• Company:

  • Bessemer Venture Partners

• How/Why is it used in Ed?:

  • Teachers can get lesson plan ideas

  • Students can organize their thoughts

  • Students can pin their projects

  • Pinning could be integrated into a lesson to collect data/information

  • Offers students a visual

• Advantages:

  • Lots of traffic, so lots of resources available

  • Built-In search engine

  • Diverse tool for a multitude of references

• Disadvantages:

  • Anyone can post, so sources aren't always reliable

  • If used outside the classroom, copyright issues could occur

  • More geared towards women than men at the moment

• Stars (rating out of 5): 4.5/5

• Company:

  • Google

• How/Why is it used in Ed?

  • Used to customize lessons with videos

  • Offer an opportunity for a flipped classroom setting

• Advantages:

  • Students can watch videos anywhere

  • Students can access differentiated videos to meet individual learning needs

  • Easy to use for all ages

  • Free

• Disadvantages:

  • Not all links are reliable

  • Content may not be filtered to be age-appropriate for younger students

• Stars (rating out of 5):

  • 4.7/5

• Company:

  • Edmodo

• How/Why is it used in Ed?

  • Edmodo is a form of social media geared specifically towards schools

  • Teachers and students can stay connected by utilizing this platform

• Advantages:

  • Students can check-on with peers and their teacher at any time

  • Great way for students to collaborate

  • Assignments can be scheduled

• Disadvantages:

  • Does not offer group message feature

  • There have often been reports of user-glitches (as of 2020).

  • Reports of difficulty navigating the site

• Stars (rating out of 5): 3.5/5

• Company:

  • Google

• How/Why is it used in Ed?

  • Teachers can post resources, lessons and homework assignments for students

  • Higher ed students could also use Blogger to create their own blogs and websites

• Advantages:

  • free

  • easy to use

  • easy to integrate with Google

• Disadvantages:

  • Lack of versatility

  • Must be versed in HTML and CSS for personalization

• Stars (rating out of 5):

  • 4/5

TedEd

• Company: TED

• How/Why is it used in Ed?

  • Instructors can use videos, animations, and interactive questions on subjects they teach

  • Instructors can share their own videos for use on the site

• Advantages:

  • Instructors have access to videos to use in lesson plans

  • Instructors can create customized lessons for their students based on the videos

  • Compatibility with YouTube

  • Free

• Disadvantages:

  • Only has video lesson capability; instructors need to build additional content for use in classrooms

  • Videos may have accessibility issues

  • Limited interaction platform

• Stars (rating out of 5):

  • 4/5

Facebook

• Company: Facebook

• How/Why is it used in Ed?

  • Used by instructors, extra-curricular activities, student governments, and other organizations for group management and advertising

  • Allows for video and file sharing as well as group and private messaging platforms

• Advantages:

  • Most widely-used social media platform in the world

  • Easily accessed

  • Ability to manage large groups

  • Free

• Disadvantages:

  • Advertisements and social connections can be distracting from the learning environment

  • Privacy issues

• Stars (rating out of 5):

  • 3.5/5

Zoom

• Company: Zoom

• How/Why is it used in Ed?

  • One of the largest video conferencing platforms

  • Heavy use began in Spring 2020 when courses moved to virtual platforms due to COVID-19

• Advantages:

  • Easy to use via computer, tablet, or phone

  • Chat functionality in addition to video/mic options

  • Can have up to 300 participants

  • Screen-sharing capability

  • Free version available

• Disadvantages:

  • Security issues

  • Accessibility issues for students not using a school email

• Stars (rating out of 5):

  • 4.5/5

• Company: Twitter

• How/Why is it used in Ed?

  • Great communication tool; can give students a voice

  • Can use to share videos, lessons, conduct polls, custom hastags, etc.

• Advantages:

  • Easy to use via computer, tablet, or phone

  • Highly interactive

  • Use from anywhere/anytime

  • Connects with young generation

  • Instant feedback

• Disadvantages:

  • Limit to 300 characters

  • Doesn't archive content

  • Direct messages to one user at a time

• Stars (rating out of 5):

  • 4.5/5

• Company: Remind (Formerly Remind 101)

• How/Why is it used in Ed?

  • Class communication tool

  • Send information easily

• Advantages:

  • Easy to sign up with or without downloading app

  • Parents can have access

  • Can be used with text, email, or through the app

  • Teacher can schedule in advance

  • No student to student communication

  • No Cost

• Disadvantages:

  • Company does gather user information

  • Not for inter-class communication

• Stars (rating out of 5):

  • 4.5/5

• Company: Diigo

• How/Why is it used in Ed?

  • It is an online personal library for students/teachers

  • Students can store an infinite amount of resources

• Advantages:

  • Easy to setup and use

  • Share resources

  • Can find resources on topics already researched

  • Can organize by category

  • Accessible from any computer device

• Disadvantages:

  • Not widely known

  • Need internet access

  • Some searches can turn up questionable content

• Stars (rating out of 5):

  • 4.0/5