All teachers need a set of good tools in a classroom to make a remarkable impact on students. It is quite common that many training institutions invest in the primary resources required, thus neglecting secondary resources. While this step doesn’t take away from the quality of the learning process, it does reduce the quality of the training process. In addition to textbooks and other instructional materials, there are tools that can maximize your training potential by improving your teaching methods. These tools have become a necessity for teachers as they have become an integral part of today’s teaching methodology.
Here is a description of some free online teaching tools for teachers .
Coursera
For high school students and college-ready learners who want to challenge themselves, there’s nothing like Coursera. This platform is a notable provider of massive open online courses (MOOC), and it even offers degrees and certificates in some cases. Stream a variety of on-demand lectures in a wide range of courses, including professors at Yale and company leaders at IBM and Google. This growing platform provides a new way to consume course material on some of the most challenging topics.Cost of Coursea:
- Free to colleges until July 2020
- Contact Coursera for details regarding high schools
Canvas
Canvas is a learning management platform that’s used by over 30% of higher ed communities. It’s becoming a top provider for K-12 learning, too. It’s also an open-source option, with several different built-in tools that handle the needs of remote students, teachers, and parents.This app-friendly system allows parents to see what assignments their kids need to do, and it provides data metrics for administrators to use for performance improvements.Cost of Canvas:
- Basic account: Free to students and teachers
- Full account: Schools and districts should contact Canvas for a quote
Edpuzzle
Edpuzzle helps teachers “make any video a lesson.” Use your own videos or source from a variety of websites, including YouTube and Khan Academy. Then, add commentary and comprehension questions to personalize it for your students.Students are assigned videos to watch, but there’s accountability and assessment integrity included, too. See who is viewing the videos along with their interaction with it.Then you can use that data to see who may need a little extra help. This service is free for teachers and students and is a solid self-paced option for students who can’t attend “live” sessions.Cost of Edpuzzle:
- Basic account: Free to students and teachers
- Premium account: Schools and districts should contact Edpuzzle for a quote
Khan Academy
This popular free learning destination is a hit among parents and educators. Get access to world-class courses with instructional videos in everything from 1st grade math to high school economics. Khan Academy even provides PSAT and SAT prep with standards that align with top colleges and universities.The video-based courses include practice questions and quizzes, along with guided placement to help struggling learners find the right course for them. Teachers can access the entire course catalog, then set up classrooms where they invite students. Grading is automatic, but teachers can create and customize assignment dates and learning objectives to meet changing classroom needs.Cost of Khan Academy:
- Free non-profit
- Donations accepted
Online math tools
Theresa Wills, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of mathematics education in the School of Education at George Mason University, where she works with in-service mathematics specialists and preservice elementary and secondary teachers. Theresa has taught synchronous online classes and webinars since 2010 and researches teaching practices that are adaptable to the online environment. She is a former classroom teacher and math coach who still volunteers weekly in K-12 classrooms. She is the author of the forthcoming book Teaching Math at a Distance, Grades K-12: A Practical Guide to Rich Remote Instruction.
My go-to tools this year are grounded in collaboration, interaction, and student voice. They provide equitable opportunities for students’ access to the same kinds of mathematical reasoning, thinking, and discourse while learning remotely that they would if they were learning face to face. Here are three examples.
Google Slides – This quintessential, simple, and free tool gives teachers the security and flexibility to create interactive activities while releasing ownership to the students. By inviting students to the shared slide in edit mode, and practicing netiquette norms, students can type ideas into text boxes, paste images that express their opinions, manipulate game pieces, and insert screen shots of their work from third-party apps. The pedagogical magic is revealed when teachers and students can observe and modify each other’s responses, in real time.
This slide shows the work of four students in a small breakout room as they used models to describe a growing pattern.
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.
Using this template, two students show unique ways to use the tools to solve the problem.
Image by Theresa Wills
Image by Theresa Wills
Student work #2
FlipGrid – You might be familiar with this website’s ability to capture short videos of students’ responses, but what puts it in another league is the ability for back and forth video dialogue between students.
This gives access to more students and opens possibilities for collaboration. A kindergarten student can count toys over video, and their friends can ask follow-up questions such as, “How many are pink?” and then upload a video response. English- and world-language learners can practice new speaking skills while previewing and editing their video responses as they master pronunciation. This tool gives students the ability to engage in rich peer-to-peer collaboration.
Peardeck
Laurie Manville is an ELD/AVID Excel teacher and ed- tech virtual tech-team coach at Brookhurst Junior High, as well as a 7th grade ELA teacher with Cambridge Virtual Academy, both in the Anaheim Union High School district in California. She enjoys helping her students figure out what they are meant to do in life and guiding teachers in lesson-design creation. In her free time, you will usually find her backstage (or near a stage) assisting with line memorization, costumes, or concessions; analyzing a screenplay; or at home journaling or mastering PiYo.
Laurie Manville blogs with Dr. Alva Lefevre at L&M Educational Consulting on their Facebook page and their new website Educators in the Know:
One of my top “go-to” online tools would have to be Peardeck.
Peardeck — is one of the mainstays of my synchronous classes. Engagement is in real time and responses from all students are immediately visible. The add-on tool is available in Google Slides, and Peardeck tools may be added to individual Slides. Another great feature is that the Peardeck platform saves class sessions. Teachers may revisit student responses and use them as formative assessments.
If you are new to Peardeck, students log in through joinpd.com and with a code created for each deck. After all students have logged in, the teacher clicks “start lesson.” The students respond using various tools like polls, drawing tools for matching, multiple-choice answers, and free response fill-in-the-blank. Students’ names are anonymous, but teachers may check student names later in the saved Peardeck session on the Peardeck site. (In a synchronous lesson, the Peardeck is screen-shared.)
Record audio and video
Animoto Gives students the ability to make a 30-second video of what they learned in a lesson.
AudioNote A combination of a voice recorder and notepad, it captures both audio and notes for student collaboration.
Edpuzzle Helps you use video (your own, or one from Khan Academy, YouTube, and more) to track student understanding.
Flipgrid Lets students use 15-second to 5-minute videos to respond to prompts. Teachers and peers can provide feedback.
QuickVoice Recorder Allows you to record classes, discussions, or audio for projects. Sync your recordings to your computer easily for use in presentations.
Vocaroo Creates audio recordings without the need for software. Embed the recording into slideshows, presentations, or websites.
WeVideo Lets you use video creatively to engage students in learning. Teachers and students alike can make videos.
Present, engage, and inspire
BrainPOP Lets you use prerecorded videos on countless topics to shape your lesson plan, then use quizzes to see what stuck.
Buncee Helps students and teachers visualize, communicate, and engage with classroom concepts.
Five Card Flickr Uses the tag feature from photos in Flickr to foster visual thinking.
PlayPosit Allows you to add formative assessment features to a video from a library or popular sites, such as YouTube and Vimeo, to survey what students know about a topic.
RabbleBrowser Allows a leader to facilitate a collaborative browsing experience.
Random Name/Word Picker Facilitates random name picking. You can also add a list of keywords and use the tool to prompt students to guess words by providing definitions.
Socrative Uses exercises and games to engage students with a topic.
Spark Lets you add graphics and visuals to exit tickets.
Typeform Helps you add graphical elements to polls.
Create quizzes, polls, and surveys
Crowdsignal Lets you create online polls, quizzes, and questions. Students can use smartphones, tablets, and computers to provide their answers, and information can be culled for reports.
Edulastic Allows you to make standards-aligned assessments and get instant feedback.
FreeOnlineSurveys Helps you create surveys, quizzes, forms, and polls.
Gimkit Lets you write real-time quizzes. And it was designed by a high school student!
Kahoot! A game-based classroom response system that lets you create quizzes using internet content.
MicroPoll Helps you create polls, embed them into websites, and analyze responses.
Naiku Lets you write quizzes students can answer using their mobile devices.
Obsurvey Designed to make surveys, polls, and questionnaires.
Poll Everywhere Lets you create a feedback poll or ask questions and see results in real time. Allows students to respond in various ways. With open-ended questions, you can capture data and spin up tag clouds to aggregate responses.
Poll Maker Offers unique features, like allowing multiple answers to one question.
ProProfs Helps you make quizzes, polls, and surveys.
Quia Lets you create games, quizzes, surveys, and more. Access a database of existing quizzes from other educators.
Quizalize Helps you create quizzes and homework.
Quizizz Guides you through designing quizzes and lets you include students in the quiz-writing process.
Quizlet Lets you make flashcards, tests, quizzes, and study games that are mobile friendly.
Survey Hero Designed to build questionnaires and surveys.
SurveyMonkey Helpful for online polls and surveys.
SurveyPlanet Also helpful for online polls and surveys.
Triventy Lets you create quizzes students take in real time using individual devices.
Yacapaca Helps you write and assign quizzes.
Zoho Survey Allows you to make mobile-friendly surveys and see results in real time.
Brainstorm, mind map, and collaborate
AnswerGarden A tool for online brainstorming and collaboration.
Coggle A mind-mapping tool designed to help you understand student thinking.
Conceptboard Software that facilitates team collaboration in a visual format, similar to mind mapping but using visual and text inputs.
Dotstorming A whiteboard app that allows digital sticky notes to be posted and voted on. This tool is best for generating class discussion and brainstorming on different topics and questions.
Educreations Whiteboard A whiteboard app that lets students share what they know.
iBrainstorm Lets students collaborate on projects using a stylus or their finger.
Miro Allows whole-class collaboration in real time.
Padlet Provides a blank canvas for students to create and design collaborative projects.
ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard Another whiteboard tool to check understanding.
XMind Mind-mapping software for use on desktop computers and laptops.
Generate word or tag clouds
EdWordle Generates word clouds from any entered text to help aggregate responses and facilitate discussion. Word clouds are pictures composed of a cloud of smaller words that form a clue to the topic.
Tagxedo Allows you to examine student consensus and facilitate dialogues.
Wordables Helps you elicit evidence of learning or determine background knowledge about a topic.
WordArt Includes a feature that allows the user to make each word an active link to connect to websites, including YouTube.
Get real-time feedback
Formative Lets you assign activities, receive results in real time, and provide immediate feedback.
GoSoapBox Works with the bring-your-own-device model and includes an especially intriguing feature: a confusion meter.
IXL Breaks down options by grade level and content area.
Kaizena Gives students real-time feedback on work they upload. You can use a highlighter or give verbal feedback. You can also attach resources.
Mentimeter Allows you to use mobile phones or tablets to vote on any question a teacher asks, increasing student engagement.
Pear Deck Lets you plan and build interactive presentations that students can participate in via their smart device. It also offers unique question types.
Plickers Allows you to collect real-time formative assessment data without the need for student devices.
Quick Key Helps you with accurate marking, instant grading, and immediate feedback.
Foster family communication
Remind Lets you text students and stay in touch with families.
Seesaw Helps you improve family communication and makes formative assessment easy, while students can use the platform to document their learning.
Voxer Lets you send recordings so families can hear how their students are doing, students can chat about their work, and you can provide feedback.
Strengthen teacher-to-student or student-to-student communication
Biblionasium Lets you view books students have read, create reading challenges, and track progress. Students can also review and recommend books to their peers.
Classkick Helps you post assignments for students, and both you and your students’ peers can provide feedback. Students can also monitor their progress and work.
ForAllRubrics Lets you import, create, and score rubrics on your tablet or smartphone. Collect data offline, compute scores automatically, and print or save the rubrics as a PDF or spreadsheet.
Lino A virtual cork board of sticky notes, it lets students ask questions or make comments on their learning.
Online Stopwatch Provides dozens of themed digital classroom timers to use during small- and whole-group discussions.
Peergrade Helps you create assignments and upload rubrics. You can also anonymously assign peer review work. Students can upload and review work using the corresponding rubric.
Spiral Gives you access to formative assessment feedback.
Verso Lets you set up learning using a URL. Space is provided for directions. Students can add their assignment, post comments, and respond to comments. You can group responses and check engagement levels.
VoiceThread Allows you to create and share conversations on documents, diagrams, videos, pictures, and more.
Keep the conversation going with live chats
Backchannel Chat A teacher-moderated version of Twitter.
Chatzy Supports live, online chats in a private setting.
Create and store documents or assignments
Google Forms A Google Drive app that allows you to create documents students can collaborate on in real time using smartphones, tablets, and laptops.
Piazza Lets you upload lectures, assignments, and homework; pose and respond to student questions; and poll students about class content. This tool is better suited for older students as it mimics post-secondary class instructional formats.
Conclusion
Teachers are always looking for creative ways to implement technology in the classroom. Technology can help teachers engage students, present material in new and exciting ways, and provide a way for students to showcase what they know. Online learning tools can replace textbooks, assist in student engagement, and provide a platform for students to build their skills.