In a previous post, I wrote about five newer features of Google Drive (formerly Google Docs) which many educators may not be aware of. One of those points was that third-party applications and services can be added to your Google Drive account so that in addition to applications like Docs, Slides, and Sheets, you can access a large variety of other online services which can all save their files directly to your Google Drive account for safekeeping.

Here are ten Google Drive apps which teachers in particular will find useful.

Grading

Many teachers already swear by Google Docs for homework collection and grading. Recently, this Voice Comments app added the ability to—you guessed it—record voice comments directly into documents.

Classroom Presentations

This simple Drive app lets you control presentations on a number of online services using a smartphone app.

This Drive app can be used to create charts and mind maps, but it can also be used more directly as a live digital whiteboard.

Charts, Diagramming, and Mind Maps

Several products exist for diagramming. Here are some of the more popular competitors:

Mathematics

A variety of math visualization apps exist in Google Drive such as data plotters and graphing calculators.

GeoGebra is uniquely powerful. As a “dynamic geometry environment,” it enables teachers to create interactive geometry, algebra, and calculus simulations. These simulations can be uploaded to the GeoGebraTube website. Here is an example simulation demonstrating circumference and the area of circles:

http://www.geogebratube.org/student/m279

I picked out these ten apps as being especially relevant to educators, but dozens more exist. Click here for the full list of Google Drive apps.

Have you ever used one of the many third-party Google Drive apps? If so, what did you use it for, and how did it go?

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