ProLehre’s Apps & Tools list

Our actively maintained list of things *cough*. Data copied straight from existing list without curation.

Types of functionality:

In Italics are sub-categories, following their parent-term.

Required freedoms:

Matching list:

Frag.jetzt
  • Live chat
  • Quiz/ survey
Collect, evaluate and present questions live.

Collect, evaluate and present questions live. Access with QR-code or 8-digit room number. Students can reply to questions, teacher can also put up quick multiple-choice surveys. Unlimited questions and participants.

Free, GDPR-conform tool supported by Hessen, no registration needed for students (registration needed for teacher for automatic ChatGPT-based answers). Since 2019.

    • GDPR
    • no registration
    • recommended
    • sufficiently free
    Scribe / ScribeHow
    • Create learning material
    Browser plugin to write manuals, or convert webinars to courses.
    AI-based Chrome/Edge browser plugin to write illustrated step-by-step manuals, from screen capture of you going through the material. Alternatively, turn a webinar similarly into a course. Animated GIFs for procedures. Paid version also does desktop and mobile applications, and allows editing/redacting screenshots (sensitive data!). Track views, completion, and feedback (Enterprise version).

    Commercial application, sufficiently free, registration necessary. Edu discount with form (unspecified amount). Released 2021(?).

    • "Tested; Not yet rated."
    • recommended
    • sufficiently free
    Dummy App
    • Images
    • Live chat
    This is the text that appears in the overall list, a summary of its features. It is limited by the <read more> tag. Without this tag, the description gets shown on the frontpage.
    Here some text about general capabilities of the program. Only the part after the <read more> tage gets shown on the individual page.

    It’s for sending memes to students, so Categories = Live Chat (<Communicate with Students) and Images.

    It’s TUM and GDPR, no registration — but not sufficiently free. Five star rated.

    • 5S
    • GDPR
    • no registration
    • recommended
    • TUM
    WBO
    • Collaborative boards
    Collaborative whiteboard software. Basic writing and drawing tools on anonymous surface.

    Collaborative whiteboard software. Basic writing and drawing tools: Ellipses, rectangles, lines of various thickness; one font, ten colours. Generate private boards with UUID in URL, or with (guessable) chosen name; self-hosted or use the demo server (with no data-retention nor -protection policy described, hence not GDPR-compliant).

    Open source, free of charge, no registration needed. Released 2020.

    • "Tested; Not yet rated."
    • no registration
    • open source
    • sufficiently free
    Reetro
    • Collaborative boards
    • Project management
    Specific tool for SCRUM retrospective meetings. Private provider, free of charge, registration required.

    Specific tool for SCRUM retrospective meetings which were managed elsewhere (Trello, KanbanFlow, JIRA, …), with action tracker, polls and health checks. SSO/two-factor authentication and secure (ISO 27001), but registration required (hence not GDPR).

    Private provider, free of charge, registration required. Released 2021.

    • "Tested; Not yet rated."
    • sufficiently free
    Scrumblr
    • Collaborative boards
    • Project management
    Simple collaborative Kanban board; two types of notes, coloured by user. Open source, free of charge, no registration needed. Released 2011.

    Simple collaborative Kanban board; two types of notes, coloured by user (eight colours), single (black) font. Not clear how many users possible, no stated data security policy. Looks good but very limited.

    Open source, free of charge, no registration needed. Released 2011.

    • "Tested; Not yet rated."
    • no registration
    • open source
    • sufficiently free
    DrawChat
    • Collaborative boards
    Collaborative whiteboard software focused on drawing options. Free of charge, GDPR compliant, no registration needed. Released 2017.

    Collaborative whiteboard software focused on drawing options. Background is colour, a PDF, or an Openstreetview map. Many freehand drawing options, plus boxes and ellipses. First user is admin, who can ban/unban others via chat.

    A few unusual options in chat (YouTube player, random dice throw generator), presumably from a specific gaming need of authors. Boards get deleted after 30 days of disuse, or on request. A few bugs (e.g., map not changeable).

    Free of charge, GDPR compliant, no registration needed. Released 2017.

    • "Tested; Not yet rated."
    • GDPR
    • no registration
    • sufficiently free
    OnTheSamePage
    • Collaborative boards
    Collaborative whiteboard software allowing only text and black-and-white drawings. Free of charge, without registration. Released around 2017.

    Collaborative whiteboard software. Black-and-white drawings only (with mouse/stylus/pointer) and text (keyboard input). Boards have a random URL. Probably GDPR compatible but doesn’t explicitly claim so. Only two simultaneous users allowed per board in free version, but more seemed no problem in testing.

    Free of charge, without registration. Released around 2017.

    • "Tested; Not yet rated."
    • no registration
    • sufficiently free
    Ideaflip
    • Collaborative boards
    • Project management
    Create fixed-size diagrams from sticky notes, together. Used to be free tool, registration required for owner.

    Collaboratively create diagrams from sticky notes, on fixed-size boards. Several shapes and colours of sticky notes, which can be turned into diagrams with connectors (arrows) and icons. In Pro version, visitors don’t have to register (just choose a screen name) and are able to edit.

    A variety of templates are available (Kanban, SWOT, retrospectives, breakout groups, … ); custom templates in Pro version.

    Used to be free tool, registration required for owner. Released 2011.

    • "Tested; Not yet rated."
      Mural
      • Collaborative boards
      • Project management
      Collaborative board with many templates Commercial provider, registration required.

      Collaborative board with extensive template options (Kanban, mind map, SWOT, flowchart, …), fixed or infinite size. Text, tables, sticky notes, all flowchart shapes and connectors, 200 icons, images, etc. View-only link can be set to expire, visitor password can be required. Chat, timer and voting options. Can show all cursors, or broadcast owner’s.

      Commercial provider, registration required to edit (view-only access with just a screen name). Released 2010.

      • "Tested; Not yet rated."
      • sufficiently free
      HedgeDoc
      • Collaborative documents
      Create and edit documents (using Markdown, flow and bar charts, maths, … ) together.
      Create and edit documents (using Markdown for text formatting, flow charts and sequence diagrams, Mathjax, bar charts, … ) together.

      Free, open source tool, GDPR-compliant but requiring login via TUM (SSO) or self-hosted instance. This project is a fork of a fork: HackMD released 2015, from which CodiMD forked 2017, from which HedgeDoc forked 2018.

      • "Tested; Not yet rated."
      • GDPR
      • open source
      • sufficiently free
      • TUM
      Cryptpad
      • Collaborative documents
      Collaborative usable office suite (e.g. texts, code, spreadsheets, whiteboard, markdown slides, diagrams, or kanban boards).

      Collaborative usable office suite (e.g. texts, code, spreadsheets, whiteboard, markdown slides, diagrams, or kanban boards).

      Open source, privacy by design, usable without registration (but registration needed to upload files). Hosted by TUM at https://cryptpad.rbg.tum.de/. Released 2014.

      • "Tested; Not yet rated."
      • GDPR
      • no registration
      • open source
      • sufficiently free
      • TUM
      Spatial.chat
      • Collaborative boards
      • Live chat
      • Presentations
      • Quiz/ survey
      • Video conferencing
      Videoconferencing system focusing on online event/group work.

      Videoconferencing system focusing on online event/group work. Virtual space “Proximity chat”, where participants move their avatars close to allow chatting; environment is a collaborative board so you can put any type of material or decoration.

      Private provider, cost scaling by participants ($300 for up to 25, $500 for up to 100, etc) registration required. Released 2020.

      • "Tested; Not yet rated."
        Kumospace
        • Collaborative boards
        • Live chat
        • Video conferencing
        Video conferencing system focused on online event/group work.

        Video conferencing system focused on online event/group work. Virtual space         “Proximity chat”, where participants move their avatars close to allow chatting; an open office type environment with chairs and plants to make physical breakout rooms (with whiteboards, games like chess, virtual TVs, … ).

        Private provider, not GDPR compliant (except Enterprise plan), free of charge up to 50 participants, registration required. Released 2021.

        • "Tested; Not yet rated."
        • sufficiently free
        Trember
        • Collaborative documents
        • Video conferencing
        Video conferencing system focusing on online event/group work.

        Video conferencing system focusing on online event/group work. Virtual space “Proximity chat”, where participants move their avatars close to allow chatting; an open office type environment with chairs and plants to make physical breakout rooms (with whiteboards, games like chess, virtual TVs, … ).

        Private provider, GDPR conform, free of charge up to 25 participants, registration required. Released 2019(?).

        • "Tested; Not yet rated."
          Edpuzzle
          • Presentations
          • Quiz/ survey
          A digital tool to add activities (quizzes, breakout groups, … ) to videos.
          A digital tool to add quizzes and breakout groups to video-based teaching; can be self-paced or together (with timed surveys). Can be integrated with most LMSs, or used standalone. K12-oriented (especially in the for-sale pre-made USA-only lessons).

          Private provider. Requires teacher registration (use the “Open Classes” category to allow registration-free student participation). Since 2014.

          • 4S
          • no registration
          • sufficiently free
          Kahoot!
          • Create activities
          • Quiz/ survey
          Voting tool with gaming/competition character.
          Voting tool with gaming/competition character. Easily hacked (adding any number of bots as players, Chrome browser extensions to use ChatGPT or Google to quickly answer automatically, removing/changing your username), aimed at K12 (styling, podium effects, available avatars, etc).

          Commercial tool, free basic version, registration required for teacher (not for participants). Since 2013.

          • "Tested; Not yet rated."
          • no registration
          tscheck.in
          • Communicate with students
          • Create activities
          • Other
          Generate random interaction questions for check-in and check-out when meeting.
          Generate random interaction questions for check-in and check-out of a meeting. Adjust by type (inspiring/ deep/ formal/ easy/ … ), aim (celebration/ learning/ icebreaker/ …), context (milestone/ launch/ retrospective/ …) and target (colleagues/ clients/ students/ …).

          Commercial provider, free of charge, GPDR-compliant, registration free. Since 2017.

          • "Tested; Not yet rated."
          • GDPR
          • no registration
          • sufficiently free
          FutureMe
          • Create activities
          • Other
          Write an email to your future self and receive it at a later date.
          Write an email to your future self, and receive it at a chosen (weeks or years) later date. Either send only to yourself, or also make it (anonymous but) publicly viewable; in that case, for payment you update/answer to your letter can be seen. With registration, you can comment on public letters.

          Free service, private provider, registration needed, checks you control the account.

          • "Tested; Not yet rated."
          • sufficiently free
          Taskcards
          • Collaborative boards
          • Communicate with students
          • Other
          • Presentations
          Pinboard, either collaborative or for instructor to put information and tasks on.

          Pinboard, mainly intended for a teacher to present information (images, videos, text, links, …) and tasks. The students then have only reading permission, except where the teacher has inserted a commentary field or a rating field (with stars, or thumbs up/down). But alternatively, a board can be cooperative if you invite others and give them write permissions. Boards can be chosen to be public or private.

          Commercial provider, free basic version, registration required. Since 2021.

          • "Tested; Not yet rated."
          • GDPR
          • sufficiently free
          Wakelet
          • Collaborative boards
          • Create learning material
          Pinboard, either collaborative or for teacher to put tasks and resources on.

          Pinboard, mainly intended for a teacher to present information (images, videos, text, links, …) and tasks. The students then have only reading permission, except where the teacher has inserted a commentary or ‘like’ button. Integrations with many other services.

          Commercial provider, free basic version, registration required. Since 2010.

          • "Tested; Not yet rated."
          • open source
          • sufficiently free
          MyScripting
          • Create learning material
          • Other
          Planning tool to design a course, alone or collaboratively.
          Planning tool to design a course, alone or collaboratively. Can export to Moodle, edX and iLias MLSs, or Excel/Word. Schedule all teaching and study phases, plan in test, etc. Keeps track of workloads of all phases, and teaching form (alone, 1-on-1, small group, lecture). Analysis can recommend changes. Contains setups for different teaching modes (e.g., Flipped classroom).

          Provider: Zurich University of Applied Sciences, free of charge, registration required. Since 2019.

          • 5S
          • sufficiently free
          Collections of free-to-use images
          • Create learning material
          • Images
          Flickr, Pexels, Pixabay, Unsplash, Videvo, Wikimedia Commons, …

          • Wikimedia Commons: Often less aesthetic, more techical images. Various licenses, many images requiring attribution.
          • Flickr: Various licenses, some needing attribution.
          • Unsplash: Large amount of free-to-use images (€72/year for unlimited downloads, pro content, and illustrations/clipart). Since 2013 (then as a Tumblr blog).
          • Pexels: Stock photos, supported by links to Pixabay plus Canva as editor. Since 2015.
          • Open Clip Art: Vector (.SVG) images. Since 2004.
          • Pixabay: Wide range of images; supported by links to commercial stock photos (iStock). Since 2010.
          • Public Domain Pictures: Freemium model, charges you for higher-resolution public domain images(!) as well as linking to Adobe and other commercial stock photos in results. Since 2007.
          • Freepik: (€60/year for AI credits, €120/year for extra AI plus premium stock photos; free is 10 images/day.) Extensive set of stock photos, but focused on AI tools for generating and editing. Since 2010.
          • Videvo: Stock video footage site (now owned by Freepik), AE and Pp templates (intros, mostly), music and sound effects. Since 2012.
          • Various
          • no registration
          • recommended
          • sufficiently free
          Prezi
          • Presentations
          • Video conferencing
          Present by zooming in on parts of a large surface, instead of separate slides; and more.
          Presention tool that does not work with separate slides, but with a single unbounded surface; the presenter zooms in on a chosen part. Has also an infographics creation tool, and a Zoom/Teams plugin to add (info)graphics to your camera image.

          Commercial provider, EU-GDPR conform, requires payment and registration. Released 2009.

          • "Tested; Not yet rated."
          • GDPR
          • sufficiently free