Online Teaching Tools for Educators | Allconnect.com

Key takeaways Canvas, Brightspace and Schoology are the most popular online Learning Management Systems (LMS) across the country   Google Workspace, Zoom and e-mail are essential for student-teacher and peer-focused interaction and communication Supplemental tools, including Screencastify, Remind and Chromebooks, enhance instruction and increase access for diverse learning needs Plenty of enrichment resources, from quizzes to webinars, are available from dozens of e-learning sites Supplemental tools and resources, from Screencastify and Remind to free quizzes and webinars, enhance online classroom instruction and access We went straight to the source and spoke with teachers from elementary to college levels to find out the best online resources and tech tools for teaching online.Jump to the teaching tools you want to learn more about: Best learning management systems: Canvas, Brightspace, Schoology Best collaborative tools: Google Workspace, Email, Zoom Best interactive learning platforms: Formative, Screencastify, Remind Best free learning tools: Sandbox, ReadWorksⓇ, AP Classroom, Khan Academy, Teachers Pay Teachers Best for continued education: ReadTheory, TED-Ed, TED Talks, YouTube EDU Best interactive quizzes & games: Kahoot, Blooket, Quizlet, Wordwall Best learning management systems Canvas  Canvas, an online platform that lets schools customize students’ online learning environment, was mentioned by more than one teacher as the LMS they relied on most.  Jennifer Mitchell, English teacher for grades 9–12, said, “We have been using Canvas as our learning management platform for the past few years, so our students had the advantage of being familiar with using Canvas.” What can you do with Canvas? According to online university instructor Melissa Venable, platforms such as Canvas “provide a central place for students to log in and access all course information (e.g., syllabus, assignment instructions, grades, updates) and materials (including reading assignments, activities, multimedia) and participate in the course through discussion forums, live meetings and recorded presentations.”  Jennifer Mitchell, English teacher for grades 9–12, said teachers can “link to other online learning programs such as IXL, Albert.io, AP Classroom, ReadTheory, ReadWorks, Commonlit and more,” through the Canvas LMS.Canvas dashboard Brightspace Brightspace (or D2L), another cloud-based learning platform, has three primary components: a Learning Environment for teachers to design courses, a Learning Repository for organizing resources and an ePortfolio where students can interact with each other.  Venable pointed out that “LMS mobile apps make these classes more portable than ever,” another perk for students and teachers alike.

Schoology Schoology’s social media-style layout and communication-focused tools, including integration with Google Workspace, make it easy for students to intuitively interact with right from the start.  Kim-Ling Sun, teacher of Dual Credit English at Klein Cain High School in conjunction with Lone Star College, said, “It provides a place for discussion forums and easier tracking of the submission of student work (due to time stamps) and grades.On the educator side, it allows me to quickly address any questions students may have and provide supplemental information to multiple classes simultaneously.” Best collaborative tools Google Workspace Several teachers we spoke with mentioned the Google suite of programs as a crucial part of online learning.The cloud-based Google Workspace is a fleet of products that includes Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and more, all with instant feedback and collaboration tools readily available.  “When teaching online, I’ve found Google Docs to be helpful because groups of students can easily collaborate, and I can join in their work at any time to help and provide group feedback,” said Suzanne Halaburda, Senior Lecturer at UNC Charlotte.  “Google Docs and Google Slides can also be shared and students are able to collaborate on projects and assignments,” said middle school special education teacher Susanne Kostaras.

Email Multiple teachers named the humble e-mail as one of their top resources for connecting with their students on a more individualized level.“Taking the time to send individual emails a few times each semester helps me keep track of how students are doing, of what’s working and what’s not,” said Halaburda.  Venable echoed this sentiment, saying, “Email remains a solid communication tool for online instructors and students.This is usually the fastest way for students to reach me.” Zoom Zoom’s virtual meeting space became indispensable during COVID and remains popular thanks to its broad accessibility.

Teachers regularly rely on Zoom for everything from extra student support time to full-length classroom sessions.  “Right now I hold office hours one evening each week using Zoom,” said Venable.“These sessions can also be recorded so that students with conflicting schedules can watch when they can.”  Sun said, “It was also beneficial for me to hold face to face conferences during COVID.I loved that I was still able to make personal connections to my students while we were physically apart.” Best interactive learning platforms Formative The GoFormative app lets teachers create tasks and quizzes, provide feedback and track data.

Plus, students can access the content from any laptop, tablet or smartphone.  Mulrain said she often uses the site to create multiple choice or short answer questions for her students.Screencastify Screencastify, a Chrome browser extension, gives educators three different recording options to provide instruction for students.Using Screencastify, “I have been able to walk my students through the process of annotating documents online, demonstrate how to use other programs, work with peer editing tools in Google documents, conduct research for essays/projects, and so much more,” said Mitchell.  Remind Mobile messaging platform Remind helps students, teachers and parents stay informed about deadlines, assignments, schedule changes and more, without disclosing personal contact information.  “Since this tech pushes notifications through the app and can be set up to send text messaging, we can have free communication while not tied to a laptop,” said Sun.

“I often have students send me a quick question while they are at practice, doing homework, or even backstage at rehearsal.” Best for continued education  ReadTheory: Free reading exercises for K–12 students that uses adaptive technology, badges and prizes to encourage literacy skills  TED-Ed: Short educational videos that cover a broad range of topics  TED Talks: Longer expert-led talks covering education, science, technology and more YouTube EDU: Educational videos curated from YouTube’s vetted trusted sources Best free learning tools  Sandbox: Offers an immersive and hands-on 3-D experience to fully engage students across multiple subject areas ReadWorksⓇ: Free reading comprehension tools that pull from a diverse set of textual sources  AP Classroom: Access to AP test practice questions and resources for students and teachers  Khan Academy: Free comprehensive lessons for K–12 students, college and beyond Teachers Pay Teachers: While this site is primarily a way for educators to earn money by sharing resources, like this customizable virtual Bitmoji classroom,  it also has a decent amount of free content Best interactive quizzes & games Kahoot: Gamify learning on any subject, for any audience Blooket: Free educational games that is simple to set up and use  Quizlet: Makes learning fun with games, flashcards and other study tools Wordwall: Straightforward game templates and printable activities for teachers  Searching for other tech resources for the student in your life? Check back at the Resource Center or follow our experts on Facebook and Twitter.Thank you to our contributors: Suzanne Halaburda, M.A., Senior Lecturer, UNC Charlotte Susanne Kostaras, middle school special education teacher  Jennifer Mitchell, English teacher, grades 9-12 Kristen Mulrain, elementary school teacher Kim-Ling Sun, M.A., Jr./Sr.Dual Credit English, Klein Cain High School Melissa A.

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