The EdTech Roundup
Connect:
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Editorials & Press
  • Ed Tech Sites
  • Lesson Plans
    • Elementary
    • Secondary
  • Former Weekly Podcast
  • About Me
  • Contact

ClassroomAPP: A Complete, K-12 Digital Platform for Online and In-person Classrooms

7/1/2020

8 Comments

 
Picture
ClassroomAPP is a single platform that combines all the digital tools a teacher could need to provide online or in-person instruction.  This means that not only can ClassroomAPP act as an LMS, but it can also serve as a testing platform, a video conferencing platform, a place to monitor student devices, a source of reports and analytics, and a whole lot more.  Essentially, any digital task a teacher might need to perform can be achieved within ClassroomAPP. 

Before diving into the review, this overview video from the ClassroomAPP teams provides a helpful introduction to the platform and everything it can do:
​


As mentioned in the video, there is a lot that ClassroomAPP covers.  From standards-based assessments and reporting, to controlling students’ screens and devices, to integration with third party tools and apps, ClassroomAPP covers all that and a whole lot more.  Throughout this review we’ll touch briefly on most of these, but it’s important to note that this is an excellent tool not just for classroom teachers, but also for admins, counselors, students, and even parents.  

You can also access ClassroomAPP’s most recent brochure here, which provides additional details on what each of these features looks like in action.

And while ClassroomAPP does offer a ton in terms of features, what I like most about the platform is that it never feels overwhelming, difficult to use, or hard to find what you’re looking for.  Their team has done a great job creating a platform that is robust, but still user friendly and easy to navigate.

Picture

Typically, ClassroomAPP is licensed at the school or district level, so all the courses and student enrollments will be setup already when a teacher logs in for the first time.  

But even when that’s not the case, students and courses are easy to set up manually at the teacher level, or they can be imported from Google Classroom, Clever, or most common SISs as well.  

For teachers and students, ClassroomAPP is split between two parts: The “Dashboard” and the “Application.”  The Dashboard is used for live class sessions, and the Application is basically used for everything else (course management, assessment and assignment creation, communication, etc).

The Dashboard is a great place to start in order to see what a class session with ClassroomAPP actually looks like in action.  The video below shows the getting started process, and provides a first look at the Dashboard, which is launched via a required Chrome / MS Edge extension.  This extension is what allows teachers to see student screens, send out direct links during a class session, and lockdown student browsers as well.


Using the Dashboard (which requires the aforementioned Chrome or Edge extension), teachers can quickly share any site they’re on with their students. They can force students onto that site (way easier than having students type in a link!), lock a student on a specific site, see what they’re currently looking at on their device, or adjust web filters on the fly.   

One of my favorite parts of the Dashboard is that you can even control the volume of students’ devices.  For any teacher who has ever had 30 YouTube videos all load at once, you know what a lifesaver this feature can be!

Plus, you can send different sites and links to different students, which makes ClassroomAPP a great tool for differentiation as well!

Additionally, one of the main challenges for many schools and students at home is bandwidth. ClassroomAPP is designed to be a low-bandwidth application (it caches in your browser to help in low bandwidth situations). You can also deploy a local server in your school or district to make it accessible offline if you are in a remote location far from good internet access.


In addition to the Dashboard, there is the actual “Application” part of ClassroomAPP, which is accessed by logging in on their website, or by clicking ClassroomAPP in the Dashboard.

The home page of the Application is the “Instructor Panel” where teachers can access and do anything they need to do outside of live sessions.  You can access and share any apps that have been added by your school or district admin.  You can send out course codes to students.  And you can access support wizards and tutorials.

However the place where teachers will be spending most of the time is “My Courses.”  This is where you can create, edit, and share content of all types.  You can share resources of any type, create or import assessments, have chats with students, access the gradebook, create reports, and anything else you might need.  This video below provides an overview of what this looks like in action:


For those looking for a deeper dive into the Dashboard, the Application, or how Video Calling works through the system for remote class sessions, the ClassroomAPP video page has additional tutorials and overviews.  

On the Admin side, school administrators / IT staff have the ability to set up courses and import students, and set up third party integrations, as you would expect.  

Plus, deep reporting gives anyone the information they need at their fingertips. From performance, to usage analysis, as well as safety and wellness (students browsing violent sites or suicide-related sites for example).

Picture

But one of my favorite features here is the ROI analysis, which provides detailed analytics into what third party apps and integrations are being used, and how often students and teachers are accessing them.  

This can be incredibly beneficial in order to get a snapshot of school or district-wide activity to see what is actually beneficial and being implemented at the classroom level.

Picture

For parents, they are granted free access to ClassroomAPP and can access any materials or resources that teachers have marked as available.  This can include grades, assignments, or any other course material that may be beneficial.  Parents can also chat with teachers through ClassroomAPP, making the platform a communication hub as well. Parents can see student performance live or even create reports to closely monitor their kids’ performance.

For professional development, ClassroomAPP offers the built-in tools needed for delivering on-site and remote training. A challenge faced by schools and districts is bringing all teachers together in one place. ClassroomAPP allows you to streamline the delivery, administer online webinars (e.g. by grade-levels), and record them in your archives for new teachers, and then verify participation or viewing of recordings. 

Finally, in terms of pricing ClassroomAPP is priced at $10 per student for schools with 400 students or less, with deep discounts for larger schools. 

Overall, I really like what ClassroomAPP has to offer.  ClassroomAPP does an excellent job combining all these features and services into a single platform, while still making it easy to use and navigate.  As with any platform that controls student devices, there are some limitations (have to use Chrome or Microsoft Edge in this case), but that is to be expected.  And the consolidation of such a wide range of digital tools and features easily makes up for that limitation.  

If you’re searching for a new tool that can help integrate and improve on your current digital practices and processes, I recommend signing up for a free trial of ClassroomApp to see if it’s a good fit for your school or district!

Picture
The opinions expressed in this review are my own.
I was not compensated for writing this review.
Due to COVID-19, I was only able to test in remote settings.

8 Comments
Neulessa Major
8/10/2020 01:13:50 pm

Enjoy the video will use

Reply
EDuval
8/29/2020 01:26:56 pm

This is a great post. It is one that I will continue to follow throughout my education to help me learn more about technology and teaching.

Reply
Morgan
8/30/2020 10:23:00 pm

This is a very informative post. I will definitely consider using ClassroomAPP in my classroom in the future.

Reply
Alex Klever
9/1/2020 05:48:24 am

This blog post was very informing. This will be an app that I will look into more when I get closer to becoming a teacher. I really like how it is at the teacher level that they want it and it can be used so many different ways. I also like that parents are able to be on the app and monitor what their kid is doing and can message the teacher through the app. It also seems very easy to use and the price is managable too.

Reply
Vikash link
9/16/2020 04:08:08 am

Thanks for such informative blog. Enjoyed reading it. Keep up the good work

Reply
Rajendra Prasad link
1/27/2021 11:50:28 pm

Nice blog Thanks for posting

Reply
Mya Klein
1/10/2022 06:03:10 am

I really enjoyed learning about how technology enhances a person's education. Thank you for the good information.

Reply
Hannah O
8/29/2022 08:09:04 am

This is a very informative post with useful information for the classroom!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Reviews

    Here you can find the Round Up's collection of in-depth reviews on the latest programs, apps, websites, and more.

    Make sure to click the review's title or the Read More link for the complete review!


    Picture

    Featured

    Picture
    Check out our featured review | ClassroomAPP: A Complete, K-12 Digital Platform for Online and In-Person Classrooms

    Teach.com

    Picture

      Subscribe

    Subscribe

    Connect


    Awards

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    RSS Feed


    Archives

    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013

           
​Except where noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
Picture

Copyright 2020 | Mike Karlin, Ph.D.