Discover the best free online teaching tools, educational mobile apps or interactive whiteboard resources that teachers can use for their lessons. Whether you want to use it in the privacy of your own school or teach online to students, these are definitely worth checking out!
This article aims to make your search for useful teaching tools easier by offering a list of 10+ of them you can start using right away.
Plickers
Plickers is a card activity that lets you poll your class, without the need for student devices. You just need to give each student a card (a “paper clicker”) and use your Android smartphone or tablet to scan them to do instant checks for understanding, exit tickets, and impromptu polls.
Powertalk
Powertalk is a presentation enhancement tool that automatically speaks your PowerPoint slides. When compared to other common ‘text-to-speech’ programs, Powertalk can speak text as it appears and can also speak hidden text attached to images.
FreeOnlineSurveys
FreeOnlineSurveys is a tool for building online tests, surveys, and forms. You can create quizzes using the drag-and-drop builder and 22 question types and fields, share them with your students and staff members, and analyze responses with its data reporting tool right from your mobile devices.
JeopardyLabs
JeopardyLabs is an online service that enables you to build Jeopardy games without PowerPoint, by using a simple editor. You can also choose from ready-made games created by the platform users on such subjects as foods, cities, countries, books, and hygiene.
Edgames
Edgames is an edutainment tool that provides educational activities, including board games, scrambled word games, sports-based games, and cards. You can help your students learn and understand personal hygiene, nutrition, current affairs, and many other things through playing games.
iSpring Free
iSpring Free is an eLearning authoring tool that allows you to turn boring PowerPoint presentations into mobile-compatible online courses with quizzes. The main advantage of the tool is its simplicity. Its intuitive interface enables any novice course developer to create an unlimited number of courses quickly and easily.
Kahoot
Kahoot is a game-based learning platform that lets you create fun learning games. You can make quizzes on any topic and in any language, and customize those quizzes with videos, diagrams, and images. Students participate in “kahoots” (games) by logging the game codes on their device or application.
Edpuzzle
With Edpuzzle, you can create interactive video lessons with embedded audio notes, assessments, and quizzes. Its analytics tool enables you to track how students are watching your videos and if they understand the content.
Starfall
Starfall is an online service that was initially designed to teach children to read. Its phonics-based learning model supports online games and print series, which can be downloaded for use at home and in the classroom. Now, it also features animated songs, movies, and mathematics activities for Pre-K, Kindergarten, and Grades 1 to 3.
SpellQuiz
SpellQuiz is another online service that is mainly focused on helping kids and adults to learn phonics. The platform contains English spelling lessons for individuals from Grade 1 to Adult, as well as fun quizzes and word games.
Quizzizz
Quizzizz is a web-based assessment tool that allows you to present quizzes on science, social sciences, computer science, technical education, and art to students as a timed test or homework with a specified deadline.
Ted-Ed
Ted-Ed is a platform that enables you to create educational lessons. You can build a lesson around video content and create assignments to assess how well students understand the material. You can also use ready-made videos from the specially curated “TED-Ed Originals” section that features lessons made by educators around the world.
YouTube Teachers
YouTube Teachers is a YouTube channel that allows you to leverage educational videos to inspire and engage your students. It contains over 400 video playlists created by leading organizations and industry experts such as the Khan Academy, Ted-Ed, and PBS.
YouTube Edu
YouTube Edu is another educational YouTube channel that provides extensive playlists on various subjects, from physics and chemistry to filmmaking and public speaking.
Ted Talks
Ted Talks are videos from industry experts and innovators on science, tech, business, and education subtitled in over 100 languages. You can integrate Ted Talks into your lessons to spark creativity and innovation in the minds of your students.
TeacherTube
TeacherTube is a free resource for teachers where they can share instructional videos and materials. You can upload your video tutorials and attach learning activities, assessments, and lesson notes to your videos. You can also browse other teachers’ content and connect with educators with similar interests.
SchoolTube
SchoolTube is a K-12 free video hosting platform that helps you integrate video content relating to subjects or concepts into your lessons without YouTube. The Free plan provides you with unlimited video hosting, video and audio creation apps, unlimited shareable playlists, automatic closed captioning, and a video quiz app.
CommonLit
CommonLit is a database of literary instructional materials that you can use to develop lessons. You can choose a lesson from the digital library, share it with your students, assign them text-based questions, and analyze their performance.
Quill
Quill is a platform that has a set of tools for teaching writing, vocabulary, and grammar and includes over 400 exercises. You can guide your students to learn by reconstructing sentences, proofreading passages, writing new passages, and more.
Other Relevant Tools
Collaboration & Community
ClassDojo: Build a community between you, your students and their parents. Classdojo is a communication platform that focuses on fostering positive student behaviours and good classroom culture.
Remind: Facilitate regular communication with both students and parents alike, through this handy app. Remind enables you to send messages, meeting invites, reminders and more. Thankfully, you won’t need to exchange phone numbers or any other private information.
Piazza: This free ‘online gathering place’ provides a space where students can ask questions, share their thoughts and progress their learning journey. Any contributions to the Q&A platform can be viewed by their teacher or instructor.
Biblionasium: Aimed at children aged between 6-13, Biblionasium tracks what your students are reading and offers a variety of games and challenges. What’s more, you can also provide your students with recommendations and rewards.
Flipgrid: This free app lets teachers post questions or cues to students, who can then reply with short videos. It’s a great tool for capturing information about your student’s progress throughout their learning journey.
Chatzy: Create a space for your students using this free private chat service. You simply create your own chat room and invite your students by email. No installation or registration is required.
Kidblog: Provide your students with a safe and secure blog-publishing platform through Kidblog. This gives your students a voice, whilst ensuring you have full control over what’s published and are able to moderate content when necessary.
Productivity Tools
Trello: Trello is a visual collaboration tool that can aid teachers in a variety of ways. It is often used for easier coursework planning, faculty collaboration and classroom organization.
Eduflow: Build efficiency into your teaching approach by creating ‘learning flows’. These are a mix of different learning activities that you can track and report on.
Flubaroo: Grading assignments can be a time consuming process. But it doesn’t always have to be! Flubaroo is a free tool that helps you to quickly grade multiple choice and fill-in-the blank assignments and assessments.
LiveBinders: This free online tool is useful for teachers, as it serves as a virtual binder. LiveBinders makes organising your digital content and assets much easier. You can upload and organise documents, media, and websites, construct a table of contents, add tabs and more!
Shared Workspaces
Padlet: Padlet is collaborative productivity software that’s designed to be familiar and fun. Think of it as a virtual ‘bulletin’ board, where students can brainstorm, share ideas, reflect and more.
Whiteboard Fox: Missing your whiteboard? Use Whiteboard Fox, a virtual whiteboard that enables real-time collaboration and creation. As such, this is great for problem solving, presenting and brainstorming.
Conceptboard: Get your students on the same page, using this shared workspace. The virtual conceptboard acts as a centralized hub for all your students’ content and ideas.
Lino: Use this online sticky note service to post memos, to-do lists, ideas, pictures and more. In addition, you can share the results with your students via a web browser or the dedicated mobile app.
Video, Audio & Design Tools:
Animoto: Video creation has never been easier. Using Animoto, both you and your students can create and share video content with ease. Simply select a storyboard, drag and drop assets, adjust fonts, colours, music and more. No video-making experience is required.
Canva: Canva is a free graphic design tool that enables you to work collaboratively to create beautiful design assets. This could be useful for project work, or simply for creating eye candy that you can use in your online classrooms.
ThingLink: Turn any image into an interactive graphic using ThingLink. This handy tool lets you augment existing assets, like videos and images, with additional information and links.
Edpuzzle: This free online tool for teachers allows you to creative interactive videos. It’s an assessment-centred tool that enables teachers to add open-ended and multiple choice questions to video footage and share the results.
Buncee: Construct and share interactive classroom content and multimedia presentations. You can integrate content from a variety of sources to create eye-catching content that wows your students.
ViewPure: Do you avoid using YouTube videos in your online classroom because of the adverts? Well, you’re in luck! Pasting the video link into ViewPure removes any adverts from the video. As a result, you are left with ‘purified’, student-friendly content.
AudioNote: Combine the functionality of a notepad and a voice recorder with this uncomplicated but effective app. This approach will help you to save time. What’s more, it may improve the quality of your notes.
Vocaroo: Record, send and download voice messages using Vocaroo. Teachers can use this web-based tool in any number of ways, including podcasting, broadcasting. Moreover, you could even use it to give feedback.
Brainstorming Solutions
Coggle: Generate flow charts and mind maps that are easy to follow and understand. Coggle is a useful tool if you are brainstorming, planning, taking notes. In addition, you could use it to complete more creative exercises.
SpiderScribe: Create free-form mind maps with this impressive brainstorming tool. It lets you organise your notes and ideas, whilst incorporating files, calendar events and other assets.
Maths Knowledge
Matific: Matific is a free online tool for teachers that focuses on maths. It includes a bounty of engaging activities and games linked to popular maths textbooks. Therefore, it’s perfect for developing mathematical excellence and problem-solving skills.
White Rose Maths: Brought to you by a group of teachers and mathematicians, White Rose Maths provides a variety of free maths resources. These are designed to build a ‘whole new culture’ of competence in maths.
Times Table Rockstars ($): Do your students struggle with their times tables? Times Tables Rock Stars provide a programme of daily times table practice that helps to boost recall speed.
Miscellaneous Tools
Bouncy Balls: If you struggle with noisy kids in your online classrooms, then this tool is for you. Bouncy Balls is a free classroom noise level meter, monitor and management tool. The louder your students are, the higher the balls bounce!
Keep The Score: Engage your students with this free online scoreboard and leaderboard app. It’s a great way of driving participation within an online classroom environment. Just make sure you refresh the leaderboard regularly, so lower placed students do not become disengaged.
Wheel Decide: Create your own ‘Wheel of Fortune’ using this simple web-based solution. Add your options, spin the wheel and decide the fate of your class. Perhaps you could use it to decide on your next activity?
Wheel of Names: Similar to the above solution, simply add the names of your students and spin the wheel to facilitate random student selection whenever necessary. This approach adds a fun, visual flair to proceedings.
Muzzle: Avoid embarrassment by using this simple mac app to silence notifications whilst you’re sharing your screen. It works with a variety of tools including Zoom, Slack and Google Hangouts.
Conclusion
Online teaching tools are becoming more popular each day with the use of new innovative gadgets in the market. But this is not entirely with free sites. Some sites require teachers to register and in some instances to pay for the use of the online teaching tools. However, there are still many valuable online teaching tools that can be accessed absolutely for free.