Best for Managing Classwork

If your school already uses Google Workspace for Education, Google Classroom is a natural place to start.

Google Classroom gives teachers one place to create and post assignments, share materials, collect student work, provide feedback, and keep track of what's due. It also works with familiar Google tools such as Docs and Slides, so students don't have to learn an entirely new system for every assignment. It's especially useful for keeping digital classrooms organized.

Best for Creating Classroom Materials

You don't have to be a graphic designer to make classroom materials that look good.

Canva makes it easy to create presentations, worksheets, posters, videos, infographics, activities, and other visual materials using templates and drag-and-drop tools. But Canva isn't just useful for teachers making materials. Students can also use it to create presentations, posters, and other projects, giving them another way to demonstrate what they've learned.

Best for Quizzes and Review

Sometimes students need a little extra motivation to participate.

That's where Kahoot! can come in handy. Teachers can create interactive quizzes and lessons that students answer using their own devices. It can be a fun way to review material before a test or quickly see whether students understand a topic. Because teachers can see student responses right away, they can identify areas that may need additional explanation.

Best for Interactive Lessons

If you have ever looked around your classroom while presenting a slideshow and wondered how many students were actually paying attention, Nearpod is worth a look.

It lets teachers turn lessons into interactive experiences by adding quizzes, polls, open-ended questions, videos, simulations, and other activities. Students can participate from their own devices while teachers get feedback about their understanding. That makes it useful when you want more than a room full of students quietly watching a presentation.

Best for Self-Paced Practice and Assessments

Not every student works at the same speed. That's one reason self-paced activities can be useful in the classroom.

Wayground (formerly known as Quizizz) lets teachers create interactive assessments, lessons, flashcards, videos, and more. Students can work through activities at their own pace while teachers monitor their progress. It's a good option for independent practice, review, homework, or a classroom station where students work on different activities.

Best for Interactive Video Lessons

Showing a video in class doesn't automatically mean students are learning from it.

Edpuzzle makes videos more interactive by allowing teachers to add questions and other prompts directly into the video. Students can watch it and respond to questions along the way, while teachers can track their progress and responses. Teachers can also choose from a library of existing video lessons or create their own.

Best for Tracking Student Behavior and Family Communication

Keeping parents and families in the loop can be just as important as keeping students engaged. ClassDojo brings both into one platform.

Teachers can use ClassDojo to share classroom updates, photos, videos, and messages with families, giving parents a better idea of what's happening at school. They can also track and encourage positive student behavior by awarding points for things like participation, teamwork, completing assignments, or helping others.

Best for Classroom Collaboration

Group projects and class discussions don't always have to happen around a table. Padlet gives teachers and students a shared digital space to post ideas, questions, images, videos, links, and other content.

Teachers can use Padlet for brainstorming, class discussions, project planning, sharing resources, or giving students a place to showcase their work. Students can also respond to each other's posts, making it easier to collaborate even when they're working from different devices. It’s a great way to get more students involved in a discussion instead of relying on the same few students to raise their hands.

Best for Digital Assignments and Annotation

If you need an easy way to turn everyday worksheets into digital activities, Kami can help with that.

It lets teachers turn PDFs and other documents into digital assignments that students can complete right on their devices. Students can write, type, draw, highlight, add images, and annotate documents, while teachers can provide feedback. This can be especially useful for worksheets, reading assignments, and other activities that would traditionally be printed.

Best for Teaching Coding and Creative Projects

Scratch gives teachers a way to introduce coding while letting students build their own games, animations, interactive stories, and other digital projects.

Teachers can use Scratch for computer science lessons, but it doesn't have to stop there. Students can create an animated story for an English assignment, build a simple simulation for science, or make an interactive project about a topic they're studying. Along the way, they practice problem-solving, creativity, and logical thinking.