Best apps for classroom management: Otus Teacher and Student are terrific organizational tools
Bottom Line: A pair of apps that are perfect tools for teachers in schools that have an iPad for every student. The teacher app allows teachers to create classes, record grades, organize resources and more. The student app allows students to, among other things, take notes, answer polls, and engage with others. Geared toward middle and high school students. And both apps are FREE!
If you would like to download Otus Teacher or Otus Student (iPad only, FREE), please use our handy links so they'll know who sent you:
Created by two middle school teachers, these apps from the fine folks at Otus are definitely geared towards middle school and high school teachers and classes that have iPads for every student. This mobile learning environment is vast and offers many different resources that are both management-focused (like taking attendance) and more teaching-based (like giving assignments).
In order to use both Otus Teacher and Student, a gmail address is required. When I used the teacher app, I kept getting a server error when I tried to create a class. A few emails to the developer and the problem was fixed. Considering that gmail addresses are easy to come by, this seems to be a fairly easy requirement. This also means that one’s Google drive can be used for storage. Once signed in, teachers can create classes, upload assignments, record grades, take attendance, and more. Students simply need their class code (just a short string of letters) to join a class. Students can complete assignments and check grades, just to name a few things.
I quite enjoy the ease with which everything is integrated into this one set of apps. The creators developed these apps because their students were having a difficult time managing all of the apps being used in the classroom. These two allowed the teacher to cut down on the number of apps used, and instead focus on the content of the lesson. I think that the most important aspect of these apps are that they allow teachers and students to focus more on learning rather than on signing in or dealing with the technology being used to share the knowledge.
A few other aspects that students will love: they can upload photos to their accounts so that their pictures show up by their names. Not sure what it is, but there is something about using photos to personalize technology that kids love so much! Second, students can access their grades whenever they like. So much better than having to pester a teacher all the time. And third, there is a polling feature that invites students to answer questions (perhaps “How would you rate the short story you read last night for homework?” or “Do you agree or disagree with the statement above?”) and then shows the answers in real time so students can see the opinions of the class. Finally, while students might not appreciate this, there is the ability to split the screen, so students can browse the internet while taking notes. This is definitely an important tool for students as they are researching, finding facts and engaging with online content.
This mobile learning environment would be excellent for any teacher in a 1:1 iPad learning environment as it incorporates management and learning tools all in one for both student and teacher.
***
Emily B. needs a really awesome tagline. Instead she has this. SmartAppsForKids.com was paid a priority review fee to complete this review in an expedited manner.
Comments