Tech giants Apple and Google separately released new tools in their respective education-centred apps designed to boost the resources available to teachers.

In an update to its Classroom app, Google sought to help educators curb cheating with controls which lock student tablets into the assignment screen during tests. Google also debuted new organisational features enabling teachers to group assignments by topic, and track interactions with students and parents.

The company is also opening up a new virtual reality tool, Tour Creator, which will let users design virtual reality experiences using Google Street View content and add custom narration.

Meanwhile, Apple launched its Schoolwork app (pictured, right), three months after unveiling it at an education event in March. The free app is designed to make it easier for teachers to create assignments, personalise lessons and track student progress.

Notably, it also lets teachers tap into other popular education apps, including Explain Everything, Tynker, GeoGebra and Kahoot, for interactive lessons.

Apple highlighted the app’s data privacy features, noting schools are the ones who “own and control the accounts used by their students and decide when student progress information is shared”.