A few weeks ago I invited readers to share their favorite iPad apps for the classroom, and the comments section features several good suggestions. Last week I asked readers to share their favorite Android apps for the classroom, and... well... we didn’t end up with nearly as many suggestions.
I do not own an Android device, but I spent some time searching for apps that might prove useful for pedagogical purposes, and the list below is the result.
(I’ve also made this information available as a spreadsheet on GoogleDrive, which you are free to copy and re-use however you like.)
In the comments section below, please share any additional suggestions you have of Android apps for the classroom.
1Password
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: AgileBits
- “Have you ever forgotten a password? 1Password can remember them all for you and keep them secured behind your Master Password. You remember your Master Password and 1Password will remember the rest.”
Attendance
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Android for Academics
- “A great way to take attendance. Put your student list in a Google Spreadsheet, and this app takes care of the rest. There is no need to enter total absences into a spreadsheet at the end of the semester because all absences/tardies are calculated in your google spreadsheet each day you take attendance.”
Blackboard Mobile Learn
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Blackboard
- “Blackboard Mobile Learn makes it easier for you to keep up with your courses by letting you access them whenever and wherever you want.”
Blogger
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Google
- “With the Blogger app for Android, you can quickly and easily publish posts to your blog wherever you are.”
CamScanner
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: CamScanner
- “CamScanner helps you scan, store, sync and collaborate on various contents across smartphones, iPads, tablets and computers.”
Canvas for Android
Coach’s Eye
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Coach’s Eye
- “Record it. Break it down. Get better. Improve your pitcher’s fastball, straighten your golf swing, easily break down a volleyball serve, improve soccer skills, or even demonstrate weightlifting form. Coach’s Eye makes instant feedback possible on the field or on the go.”
Deck
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Deck App Technologies
- “Deck converts the seeming inadequacy of a limited screen size of your mobile device to a strength - guiding you to tell a crisp story eliminating common Powerpoint presentation mistakes such as having too much text in your slides.”
deMobo
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: deMobo
- “deMobo connects web apps between browsers and smartphones. It makes web apps more personal, interactive, and native.”
Dropbox
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Dropbox
- “Dropbox lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Access any file you save to your Dropbox from all your computers, iPhone, iPad and even the Dropbox website.”
Evernote
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Evernote
- “Evernote lets you take notes, capture photos, create to-do lists, record voice reminders--and makes these notes completely searchable, whether you are at home, at work, or on the go.”
Explain Everything
- Price: $3
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Morris Cooke
- “Explain Everything is an easy-to-use design, screencasting, and interactive whiteboard tool that lets you annotate, animate, narrate, import, and export almost anything to and from almost anywhere. Create slides, draw in any color, add shapes, add text, and use a laser pointer. Rotate, move, scale, copy, paste, clone, and lock any object added to the stage.”
Google Calendar
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Google
- “The Calendar app displays events from each of your Google Accounts that synchronizes with your Android device. You can also create, edit, and delete events. You can view all your calendars at the same time, including non-Google calendars.”
Google Earth
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Developer
- “Fly around the planet with a swipe of your finger with Google Earth for Android. Integrated Google Maps Street View allow you to explore the world at street level. Browse layers including roads, borders, places, photos and more.”
Google Edu Device Setup
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Developer
- “Quickly and easily set up tablets purchased through Google Apps for Education. Admins can use this app to enable tablets to receive content from Google Play for Education, as well as transfer configuration information. This app requires a Google Play for Education administrative account, and will only set up Nexus tablets purchased through Google Education.”
Google Goggles
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Google
- “Search by taking a picture: point your mobile phone camera at a painting, a famous landmark, a barcode or QR code, a product, or a popular image. If Goggles finds it in its database, it will provide you with useful information.”
Google Hangouts
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Google
- “Hangouts brings one-on-one and group conversations to life with photos, emoji, and video calls for free. Connect with friends across computers, Android and Apple devices.”
Google Keep
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Google
- “Quickly capture what’s on your mind and be reminded at the right place or time. Create a checklist, enter a voice note or snap a photo and annotate it. Everything you add is instantly available on all your devices - desktop and mobile.”
Google Play Books
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Google
- “Choose from millions of books on Google Play including new releases, New York Times bestsellers, textbooks and free classics. Easily adjust font size and customize even more of your reading experience.”
Google Text-to-Speech
Google Voice
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Google
- “Make cheap international calls with your Google number. Send free text messages. Place calls and send text messages showing your Google number. Listen to voicemail and read transcripts.”
Grade Book
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Android for Academics
- “Grade Book for Professors offers a new approach to managing your grade books on your Android device. Instead of having a separate grade book on your phone or tablet, this app avoids the headaches of keeping two seperate gradebooks sync’ed by using one grade book in the cloud. All you need is your grade book to be on Google Spreadsheets”
Grade Chart
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Android for Academics
- “Grade Chart is a simple grading tool for teachers and professors. Enter in the number of questions for the assignment you’re grading, and this will generate a quick reference chart to help you determine the grade percentage and letter grade for all possible numbers of missed questions.”
Grade Rubric
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Android for Academics
- “This app is a simple, efficient grading tool for professors and teachers who use a grading rubric. Simply pick the kind of Rubric you want (Point Deductions or Letter Grade averages), set your labels, and use the radio buttons to grade each section in your rubric. Hit the calculate button and you’re finished. Record your grade. Hit the reset button and move on to the next student.”
Grade Ticker
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Android for Academics
- “This app is a simple tool professors can use while grading assignments/tests. The idea is simple: when you take points off a students paper, you press the associated button that corresponds to that value you took off.”
iAnnotate
iAuditor
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: SafetyCulture
- “Safety Inspections are fast and easy with iAuditor Build your own forms in seconds, or browse through iAuditor’s shared Public Library of over 20,000 inspection forms that users have shared and collaborated with to find ways of working smarter, and faster.”
Microsoft Office Mobile
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Microsoft
- “Access, view and edit your Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint documents from virtually anywhere. (Requires a qualifying Office 365 subscription.)”
Microsoft OneDrive
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Microsoft
- “We know that increasingly you will have many devices in your life, but you really want only one place for your most important stuff. One place for all of your photos and videos. One place for all of your documents. One place that is seamlessly connected across all the devices you use. You want OneDrive for everything in your life.”
Microsoft OneNote
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Microsoft
- “Whether you’re at home, in the office or on the go, your notes travel with you. And you can share your notes and collaborate with others, across multiple devices.”
Microsoft Remote Desktop
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Microsoft
- “With the Microsoft Remote Desktop app, you can connect to a remote PC and your work resources from almost anywhere. Windows Professional and Windows Server editions are supported. “
Nearpod
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Nearpod
- “An all-in-one solution for the use of mobile devices in education. Bring your lessons to life with interactive mobile content.”
QueueSim
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: BizSimz
- “The objective of this app is to help decision makers in service industries make better decisions about how to manage their service stations to improve customer experience and/or firm profit.”
Quick Office
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Google
- “This free app from Google lets you create and edit Microsoft Office documents, spreadsheets and presentations on your Android phone and tablet.”
Scanner for Zotero
- Price: $2.50
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: John M. Schanck
- “Scanner For Zotero brings Zotero’s magic wand tool out into the physical world. Scan the ISBN barcode on any book, and Scanner For Zotero will fetch that item’s bibliographic information from the web and allow you to add it to your Zotero library.”
SignMyPad
- Price: $4
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Developer
- “Open a PDF file on your iPad, and SignMyPad lets you sign it, save it, and send it without ever printing it out.”
Simplenote
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Automattic
- “Simplenote is an easy way to keep notes, lists, ideas and more. Your notes stay in sync with all your devices for free.”
Socrative
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Socrative
- “Engage the entire classroom with educational exercises and games while capturing student results in real-time. Interact with the data to further student understanding in the moment, and review the reports to prepare for future classes. Socrative will even aggregate and grade your pre-made activities! Saving you time, so you can engage more with your students on an individual level. Create a library of activities and share them with your colleagues and learning community.”
Twitter
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Twitter
- “Twitter lets you connect, express yourself and discover what’s happening. Get real-time stories, pictures, videos, conversations, ideas, and inspiration all in your timeline.”
WordPress
- Price: Free
- Download from Google Play
- Developer: Automattic
- “WordPress for Android puts the power of publishing in your hands, making it easy to create and consume content. Write, edit, and publish posts to your site, check stats, and get inspired with great posts in the Reader.”
How about you? Which Android apps have you found most useful in the classroom? Please share in the comments below.
[CC-licensed Flickr photo by Johan Larsson]
