There's an app for that: Back to School Apps

There's an App for That is a monthly series that features six of our favorite apps on a particular theme. In previous months, we've discussed travel apps, meditation apps, and productivity apps. This month, we're talking back to school and highlight six apps to help the student, teacher or homeschooling parent out.

1. Chambers Thesaurus: Calling all students and writers! This is the one app you need to have at your fingertips! The intelligent word entry suggests possible correct spellings as you type, as well as listing words that sound the same or are often confused.

Cost: $4.99 on iTunes and Google Play. Requires Android 2.1 and up.

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Requires iOS 5.5.1 or later.

2. MindNote: Mindnote is for all the thinkers out there whose brains feel like they have a million tabs open at once. This invites the creative mind to brainstorm, organize and share thoughts in an intuitive way so you can focus on the idea behind it.

Cost: $9.99 on iTunes. Not available on Google Play for Android.

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Requires iOS 8.0 or later.

3. Classroom Ideas to Go: This is great for teachers and homeschooling parents who want to  access to activities and mini-lessons for every subject under the sun. It offers more than 1,200 hands-on ideas to use in your lessons. Browse by grade level, subject and activity type.

Cost: $.99 on iTunes. Not available on Google Play for Android.

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Requires iOS 4.2 or later.

4. Goodreads: For all my bookworms, you can now find your next favorite book and share past faves on this awesome app. You can even use the barcode scanner the next time you are in a bookstore to browse reviews before buying. 

Cost: Free on iTunes and Google Play

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Requirements vary with Android device.

5. Nearpod: The nearpod platform enables teachers, schools and districts to use their iPads to manage content on students’ iPads, iPhones, iPods or Macs. It seamlessly combines interactive presentation, collaboration and real-time assessment tools into one integrated solution.

Cost: Free on iTunes and Google Play.

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Requires Android 4.0 and up.

6. Notability: This is for all my students out there who need a powerful note-taker that will annotate documents, record lectures, sketch illustrations and more. With built-in iCloud support, it's perfect for keeping notes, documents and doodles up to date on both iPhone and iPad.

Cost: $5.99 on iTunes. Not available on Google Play

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Requires iOS 7.0 or later.

Let's talk: Did we miss any of your favorite educational apps that would be helpful as people head back to school this year?