Reviews of educational apps – for teachers, by teachers

Blended Learning App Reviews

Over recent years, we have seen an incredible increase in the number of  educational apps that have come to the market.  With so many apps available, it can be confusing and difficult to know where to start.

To help you get started with blended learning, we asked a number of our teachers to review the educational apps that we regularly use in our classrooms.

Microsoft OneNote

OneNote Logo

OneNote can be used as children’s digital exercise books, they can store their work here and refer back to their work. Teachers can also use OneNote to plan and deliver lessons in a creative and accessible manner.

What are the key features of Microsoft OneNote?

There any many OneNote features for accessibility – different coloured backgrounds, different fonts, audio tool, immersive reader, picture dictionary. OneNote also allows you to embed links and images into the page for children to access, without having to leave their page of work. OneNote can distribute work to all children, individual children or groups of children to help with differentiation and scaffolding.

What age group/key stage would you recommend OneNote for?

OneNote has been used successfully from Y2 to Y6 but there is potential to train children in Y1 to use it as well.

How is OneNote embedded in your school curriculum?

We use it for all subjects, in particular guided reading and maths are entirely on OneNote.

What impact has OneNote had on your lesson outcomes and pupil engagement?

OneNote allows children to have more control over their learning, using built in apps and tools to help them progress or be more creative with their outcomes. OneNote also helps with children building schema around their learning, allowing them to flick back between past lessons and build up their skills and knowledge. The ability to take devices from home to school also allows children to complete work or improve it at home, as an extension to the work in class.

What do you like most about using One Note in the classroom?

The thing I like most about using OneNote in the classroom is the ease of creating work that is more scaffolded or provides further challenge.  I like being able to distribute this to children in groups without having to explicitly say that certain groups have different work. It is very inclusive and supportive for all children’s learning.

Is there anything you don’t like about OneNote?

If children don’t have individual devices, it is a long process to log in and out every time.

What advice would you give to anyone thinking of using OneNote in the classroom for the first time?

If you are thinking about using OneNote with your class, I would say have a play around with the accessibility features to see how it can support a range of children. The content library is a great place to start to introduce supporting material (e.g. word mats, sentence stems) and help children get used to the structure of OneNote class notebook.

Kahoot!

Kahoot Logo

Kahoot! is a an app that can be used to create and host quizzes. The quizzes are then carried out in a fun way with timer, graphics and music to make it a ‘game’ experience

What are the key features of Microsoft Kahoot!?

Kahoot! provides real-time feedback and a score chart which motivates the children to be quicker/more accurate. Once the quizzes have been completed there is in depth data analysis provided with summaries of overall scores and also a breakdown of scores so you can see who has exactly got things wrong.

What age group/key stage would you recommend Kahoot! for?

Kahoot! can be used across all age groups (EYFS – KS2) as long as there is access to devices and it is tailored to each age group.

How is Kahoot! embedded in your school curriculum?

We use Kahoot! for formative assessments at the end of learning. It helps us plan for children’s next steps, identify any gaps and then plan in how and when we can address those gaps either through interventions or end of units.  We have also been using Kahoot! to do pre-teach assessments to see what children already know.

What impact has Kahoot! had on your lesson outcomes and pupil engagement?

Children really enjoy using Kahoo!t as it doesn’t feel like they are being ‘tested’ in the traditional sense. They do not realise they are ‘learning’ as it is discreet. The children find Kahoot! easy to navigate and are hooked throughout the whole usage.

What do you like most about using Kahoot! in the classroom?

I like the way Kahoot! is set out, easy to use and the data it provides.

Is there anything you don’t like about Kahoot!?

No.

What advice would you give to anyone thinking of using Kahoot! in the classroom for the first time?

Kahoot! is really easy to use. Spend some time practicing building the quizzes (there is also a bank of pre-made questions you can tap into) so you are familiar with the layout. Definitely do quizzes just before lunch or near home time as the children can get very excited when using it- especially because of the competition element!

 

Microsoft Reading Progress

Microsoft

 

Reading Progress is where you can scan in a text which is saved into either a Word or PDF. You can then upload this into Assignments on Teams, clicking on the Reading Progress and uploading this. If you then click on the student view, you can see exactly what the child sees. The child will see the text and can read it. The analysis will give you how many words per minute were accurate, an overall accuracy rate, mispronunciations, insertions, self-corrections, omissions, and repetitions.

What are the key features of Microsoft Reading Progress?

Key features features are the analysis for: overall accuracy rate, mispronunciations, insertions, self-corrections, omissions, and repetitions. If you also click on Insights, you can see their progress over time also. It is easy to upload and it is fun for the children.

What age group/key stage would you recommend Reading Progress for?

Microsoft Reading Progress is suitable for EYFS – KS2.

How is Reading Progress embedded in your school curriculum?

We are using this through Teams Assignments.

What impact has Reading Progress had on your lesson outcomes and pupil engagement?

We have only recently started this, but so far, it has been well received.

What do you like most about using Reading Progress in the classroom?

The thing I like most about using Reading Progress in the classroom is it is easy to upload text, even if the text has pictures on it, it just captures the text and it is all ready to go.

Is there anything you don’t like about Reading Progress?

It has shown that there are some omissions in the analysis, but when we looked at the film of the child, there were no omissions.

What advice would you give to anyone thinking of using Reading Progress in the classroom for the first time?

Start slow. Choose who you want to use this for, what you want to use this for and start with one group at a time.

 

Minecraft Education Edition

Minecraft Education Edition

 

Minecraft Education Edition is an app designed to showcase the 21st century design and allow the children to be creative, inventive and independent in their work. The app provides existing materials for learning to take place from or the canvas for you to create your own learning.

What are the key features of Minecraft Education Edition?

Creative mode – this reduces issues that the game may cause such players damaging each others work or each other.
Creating a biome – this allows the children to create their own project and as facilitators, we can monitor this work.
Existing lessons -these lessons allow those who are new to the concept the opportunity to grasp the key concepts of the game.

What age group/key stage would you recommend Minecraft Education Edition for?

Minecraft Education Edition is suitable for Year 2 and above. The children really are the experts in this field.

How is Minecraft Education Edition embedded in your school curriculum?

We carefully plan in opportunities to use the app (where applicable). This is evident in our long and medium term plans. We would like to utilise this further.

What impact has Minecraft Education Edition had on your lesson outcomes and pupil engagement?

The impact is immeasurable. I always invite guests into my lessons to showcase my children’s ability when using this platform. The engagement is fantastic, this app allows children to further their learning in a context that they are familiar with.

What do you like most about using Minecraft Education Edition in the classroom?

The thing I like most about using Minecraft Education Edition is the fact that the app provides the children with a blank canvas to progress/ showcase their learning.

Is there anything you don’t like about Minecraft Education Edition?

There is always more to learn!

What advice would you give to anyone thinking of using Minecraft Education Edition in the classroom for the first time?

Use colleagues and information around you to support your journey. Microsoft Learn is a brilliant support. If you’re looking to utilise the platform, start small by creating a club or by using it in your class. The children are the expert, trust them and allow them to express themselves.

Blended Learning Open Days

Come and see, first-hand, how we are using educational apps in the classroom at one of our blended learning open days.

Our Blended Learning Journey

Find out more about our Blended Learning journey, access resources to help you embed blended learning and EdTech in the classroom, and view our series of blended learning webinars.