Teachers, you’ve probably heard about all of the tech tools and digital learning options available for student use — and you might be thinking, “If only my classroom could look like this!” But I’ve got news for you: student tech tools and digital learning exists, and it’s not just for students! You can find some great tech tools for use in your classroom too.
Take a look at these digital tools that will help make your classroom more interactive and engaging. (Some of these tech tools I use personally in my classroom!)
eduClipper
This platform allows teachers and students to share and explore references and educational material. In eduClipper, you can collect information found on the internet and then share it with the members of previously created groups, which offers the possibility to manage more effectively the academic content found online, improve research techniques, and have a digital record of what students achieved during the course. Likewise, it provides the opportunity for teachers to organize a virtual class with their students and create a portfolio where all the work carried out is stored.
Storybird
Storybird aims to promote writing and reading skills in students through storytelling. In this tool, teachers can create interactive and artistic books online through a simple and easy to use interface. The stories created can be embedded in blogs, sent by email, and printed, among other options. In Storybird, teachers can also create projects with students, give constant feedback, and organize classes and grades.
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.
Kahoot!
Kahoot! is an educational platform that is based on games and questions. Through this tool, teachers can create questionnaires, discussions, or surveys that complement academic lessons. The material is projected in the classroom and questions are answered by students while playing and learning at the same time. Kahoot! promotes game-based learning, which increases student engagement and creates a dynamic, social, and fun educational environment.
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!
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!
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.
Zoom
You might know Zoom from business meetings but did you know that it also works great for online teaching?
There are two ways of using Zoom; Meetings and Webinars. The most suited for interactive online teaching is Zoom Meetings, while Zoom Webinars is better for lectures. Teachers can choose with which to work at any given time.
Zoom Meetings have practical features that make online teaching easier, such as breakout rooms. These help teachers separate the students into groups, much like you would do in a normal classroom setting.
Each group can communicate with each other and the teacher can be notified to come in and help if needed. Since Zoom became so popular for distance learning, many other online teaching tools have incorporated seamless integrations.
A Web Whiteboard App
AWW App is the perfect solution for teachers that are used to having a board to write on during class. This is a digital whiteboard where teachers can annotate much like on a regular board.
The integration between AWW and Zoom makes it easier than ever to teach a class online. You can also import PDF and PowerPoint files into AWW.https://www.youtube.com/embed/sWCW2qt7y8M
This app is great for teachers that enjoy explaining things by showing how it’s done.
The boards can be pre-created before a lesson or written on during the lecture. The settings permit students to collaborate or “come up to the board.”
Ted Talks
Ted Talks are a great resource for online teaching. We wouldn’t exactly call it a tool, but more of a repository.
Ted’s website offers videos of 18-minute speeches by influential speakers on a variety of topics. There are even some Ted talks by kids, which can be greatly inspiring for students.
Best of all, every talk is free to include in lessons. The videos can be embedded or shared with a link. They’re easy to incorporate with any LMS.
Remind
A big part of school education is communicating with both students and parents. This is no different when the learning is being done online.
The Remind App is an advanced messaging system that works in three different ways:
- Reminders for upcoming lessons or due dates of projects and tests
- Email messaging with students and parents
- Direct messaging with parents of students
The main feature of Remind is that all notifications are sent to mobile devices, making it easier for teachers to interact with students and parents.
The app can be integrated with Google Classroom and Google Drive for easy access to class materials. Also, it’s easy to send links to Zoom meetings and webinars.
Teachers can set up office hours for timely messaging and control over their private lives.
Pear Deck
Pear Deck is the perfect add-on for teachers who regularly use Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint. It improves interactivity and the quality of visuals on the teacher’s slides.
The add-on is available in the editor and also includes a teacher platform to help keep track of student participation during class.
When you open the PearDeck add-on in your Google Slides or Microsoft Powerpoint software, it’s available in a sidebar. All the features are accessible from right inside the editor and can improve your presentations to a great degree.
Actively Learn
The Actively Learn website is a specialized platform to teach ELA, Science and Social Studies. It’s easily integrated with most LMS like Google Classroom and Canvas.
What stands out about Actively Learn is the way the readings are set up for both students and teachers. It’s the perfect platform for blended learning, and just as easy to use as an online learning teaching tool.
Each article, video or book excerpt has a set of questions, vocabulary features and further reading for the student. The features for teachers include suggested lesson plans and further assignments.
Padlet
Padlet is a multifunctional platform to collect information, visuals, videos, documents and much more. Users can create “padlets” or digital corkboards to create collections of data and information pretty much any way they want.
Teachers can use padlets to build group lessons, work on group projects, collate research for a lecture, and much more.
Padlet is one of the favorites in the online teaching world and it’s no surprise why. Here is an article with a long list of ideas for teachers using Padlet.
Thinglink
Thinglink is a platform dedicated to the creation of interactive visuals. You can add interactive elements like audio, text popups and map location labels to any of the following:
- Images
- Videos
- 360-degree media
This is one of the most immersive online teaching software. You can even create VR-ready environments for students to explore at their leisure.
Edpuzzle
Edpuzzle is an app that takes any video and turns into an educational lesson. Teachers simply add their chosen video, set it up for students with questions about the content and assign it to them via their regular LMS.
Edpuzzle integrates with Google Classroom and many other platforms as well.
A notable feature of Edpuzzle is that teachers can easily track student progress. The settings can be toggled for the video and to make added questions unskippable.
Edpuzzle is the perfect accompaniment for the flipped classroom method, both in face-to-face and virtual classrooms.
Quizizz
Quizizz is a free quiz maker for students of any age. If you don’t want to create your own quiz, there are lots of available quizzes in the gallery that are free to use.
Integrate your quiz seamlessly with Google Classroom or share it with a link. You can also share it as a game and send the link to the Remind app and other online teaching tools.
Considering that Quizizz has been used in regular classrooms for a while, the transition of the tool to online teaching was seamless.
Conclusion
Online classroom tools can make teachers’ lives easier. This is only the tip of the iceberg, as they all provide a wide range of courses and other educational materials. These online classroom tools make it possible for teachers to help students learn at their own pace, which enhances their learning experience. They allow students and teachers to interact and learn from each other in a way that isn’t possible with traditional face-to-face classes.