Updated 8 January 2018
Permanent short link to this document:
http://techsavvy.link/chromeoslist
About this document: One of the hurdles for teachers adopting Chromebooks in their classroom is finding alternatives to software they previously used on their Windows or Mac desktops or laptops, or even their iPads. While the there will be more options as ChromeOS allows installation of Android apps, that feature is not reliably available out of the box on most new Chromebooks as of July 2017, and almost no older Chromebooks. This list is a mixture of Chrome extensions, Chrome Apps, and web-based tools that help drive productivity and creativity. All of these tools have been tested by our team on both newer and older Chromebooks and are 100% compatible based on our experiences.
This list is maintained by Jason Neiffer and Mike Agostinelli, the NCCE Tech-Savvy Teachers. Both are Chromebook and Chromebox users, and regularly support thousands of student and teacher ChromeOS users as part of their day job.
We intend this list to be a living document and will change and adapt over time. We would love your input! Hit us up on Twitter, @techsavvyteach and @mikegusto, or, email us!
As with any list you find on the Internet, you should research and carefully vet any tool in detail with your technology staff before adopting in your classroom, school, or district. Also, we have focused primarily on functionality with these recommendations and have not completed a detailed analysis of compatibility with specific devices, data privacy policies, FERPA, CIPA, COPPA, etc.
Document Construction and Productivity
Type of Application | Typical Functionality | Recommended Apps | Alternatives |
Word Processor (Desktop examples include Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, OpenOffice Writer, LibreOffice Writer, and Apple Pages.) | Document production and creation, comment editing and commenting. | For those that are writing in a formal academic or professional context, we strongly recommend Grammarly, which is available as a web app and Chrome extension. It is not compatible with Google Docs or Word 365 online, but, we still use it (via copy and paste) as a critical tool for proofreading. The Hemingway App does something similar. | |
Spreadsheets (Desktop examples include Microsoft Excel, Quattro Pro, OpenOffice Calc, LibreOffice Calc, and Apple Numbers.) | Data collection, manipulation, and visualization. | ||
Presentations (Desktop examples include Microsoft PowerPoint, Corel Presentations, OpenOffice Impress, LibreOffice Impress, and Apple Keynote.) | Slide deck production and creation, simple image editing. |
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Simple Text Editor | Quick writing or editing of text. Writing or editing code. |
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Document/PDF Reading and Annotation |
Media Capture, Creation, and Editing
Type of Application | Typical Functionality | Recommended Apps | Alternatives |
Screen Capture/Screen Shots (Desktop examples include SnagIt, Greenshot, ShareX, Shutter, Snipping Tool, PicPick, Skitch, Jing, and Lightscreen) | Capture, modify, annotate, and share still screen images. |
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Window or Desktop Video Capture (Desktop examples include SnagIt, Camtasia Studio, Bandicam Screen Recorder, CamStudio, Kazam, and ScreenFlow) | Capture, annotate, and share video recording of a screen, windows, or tab. |
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Graphic Design Tools | Create and edit images with pre-configured graphic design elements. | ||
Image Editing (Desktop examples include Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Fireworks, Pixelmater, The GIMP, Krita, and Paint.NET) | Create, edit, convert, or resize images. | ||
Video Editing (Desktop examples include Adobe Premiere, OpenShot, Shotcut, Lighthouse, Camtasia Studio, Final Cut Pro, and iMovie) | Create or edit videos. | ||
Audio Capture and Editing (Desktop examples include Audacity, Adobe Audition, Avid Pro Tools, Garage Band, and WavePad | Create or edit audio files. |
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Music Production and Editing (Desktop examples include Garage Band, Cubase, Avid Pro Tools, and Reason) | Create or edit music, sounds loops, and songs. | ||
Podcast Creation/Hosting | |||
Book/ePub Creator/Editor | Create, edit, and package eBooks in the standard ePub or other format. | ||
Chart and Diagram Maker (Desktop examples include Microsoft Visio) | Create and edit charts and diagrams. Free to accredited educational institutions. |
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Media Consumption
Type of Application | Typical Functionality | Recommended Apps | Alternatives |
Audio Player (Desktop examples include iTunes, VLC, QuickTime Player, Windows Media Player and WinAMP) | Play audio files, including MP3 and WAV formatted files. |
Web-based Players for Streaming Services Include: |
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Video Player (Desktop examples include iTunes, VLC, QuickTime Player, and Windows Media Player) | Play video files, including MP4 formatted files. May also play AVI, MKV, 3PG, and WMV video files as well. |
Most Web-Based Video Streaming Services Work with Chrome OS: |
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Podcast Player and Organizer | Play audio and video podcasts, along with organizing subscriptions. |
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Book Reader | Allows reading and sometimes annotation of eBook files, like ePubs. |
Most eBook publishers and sellers offer a web-based platform for reading their books. For example, the Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader works well on Chrome for reading Kindle books. |
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Social Media and Communication
Type of Application | Typical Functionality | Recommended Apps | Alternatives |
Twitter Client | Read and post to Twitter. |
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Facebook Client | Read and post to Facebook. | Several extensions exist to enhance the Facebook web experience on Chrome: | |
Instagram Client | Read and interact with Instagram. | Several extensions exist to enhance the Instagram web experience on Chrome: | |
Read and interact with Pinterest. | Active Pinterest users should consider installing the Pinterest Chrome extension for quick-action pinning! | Several extensions exist to enhance the Instagram web experience on Chrome: | |
Social Media Management | Post social media updates to multiple accounts. |
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Blogging Platform | |||
Email Application | Read, sent, and organize email. | Several extensions exist to enhance the Gmail web experience on Chrome: Several extensions exist to enhance the Outlook web experience on Chrome: | |
Video Conferencing | Connect with remote users to talk with audio and video, plus share screens for demonstration and collaboration. |
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Shared Whiteboard Apps | |||
Webinar Broadcasting | Broadcast video cameras and screen sharing for live broadcast. | (Jason uses this each week to co-host the EdTech Situation Room with Wes Fryer. He uses a Chromebook more often than not.) | |
Live Interaction and Chat | Provide a platform for ad hoc collaboration and chat, sometimes referred to as “backchanneling.” | ||
Mobile Notification |
Education Tools and Apps
Type of Application | Typical Functionality | Recommended Apps | Alternatives |
Classroom Application | Provide light “learning management” functionality to organize assignment dissemination and collection | ||
Learning Management System | Provide extensive “learning management” functionality to organize assignment dissemination and collection |
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Gradebook | Provide a platform for recording, calculating, and reporting grades and progress. Gradebook software is provided for teachers in most schools and individual teachers should use caution before utilizing alternatives. | As of the initial release of this document, we don’t have recommended apps that we feel comfortable listing here. We have used Engrade successfully in projects, however, it is no longer free to teachers. If you have a favorite, please contact us! | |
Assignment Delivery/Interactivity | |||
Formative Assessment | Provide a platform for quizzes and games that help teachers collect success data. Many of the better tools also provide content to help students that have yet to reach mastery. | ||
Classroom Games | |||
Mind Mapping | |||
Survey Tool | |||
Research Tools | |||
Study Tools | |||
Rubric Maker |
Content Resources
Type of Content | Recommended Apps/Resources | Others |
General Resource/OER Libraries |
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Social Studies & History | ||
English/Language Arts | ||
Mathematics | ||
Science | ||
World/Classical Languages |
Organization, Productivity, and Collaboration
Type of Application | Typical Functionality | Recommended Apps | Alternatives |
Text Expansion (Desktop alternatives include PhraseExpress, TextExpander, FastKeys, AutoKey, and aText.) | Increase productivity by taking commonly-type words, sentences, and other text available by a short keyboard shortcut. We love text expansion as an advanced “life hack” that could save literally hundreds of hours. Find out more about this tool here. |
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To Do List | Track “to do” items, shopping lists, or processes. |
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Team Communication and Organization | Connect with members of any team, including students or colleagues. Slack has been of particular interest to those in education, however, Microsoft Teams is likely to grow quickly in schools with Office 365. |
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Project Management | Track steps and individual participation in classrooms, departments, schools or districts. | ||
Notetaking | Capturing free-form information and engaging with others in a collaborative environment. |
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Wikis | |||
Document Conferencing | |||
Scheduling Applications |
Other Tools
Type of Application | Typical Functionality | Recommended Apps | Alternatives |
Calculator | Mathematics operations, ranging from simple calculations to complex graphic operations. | As of the initial release of this document, we don’t have recommended apps that we feel comfortable listing here. If you have a favorite, please contact us! | |
File Storage/Sharing |
Other Recommended Extensions and Plugin
Google Forms Add-Ons
Name of Application | Functionality | Link |
Doc Appender for Google Forms | Appends Google Form question responses to the bottom of selected Google Docs. |
Classroom Focused Extensions
Name of Application | Functionality | Link |
Zero Noise | Monitor noise and present current noise level in a visual way. | |
Share to Classroom | “The extension allows you to push webpages to any of your Classroom classes, so they open instantly on your students' computers.” | |
Save to Google Drive | “The Save to Google Drive Chrome extension helps you save web content or browser screenshots to your Google Drive.” | |
VideoNot.es | Allows you to write time-coded notes on an online video. Saves to Google Drive. | |
MoveNote | Allows you to write “video note” emails with a document and a web cam video. | |
Quizlet | Creation tool for quizzes, games, and other informal assessments. |
Web Personalization and Accessibility Tools
Name of Application | Functionality | Link |
Readability Redux | "Readability is a simple tool that makes reading on the Web more enjoyable by removing the clutter around what you're reading." | |
CraftyLevel | “Chrome extension that displays the Flesch-Kincaid grade level of any web page” | |
Read&Write for Google Chrome | “Swiss Army Knife” of tools useful to any student, but, particularly struggling students. | |
SpeakIt! | “SpeakIt reads selected text using Text-to-Speech technology with language auto-detection. It can read text in more than 50 languages.” | |
Readline | “This simple Spritz inspired Chrome extension let's you speed read any selected text on a website word-by-word.” | |
Visor | “Screen dimmer and reading aid, may help with fluency, eye-strain, concentration and comprehension whilst reading.” | |
CraftyZoom | “CraftyZoom allows you to magnify a portion of the screen!” |
Browser Function Extensions
Name of Application | Functionality | Link |
Goo.gl URL Shortener (Unofficial) | “goo.gl url shortener is an extension which allows you to shorten the current website URL with the Google URL Shortener service http://goo.gl/” | |
CraftyText | “CraftyText is a simple app. It allows you to enter text, which then shows up big in the center of the screen. It works on top of your favorite website.” |
Document Version History
- Version 1.0 (Initial Release) - August 2017
- Version 1.1 (Added Several Chrome Extensions) - August 2017
- Version 1.2 (Updated links) - January 2018
The Chromebook App List by the NCCE Tech-Savvy Teachers |
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[1] Our recommendation here depends on the setup in your district. If your district has bought all-in on either G-Suite for Education or Office 365 for Education, then we recommend you stick with what is supported and used in your district. In the last 18 months, these two tools have become very similar in functionality. We regularly use both, depending on the context and group we are working with.