technology use in your class by assigning students to watch films in small groups and create digital booklets explaining the key concepts to the class using a multimedia tool such as Calameo, reviewed here. As economic issues come up in current events or during an election cycle, use these films to explain the underlying issues.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Nearpod - Nearpod
Grades
K to 12When in the "live presentation" mode (in person or remote web conferencing), teachers control the lesson's pace, and students do not move to the next screen until advanced by the teacher. With the "student pace" mode, students progress through independently, whether at home or in class. The third mode is "front of the class;" you project your presentation, and the students do not use their devices. Use the teacher version of the app to push out the presentation to your students. For the first two modes, every student uses their own student app to follow the screens and answer the questions. This provides immediate feedback about every student. The feedback can be emailed to the teacher for later review. This formative assessment tool is invaluable and a unique part of the app. The tool also includes drawing for students to work out problems. Teachers can identify students who are not "on task" and not working within the app when a little red light pops up. Absent students can complete the assignment at home.
The free version of Nearpod for Educators is called Silver; you get 100 MB of storage, 40 students per session/lesson, access to standard formative assessments features, pre-made interactive lessons up to your storage limit, pre-made interactive videos up to your storage limit, create interactive videos, lessons, and activities, upload PDF, PPT, and Google slides, and more. Again, how many lessons and videos will depend on your storage.
tag(s): assessment (130), classroom management (107), DAT device agnostic tool (125), differentiation (79), Formative Assessment (44), gamification (94), Learning Management Systems (18), multimedia (57), Online Learning (31), personalized learning (10), playlists (5), remote learning (31), slides (38), Teacher Utilities (182), teaching strategies (59)
In the Classroom
This is an exciting way to begin iPad (or BYOD), blended learning, or remote learning integration into the classroom. Initially it may be difficult to determine the best pacing of the lesson, the ability to slow down the advancement of the next screen allows more time to digest the information. Be aware that students needing more time may be very frustrated as the screen may advance before they are able to finish. Start small by uploading presentations and using JPEG and other images. Add interactive elements such as polls and videos. Grab students attention by using the first slide to deliver a piece of humorous information. Create guided learning stations and push out several presentations to different devices as students move through the various lessons to be learned. This technique can be helpful for struggling learners. Use this tool to help reinforce the most difficult parts of the lesson. Use the app to create schedules for training, clubs, and more. For English, learn about grammar rules, sentence structure, and other elements necessary for good writing. For ENL/ESL classes and world languages, practice various vocabulary words and learn tenses of verbs. Learn vocabulary and basic scientific concepts in any science class or facts about historical periods in history classes. This app is a valuable tool in any classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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PhotoFunia - Capsule Digital
Grades
K to 12tag(s): collages (17), comics and cartoons (53), DAT device agnostic tool (125), editing (84), images (256), photography (129), posters (42)
In the Classroom
You do not need to be artistic to transform a personal or stock photo into a stunning work of art or even an amusing image. Adjust any image's color intensity, value, and hue using the filters. Use this tool anytime that photos need to be edited for use in class blogs, newsletters, wikis, or websites. In primary grades, this tool can be helpful for teachers to use when editing pictures from field trips, science experiments, and other activities. Share the editing process with your younger students using your interactive whiteboard or projector. Edit together! Engage older students by encouraging them to use this site to find images for their projects or presentations. Use the features and effects to edit pictures to fit the styles of photos when doing historical reports or to set the mood.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Cram - Online Flashcard Library - Cram.com
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (125), flash cards (42), test prep (67), vocabulary (247), vocabulary development (98)
In the Classroom
Create flashcards for your classes or have students make their own. Try using them as an introduction to a concept, then again in the practice of the idea, and again as a final review. It is a nice three-for-one creation deal! This would be great for teaching Latin prefixes and suffixes of words. Use for science terms or standardized test preparation. Have students create flashcards and share them with their own groups to quiz themselves. Teach students in higher grades how to create flash cards with multiple blanks to challenge their brains to remember more pieces of the puzzle. Show them how to carefully read through classroom notes and underline the most important word or words in a sentence. Then have them leave out the most important words for their flashcards. Learning support teachers might want to have small groups create cards together to review before tests. Have students create flashcard sets to "test" classmates on what they "teach" in oral reports. Be sure to check the database for already created sets to save you time making them yourself!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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LifeSaver - The Resuscitation Council (UK)
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (125), heart (26), medicine (56)
In the Classroom
Use Lifesaver as part of your heart health unit. Allow students to explore the site and participate in simulations, challenging them to improve their scores with continued play. Include it as part of a child care unit in FACS. Share with your school nurse or health professional for use with professional training sessions. Share this link on your class website for students to view (and share with families) at home. Download the free app available for all mobile devices for even better use of this site. Moving the app up and down to perform CPR demonstrates the technique more effectively than options on a personal computer. For an additional research challenge, have students compare this UK-based CPR training with U.S. Red Cross or American Heart Association training to identify any differences.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Homeroom - Cluster Labs, Inc.
Grades
K to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (125), images (256), photography (129)
In the Classroom
Invite parents and students to create albums of specific events, such as field trips, service projects, hands-on activities, field experiences, class speakers, and more. Anywhere photos can be used to showcase achievement, this service would be a great resource. Use for any project, class explanation of concepts, experiments, or demonstrations. Resource teachers, speech teachers, or world language teachers can collect images into "albums" for students to practice/develop speech and vocabulary. In science class, when having students collect insects, instead of having them collect the actual specimens, have them take pictures using their phones or digital cameras. Have the students upload the pictures and statistics of the specimen to the album at home, and then they can create a multimedia project using these materials. Students can snap a picture anywhere, with any device, and upload it to the web to use in class or cooperative groups. This tool would be great for clubs and performance groups as well! Do you send a newsletter home to parents? Try creating a heading made from a collage of your latest class activity. Use a program such as Mosaic Maker, reviewed here, to create a collage.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Time and Date - Steffen Thorsen
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): calculators (31), calendars (34), DAT device agnostic tool (125), moon (84), sun (83), time (90), time zones (7), weather (166)
In the Classroom
Bookmark (or save in your favorites) Time and Date on your classroom computers for students to use throughout the year. Find out the local time and temperature in countries as you study them, and count down the number of days until spring break or the end of the school year. Use the stopwatch or timer/alarm for timing class activities. Create a personal classroom calendar. This is a perfect addition to your Calendar Math lessons in elementary school. Share the site on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) as you count how many days you have been in school, daily weather, or a countdown to a special occasion. The possibilities are endless using all of Time and Date's features! Include time/date conversions for online conferences you will hold with parents who are deployed or traveling in different time zones. Share meeting dates/times for Skype sessions using the time conversions so everyone is "on time." Humor your fellow teachers by warning them of the upcoming full moon and its supposed effect on student behavior!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Legend - Jay Meistrich and Grant Watters
Grades
K to 12tag(s): calendars (34), DAT device agnostic tool (125), organizational skills (82)
In the Classroom
Any student would appreciate having an online time/task management tool they can access anywhere, but learning support students and disorganized gifted students need one. If they are over 13 or have parent permission, this is perfect! You may want to model using this online tool to help middle and high school students learn better personal organization. Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector during the first week of school to help students set up their own accounts. Parents may appreciate learning about this site also. Use this site professionally to keep yourself organized! Make a demo account for a mythical student and organize it together so students can see how it works. Teachers in lower grades can use this tool for their own productivity.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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