Five basic classroom apps every teacher needs

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School is an extremely busy place. You need to invest in time-saving devices so that you do not become too overwhelmed. The five communication tools can be regarded as a basic communication suite. The good news is that all these apps are free, except for number 4.

1. Make use of an online calendar.

I wrote in previous posts on why a Google online calendar is an indispensable tool to have. Check out my post and do further research on Google's support portal.

2. Use an Online Cloud storage system.
Google Drive logo for blog


Make use of an online cloud and file storage system like Google Drive. Visit the website, techrepublic.com to learn 10 ways to maximise your use of Google Drive.

3. You will need a note taking app.
Evernote logo
Download a Note taking app like Evernote. These note taking apps are lifesavers. You can scribble your classroom notes, meeting notes and save all types of documents in Evernote. The saving feature is automatic. The date, time and place will be recorded, if you enable these features.

4. Using your smartphone or your tablet to project presentations.

Adapter for iPhone
Using your smartphone or tablet to do classroom presentations is not a necessity but a definite nice- to -have facility. Imagine you have downloaded an awesome video clip that you want to share with your class or peers. All you have to do is link up your mobile device and in minutes, the video clip is displayed.

Since there are so many apps for our smartphones and our tablets, we can project a project or a presentation straight from our mobile devices. You will need a special adapter that will cost about R 700,00.
The Business News Daily has a good article on five ways to use your smartphone or tablet for presentations.

5. Open a Youtube account.

There are hundreds of good videos you can use as part of your lessons and for professional development.

When you have a Youtube account, you can save your favourite videos, leave comments, rate videos and flag videos you want to watch later. If you have a Google Plus account, it is easy to sign up for Youtube. You can sign up for Youtube without having a gmail or a Google Plus account. Do some research on the internet about these options.

Are there other apps you are interested in? Let us know how you are doing after playing around with these awesome apps.





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