Teaching is an art, which is why it’s hard to define what makes the best apps for teachers. Every teacher has their own preferences when it comes to how they would like to give their classes. However, there are online teaching apps that are perfect for many teachers.
Here are the best free apps every teacher needs.
Nearpod
The first app that proves ideal for livening up lessons, and made especially for teachers, is the one called Nearpod. This application allows teachers to present multimedia lessons that students can upload to their mobile devices. The Nearpod app is completely free and offers different layouts, which make it suitable for various teaching activities.
nearpod.com (ios) / nearpod.com (Android)
Viper (Windows)
The second app worth mentioning and proving suitable for teachers is the one called Viper. It is in fact a valid Windows application that contains ready-made themes which allow teachers to present them directly to pupils. In this app, students are also able to compare their work to understand how to write better by avoiding grammatical errors, paying more attention to syntax and typos.
viper.en.softonic.com (Windows)
Attendance
The third app that proves effective for teachers, who have an Android device, is the one called Attendance. Teachers can use it to draw up a list of attendance in their various classes, and to help them keep track of the studies and classwork of each individual student. This app also allows a photo to be added to each name so that the teacher can better verify and follow the necessary information.
Attendance (Google Play)
TooNoisy
The fourth app for teachers is a little bizarre, but in some ways useful; in fact, it is called TooNoisy. It was created to detect environmental noises and it can be used for both an Android device and with an iPhone in a classroom. This app specifically emits a beep when the aforementioned noise threshold is excessive. The main function of this app is dictated by the fact that students, themselves, can become more aware of how to behave, and regulate their behavior. It also helps students avoid the risk of punishment by a teacher or educational representative if they aren’t following the rules.
toonoisyapp.com (ios and Android available)
ThingLink
The fifth app that a teacher can download for free from Google Play on his mobile device is the one called ThingLink which is used to keep students attentive during lessons. In addition, the app is useful for creating interactive images for teachers who intend to use them to better explain a topic or make concepts clearer to students who download it on their mobile device.
thinglink.com (Android)
Dropbox
Dropbox is very much familiar to us. We have come across this app to backup photos, instantly share large files, etc. It enables tutors to upload files and share them with students in different places.
It can store a great number of files to cloud storage and access files synced with any of your devices. Bye-Bye to paper assignments & dropbox can share your creative work with your teacher and classmates in no time.
App Features
- Free dropbox trial & paid services after 30 days.
- Easy sending of large files through link sharing.
- Auto upload of photos and videos to the cloud.
- Preview over 175 different file types
- Scan documents & convert into PDFs.
Ratings: 4.2/5
Installs: 1,000,000,000+
ClassDojo
ClassDojo is a simple communication app for students, teachers, and parents. One can recreate a beautiful classroom through the app. Children get more activities in their digital portfolios.
Teachers encourage parents’ engagement through announcements & videos. Parents can track the child’s progress and talk with teachers whenever they wish to. Educators can now access their much-needed tools like Group Maker and Noise Meter from a single place.
App Features
- Encourage students to do activities
- Free app without ads
- Safe & handy communication platform
- Attractive & easy UI
- Boost a positive classroom culture
Ratings: 4.1/5
Installs: 10,000,000+
LiveBoard Interactive Whiteboard App
This is a handy app for teachers and educators to conduct classroom teaching, online teaching or do video tutoring. Teachers can communicate with students despite the time and location in real-time via live messaging or audio chat.
Shared whiteboards keep students engaged throughout the learning and classrooms will be more interactive.
App Features
- Easily turn your lessons into video presentations
- Invite external guests with a public link
- Create different groups for a set of participants
- Visualize teaching to help students understand & memorize
- Record the sessions and keep for future reference
Rating: 4.1/5
Installs: 1,000,000+
Mind map & note taking tool – MindMeister
This is a brilliant app that enables teachers to generate, organize and prioritize new thoughts and strategies during classroom sessions or video presentations. They can share maps directly from handset and makes it easy to view and edit different links, tasks, notes, and attachments on topics.
App Features
- Real-time collaboration of mind maps
- Support for zoom, drag & drop, pan
- Seamlessly sync folders and maps with online account
- Basic plan allows up to 3 mind maps
- Export maps in PDF and PNG format (Personal Plan)
Rating: 4.1/5
Installs: 1,000,000+
Download: Android
Evernote
Evernote is a handy notetaking app beneficial for both teachers & students. Teachers can replace those lengthy printed notes with notes in various formats including audio, videos, PDFs, and more.
Students create separate notebooks for organizing each subject. Parents can also view students’ activities. This transparency of Evernote makes it one of the best apps for teachers & educators. Moreover, students can use it as an organizer to keep track of exams, lecture notes, and assignments.
App Features
- Sync your notes on multiple devices.
- Keep track of your exams, assignments, deadlines.
- Easy to use UI
- Subscription plans for premium features.
- Filtered searches and results & easy-to-use formatting options
Ratings: 4.0/5
Installs: 100,000,000+
Extramarks
Extramarks is an exciting study platform for students from KG to 12 of CBSE & ICSE boards. Teachers can conduct thorough checks on your learning journey through SNAAP (Students Needs Analysis & Academic Profile) in Extramarks.
An AI study bot Alex helps each student. It’s all in one feature that makes extra marks into one of the best apps for teachers & educators.
App Features
- Personalized learning experience
- Real time doubt resolution and problem solving through Achieve service
- Monthly subscription packages on study modules.
- Bite-sized modules for hard topics
- Visual and interactive learning modules
Ratings: 3.9/5
Installs: 10,000,000+
Yotribe
Description: A browser-based videoconferencing tool designed for engagement with smaller groups. However, the signup and account creation is unclear, includes providing a phone number, and has a literal waiting list that you can ‘skip ahead’ of if you solicit signups from your friends. Not exactly a teacher-centered tool but if you’re interested, take a look.
Pricing: Yotribe appears to be free (for now?) but we were not able to clarify exact pricing before publishing
Podia.
Best All-In-One Online Course Platform for Webinars, Downloads, and Memberships ($39/month)
Podia is an all-in-one online course platform with over 50,000 members that is great for digital downloads, webinars, and memberships.
Its main types of courses include:
- Standalone courses that include images, video and audio files, MP3x, PDFs, quizzes, and more.
- Pre-sell your course by taking payments before launch.
- Cohort-based courses with a future start date.
- Drip courses deliver your course in a section-by-section format.
- The ability to add coupons and memberships.
They truly excel with their membership options. You can grow your own online community by interacting with members, bundling products for specific groups, offering tiered plans, and connecting with Facebook Groups and Slack.
Podia also acts as a webinar platform to host either live or on-demand webinars.
Another awesome feature is the ability to run your own affiliate program inside of Podia. You can view all of your affiliates in one place, view helpful reporting, and make payouts based on your own customized commission structure.
There is 24/7 support, no transaction fees, and a simple three-step process to get your course website up quickly.
Although they don’t charge fees, their payment processors have transaction fees of 2.9% + 30¢.
Pricing:
- Mover ($39/month) – Unlimited everything, zero transaction fees, sell courses, digital downloads, and 5k emails sent per month.
- Shaker ($79/month) – Everything in Mover, plus the ability to create membership communities, add affiliates, and 15k emails sent per month.
- Earthquaker ($179/month) – Everything in Shaker, plus dedicated account manager, personalized onboarding, and 50k emails sent per month.
Overall, if you’re looking for strong membership functionality and the ability to increase your sales with the help of affiliates, Podia is a unique and worthwhile course builder to try out.
You can sign up and give it a test run with a free 14-day trial.
Thinkific.
Best Overall Online Course Platform (Free or $49/mo)
Thinkific is the best overall platform to sell online courses.
It’s my #1 choice because the pricing is exactly in line with other affordable options on this list and it can deliver a high-end course experience.
- Course websites can be customized and you’d never guess they were Thinkific.
- Sales pages are highly optimized and look great.
- Student dashboards look nice and are customizable (you can add videos, text, and any downloadable file type to the same page).
- You can either send your entire course at once or drip it out over time.
- Free Wistia video hosting (a huge value).
That’s honestly all that you need for an optimized course website.
In fact, even though Thinkific plans start at just $49/month, huge brands like Fiverr use Thinkific to sell online courses.
I would have never guessed that this massive learning database was a Thinkific site until their team told me:
Their best (and most popular) Pro Plan offers a one-month free trial to get started.
First, this plan gives you the ability to create unlimited courses. It also features memberships and bundles, advanced pricing options, landing pages, certificates, and marketing tools.
Here’s a little preview of the experience creating a Thinkific course.
All that you do is create and customize your course with their drag and drop editor:
Next, you upload your content and choose one of their website templates:
Lastly, you set up payment methods (you can collect payments in over 100 currencies):
There are also a ton of customization options. If you want to build a completely custom site, their onboarding team takes your vision and helps you turn it into a reality.
Pros of Thinkific:
- Marketing automation and email features.
- Simple free plan to get started.
- Can fully edit the code of your course site.
- Customizable course certificates.
- Custom domains.
- Affiliate marketing help and reporting.
Here’s what people are saying about Thinkific:
- “You need to get on Thinkific. The team is creative, reliable, and offers unbeatable support. They always make sure all my bases are covered and, as a business owner, that’s invaluable.” – Lewis Howes
- “By teaching our audience how to scale and grow their business through online training, we’ve grown ours. We couldn’t have done it without Thinkific.” – John Lee Dumas, Entrepreneurs on Fire
- “I seriously can’t be more impressed with your customer support team. They are the perfect blend of efficient and personable. It’s like having my very own IT department.” – Kim Garnett
Thinkific Pricing:
- Basic ($49/month): Unlimited courses and students, drip (scheduled) content, custom domain, email integrations, and coupons.
- Pro ($99/month): Basic features, plus memberships and bundles, private courses, certificates, advanced HTML and CSS editing, assignments, live lessons via Zoom, and priority support.
- Premier ($499/month): Pro features, plus 50 course admins, onboarding package, and unlimited growth package (best for big teams).
Overall, I recommend the Thinkific platform as my #1 choice for course creators and entrepreneurs who are serious about creating, marketing, and selling their own course content.
You can get started today with a One-Month Free Trial of their Pro Plan with my link below.
Conclusion
Online teaching apps are the new trend in education. Many pre-eminent dictionary brands have begun their online class series to extend their services to the global audience. The apps not only help teachers but can also be of great help to students in helping them understand their course material more effectively. You can use online teaching apps on your smartphone or tablet device to connect to the world anytime, anywhere.