TeachersFirst's BYOD Dream Tools: Free Tools that Work on ANY device!
Other TeachersFirst Special Topics Collections

This collection of reviewed tools from TeachersFirst includes apps that are available for FREE on iOS (iPad, iPhone), Android, and web devices. Ideal for BYOD classrooms or 1:1 computer/tablet programs, these reviewed tools allow users to create and access projects using the same app, no matter what kind of device they have.
This collection includes only "DATs" (device agnostic tools) that are FREE on all devices and offer free access with sufficient features to be useful without upgrading to a paid account. Whether you call it an "app" or a "web tool," a DAT allows you to access your projects from almost any device.
Be sure to read the "Edge Features" list at the end of each review to know whether you need to create individual accounts, how products can be shared, and other tips on using these DATs safely and within school policies.
Even the best DAT has slight differences in capabilities on different devices. Encourage your students to share what they discover about additional or missing features on each type of device. your class will quickly appoint tool experts for each app!
TeachersFirst encourages our members (membership is FREE) to add comments and ratings to help other teachers and students trying these tools. Apps change quickly, so we welcome your comments on any changes that may occur to these tools and their free status.
(image credit: Jeremy Keith)
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Milanote - Milanote.com
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): collaboration (73), collages (21), creativity (104), curation (4), DAT device agnostic tool (169), graphic organizers (43), organizational skills (97)
In the Classroom
Use Milanote to organize ideas and resources for upcoming lessons and units. Collaborate with peers using a visual board to organize and brainstorm ideas. Share with students to use when planning collaborative projects, to share resources, or to organize notes. Don't forget to look at all of the templates, not just those found under the education label. Use mood board templates for students to creatively share images and ideas to describe the mood or setting in a novel. Take advantage of the storyboard templates to help students organize an upcoming podcast or video presentation. Use the brainstorming templates as a visual mind map to map out features such as parts of a plant or insect body parts.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Knowt - Knowt
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): assessment (120), DAT device agnostic tool (169), quizzes (81)
In the Classroom
Share Knowt with students as a resource for practicing for upcoming quizzes and tests. Consider this option as an alternative to flashcards or other review methods. As students become familiar with Knowt, use this tool as a starting point on lessons sharing how to find and understand important information within any piece of writing. Create a quiz together and share it on your interactive whiteboard. Ask students to analyze the questions that Knowt creates and discuss why they are included in the quiz. Once students understand how to create an effective quiz, ask them to create their own quizzes for personal study or to share with peers. Gimkit, reviewed here, offers a free quiz-creation tool for use in a variety of educational settings.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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MyNetDiary - MyNetDiary, Inc.
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (169), fitness (53), nutrition (163)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and share this site with your school's physical education teacher and coaches. Share a link on your class website as information for parents. Include a link to this site on your class website for parent viewing at home. Ask students to upload a photo they have taken when exercising and add an explanation about how this improves physical fitness using a tool such as Photocat reviewed here. Have students create an online graph using DIY Chart Builder, reviewed here, to document calorie intake and physical activity over the course of a month. Share this site with older students as part of any health unit, and ask them to create a home health plan based on guidelines provided on the site Shape America, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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MyFitnessPal - Under Armour, Inc.
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (169), fitness (53), nutrition (163)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and share this site with your school's physical education teacher and coaches. Share a link on your class website as information for parents. Ask students to upload a photo they have taken when exercising and add an explanation about how this improves physical fitness using a tool such as Add Text, reviewed here. Have students create an online graph using ChartGizmo, reviewed here, to document calorie intake and physical activity over the course of a month. Share this site with older students as part of any health unit, and ask them to create a home health plan based on guidelines provided on the site Shape America, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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PBS Kids - PBS
Grades
K to 5tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (169), game based learning (160), literacy (91), preK (277), video (259)
In the Classroom
Discover and share the many free resources available on PBS Kids. Show clips on your interactive whiteboard, or with your projector, then have students complete an accompanying activity. With younger students, use FlipGrid, reviewed here, as a video response platform for students to share how they would use what they learned by watching the videos or using the interactives. Alternatively, you might try using Synth, reviewed here; Synth is an extremely easy to use tool for creating short audio and video soundbites and automatically pieces together soundbites into threads to share as podcasts. PBS Kids is perfect for sharing with parents. Include a link to activities on your class website along with suggestions on how to use activities at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Great Big Story - Great Big Story and CNN Worldwide
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (148), DAT device agnostic tool (169)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the content found on this site to find reading material that appeals to students. Share stories as examples of how to write and share topical information or as inspiration for student writing projects. Use the search feature to find content that matches your current classroom curriculum. For example, when learning about countries around the world, use the search bar to find articles and videos of real-world information and sharing stories of people from that country. As students find and share information, use Edublog, reviewed here, as a platform for sharing student work. Extend learning further by finding Skype, reviewed here, partners to share cross-cultural connections with classrooms around the globe.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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FluentKey - Fluentkey, LLC
Grades
K to 12tag(s): chinese (48), DAT device agnostic tool (169), french (82), german (59), sign language (8), spanish (109), Teacher Utilities (100)
In the Classroom
Use FluentKey to easily differentiate world language lessons for students and allow them to progress at their own speed. Help ESL/ELL students master English using videos and quizzes based on their knowledge level. This is also an excellent tool to provide language learning experiences based on student interests. Even if the language isn't included with the videos on the site, find and upload videos for student use and add quizzes along with additional content. As students become proficient in a new language, encourage them to share their knowledge using a variety of multimedia tools. Annotate images using ThingLink, reviewed here, create an audio recording of conversations, or use PhotoCollage, reviewed here, to create a collage. As students become more proficient in their new language, ask them to record short podcasts with a podcast creation tool like Podcast Generator, reviewed here, and share tips and advice with their fellow students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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4-Circle Venn Diagram Creator - Canva
Grades
K to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (169), graphic design (43), images (270), venn diagrams (20)
In the Classroom
Work together as a class to complete a 4-Circle Venn Diagram on your interactive whiteboard (or with a projector) to represent an overlap of topics in any subject. For example, use this tool to compare and contrast students' involvement in four different sports, compare events or settings in four novels, or characteristics of four groups of animals. Once students become comfortable with Venn Diagrams, ask them to include them in a longer presentation created using a tool like Wakelet, reviewed here. Use Wakelet to modify classroom technology by having students include their writing, images, diagrams, videos, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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BeeLine Reader Collection - Reading is Fundamental
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (169), independent reading (106), reading comprehension (123), reading strategies (56), Special Needs (42)
In the Classroom
These BeeLine Reader PDFs are an excellent addition to the already valuable reading materials found at Reading is Fundamental - Literacy Central, reviewed here. Be sure to bookmark this site to find leveled reading passages with the enhanced function of BeeLine Reader. These PDFs are wonderful to share with ESL/ELL and Special Education specialists to use with their students. Remember, all teachers are reading teachers. Share this tool with your science, social studies, and math teachers, too!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Engaging Congress - Indiana University
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): branches of government (60), congress (43), DAT device agnostic tool (169), primary sources (103)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free games and materials on this site to use as a supplement to your current resources for teaching history and government. Instead of written notes, strengthen learning by having students use an online tool such as Creately, reviewed here, to create diagrams, mindmaps, and other visual graphic organizers. To compare and contrast information found in different primary sources, create a Venn Diagram using Creately. As students prepare to share their findings and summarize their learning, have them modify their learning by creating infographics using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, to visually represent facts and information. As a final assessment for your unit using these materials, ask students to form teams to debate different sides of the issues presented. Share their debates as a podcast using Anchor, reviewed here. Anchor is a simple to use podcasting tool offering several free options for creating, hosting, and sharing podcasts. As an alternative, ask other students redefine their learning and to create multimedia presentations using Sway, reviewed here to share text, videos, images, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Aquation - Smithsonian Science Education Center
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): conservation (117), DAT device agnostic tool (169), game based learning (160), recycling (51), water (135), weather (198)
In the Classroom
Include this activity with any unit on the environment, water cycles, or weather. Extend this activity further to learn more about water conservation in your community. Ask students to take pictures around the school or at home showing the inefficient use of water. Use PhotoCollage, reviewed here, and have students create a collage of their images to use as a starting point for research. Ask students to enhance their learning and upload their collage to a blog and write analyzing and sharing ideas for water conversation based on their collage. Use a blog tool such as Edublog, reviewed here. Use Symbaloo Learning Paths, reviewed here, to create a learning path for your students for your entire unit. Add videos, quizzes, embed this game and add all the information for students to follow. Symbaloo Learning Paths also includes options for differentiation for different interests or ability levels of your students. Ask older students to modify their learning and create their own Learning Path to demonstrate and share learning throughout the unit.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Choice of Games - Choice of Games LLC
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): coding (78), creative writing (134), DAT device agnostic tool (169), gamification (79), interactive stories (25), STEM (215), writing (316)
In the Classroom
Introduce this site to your students on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector and explore one or two of the games together. Create a short story together to learn about how to use the different story-writing options. As students begin creating games using this site, consider having students create explainer videos to modify their learning using My Simpleshow, reviewed here, and to demonstrate tools that need a more detailed explanation than what is on the site. Have students create stories to show what they have learned about literature, geography, history, science concepts, and more. As a more "serious" approach, use Choice of Games to present opinion pieces where you take a position and allow readers to click on questions about it. They could also click on statements expressing opposing views so you can write counterarguments to their points. This idea could end up being a powerful way to present an argument and evidence as required by Common Core writing standards. Redefine student learning by having them include their text-based game as part of a collaborative multi-media presentation created using Sway, reviewed here. In addition to their game, ask students to include their written documents, images, and video creations.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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KidCitizen - Congress, Civic Participation, and Primary Sources Project
Grades
K to 5tag(s): american flag (8), communities (40), congress (43), DAT device agnostic tool (169), national parks (22), symbols (17)
In the Classroom
KidCitizen works across all devices, share a link to episodes on classroom computers for students to watch as a learning center activity. Flip your classroom and have students view at home before discussing concepts in class. As students interact with content in the episodes, take advantage of the many resources found at Classtools (reviewed here) to create concept maps, quizzes, and online games. If you teach younger students, create additional interactive games with your own content using Oodlu, reviewed here. Ask older students to create their own games using Oodlu. As a final project, have students create books using WriteReader, reviewed here. Write Reader is a very easy to use tool for even young students and includes features for sharing invented writing along with correct spelling. For older students, consider using Book Creator, reviewed here that features more robust digital storytelling tools.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Clockify - Nenad Milanovic
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): calendars (40), DAT device agnostic tool (169), organizational skills (97)
In the Classroom
Have you ever had students complain about group projects and class members not participating fully? Clockify is an excellent tool for managing these projects. Share this site with team members and ask them to include time spent on the project and use tags to categorize time spent on different activities of the project. Clockify is also an excellent resource for teaching data and statistics in math class. Create a project and use the site's tools to add information on time spent on class activities, chart time spent on homework, or hours spent on after-school activities. Ask students to take the data and analyze the results. Use a simple online chart-creation tool like ChartAccent, reviewed here, to display the data.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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oodlu - Wayne Holmes and Douglas Lapsley
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (169), flash cards (37), game based learning (160), gamification (79)
In the Classroom
Use oodlu to differentiate learning in your classroom. Assign questions sets to different groups of learners according to their specific needs. Be sure to show students how to log in and access questions (if your class is remote learning, show students the log in, etc. by using a video conference room such as Zoom, reviewed here, or Proficonf, reviewed here, and then include a link to the site on your class webpage for students to play at home. At the end of your unit, enhance learning and augment technology use by asking students to plan a multimedia presentation using a tool like SuperNotecard, reviewed here, where you can turn your notes into a storyboard! Extend learning and modify technology use by having students use the Storyboard to create a multimedia presentation with a tool like Sway, reviewed here, to share their learning. Have students include text, images, videos, and a link to oodlu learning games in the Sway.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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myHomework - myHomeworkapp
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): calendars (40), DAT device agnostic tool (169), homework (35), organizational skills (97), Teacher Utilities (100)
In the Classroom
Share myHomework with students as an excellent way to organize and plan homework assignments. Create a link on your class website for students to access, and discuss using this app during back to school meetings. This site works on computers and has apps for all devices so information is available across platforms.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Meme Buddy - Mike Bodge
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): creativity (104), DAT device agnostic tool (169), digital storytelling (134), images (270)
In the Classroom
Use Meme Buddy to quickly create memes on the fly. Share a meme on your interactive whiteboard as a discussion starter for the beginning of your lesson. Ask students to create a meme as a one sentence summary of the day's activity and use as an exit ticket. Meme Buddy translates information into other languages, create a meme in a different language as an anticipatory set for learning about a foreign language. Foreign language teachers will love creating memes to teach phrases to students!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Dictionary.com - Dictionary.com, LLC
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (169), dictionaries (51), game based learning (160), thesaurus (22), word choice (19)
In the Classroom
Use this online dictionary instead of printed dictionaries and thesauruses in the classroom. Be sure to share a link to this site on your class website. Display the word of the day on your interactive whiteboard as a lesson starter during writing or language arts lessons. Ask students to include featured words during writing activities using Google Documents, then highlight each time the word is used. Take it a "tech" step further and have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here. Dive even deeper and have students or groups of students create daily video presentations featuring their choice for word of the day (or week) using a tool like Powtoon, reviewed here. Share their videos on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reader - MindSky
Grades
K to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (169), media literacy (86), reading comprehension (123)
In the Classroom
Download Reader onto classroom computers and mobile devices for saving and sharing web articles. This app is especially useful for ESL/ELL or Special Education students to help remove distracting information. After reading articles, have students share their thoughts using a voice recording tool like Vocaroo, reviewed here, then share their recordings on your class website. Share several articles with students using Reader, then post an essential question on Recap for younger students, reviewed here, or on FlipGrid for older students, reviewed here. Both Recap and Flipgrid allow students to post video question responses, then add comments to the posted responses creating an excellent tool for collaborative discussions. Share student responses and discussions with a class podcast using Podcast Generator, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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PyeongChang 2018 - PyeongChang2018
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (169), korea (18), olympics (47)
In the Classroom
Use this site to follow the latest information from the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. If students use mobile devices, share the link to download the official app. Ask students to share stories from the Olympics using an online bulletin board like Padlet, reviewed here. Padlet allows users to create columns for posts, add columns to sort information by country, sport, or daily events throughout the Olympics. Have students make video recordings sharing daily updates during the Olympic games using a tool such as My Simpleshow, reviewed here. Share videos using a tool such as SchoolTube, reviewed here. As a final project, have students create a Symbaloo Learning Path, reviewed here, to share information learned. Symbaloo Learning Path's offer the ability to add videos, websites, and quizzes into an interactive learning experience.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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