Online teaching tools are being introduced by educational institutes across the globe. These tools have certainly helped both students and teachers to leverage learning opportunities. It is, however, true that there are a great deal of online teaching tools available but it gets hard to find out what the best online teaching tools are.
Popular online teaching tools provide education services for teachers and students. These online teaching tools help in motivating students for learning and it is always a fun-filled way to educate students.
There are numerous tools that teachers and teachers-to-be can look at to help them in their daily duties. To get you started on the right foot, I have compiled a list of the most popular online teaching tools that has earned its rank on the web.
A quick overview of popular online teaching tools The world of education has dramatically changed in the last decade. Students now have more choices and independence when it comes to gathering information and completing assignments. With the emergence of mobile technologies, students are no longer relegated to learning only inside class. Some learners are even taking charge of their development by supplementing traditional classes with online resources. This new way of consumption has spawned an entire industry of online learning tools designed for teachers and students alike. In this article, we ll take a look at some top platforms that include resources for teachers as well as students.
Types of online teaching tools for teachers
When you are searching for that perfect free tool, you will often find that once the trial ends, that resource comes with a price.
But if you are on a budget, the following 11 free tools will give you what you need to get started and deliver excellent online classes.
To start, these tools fall into 5 categories:
- Free software tools for running your online classes
- Free resources to boost engagement
- Free tools to stay organized and productive
- Best online assessment tools
- Best apps for designing and creating content
We are going to dive into each of them and offer some examples of how the tool can help you as a teacher.
Edmodo
Edmodo is an educational tool that connects teachers and students, and is assimilated into a social network. In this one, teachers can create online collaborative groups, administer and provide educational materials, measure student performance, and communicate with parents, among other functions. Edmodo has more than 34 million users who connect to create a learning process that is more enriching, personalized, and aligned with the opportunities brought by technology and the digital environment.
Socrative
Designed by a group of entrepreneurs and engineers passionate about education, Socrative is a system that allows teachers to create exercises or educational games which students can solve using mobile devices, whether smartphones, laptops, or tablets. Teachers can see the results of the activities and, depending on these, modify the subsequent lessons in order to make them more personalized.
Projeqt
Projeqt is a tool that allows you to create multimedia presentations, with dynamic slides in which you can embed interactive maps, links, online quizzes, Twitter timelines, and videos, among other options. During a class session, teachers can share with students academic presentations which are visually adapted to different devices.
Thinglink
Thinglink allows educators to create interactive images with music, sounds, texts, and photographs. These can be shared on other websites or on social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook. Thinglink offers the possibility for teachers to create learning methodologies that awaken the curiosity of students through interactive content that can expand their knowledge.
Visme
Visme is an online design tool that anyone can use to create presentations, infographics, concept maps, schedules, reports and more.
It’s packed with tons of features, like free photos and graphics, customization options and an easy drag-and-drop editor that both non-designers and designers love to use.
Many tools are directed either at the educator or the student. In the case of Visme, our integrated design tools benefit both.
How Visme Can Help Teachers
Teachers are always creating content for their students to learn with. From slide presentations to fillable worksheets and more. With a Visme education license, teachers and students can use the tool together for a creative and interactive educative experience.
Below are some of the solutions Visme offers for educators at any level.
- Interactive content as presentations and infographics
- Visual posters and infographics
- Webinar materials
- Interactive schedules
- Syllabus and lesson plans
- Printable lists and worksheets
- Embed third-party content like quizzes and forms
- Share news about a class on social media or email
- Personalized report cards
- Personalized certificates
To help you get started, here are some handpicked Visme templates for teachers. Click on the button below each template to customize it for your own use.
Class Schedule Template
Create a class schedule in the form of a presentation and share it with your students to help them stay on track with their weekly lessons.
This class schedule template is designed with engaging colors and visuals to make it easier for students to remember the information.
Customize this presentation template and make it your own!Edit and Download
Lesson Plan Template
Use a template to create a fully visual lesson plan to share with your students.
Simply input all your information and download it as a PDF or image. It’s easy to then import into your LMS or send it to students via email.
Customize this template and make it your own!Edit and Download
Report Card Template
At the end of each semester, show students their grades by adding a little fun.
Use this report card template to input each student’s final results and inspire them to continue performing well for the rest of the year.
Customize this template and make it your own!Edit and Download
Certificate of Completion Template
If your course isn’t part of a school curriculum, you can still instill a sense of accomplishment in your students with a certificate of completion or achievement certificate.
Use this template to add your course information and personalize it with the student’s name.
Customize this template and make it your own!Edit and Download
How Visme Can Help Students
Visme also helps students get their work done for their online classes. Teachers can assign all sorts of assignments to be created with the tool.
Below are some ways students can use Visme:
- Book report presentations or infographics
- Research projects for any topic as presentations or infographics
- Graphic organizers for research and mind-mapping
- Venn diagrams for comparisons
Here are some useful Visme templates for students at the school or university level. Click on the button below each template to customize it for your own use.
Idea Web / Mind Map Template
Students thrive with graphic organizers and visual mind mapping tools. Visme makes it easy and fun to create idea webs, flowcharts and mind maps. This idea web template is perfect for finding similarities between two different topics.
Customize this infographic template and make it your own!Edit and Download
Presentation Template
Research projects and book reports have been assigned as presentations since we can all remember. Help your students create better presentations with our Visme templates for students.
Customize this presentation template and make it your own!Edit and Download
Timeline Infographic Template
Many assignments involve understanding how things happened over time. This type of visual can be apple to projects for history, literature, and social studies.
By creating a timeline infographic, students understand the process of the topic and enjoy creating it along the way.
Customize this infographic template and make it your own!Edit and Download
WIth Visme you can also create any type of graphic organizer from scratch using the free design tools that come built-in with the editor.
Google Classroom
Google Classroom is the low-key most versatile online teaching tool available.
This Learning Management System (LMS) is part of G Suite, which means teachers can use Google apps to create lessons, quizzes and documents all inside Google Classroom.
To use the Google Classroom app, you’ll need a G Suite for Education account. Many schools and teachers transitioned to this LMS when schools were closed due to the pandemic.
For anyone using Google products regularly, Google Classroom is easy to tackle. Inside the app, educators offer the content for the lessons, quizzes, assessments, and tests. They can also communicate with the students and parents via message boards or email.
The best thing about Google Classroom is that you can create all the content for your classes with the software of your choice. For example, you can simply use Google apps to prepare lesson materials or import any visual created with Visme.
In 2020, Google Classroom is easier to integrate with Google Meet, the new version of Google Hangouts. This has made it even easier to conduct an online class.
Google Meet
Google Meet for teachers is another popular software application for online tutors, virtual teachers and anyone conducting classes online because of its integration with Google’s suite of other apps like Google Classroom and Google Drive.
Google Meet offers the following free options for its users:
- Share screen to your students
- Adjust your layouts
- Group classes up to 1 hour
- Chat with students in the chatbox
- And other normal features of a virtual video conferencing platform
Anyone with a Google account can create a video meeting or virtual class of up to 100 students (participants) and meet up to 60 minutes for free.
If you are conducting one-on-one tutoring classes, you can spend up to 24 hours together (but why would you?!).
GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting, as stated on their website, puts the “class in online classes.”
They are an up-and-coming competitor to some of the larger video platforms because of how they gear their functions to suit teachers and students in an online class.
With their free account, you can expect:
- Personal URLs for students to join the class
- Instant messaging, file sharing & screen sharing
- Powerful mobile capabilities for students
- Clean and simple interface with powerful functions
Unfortunately, their free version is quite limiting but it will allow you 40-minute classes/meetings but with only up to 3 participants.
GoToMeeting free would be perfect for independent tutors who have 1-3 students and classes under 40 minutes.
How to use Online Tools
The best resources can transform your teaching, making everything about the classroom, from discussions to presentations and grading, feel effortless.
Here’s how the use of online teaching resources might look on a typical day:
- Present the class with teaching material using a series of examples. You can share a document, an embedded recording, a podcast or a combination of all three.
- Assign practice activities and give feedback. Online flashcards and interactive games are good ways to accomplish this step.
- Dive deeper into the topic. Have students interact on a shared blog or create and record dialogues and skits.
- Assign further practice and homework exercise. Consider an online worksheet aligned to your content standards.
Conclusion
E-learning has become an important part of this generation and the upcoming one. Most of the people these days use Internet for learning, teaching, interacting and for creating web presentations. If you are one of them and are looking for information about different online tools for teaching then a couple of sites would be a great resource for you.
Technology in the classroom is changing on a daily basis and there are many ways in which teachers can use this to their advantage. Popular online teaching tools are basically those that have been adopted by the industry as essential in helping students learn.