This document provides summaries of 10 education apps for 5th grade students and teachers. It describes the uses, feedback, ease of use, privacy features, alignment with standards, and instructions for each app. The apps include Epic Books, Google Earth, Google Docs, Google Slides, Prodigy, IXL, Minecraft, News-O-Matic, Google Lens, and Remind. For each app, a brief description highlights its key features and educational benefits.

1. Top 10 Apps for Education
For 5th Grade Students and Teachers
By: Shauna Barnett
EDT 6200 – Harding University

2. Epic Books for Kids
• Uses: Free online reading platform with built in
audio. For all students grades P-6.
• Feedback: Logs student progress in books, and
keeps track of which books were read. Students
and teachers can both access this
information. Makes suggestions based on
student ratings of books. Includes enrichment
videos and games to go along with the books.
• Easy to use: Easy - students login with a class
code, select their profile from the list, and scroll
through a library of books.
• Privacy: limited student info is entered (name).
Teachers provide email address, district, school,
and name.
• Standards: App can be used to meet curriculum
standards in each content area as it provides an
extensive library of different text topics,
however reading standards will be addressed no
matter the content area in which the texts are
about.
• Instructions: When first logging in to the app,
students are given the few basic control
instructions, if necessary, but it really is a very
simple app to use.
• This app is like Netflix, but with books instead
of video content. Students can keep track of
preferences, and the app will make suggestions
and allow students to rate books. The kids love
it as much as the teachers do, and with built in
"read to me" option, students of any reading
ability can access the same text as peers.

3. Google Earth
• Uses: Virtual Field trips - any grade level,
multiple content areas
• Feedback: Does not provide any feedback, but
with proper teacher guided activities, students
receive feedback from the teacher.
• Ease of use: Depends on the task, but this is a
more moderate difficulty app. Whole group is
best for younger students, but students can
begin to learn it with scaffolding, and should
become proficient at its' use by middle school.
• Privacy: Does not require any additional
login information outside of having a google
account.
• Standards: This app is essential for social
studies. Students can experience geographical
locations outside of their own in pictures, aerial,
and 3D view. This could also be used in Science
to explore unfamiliar biome regions and in
literacy to visit locations from nonfiction books.
• Instructions: Some prompts built in, but mostly
requires teachers to train students on the way to
complete the task at hand until mastered.
• The versatility of this app and its ability to give
students access to unfamiliar parts of the world,
explore both natural and manmade elements,
and witness things outside the classroom
for free make it an exceptional app for
educators.

4. Google Docs
• Uses: Free document sharing app for use by
students of all ages.
• Feedback: Makes it possible for teachers (and
other students) to provide feedback to
students about writing tasks.
• Ease of use: Easy-moderate, depending on age
level/task at hand. Students learn different
features through scaffolding and become
proficient in it's use by the time they enter
middle school.
• Privacy: Requires all the same information and
permissions as every other google app.
• Standards: Docs can be used to address
writing standards at any grade level, but can
be used to create research papers and/or
chart various types of data across content
areas.
• Instructions: Some prompts built in, but
mostly requires teachers to train students
on the way to complete the task at hand until
mastered.
• This app is excellent for any individual or
collaborative writing assignments across
content areas. Docs are shared virtually and
feedback is able to be viewed by the student
in real time.

5. Google Slides
• Uses: Free app for creating digital
presentations for use by students approx. 3rd-
12th grade.
• Feedback: Makes it possible for students to
receive feedback in real time, but feedback
must be entered by the teacher or other
students.
• Ease of use: Moderate. Students learn to
create simple presentations with scaffolding
from the teacher. By middle school, students
should be proficient.
• Privacy: Requires all the same information
and permissions as every other google app.
• Standards: This app is so flexible once
students become proficient that it could be
used to demonstrate knowledge of just about
ANY standardat ANY age level and in ANY
subject.
• Instructions: Some prompts built in,
but mostly requires teachers to train
students on the way to complete the task at
hand until mastered.
• The best thing about this app is its ability for
collaborative work among students and the
versatility in which it offers for presenting
information about any content. Teachers and
students alike can use it to
share presentations on various topics.

6. Prodigy
• Uses: To practice fundamental math skills for
students of age K-8.
• Feedback: This app provides immediate
feedback to students and logs progress over
time for students and teachers both to access.
• Ease of Use: Easy– students login with a class
code, select their profile, and then choose a
math gameto practice a specific set of skills.
• Privacy: Requires very little student and
teacher information to get started – name and
grade level for students; name, email, district
for teachers.
• Standards: This app can be used for
intervention and skills practice in math
concepts for grades K-8.
• Instructions: Quick tutorials provided on first
use of different features, but very simple to
use – can be quickly mastered in early
elementary.
• This app is great for making math, a subject
widely known for its difficulty and
tedium, fun. Students can practice skills and
earn EXP to level up their character like in a
video game. Progress monitoring for teacher
and student alike, is built in.

7. IXL
• Uses: Skills practice in math, literacy, science,
and social studies for 2nd-8th grades.
• Feedback: Provides immediate and
accumulated feedback for both students and
teachers. Students earn awards during
activities, and classes earn certificates at
various levels of participation and/or skills
mastery.
• Ease of Use: Easy- students login and
complete "starred" assignments for various
skills practices.
• Privacy: Safe – used at the district level
nationwide.
• Standards – Meets a plethora of standards
across content areas and grade levels. Can be
used for enrichment, guided practice, or
extension and also as an assessmenttool.
• Instructions: Once logged in, students can
easily assigned target skills. After that, it's
mostly click or type answers, with instructions
included for each question.
• This is a must-haveprogram for instructors of
the 4 main content areas. Guided practice is
aligned perfectly with state standards,
feedback to students is exceptional, and data
reporting methods to teachers is invaluable.

8. Minecraft
• Uses: Can be used as a design and build
platform for students. Creates 3D models with
almost unlimited possibilities.
• Feedback: Not provided internally, teacher
must decide how to incorporate feedback in a
way that is pertinent to the lesson.
• Ease of Use: Easy– students of all ages either
already know, or can learn to use very
quickly.
• Privacy - Can be used through any phone
carrier's app store, with necessary
permissions, or can be used on a console, with
no private information shared.
• Standards: The use of this app can be
modified to include any content area, but is
extremely helpful in having students build
dioramas, historical structures, or ecosystem
models in the areas of science and social
studies.
• Instructions: Not built in, teacher mustset
boundaries and expectations.
• Though this app costs $7.99 per student,
many already have a version of it and are fully
adept at using it. Students can use the app to
create digital 3D models of just about
anything, and they really enjoy using it, which
makes learning fun!

9. News-O-Matic
• Uses: News-O-Matic is a digital newspaper
made for kids, by kids. Use it to follow current
events in a kid friendly manner in any social
studies classroom. Can be used in whole
group and individual activities.
• Feedback: Does not supply feedback. Teacher
would need to set up some form of
documentation of use/accountability program.
• Ease of Use: Easy– tap to click, with basic
controls.
• Privacy: Doesn't require student info at all,
only requires basic teacher information.
• Standards: With news stories relating to all
kinds of content and a focus on educational
topics, this app could be used to meet many
grade levels' social studies, literacy, and
science standards.
• Instructions: Simple enough to use that
tutorials are not exactly necessary.
• This app is great for teachers who want to
inspire civic responsibility in students,
by keeping up with current events in a kid-
friendly format. The app features 5 news
articles a day that are both interesting and
educational.

10. Google Lens
• Uses: Google lens uses a devices camera to
both identify and provide links to information
about basically anything you can take a picture
of.
• Feedback: Doesn't keep track of any
performance indicators, but will save searches
done. Teacher would have to create a system
for accountability with the app.
• Ease of Use: Easy- point and shoot, using the
device's camera, and results pop up with links,
additional photos, and identification of plants,
animals, and other things.
• Privacy: Requires same permissions as any
other google app.
• Standards: This app is most easily used in
Science activities of all grade levels. Students
can participate in scavenger hunts for specific
plants, insects, rocks, etc. They could also
research those items more deeply.
• Instructions: Simple to use, but teacher would
need to set boundaries and expectations
specific to tasks.
• This app is excellent for helping students gain
an appreciation and understanding for the
world around them. Highly recommended for
science teachers of all grade levels.

11. Remind
• Uses: Remind is a communication app that
allows teachers and families to stayconnected
without giving out private cell phone numbers.
• Feedback: Responses are sent in real time,
just like text messages. A log of all
communications is kept from the teacher's
portal for future reference.
• Ease of Use: Easy– students or parents sign up
for a teacher's class using a unique class
code. After that, either side can direct
messagethe other in the same way one would
send a text message.
• Privacy: Only requires the users name, so that
messagesenders can be identified.
• Standards: This app meets ISTE technology
standards while also providing a private place
for teachers to communicate. Teachers can
remind students about assignments, tell
parents about special events such as field
trips or deadlines, and send whole group
messages to all participants of a class, or
private messages to a specific student or
parent.
• Instructions: A tutorial is available, but the
app is very simple to use and it likely won't be
necessary.
• Every teacher grade 5-12 should be using
remind. It allows them to communicate with
parents and/or students without giving out a
personal phone number.