APP REVIEWS

APP REVIEWS

Name of app: Remind® (formerly called Remind 101)
Skill area: any course
Grade Level: any grade

Brief description: Messaging has replaced face-to-face communications in many ways. Many students would much rather use their devices to send texts or emails than carry on phone or in-person conversations. Therefore, an app that uses messaging to communicate with students has built-in advantages. And any app that enhances teacher-parent communication has to have value. Remind® is an app built with the help of educators to resolve communication issues between teachers, students, and parents using devices nearly everyone possesses. Teachers can send messages to specific students or the entire class to remind them of upcoming due dates or exams or simply send words of encouragement. Parents are also able to receive texts for upcoming conferences, updates on their child’s progress, learn that grades are being sent home, or more pressing emergency or behavioral issues. Security is a concern with any app or means of communication. Remind is designed so neither the teacher’s nor students’ or parents’ phone numbers are accessible through the app and communication lives and stays within Remind’s interface entirely. Signup appears to be easy and user friendly. The app is advertised as “Safe. Secure. Free.”

Use in the classroom: I could use Remind in many ways, in addition to simple messages to students or parents. The app permits attachments, so I can send handouts, photographs, verbal messages, assignment calendars, and such. The app allows the scheduling of messages to be sent at a specific time. One value of Remind is the ability to send encouraging notes to students and send assignment reminders once they get home to help the forgetful. The company’s website notes some teachers have found an increase in completed homework assignments because of the messages reminded students who had forgotten to do the work.



Google Docs permits the creation and editing of text documents in your Internet browser without any dedicated word processing software. Multiple users can work on the same document simultaneously and every change is saved automatically. Documents can be imported to make them instantly editable, including MS Word and PDF files. Export your work in .docx, .pdf, .odt, .rtf, .txt or .html format. Documents can be worked on across several devices—iPhone, iPad, Android, and PCs—with or without an Internet connection. Using Google Docs offline requires a Chrome browser. The versatility of Google Docs makes it an excellent tool for handling documents. Many different file types can be converted into the Google Docs format with original files remaining intact. Compared to Microsoft Office products, Google Docs lacks comparable functionality but is simpler to use and provides frequent product updates. One of the key advantages of Google Docs is that documents are stored in the cloud so they are accessible anywhere the user has an Internet connection. The only limitation I see with utilizing Google Docs with students is whether they have the Chrome browser installed. If their computer access is limited to situations where they cannot download Chrome for their own use, they will not be able to use Google Docs. For the teacher, however, Google Docs can be an excellent tool to avoid the need for transferring documents from one computer at school to another at home or elsewhere. A teacher can download background material, lesson plans, and other documents to Google Docs and could use them in another classroom, another school, or even another job over an extended period of time.

Trello is a free and easy-to-operate project management system. It is ideal for group projects. Teachers can use it to track how projects are moving forward, what ideas students are brain-storming, and how each task is being distributed and completed. Since it is web-based, anyone who is part of the project can log in from anywhere.
 The interface is very visual, which will be great for students who are adept at social media. Compared to other free project management platforms, it is less like an Excel spreadsheet adaptation, but more like a high-speed daily planner and organizer where pending, current, and completed project items can be viewed easily. The teacher can make assignments, return tasks for additional work, or sign off on items that have been completed satisfactorily. For each task, the user can assign labels, members, due dates, attach files and more. Indivi-dual responsibilities in group projects are clear and less likely to be neglected. The teacher and students can add comments on particular tasks, to provide feedback on brainstorming ideas and drafts. Trello would also be useful for faculty projects or for school extracurricular activities such as club projects or fundraisers. It can even be used outside of school for endeavors like book clubs and vacation planning. It is used extensively in business for project management. For student group projects, Trello is best suited for grades 7-12.