APP Reviews- Petty

 ALSDE Standard: SC23.CHEM.2a Develop and use Lewis dot diagrams to model the formation of covalent and ionic bonds.

NearPod Review:https://www.commonsense.org/education/reviews/nearpod

NearPod is an app that allows teachers to present lessons to students in a more engaging way. Teachers can create their own lessons in the program or select an already existing lesson and modify it to their desire. Activities that can be implemented during the lesson include the likes of discussion boards, drawing, matching activities, review quizzes, and virtual field trips along with your already planned Google Slides or PowerPoint presentation. NearPod has three tiers for the individual teacher: silver (Free), gold ($159/year), and platinum ($397/year). Silver tier is the core of NearPod and it is personally what I use. Gold has more features like Google Slides integration and more activities along with an AI component. NearPod is completely adjustable to meet the needs of the students therefore making it suitable for K-12 applications, but could be used in university settings as well. NearPod is available on Apple, Google Play, Microsoft Store, and Google Chrome Webstore. It also has a web browser capability. The CommonSense review informs with great detail how to use it for teaching, what it is used for, and the quality of learning. This is a reputable website that allows teachers to see over 300 community reviews on the website as well. 

Wayground/Quizziz Review: https://www.softwareadvice.com/student-engagement/quizizz-profile/reviews/

Wayground/Quizziz is an app that allows students to review the concepts that they have learned in class. Teachers can use the AI quiz creator function to import PDF files of the work that they have done in class and it can create a diversified assessment for the students with added suggested questions. Quizziz can also be used for an online assessment with adjustable accommodations for students in your class including putting the test/quiz in a different language. There are also test accommodations where the teacher can allow for “redemption” chances for students to correct wrong answers on the quiz. There are multiple game modes that the students can play and I have personally seen great engagement in this app in my class. Wayground/Quizziz has a free option for teachers and also has multiple paid tiers which ranges from $75 per month to $125 per month. The paid versions have more features built into them as one would expect. Wayground/Quizziz is appropriate K-12 and even businesses use it for training purposes. It is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play; there are also web browser capabilities. Software Advice is an appropriate review site because it sorts through how many people are in the business, how long they have used the product, lists the pros and cons, and gives honest reviews from people that have actually used the software. 

Khan Academy review:  https://www.bitdegree.org/online-learning-platforms/khan-academy-review

Khan Academy is an app that is a free online learning platform that accommodates K-12 learners that supplies videos broken down by units with topics along with practice questions and unit tests to guide them through the topics. Khan Academy is used for a variety of topics, but is praised for its math and science content. This can be used for first time instruction, supplemental instruction, or review. Khan Academy is completely free for everyone to use. Khan Academy has an intended use for K-12. Khan Academy is compatible on Apple App Store and Google Play. There is also web browser functionality. Bit Degree is an online learning community that seems to be very knowledgeable about different programs and provides fact checked reviews. The review is factual and provides the pros and cons of Khan Academy fairly. 

Winner Winner: NearPod

In order to best teach my standard, I would use the NearPod app because of the engagement that I get with my students. I would supply them with the slides and then provide them with drawing activities to practice the skills virtually. I could also allow students to have a class drawing board to compare answers and discuss which drawing is the most appropriate structure. The flexibility of NearPod allows me to assess students in multiple ways that I see fit, and I get the most student feedback from using this application.