Tag Archives: AASL Best Apps for Teaching & Learning

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AASL Recommended App: Humanities & Arts: MoMA Art Lab

moma_art_labIn June 2016, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their 25 Best Apps for Teaching and Learning. The apps encourage qualities such as innovation and active participation, and are user-friendly.

The app MoMa Art Lab introduces young students to modern art and allows them to create their own art in a variety of ways. Some of the activities include experimenting with paint, making a sound composition or line design, and creating a chance collage. Famous artists and their work that are featured in the app include Henry Matisse, Elizabeth Murray, Brice Marden, and more. To help with literacy skills, try the Create a Shape Poem activity which uses adjectives to identify parts of a free form drawing. The app does include parental controls, and also allows users to store and share their artwork.

Cost: Free!
Level: Elementary and up
Platforms: iOS

Check out some reviews from teachers via Common Sense Education, then read about this teacher’s experience with using the app in her classroom.

Watch the trailer now:

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AASL Recommended App: Content Creation: Comic Life 3

In June 2016, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their 25 Best Apps for Teaching and Learning. The apps encourage qualities such as innovation and active participation, and are user-friendly.

comic_lifeThe app Comic Life 3 allows users to turn their pictures into comics. The app features templates, balloons, captions, photo filters, and lettering art. All that is required to create a comic is some photos and text! The app works well for making fliers, storyboards, and school projects. The app includes Script Editor, which recognizes keywords and allows users to drag them into their comic. This app is a helpful addition not only to Language Arts, but also Social Studies and Science. Check out their blog for ways to incorporate the app into your classroom.

Cost: $4.99
Level: Upper Elementary, Middle and High School
Platforms: iOS

For more information on the usefulness of comics in the classroom, read this article from Scottish Book Trust that includes links to other similar resources. Watch this video that highlights some of the features of the app (it looks so fun!):

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AASL Recommended App: STEM: Map of Life

map_of_life_0In June 2016, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their 25 Best Apps for Teaching and Learning. The apps encourage qualities such as innovation and active participation, and are user-friendly.

The app Map of Life allows users to discover, identify, and record biodiversity from all over the world. Students are able to contribute to the map by recording sightings. The app features many different categories of species, including trees, mammals, birds, fish, and more. Users can learn about characteristics and habitats, with the goal to help worldwide conservation efforts. This app would be a good addition to a science field trip, in order to record and identify plants and animals.

Cost: Free
Level: Middle and High School
Platforms: iOS and Android

Read about this teacher’s experience using the app in her classroom, then watch this short video from the Florida Museum of Natural History  that describes how to use and learn from the app:

Check this out:, General, School Media Specialist

AASL Recommended App (Humanities & Arts) Newsela

newselaIn June 2016, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their 25 Best Apps for Teaching and Learning. The apps encourage qualities such as innovation and active participation, and are user-friendly.

Newsela is an app that provides news for students at their reading level. There are 5 different reading levels, from 2nd – 12th grade, and features a variety of content. The news sources are reputable and include the Guardian and The Associated Press, among others. Educators are able to track reading progress and each article comes with a quiz for comprehension.

Cost: Free
Level: Upper Elementary, Middle and High School
Platforms: iOS

This article from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute describes how Newsela can be very helpful in providing reading text that fulfills the Common Core State Standards.

Watch this video that details how to use Newsela in the classroom:

Check this out:, General, School Media Specialist

AASL Recommended App: Content Creation: Canva

canvaIn June 2016, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their 25 Best Apps for Teaching and Learning. The apps encourage qualities such as innovation and active participation, and are user-friendly.

The design tool Canva provides fonts, design templates, layouts, and more to use on social media or slide presentations. The app has more than a million images to choose from, and also allows you to use pictures uploaded from your camera roll. Great for use on school websites, flyers, and social media branding. The Canva site also features helpful tutorials.

Cost: Free
Level: Middle and High School
Platforms: iOS

The blog Disrupt Education has a great article about how to incorporate Canva into the classroom, with relation to teaching 21st century learning skills like succinct writing and using creative commons. Another site to visit that discusses the usefulness of Canva in schools is Ed Tech Teacher. Their article about using Canva includes examples, videos, and links to additional resources and articles.

Watch their promotional video: