4 Best News and Current Events Apps for Students

  • By
  • 01/12/15

Common Sense Media’s service Graphite, which offers independent ratings and reviews of learning apps and websites, has compiled this list of the best news and current events apps for students. For complete reviews, and for each app’s "Learning Rating," visit the Graphite website.


News-o-MaticNews-o-Matic
Grades: 1 through 4
Price: $9.99
Concepts:  Events, perspective-taking, forming arguments
News-O-Matic is a kid-centric daily news app covering topics from religion and politics to scientific discoveries and kid entrepreneurs. Teachers and students can read five current events articles daily, answer questions, chat with classmates about the stories and send questions to the editors. Read the full Graphite review.

 

News-2-YouNews-2-You
Grades: 2 through 6
Price: Free to try, with in-app purchases
Concepts:  Understanding symbols, vocabulary, reading
News-2-You is a symbols-based newspaper app for special needs students. The symbols-based and voice-supported articles allow teachers to adjust settings to fit each student's unique learning level and pace. Read the full Graphite review.  

 

NPR NewsNPR News
Grades: 9 through 12
Price: Free
Concepts: Citizenship, cultural understanding, critical thinking
The NPR News app is chock full of new and archived radio shows, articles, videos and images from National Public Radio’s news, politics, science, arts and pop culture programming. Older students benefit the most from the app, which features hourly news updates and the ability to create a playlist of stories and podcasts. Read the full Graphite review.  

 

NYTimes appNYTimes
Grades: 9 through 12
Price: Free to try, more access with paid subscription
Concepts: Text analysis, reading, global awareness
The NYTimes app, along with a paid subscription, offers full online and offline access to the newspaper's daily content. It’s an easy-to-use, comprehensive news resource, and despite only offering access to the front page without a subscription, the quality presentation of content makes the app especially conducive to deep learning. Read the full Graphite review.  

About the Author

Common Sense Education helps educators find the best edtech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. Go to Common Sense Education for free resources including full reviews of digital tools, ready-made lesson plans, videos, webinars, and more.


Featured

  • hand touching glowing connected dots

    Registration Now Open for Tech Tactics in Education: Thriving in the Age of AI

    Tech Tactics in Education has officially opened registration for its May 7 virtual conference on "Thriving in the Age of AI." The annual event, brought to you by the producers of Campus Technology and THE Journal, offers hands-on learning and interactive discussions on the most critical technology issues and practices across K–12 and higher education.

  • teenager interacts with a chatbot on a computer screen

    Character.AI Rolls Out New Parental Insights Feature Amid Safety Concerns

    Chatbot platform Character.AI has introduced a new Parental Insights feature aimed at giving parents a window into their children's activity on the platform. The feature allows users under 18 to share a weekly report of their chatbot interactions directly with a parent's e-mail address.

  • laptop screen displaying a typed essay, on a child

    McGraw Hill Acquires Essaypop Digital Learning Tool

    Education company McGraw Hill has announced the acquisition of Essaypop, a cloud-based writing tool that will enhance the former's portfolio of personalized learning capabilities.

  • a professional worker in business casual attire interacting with a large screen displaying a generative AI interface in a modern office

    Study Finds Generative AI Could Inhibit Critical Thinking

    A new study on how knowledge workers engage in critical thinking found that workers with higher confidence in generative AI technology tend to employ less critical thinking to AI-generated outputs than workers with higher confidence in personal skills.