Teaching is no odd job! It takes a lot of effort, especially when students these days can be easily distracted by time-killers like Facebook and Instagram. However, the same devices that distract you can be used as an effective medium for learning lessons in school or college.
Microsoft Store apps for Teachers & Students
Windows is increasingly becoming an educational platform. As such, certain educational apps that help teachers and students engage in learning can be used to inspire creativity in classrooms where the makers of tomorrow reside. The following are the apps inspired by teachers and students
1] Edmodo App
Edmodo app for Windows 11/10 intends to lessen the communication gap between teachers and students by offering them a way to connect and collaborate even after class hours. The free app for Windows is designed with a full suite of features found on the web version of Edmodo.
Students can use the app to send notes, post replies, check messages, and see upcoming events while away from the classroom. The app integrates well with Microsoft Office, so students can log in using their Microsoft credentials and access Google Drive or Microsoft Office 365 libraries inside the Learning Management System.
When you first launch the app, you will find Edmodo has an interface quite similar to the Facebook app and borrows certain elements heavily from Facebook’s activity feed. However, unlike Facebook, Edmodo is organized around connections and not friends. These connections feature groups, permanent classes or ad-hoc learning communities.
Once the teacher has created connections, he can provide notes to the students, create alerts for them, or give assignments to them. Teachers are wrested with additional powers and, therefore, can do more from the stream than students. For instance, they can filter posts by
- Social proximity
- Authors
- Post type
Posts can vary from plain notes to files containing attachments and important links. Educators can use the stream to post assignments and even request students to resubmit assignments if required.
Based on the changes made or not, the teacher can grade the assignments in bulk as shown in the screenshot below.
That’s not all. Edmodo also features quizzes, which can be saved to and loaded from your library (Collection), or created on the fly. The process of designing them is quite easy. All the teacher needs to do is assign a name to the quiz, set a time limit for its questions, and create some questions [There is more choice available here. For instance, the questions framed can be an MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions) type or a mix of true/false, match the columns, etc.] and assigned to a student or group.
Also, the teacher can send copies of the question individually to a student or group using polls.
This way, this app can help teachers and students create secure groups that take learning beyond the classroom.
2] ClickView app
This app offers thousands of quality educational videos accessible through our BYOD-friendly video platform. The courses found in the app are designed to keep the needs of the curriculum in mind and are available for free as part of your school’s subscription. A good feature of the app is that if you use mobile devices like tablet PCs or Windows Mobile Phones, ClickView allows you to download videos and watch them without an internet connection. You can also share or upload them within your school to your personal Workspace.
If you do not belong to a ClickView school, you can sign up for ClickView and experience a free 30-day trial. This offer is only available for Australian educators.
3] Socrative app
Socrative is a unique app for the Windows platform designed for teachers to help them pose questions and have students respond to their inquiries in real time. Educators can assess their students’ level of understanding by organizing quizzes, quick question polls, and others via the application’s dashboard, as shown in the screenshot below.
Also, they can instantly grade, aggregate, and provide visuals of results to help teachers find ways for further instruction. To get started, register for a Socrative Teacher account. Your Socrative account will work with other Socrative Apps and be available via all browsers at Socrative.com. Download it here.
TIP: Use the Setup School PCs app to set up Windows PCs in Schools.
Which app is best for teaching students?
There are currently many apps for teaching students online. However, to get the most from an app, you need to know its purpose. For your information, you can try the Edmodo and ClickView apps.
What Microsoft application is used in schools?
There are countless Microsoft apps used in schools and colleges. For example, most institutions use Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. However, in the last two years, things have changed a lot. Nowadays, Microsoft Teams has become one of the most popular apps among students and teachers.
