“Technology is not a replacement for human teachers, but it can be a powerful tool to augment and enhance the learning experience.” – Sugata Mitra
“The best educational apps are those that engage students, make learning fun, and inspire curiosity.” – Chris Dede
Using technology has no longer been a choice, but a requirement in today’s world, so it’s only natural that it has made its way into shaping the model of the education system environment.
Educational apps have made learning easy and accessible for people worldwide with just the click of a button.
In this article you will learn
What are educational apps
Advantages of educational apps
Disadvantages of educational apps
Top 5 educational apps
Tips for effective uses
What Are Educational Apps
Educational apps are software or platforms designed to help students learn and teachers teach. Educational apps are those mobile applications that facilitate education. Gone are the days when education was restricted by the four walls of a classroom.
Education has become more accessible. This is because of the advancement of technology and the rapid growth of the same. With the growing technology and advancements in science, all professional sectors have evolved a lot and the same needs to be done with our education system too.
The objective of education is to create individuals who are self-dependent and self-aware. Educational apps can be of different types. They can be online teaching apps, flashcard creators, learning apps, reminder apps, and the like. All the applications that cater to the education fraternity can be called educational apps.
The traditional in-person classroom is being complemented with, or even replaced by, online learning platforms.
Over 455,000 educational apps are available on the market, developed and tailored to support each learner’s needs. These apps cover several subjects, including language learning, standard school curriculum content, coding skills, and the list goes on.
Advantages of using Educational Apps
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Improve performance
Apps can help students improve their performance, track their progress, and manage their time.
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Stimulate learning
Apps can use gamification and other creative techniques to keep students entertained while they learn.
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Access information
Apps can provide easy access to assignments, grades, and communication with teachers and peers.
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Learn foreign languages
Apps can offer lessons, dictionaries, grammar rules, and interactive exercises to help people learn vocabulary and improve pronunciation.
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Organize
Apps can help users take notes, plan schedules, and capture photos.
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Cost-effective
Most educational apps are very cheap because they are easy to down and are most free except few that a subscription based
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Self-learning
Promoting self-learning is a good way to ensure that students become more independent. Apps can help students learn at their own pace, ensuring that they learn on their own accord and value self-study more than rote learning or instructor-led learning
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Assistive tools for teachers
Teachers can use interactive elements in mobile devices to make learning a fun, interesting experience. This also helps teachers to explore new avenues in teaching and change their approach to a subject.
Disadvantages of Educational Apps
Although the advantages of using apps in education are well-known, there are many disadvantages to them too.
Here are some top disadvantages of using apps in education:
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Distraction
Technology is good, but it is also distractive. Students today are smart enough to find backdoors in school systems to surf the web or play games instead of learning. With the internet becoming a big temptation and school IT infrastructure being shoddy in many places, students end up being online while they should be learning.
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Emotional development
The emotional development of little children is as important as getting good grades. A non-human device cannot instill self-control or order in a classroom and students might learn a topic, but not how to play well amongst each other.
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Overstimulation due to excessive screen time
Overstimulation caused by excessive time spent on the screen can disrupt sleeping patterns and cause emotional dysregulation. Screen time must be controlled to manage stress and mood swings in children.
The usage of education technology or EdTech in schools will contribute to the screen time children are exposed to in a day.
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Decreased social interaction
Educational apps are mostly designed for use by individuals and not for group activities. This causes students to stay engrossed with themselves and not interact with other students in the class or school. This leads to developmental delays in social skills such as talking and interacting with others and may cause little children to become introverts.
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Reduced emphasis on traditional teaching and learning skills
A near-total reliance on googling for answers has caused students to lose out on information search and analysis skills that help us to find the right text and interpret what is needed from it. Additionally, spellings, grammar, and other automatically corrected errors lead to reduced reliance on comprehension and problem-solving skills.
The Top Five Educational Apps
1. Duolingo
This is an American educational technology company that produces learning apps and provides language certification. Duolingo offers courses on music,math,and languages,ranging from English, French, and Spanish to less commonly studied languages such as Welsh, Irish, and Navajo.
The learning method incorporates gamification to motivate users with points and rewards and interactive lessons featuring spaced repetition.The app promotes short, daily lessons for consistent-phased practice.
With over 100 million monthly active users, Duolingo is the most popular language learning app.
On Duolingo, learners learn by engaging with the language. Users complete lessons using words they are learning.
Duolingo uses a gamified approach to language learning, with lessons that incorporate translating, interactive exercises, quizzes, and stories
It also uses an algorithm that adapts to each learner and can provide personalized feedback and recommendations. Lessons are designed to be brief, allowing users to learn in manageable chunks.
2. Khan Academy
This is an American non-profit educational organization created in 2006 by Sal Khan.Its goal is to create a set of online tools that help educate students.The organization produces short video lessons.
Its website also includes supplementary practice exercises and materials for educators. It has produced over 10,000 video lessons, teaching a wide spectrum of academic subjects, including mathematics, sciences, literature, history, and computer science. All resources are available for free to users of the website and application.
Khan Academy offers classes with educational videos hosted on YouTube. The website is meant to be used as a supplement to the videos, because it includes other features such as progress tracking, practice exercises,and teaching tools.
The material can also be accessed through mobile applications. The videos enable students to acquire knowledge at their own learning speed according to the concept of mastery learning. They are therefore used by teachers to teach according to the principle of Flipped Classroom.
Khan Academy videos have been translated into several languages, with nearly 20,000 subtitle translations available. These translations are mainly volunteer-driven with help from international partnerships
3. Photomath
This is an educational technology mobile app, owned by Google. It features a computer algebra system with an augmented optical character recognition system, designed for use with a smartphone’s camera to scan and recognize mathematical equations; the app then displays step-by-step explanations onscreen.
Photomath utilizes the camera of a user’s smartphone or tablet to scan and identify mathematical problems. Upon recognition, the app displays the steps to solve the problem. The app presents these steps through various methods and approaches, elucidating the problem-solving process in a step-by-step manner to educate users.
Starting in 2016, the app expanded its capabilities to include handwriting recognition, alongside printed text, allowing students to scan both textbooks and handwritten mathematical notes.
In 2017, Photomath was recognized by The Tech Edvocate as one of the top 20 teaching and learning applications.
While Photomath is predominantly free, it also provides a subscription-based service, ‘Photomath Plus’, which enhances functionality with features like solving mathematical word problems and providing solutions to textbook exercises.
4. Coursera
This is an American global massive open online course provider. It was founded in 2012 by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller.Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offer online courses, certifications, and degrees in a variety of subjects.
On February 2, 2021, Coursera announced its B Corporation certification from B Lab and its transformation into a Public Benefit Corporation.
As of 2023, more than 300 universities and companies were offering courses through Coursera, and by 2024, the number of courses available had risen to approximately 7,000.
They offered degree courses and professional courses.
Some people find Coursera’s pricing and fees confusing.Many of its courses are free to students over 2,900 free courses as of 2023.
The free courses (also called “auditing a course”) do not include a certificate of completion or grades or any other instructor feedback.
A free course can be “upgraded” to the paid version of a course, which includes instructor’s feedback and grades for the submitted assignments, and (if the student gets a passing grade) a certificate of completion.
Other Coursera courses, projects, specializations, etc. cannot be audited they are only available in paid versions. Many of them begin with a 7-day free trial.
5. Quizlet
This is a multinational American company that provides tools for studying and learning. Quizlet was founded in October 2005 by Andrew Sutherland, who at the time was a 15-year old student, and released to the public in January 2007. Quizlet’s primary products include digital flashcards, matching games, practice electronic assessments, and live quizzes. In 2017, 1 in 2 high school students used Quizlet.As of December 2021, Quizlet has over 500 million user-generated flashcard sets and more than 60 million active users.
Other notable education apps worth exploring:
- TED Talks
- National Geographic Kids
- BrainPOP
- CK-12
Tips for Effective learning
- Set learning goals and track progress.Use apps in conjunction with traditional learning methods.
2. Explore different apps to find the best fit.
3. Take breaks and practice self-care.
Conclusion
Education apps have revolutionized the way students learn. By leveraging these top 5 apps, students can enhance their learning experience, improve engagement, and achieve academic success.
What are your go-to education apps? Share your recommendations in the comments below.
