Hello teachers, I’m sure you love to teach. But have you ever thought of teaching online? It can be a great way to supplement your income. I know it sounds hard, but with these online teaching platforms for teachers free, you can do it easily and start making money online. Teachers are always on the lookout for free ways to improve their teaching methods and techniques. And I’m sure you would agree with me that there couldn’t be a better way to do this than by learning from the best. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of online courses that can help any teacher develop indispensable new skills. This is why I decided to share my top favorite online learning platforms for teachers.
There are hundreds of tools you can use to help your students learn more effectively. However, a lot of these tools are aimed at being used by teachers, not children. So what are some of the best online teaching platforms for teachers? In this article I cover some website which teachers can use in the classroom.
Coursera
Coursera isn’t just a place to take classes that are like college courses—it actually offers real academic courses from real professors and universities at a fraction of the cost of getting an online degree.
The platform partners with over 200 universities and companies to provide real learning experiences that can connect to real-world benefits. In some cases, you can even earn certifications or degrees entirely through Coursera, which can then potentially lead to professional benefits like raises, promotions, and more. Even if you’re not looking for professional development reasons, Coursera offers challenging and interesting classes on plenty of topics, so you can explore interests you might not have had before.
The platform allows for multimedia courses, so professors can construct classes, upload videos, assign and grade quizzes and homework assignments, and other elements that would be present in a “real” online college class.
Each course is individually priced (the cheapest start around $30 to $40 and increase from there), although there are some instances where you can purchase a bundle of courses at once (and sometimes at a discount) as a “track” or certification/degree program. You can also get unlimited access to over 3,000 courses with Coursera Plus for $399 a year. It’s pretty much the closest you’ll get to the online college experience without enrolling in college.
Udemy
If you want to learn something, it’s probably on Udemy. The site is less of a unified “platform” and more of a portal or repository where students can access well over 100,000 courses on every topic imaginable.
Language, arts, music, and fitness courses can be found alongside lessons on programming and IT, business skills, teaching, productivity, and much more. There are even categories for personal development and lifestyle, which cover life skills and other techniques that aren’t necessarily the kind of thing you’d get in an academic setting.
There’s not one standard format for a Udemy course—the platform allows instructors to design multimedia lectures with audio, video, and text elements, plus readings, quizzes, and other activities. Udemy allows students to preview classes they’re interested in and does offer a 30-day refund if you’re dissatisfied.
Because each class is created and taught individually, they’re also priced separately: Lifetime access to a single course can range from inexpensive (about $11 to $15) to pricey (roughly $200 or more).
Skillshare
While many online platforms basically provide college-style classes, Skillshare is less formal and aimed more at improving creative skills.
There are business and marketing classes on the platform, but the majority are courses in creative fields, taught by practicing experts in those fields: photography, film, animation, visual arts, writing, interior design, and more. The focus is on teaching practical skills that students can then use to create their own projects. Most courses involve a series of video lessons, combined with assignments for students to practice their skills.
Skillshare has a subscription model, rather than a per-course payment plan, so students who sign up can take as many or as few courses as they want while they’re subscribed. The current pricing is $32 per month, or if you pay for one year upfront, the cost is $168 (which works out to around $14 per month).
That being said, the platform does offer a set of free classes as well, from short, 20-minute videos to longer tutorials of an hour or more. They’re not as in-depth, but they’re a good way to try out potentially interesting topics.
Adobe Connect
Adobe Connect for virtual classrooms is an online teaching platform that runs in a web browser with Adobe Flash Player. The tool offers teachers the opportunity to host on-demand or live online classes from anywhere.
It features interactive whiteboards, real-time and private chats, interactive polls and voting, and two-way video and audio. Teachers and students can also share screens and livestream presentations to create the feeling of being in the classroom.
For students with disabilities, Adobe Connect features a Section 508-compliant virtual classroom solution that makes the virtual classrooms more accessible.
Plans start at $50 per month per user. A free trial is available.
Podia
Best All-In-One Online Course Platform for Webinars, Downloads, and Memberships ($39/month)
Podia is an all-in-one online course platform with over 50,000 members that is great for digital downloads, webinars, and memberships.
Its main types of courses include:
- Standalone courses that include images, video and audio files, MP3x, PDFs, quizzes, and more.
- Pre-sell your course by taking payments before launch.
- Cohort-based courses with a future start date.
- Drip courses deliver your course in a section-by-section format.
- The ability to add coupons and memberships.
They truly excel with their membership options. You can grow your own online community by interacting with members, bundling products for specific groups, offering tiered plans, and connecting with Facebook Groups and Slack.
Podia also acts as a webinar platform to host either live or on-demand webinars.
Another awesome feature is the ability to run your own affiliate program inside of Podia. You can view all of your affiliates in one place, view helpful reporting, and make payouts based on your own customized commission structure.
There is 24/7 support, no transaction fees, and a simple three-step process to get your course website up quickly.
Although they don’t charge fees, their payment processors have transaction fees of 2.9% + 30¢.
Pricing:
- Mover ($39/month) – Unlimited everything, zero transaction fees, sell courses, digital downloads, and 5k emails sent per month.
- Shaker ($79/month) – Everything in Mover, plus the ability to create membership communities, add affiliates, and 15k emails sent per month.
- Earthquaker ($179/month) – Everything in Shaker, plus dedicated account manager, personalized onboarding, and 50k emails sent per month.
Overall, if you’re looking for strong membership functionality and the ability to increase your sales with the help of affiliates, Podia is a unique and worthwhile course builder to try out.
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.
WeTransfer
The answer to your prayers. Transfer large files easily to colleagues and keep your ideas moving. It’s free and does not even require you to create an account. Just upload files, enter the recipient’s email and you’re away.
Canva
A brilliant, free graphic design tool you can use to create educational visuals and infographics for the classroom. It couldn’t be more intuitive and is loved by both beginners and experts alike. We guarantee you’ll be hooked.
Zoom
Zoom is probably the most popular online software in the market for holding meetings, classes and online get-togethers, especially since the start of the pandemic.
Zoom offers the following to their users:
- Chat function to
- chat with your whole class or individual students
- Breakout rooms to separate students into groups for discussions
- Share screen function to share your screen or allow students to share their screen
- A built-in whiteboard with text and drawing features to share with your students.
The free version allows up to 100 participants, unlimited one-on-one meetings but a limit of only 40 minutes for group meetings.
Zoom is a great option for teachers who need a platform to teach their students since this app is used worldwide and most people are comfortable and familiar with its functions.
EdApp
EdApp’s new public microlearning courseware platform Educate All is free for teachers, students and anyone else on the planet who has a desire to learn. Together with UNITAR, EdApp is redefining what we mean by ‘team micro teaching’ by creating a true global village of educators.
EdApp’s authoring tool is an excellent way to effectively educate your learners with vital knowledge and skills. EdApp’s content library is populated with course topics ranging from addressing global challenges, leadership and entrepreneurship to hospitality and physical exercise. Powerful learner metrics are available for learner assessment, and EdApp’s Brain Boost spaced repetition feature is next to none. You can access EdApp’s mobile-based LMS for free!
Seesaw
Seesaw is a digital portfolio app that captures student work through the use of photos, videos, and audio. This free teacher tool enables students to showcase their work and collaborate with their peers. Using the Seesaw blog platform, students gain an authentic sense of authorship and are able to share ideas and feedback constructively in a safe teacher-moderated space.
The app is also a fantastic way of enhancing parent-school engagement (which we all know is a key factor in positive student outcomes), as they are able to sign in with QR codes. The reflective opportunities Seesaw provides is my favourite feature. By getting students to reflect on teacher feedback, it completes the learning loop—essentially promoting ‘feeding forward’ rather than feedback as an effective learning model.
Baamboozle
This is another free online game site. Its main advantage is that it’s set up so that students can play online in teams, but they don’t have to go into different breakout rooms. In other words, students can select a question to answer and talk among themselves in front of others to determine the correct answer (other students are waiting for their turn to choose another question). If that explanation is a bit confusing, it will be very clear once you go to the site itself.
Quizizz
This is a free online learning game site that is incredibly easy to use, has zillions of already-made games on just about every topic that are fun activities for reinforcement and formative assessment, and has recently added a simplified Nearpod-like feature (for those of you familiar with that popular tool) called student-paced “Lessons.” My students love playing Quizizz games in teams divided into separate Zoom breakout rooms. Unlike other game sites, students can see the question and the possible answers on the same screen and don’t have to split them into two.
Math Learning Center
This virtual manipulative website is a staple in mathematics classrooms where students interact with familiar manipulatives such as base 10 blocks. Teachers can customize the site by creating problems, saving templates, and sharing private links with students. The best part is that the tools encourage flexible thinking as students explore multiple ways to model their understanding.
Conclusion:
Teaching is hard enough, and teachers shouldn’t have to worry about technology or keeping up to date with new trends. That’s where an online learning platform can come in handy. As you might imagine, there are many options available for free and paid online platforms.