As you teach online, at least some of your classes are likely to be asynchronous and you’ll need to use tools apart from discussion forums (asynchronous) and chat (synchronous). These tools can do a variety of things, from helping your students create their own assessments to enabling them to discuss a specific reading assignment asynchronously. Below is a list of some useful tools that might help you teach your next course.
Online education is growing at a rapid pace, and requires the mastery of skills necessary to be a successful online educator. Free technology tools to create an online teaching career have never been more available. This is a list of online teaching tools. You can use this for learning and/or teaching. This includes a powerpoint, whiteboard, and other resources.
Here is a list of online teaching tools that can be used to create awesome slideshows and presentations. Some are web-based, some require downloading an app or two. Some are free, some are premium. All you have to do is pick the tool you like the most and get your learners’ attention instantly.
With the current coronavirus pandemic, and the subsequent closures of schools across the country, students and teachers are having to adapt to new routines. Many schools are going to remote learning until social distancing regulations ease up. If you’re a student or teacher in this situation, we’ve got a convenient list of tools that can help make your transition easier. From educational resources, to collaboration tools, check out our list below!
The Most Popular Digital Education Tools
Canva
Canva’s online graphic and publishing tool allows teachers to create stunning, professional-quality presentations, posters, infographics, social media banners, videos, Zoom virtual backgrounds, and more. Sign up for the free version or purchase one of their plans geared toward teachers and students.
Canva easily integrates with your preferred learning management system, including Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams.
Zoom
Zoom gained popularity during the pandemic for its versatility as a presentation tool and webinar platform while students learned online. Its security, live video class functionality and chat feature for social interaction make Zoom a useful distance learning tool.
Blackboard
Blackboard is an advanced LMS tool perfectly suited for kindergarten to high school. This platform works on any device and it’s easily accessible to all students. Blackboard Learn also gives teachers access to several third-party tools.
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.
Boom Cards
Boom Cards are self-checking interactive activities that give students real-time feedback on their responses.
Here’s how they work:
- You create the Boom Cards in advance or use pre-created decks from other teachers
- You use the fast play option (for free) and get a link to send to students
- Your students are shown one question at a time and given real-time feedback on their answer
- They can correct themselves or simply discard the card
- You can also differentiate instruction with Boom Cards and assign certain cards to certain students
You can only use the fast play option with the free version and you will not be able to track progress but you can upgrade at any time under different price packages.
I love the idea of Boom Cards for a creative way to assess students where they won’t even realize they are learning!
Nearpod
Nearpod allows teachers to make any lesson interactive. Take those boring worksheets and make them fun and engaging.
Or, pull in videos and other interactive content into your Nearpod lesson.
Let’s check out how it works:
- Jump over to Nearpod and create a free account.
- Browse Nearpod’s thousands of lessons in the Nearpod Library or create your own.
- Once you create your own lesson you just add slides like you would in any presentation software.
- The difference is that instead of just adding text or images (which you still can), nearpod has lots of other fun options like quizzes, polls, and games to make it fun.
- You give your students a code to enter and then you are ready to go!
The difference between Nearpod’s free and paid version is the amount of storage you get and the number of students that can join at one time.
Skype Video
a) For Freelance Trainers and Individuals Teaching Online
Skype video has traditionally been very popular for video calls to family and friends but Skype is also increasingly being used by businesses these days and it is an excellent option if you are looking to provide both teaching and training online. Skype also, by the way, integrates nicely with Microsoft teams (see below).
As an individual offering corporate training online (i.e. if you are self-employed), you can use the personal version of Skype and this is an incredibly easy and cheap way to offer online classes and lessons 1-to-1. It’s also a great tool for researchers such as those doing Skype interviews for Masters and PhD research.
On Skype, you can easily share your screen with the people or person you are chatting with by clicking the overlapping boxes at the bottom of the interface. You will see these boxes when you are in a video call with someone (see image above).
b) For Company Training Online (and Co-working Space Online)
Skype is also excellent for Groups!
In addition to being an excellent option for team meetings and online co-working space, you can use Skype Groups for teaching and training employees and staff from afar.
Wherever in the world you physically are, you can provide external or in-house training online, for up to 50 people at a time.
Conclusion: Brilliant for offering 1-to-1 teaching and training online especially for teaching languages and for many one-to-one topics. Also a very good option for busineeses of any size.
MS Teams
If you are a fan of Microsoft and already use their software such as Microsoft 365, then you will very likely love their online collaboration software.
I’ve used Microsoft Teams and it is always easy even for those people not used to working and collaborating online. I prefer ‘Zoom’ for teaching online in all honesty but for team meetings and office chats, this is as good as any option (although not the cheapest).
Conclusion: Particularly good for larger companies and very easy to use for online teachers and trainers.
Google Hangouts (for Teachers)
Google Hangouts is another video conferencing service that is also great for those of you looking to provide live classes and lessons online. With hangouts you can:
- Share screens and files
- Chat
- Use a shares hangout space to collaborate
You will need to have a Google account, so if you already use Gmail you will already have a Google account that you can use for Google Hangouts.
Edmodo
Edmodo’s series of tools enables teachers to share course content, inspire collaboration and build an energetic and positive classroom. Parents can also receive updates about their kids’ progress.
Edmodo has free accounts for teachers for quick and easy sign ups.
Teachable
Teachable is one of the world’s leaders and the biggest platform worldwide for placing your courses online as a trainer, for users to study in their own time and at their own pace.
Teachable also provides a very clean and stylish online school for you. Furthermore, it is very user-friendly and offers very affordable plans that accommodate all trainers and teachers looking to add their courses online.
On Teachable, you:
- Create your school
- Add your content by uploading videos, text, images or whatever content you want to add and include in your lessons
- You set the pricing of your courses and design your sales page/s (inside teachable)
Here at Symonds Training, we ourselves use Teachable for our ‘Train the Trainer Online Course’ and for our sister site’s Blogging for Beginners online course.
Conclusion: Teachable is the best option if you are looking to add your own online course as a trainer and so that your users can individually study your course online in their own time from anywhere.
ClassDojo
ClassDojo’s communication tool brings families, students and teachers together to create a supportive online community. Teachers can develop a fun learning experience with downloadable resource kits and ideas. They can also find resources that help integrate ClassDojo with their preferred learning management system.
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.
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
Conclusion
With more classes than ever turning to online instruction, it’s never been so important to choose the right online teaching tools. We offer the ultimate list of free and premium online teaching tools and resources to help you get started.
These opportunities have led to the development of a wide range of online teaching tools. When combined with the capabilities and styles of teaching that instructors, researchers, instructional designers and developers bring to the classroom they can truly become greater than the sum of their parts.