Becoming an online teacher offers so many benefits. You get to work from wherever you want, at any time you want. While there are pros and cons to teaching online, I always preferred to take on this form of teaching over classroom teaching. Not only was it convenient but also I was able to gain more flexibility. While most teachers used their spare time on restaurants or parks during summer break, I’d turn my laptop on, watch some courses and refresh my teaching skills. Since the curiosity for online courses never dies, I decided to check out some resources that can help new online teachers.
Are you a professional teacher but facing a problem of teaching in a new organization? What do you do when you have less information about your new job? Sometimes, we don’t know the best place to get quality information when we are starting a new position. You search Google, check out LinkedIn groups, or ask your colleagues. However, it might not be enough if you are looking for a few specific resources that help you through the learning curve. This article is all about the online tools that can save teachers’ time and efforts.
Canvas LMS
The Canvas LMS is used by top institutions worldwide, and it can boast it has over 6 million users with an over 90% satisfaction rate. Users are sure to be impressed that it integrates well with popular apps that students use, such as those from Adobe, Google Workspace and Microsoft Teams.
We also like the robust community forum, with thorough answers for common user issues, and the multiple communication options covering the spectrum from messaging (individually and as a group), to audio, and video. Some areas we would like to see improved would be support for gamification, and some transparency in the pricing. Teachers will also be pleased to see the support for automated grading via integration with SpeedGrader. While the opaque pricing is frustrating, we appreciate both the free 30 day trial, and also the lowest ‘Teacher Tier’ plan that is free long term for both teachers and students to allow for education of all.
360Learning
360Learning meets the challenge head on of streamlining the task of project creation. Users are sure to benefit from the integrated tools such as the video editor, the included templates that are branded as ‘Cheat Sheets,’ and the option to include ten different types of questions to test learners.
We also appreciate the free 30-day trial without credit card info, and the choice of tiered plans. However, we were less impressed that there are few options for direct contact, with some features reserved for the top plan (like support for course attachments), and that the Android app has a significantly lower rating than the iOS version. We also like the ‘Collaborative Authoring’ approach that lets even inexperienced users create a course in minutes, rather than months.
Absorb LMS
The Absorb LMS is a learning platform that focuses on business. It is also especially adept at social aspects, as it can easily integrate with corporate social media accounts.
We also like the social focus that continues on to allow learners to create social accounts on the platform. This then allows them to virtually interact with the other learners, and also display the awards and certificates that they accumulate for completed content. We also appreciate that certificates can be custom created, to be either downloaded or printed. However, some aspects frustrated us, such as the learning community that is not running yet, the opaque and ultimately high pricing, and the buggy smartphone apps on both the iOS and Android platforms that have users commenting they would be better off accessing content on a computer.
Animoto
Animoto is a digital tool that allows you to create high-quality videos in a short time and from any mobile device, inspiring students and helping improve academic lessons. The Animoto interface is friendly and practical, allowing teachers to create audiovisual content that adapts to educational needs.
Thinkific LMS
Thinkific is an online platform that has enjoyed meteoritic success as a relative newcomer to this space. It has useful functions, such as the ability for educators to build a website, and templates are provided to facilitate this for newcomers.
We also like that this platform can be used to issue certificates of completion. It is used worldwide, and can accept payments from learners signing up for courses from over 100 countries.
Some omissions, such as the lack of a direct phone number or email for support, and no smartphone apps for either Android or iOS show the immaturity of the platform. We also wanted to see more user reviews than what we found online. However, with a choice of tiers starting with a free one, and a track record that has already earned its experts over $650 million dollars, it is seriously hard to dispute.
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.
Calendly
Stay in control of who you meet and when with Calendly, a free calendar booking app. Calendly integrates with your calendar so you are never double-booked – a miracle when teaching – and allows you to save time when booking in your parent-teacher appointments or meetings with colleagues.
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.
ClassDojo
A favourite among teachers, ClassDojo is a free school communication platform that teachers, students and parents can use every day to build close-knit communities by sharing what’s being learned in the classroom through home photos, videos and messages. Parents can track their child’s progress, and children can showcase their learning. There are also free class behaviour management tools system and lots of added features for teachers too. Check out this free beginner’s guide for teachers to learn what ClassDojo can do for you.
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.
Schoology
An award-winning learning management system, Schoology allows teachers to create a private social network for their students, parents and colleagues. Communicate with families and students, manage your classroom, collaborate with your colleagues, plus much more.
Asana
Asana is your personal teaching secretary all in one powerful app that gives you control over your tasks, projects and to-do lists.
Essentially, Asana is a productivity management solution for teams, individuals or anyone that needs more control over their tasks.
Teachers will enjoy Asana for a number of reasons.
Firstly, from a simple angle of gaining control over the multitude of to-do’s and projects that teachers need to manage, this app will do it all.
Some ways that teachers can use Asana in their teaching life can include:
- Creating lesson plan tasks with manageable subtasks that have deadlines
- Managing students’ information, progress and other important details
- Helping with teams of teachers to manage projects that need to be completed
- Create online lesson plans that allow teachers to see what parts of the lesson were and weren’t completed
This app is great for teachers in brick-and-mortar schools as well as online teachers who need to gain control over their schedule by focusing on what matters each day.
Additionally, if you are a teacherpreneur building your own online teaching business, Asana will be your go-to place to make sure that everything in your business is running smoothly.
With the free account, teachers will be able to create projects and tasks through a variety of different layouts.
ClassMarker
This simple tool allows teachers to create an online test that is instantly graded, which can save them a whole lot of time and allow them to focus on more important issues. What’s really good about this tool is that it allows multimedia content, so teachers could add pictures or videos to the test sheet to make the whole experience even more attractive and interactive.
The teacher has the ability to create groups and give each group a separate test, but also has the option to create a single test and share a link to the test with the entire class via email. The students get the test results instantly, and all of the tests are stored in the teacher’s personal database, which is a great way to keep track of each student’s progress. Additionally, ClassMarker allows setting a time limit for each quiz and availability dates, which can help teachers in case they have a large number of students to pay attention to.
Edmodo
Another useful tool that not only makes the teaching experience easier but also helps integrate teachers, students, and parents in the learning process. Edmodo allows teachers to create groups, quizzes, assign papers, manage students’ progress, etc. It’s also possible to connect Edmodo with your Google or Microsoft account and transfer files from one service to another seamlessly.
This tool is a great way to keep parents up to date with future events, current grades, progress, etc. Since teachers can allow access to both students and parents, each user has a certain level of access to Edmodo content. This way parents will be able to see where they should jump in when it comes to helping their children achieve better results.
Talking about achieving more, Edmodo also allows teachers and students from all over the world to share knowledge and resources with each other. One of the features of this tool is the ability to share any type of content with other users and get access to materials that others decided to share.
Kahoot
Did anyone say that games are not educational? Kahoot is a learning tool that allows teachers and students to create fun games in order to test knowledge and engage the entire class. There is virtually no limit to the number of questions or their format; you could place videos, images, and even diagrams to each question to make the game more interesting.
This type of learning experience can really keep the whole class engaged, as each student joins the game via their smart devices while the results appear on a shared screen for everyone to see. Forming multiple teams can build a competitive atmosphere which students would enjoy. In addition, the online nature of Kahoot allows you to include even those students that are unable to attend the class, but are willing to participate in the game. Furthermore, teachers could assign homework using this tool, and have instant access to results.
Conclusion:
An online classroom is a virtual space for teachers and students to interact with one another, learn from each other and at the same time share ideas. It’s generally easier to learn in a classroom setting with teachers and ‘peers’ than through self-learning solely. However, the concept of an online classroom is new to many people and they may not know where to start.