In April of 1635, the first public school was opened in Massachusetts. During that time, the technology of today’s society wasn’t even dreamed of yet. A school is at the center of a growing society, and as technology develops, so do schools’ use of technology. Young people have always been early adopters of technology, and every student should know about these thirteen online resources. These resources are in no order of relevance.
ONE: Snopes
Snopes is a fact-checking and investigative reporting website. Through their original limited-bias reporting, they report the truth about common myths and rumors, some which turn out to be true such as their January 2024 report on lead in Stanley cups, making them unsafe to drink out of.
Snopes was created in 1994, investigating mainly “urban legends, hoaxes, and folklore”. While they still report on urban legends and hoaxes, they currently report on more mainstream content, such as politics.
This resource is necessary for students to be informed about the world around them. Snopes encourages their readers to do independent research beyond what is given on their website. Students need to have correct information, or it could lead to every high school teacher’s nightmare…gossip.
TWO: Canva
Canva is a platform for graphic design. It primarily operates online and is free to use. Missoula County Public Schools (MCPS) subscribes to Canva for Schools and Districts for all students and staff.
Canva is useful for school projects and presentations, and has hundreds of ready-to-use templates for any project that a student has their mind set on. A paid version is available to purchase if a student chooses, but is not required to utilize the platform.
THREE: Silent Meditation Timer
Students’ lives can get very busy and it is important to keep good mental and physical health. Studies show that meditation can help with physical symptoms such as irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and psoriasis. Meditation can also be a useful way to deal with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD.
Silent Meditation Timer is a timer that tells the user when to end their meditation with a pleasant sound of their choice, instead of a regular timer that plays a horrible noise. This is useful for students to listen to during their day-to-day life in-between school, homework, clubs, etc.
FOUR: Doordash
Food is very important in a student’s growth and development. The craziness of life can sometimes lead students to not have enough time to or forget to eat lunch. Doordash allows students to order food and have it delivered to wherever they are from local restaurants and grocery stores. They also offer pickup options for most restaurants on their website and app.
Users will have to pay for the food they purchase and some fees associated with the app. The app is free to download and make an account on.
FIVE: Grammarly
Grammarly is an “AI communication partner” that helps with writing. Grammarly states that their mission is “To improve lives by improving communication”, which is exactly what it does. Grammarly can be installed on most of the popular operating systems used in the world. There is also an extension for google chrome, an add-on for google docs, and an add-on for Microsoft Office.
Grammarly can help students with their writing in English and other writing related classes. Grammarly helps improve students’ grades through proofreading, plagiarism detection, citation generation, and more.
SIX: Desmos Scientific and Graphing calculators
Calculators are at the core of every math class, from third grade math to AP calculus. Desmos provides free online calculators for anybody who needs them. Desmos has a goal of “helping everyone learn math, love math, and grow with math”. They believe that everyone has a mathematician inside of themselves and that it just needs to be unleashed.
Desmos offers seven different math tools on their website. They offer a graphing calculator, a scientific calculator, a four-function calculator, test practice, a matrix calculator, a geometry tool, and a 3D calculator.
Desmos calculators are useful for students if they prefer not to have a physical calculator in their backpack. Physical calculators can be prone to breaking, while desmos’s website is constantly running.
SEVEN: myHomework
Homework can be very difficult to keep track of and manage. The app myHomework aims to help with students’ organization and time management. With their free app, students can put in all of their homework and assignments for all of their classes and clubs easily. A paid version of myHomework is available for $4.99 per year. A paid version is not necessary to use the app to keep track of assignments.
EIGHT: 12ft.io
Ads on the internet are one of the most annoying things a user experiences. 12ft.io aims to fix this problem for all users of the internet. Disabling javascript on a browser will usually turn off the ads, and 12ft.io does just that. They are not designed to violate any terms of service, as it is meant to be used as an internet service to disable javascript.
Google tracks their users, even on non-Google websites to make ads more targeted. Students need to use websites that have ads for their schoolwork sometimes. When ads are targeted towards students, they are likely to get distracted. To avoid this, students can use 12ft.io.
NINE: Duolingo
Learning a language can be a very difficult task. When learning a language, most people turn to learning apps such as Duolingo. Duolingo is an app for learning languages, on their website and app they host forty different languages, including Klingon.
Sentinel High School offers 28 clubs/activities that take students all over the world. When communicating with people all over the world, it makes a big impact to know their language. Duolingo can make any student fluent in a language of their choice if they are willing to put in the effort.
TEN: Knowunity
Knowunity is a study app for students to use. After any student is done writing notes on a specific topic or subject, they can upload the PDF to the website. After someone uploads their notes any student that has the app can view those notes. Knowunity hosts over 900,000 notes and has over thirteen million students.
Students can use this resource everyday. When a student doesn’t understand a lesson taught by a teacher, they can go to Knowunity for further clarification. After receiving further clarification and studying from the other students on the app, every student can get the best grade possible.
ELEVEN: YouTube
YouTube is a video sharing platform whose mission is to “give everyone a voice and show them the world.” YouTube has over 14 million videos on their platform, including educational videos. YouTube has videos on almost every topic from plant transpiration to tying a tie. Students can use YouTube to seek further information or clarification.
TWELVE: MOS
MOS is an app to help students with financial aid, such as scholarships. MOS was inspired by Star Wars, specifically Luke Skywalker. They call him the “original rebel” who came from a desert town called Mos Espa. Mos Espa was inspired by the town of Tataouine. The founder of MOS was originally from Tataouine, explaining the name of the app.
MOS aims to leave absolutely no barrier for students going to college, hopefully making the whole experience debt free. MOS has the largest pool of scholarships in the United States for students to choose from. They have over $160 billion in scholarships yearly.
THIRTEEN: Adobe Express
Adobe Express is similar to Canva, it is a digital graphic design software. Adobe Express is the “quick and easy create-anything app”. With Adobe Express, videos, images, social media posts, fliers, and more can be designed and created. Students can use this resource to make graphics for their presentations or projects.
No matter what type of student they are, the internet has a resource for them. However, this list cannot include every resource on the internet. Honorable mentions go to the following websites: Sribber proofreading for proofreading essays: The Spartan Scoop for being in the know about what is going on in the world and school: Replit for being a free online programming IDE (Integrated development environment): The Do It. app for managing tasks for school and other aspects of life.
