UNIT 2: Top 10 distance learning tools for teachers

Each instructor may have to use their school’s preferred tool. However, in times of crisis, you may be able to choose one for your classroom. If the choice is up to you, the eLearning tools on our list receive consistently high marks from educators across a range of grades and subjects.

2.1. Google Classroom

As one of the most robust free online learning tools, Google Classroom has a ton of versatile features for K-12 educators. It’s built on the same technology that Google offers in its paperless office suite for consumers and businesses. This may be the eLearning tool that many school districts already use for in-class assignments.

You can share files easily between you and your students using the integrated tech of tools like Gmail, Google Slides, and Google Docs, among others. When it’s time to incorporate more features, you can easily integrate your favourite app (like Pear, which we talk about next in our list).

Google Classroom lets teachers invite students to a private classroom via a code, and they can then attach and submit assignments for easy grading, feedback, and assessment. It’s a mobile-friendly solution, too, thanks to compatible iOS and Android apps.

2.2. Pear Deck

Educators looking for a more interactive component will find Pear Deck to be a real treat. In addition to hosting your slide presentations, this program allows for the assessment of any number of your slides.

Your students can draw directly on the presentation, enter their notes, add numbers, drag and drop symbols, or answer multiple-choice questions. It has a friendly integration with Google Slides, too, so you can even let your students explore the web directly from your lecture.

If you’re short on content, it can help with that, too. Pear Deck partnered with Newsela to create interactive daily learning topics straight from the headlines. Other partnerships include Encyclopedia Britannica and Google’s Be Internet Awesome program. Pear Deck offers a simple way to boost your curriculum without starting from scratch, making it one of the best online teaching platforms.

2.3. Blackboard

If an open-source K-12 solution is your goal, Blackboard maybe your best eLearning tool. Already a leader in providing assignment and grading tools for the college educator community, Blackboard continues to expand to meet the need for increasing digital elementary and high school student education.

By signing up to try the Blackboard’s CourseSites open community, you can try out the Learn, Collaborate, SafeAssign, and Ally features. The streamlined delivery helps make this a top choice for teachers who want to learn within a supportive community before they go on to a paid learning management system (LMS).

2.4. 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 distance learning tool provides a new way to consume course material on some of the most challenging topics.

2.5. Canvas

Canvas is an online teaching tool 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.

2.6. Edpuzzle

Edpuzzle helps teachers “make any video a lesson.” Use your videos or source from a variety of websites, including YouTube and Khan Academy. Then, add commentary and comprehension questions to personalize them 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.

2.7. Khan Academy

This popular free online learning tool 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 catalogue, 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.

2.8. Edmodo

Edmodo is a mobile-friendly platform that ties together many of the cumbersome duties that teachers deal with today. Sending messages, sharing assignments, tracking grades, and even creating quizzes can now take place in one pleasant-looking platform.

Plus, parents get their login to see what their student has been up to and to address any learning gaps.

There is a nice community component to Edmodo, as well. Teachers often share lessons within the platform using hashtags that other educators can search for classroom inspiration. It integrates with many popular external apps, as well.

2.9. Socrative

How can you know that your student truly understands what you teach? Student feedback is the only way, and Socrative has simplified the process of asking for that feedback.

Whether you want immediate evaluations or check-ins after some time, this tool lets you monitor classroom work to see that no one falls through the gaps.

Socrative is a fun and engaging assessment tool that works on a variety of devices and lets you know how your students are doing. You can also create quizzes and polls for your classroom at a moment’s notice. Plus, it’s always free for students.

2.10. Loom

Looking for a really simple app that can do screen captures and regular classroom presentations? Loom is a fuss-free way to record, narrate, and share lectures with an easier way to communicate than text. You can display your lecture with your talking head in the bottom corner, too.

Loom lets you see who watched your video, and you can even incorporate it into common Google apps, such as Gmail. The pro plan, which is now free for teachers and students, offers even more cool features. They include “do not disturb” mode, custom thumbnail creation, HD quality recording, drawing tools, mouse-click highlights, and custom access security.

2.11. Practical Assessment

Consider the need you have in education with online tools:

• In the previous module E, we marked Moodle as most used free tool for education.
• Do you think it doesn’t suit your needs, or it is complicated to organize by yourself?
• Take a look of these ten tools and decide what is useful for you.

Write it down and look for the opportunities!