Introduction
With the growing popularity of hybrid learning modes and increased use of technology in teaching, the job of teachers has become more dynamic and challenging. However, there are a lot of innovative and effective teaching tools for teachers that enable them to make learning strategies effective and smooth for their students at home or at school.
The Importance of Teaching Tools in Modern ClassroomsOnline teaching tools exist to help teachers in the classroom. These classroom tools for teachers allow students to fully understand what they are reading and help teachers align their lessons with these tools.
The right tools can help level the playing field for all kinds of kids, whether they’re naturally gifted in a particular subject or struggling through it. Teachers can make even the most complex material seem easy by appealing to different senses and using tools like these to give kids the visual aids they need to understand the concepts being taught.
45 Best Teaching Tools and Gadgets for Teachers
We’ve divided our list of tools for teaching into five different categories: Digital resources, Organization tools, presentation tools, Assessment tools and Classroom management tools. These best digital tools for teachers make the life of teachers easier in multiple ways and make teaching more effective. So let’s go ahead and take a look at some of the best teaching tools out there!
Digital Resources
Digital tools are the tools that parents can use digitally (via the internet) to teach students. Such resources include online libraries, archives and textbooks. Here are some great digital tools to teach your students effectively:
1. SplashLearn
SplashLearn is a fun and engaging online math program for children in Pre-K through grade 5. It has over 350 curriculum-aligned math games that are played by over 10 million children every month! One of the easiest teaching tools, SplashLearn offers comprehensive and easy math problems for kids to practice for all the topics that kids study at school, including numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, and decimals. SplashLearn also offers a range of detailed reports that help teachers and parents measure a child’s progress over time.
Teachers who use SplashLearn as a learning tool can assign the topic to their students, who then play educational games and learn at their own pace within the topic.
2. Wordreference
It is an online dictionary for various languages. You can use it for translation assignments or language classes. This might prove to be helpful for international students.
3. Discovery Education
This is an excellent website for teachers. It has so many resources for ELA, science, social studies, math, and more. You can create interactive activities for your students online, or you can just have them watch videos about different topics you are covering in class.
4. Pearson
A teacher can create a personal account to access the courseware and other resources on the website. The resources include lesson plans, articles, and even video tutorials for teachers to use in their classrooms.
5. MathPlayground
MathPlayground is a allows students to learn math in a fun way through games, logic puzzles, and other interactive activities. There are levels available for every type of learner from preschool to high school. There are also lesson plans and quizzes available that educators can use in the classroom or as homework assignments.
6. The Math Learning Center
This site provides free access to math games, making this dreaded subject fun for the students. You can even manipulate the existing problems to suit your needs or use the existing ones.
7. cK-12
This tool allows you to access academic material, which you can edit as per your needs and share with the students. You can even create your digital library too. They have resources for a wide range of subjects and students of all ages.
8. ReadWriteThink
If you love to teach with literature, ReadWriteThink is a must-check resource. It offers a variety of lessons and activities that integrate reading strategies and comprehension skills into every class. You can also find printable resources such as graphic organizers, bookmarks, worksheets, and more.
9. YouTube
YouTube is an obvious choice for audiovisual design learning teaching tools. Teachers can use the video platform to show their students documentaries, lectures, and even music videos that correspond to their lesson plans.
10. Duolingo
It is a free language teaching tool that works great on mobile devices and the web. The best part is that it has games to keep students interested and engaged while they’re learning vocabulary and grammar skills for the language of their choice.
11. TED-Ed
In the same way that TED Talks are a new form of a speaking forum, TED-Ed is a new kind of learning resource. TED-Ed’s commitment to creating lessons worth sharing is an extension of TED’s mission of spreading great ideas. Within TED-Ed’s growing library of TED-Ed animations, you will find carefully curated educational videos, many of which represent collaborations between talented educators and animators nominated through the TED-Ed website.
12. Ted Talks
It is a globally recognized repository of inspiring and educational videos. You can play these as an additional learning resource.
13. IL Classroom
If you haven’t checked out IL Classroom, earlier known as LearnZillion yet, you need to! They have so many free resources for teachers. From lesson plans to videos that teach different skills. Assessments are built into each lesson plan, making review easy for both teachers and students.
Organizational Tools
Organizational tools help you keep track of your classes, assignments and other important dates, and to share particular information with students and parents. They also help with making schedules and to-do-lists, and to take notes. Here are some of such resources:
1. eduClipper
It allows you to share resources found on the internet and create a repository for the entire group. It makes it easy for students to collaborate on portfolios and research work.
2. Dropbox
It is a simple online storage tool that you can use to collect and maintain submissions.
3. Google Docs
Google Docs is the most straightforward tool to use for textual assignments. Students and teachers can collaborate in real time and download the contents as pdfs.
4. Popplet
Popplet is a fantastic visual thinking teaching tool that will allow your students to organize their thoughts, create collaborative projects, and more. This is an excellent tool for teachers who encourage students to use their creativity when learning new subjects.
5. Word Cloud Creator
This is a website where you can type in words, creating a cloud of words. You can change the colors, grid size, and how the terms are placed on the page. We use this after reading stories to see what words stand out most to us from the story. The students always enjoy seeing what words stand out to their classmates.
6. ActiveInspire
ActiveInspire by Promethean is an interactive whiteboard application with thousands of ready-to-use lessons and activities. You can download this software and hundreds of lesson materials for free on their site! You can also sign up for a free account to create your interactive whiteboard content.
7. OneNote
OneNote is a handy tool for teachers to use in the classroom. You can create lessons, take notes, and share them with your students. It is also effortless to collaborate with other teachers and share resources. This is an excellent tool for teachers to benefit from online learning or have a virtual classroom online. It is free, so there is no reason not to try it out if you are unsure what type of classroom environment you will be teaching in.
8. Google Slides
This easy-to-use and freely available tool by Google is a must-have for students. They can collaborate on homework and activities in real time and share their work with the teachers.
Presentation Tools
Presentation tools, including presentation softwares, document camera and digital whiteboards, help teachers create engaging presentations to capture students’ attention. These interactive teaching tools can add multimedia elements such as images, videos and audio clips, display physical documents, books and 3D objects, and teach students in a fun and interactive way.
1. PicMonkey
PicMonkey is one of the most popular free photo editing tools available online. Students can create customized graphics for presentations, social media posts, or emails to other students. The tool has dozens of pre-made templates for pictures, such as Facebook cover photos or Pinterest graphics, but students can also upload their images and make their creations from scratch.
2. Pixlr
You can use this online picture editing tool to create animations, designs, and picture cards either from scratch or using their professional templates.
3. Amara
This online tool lets you add subtitles to videos. It can be helpful if you create and share video content for your lectures.
4. Thinglink
It can help you create engaging and interactive digital media using images, videos, models, and texts. It is easy to learn and can help you create engaging digital learning experiences.
5. Storybird
This novel platform helps to develop reading, writing, and storytelling in kids. They can participate in monthly challenges, writing prompts, and quizzes. Teachers can also use it to create animated stories and books for the children.
6. Buncee
Buncee is an online canvas where students can create anything they want — stories, presentations and even games! The most fantastic thing about Buncee is that it has endless possibilities. As long as students know what they want to create and express, Buncee will efficiently cater to their learning needs.
7. EdPuzzle
EdPuzzle helps teachers take control of any video on the internet by adding audio notes directly into the video at specific times and inserting questions throughout the video for students to answer as they watch the video.
8. Pear Deck
Pear Deck is a digital whiteboard that allows teachers and students to interact in a whole new way. It’s as easy as PPT but far more engaging. This tool will enable teachers to share their PowerPoints or Google Slides with students by adding interactive slides. Pear Deck also allows students to answer questions on their own devices and share ideas with the entire class.
9. Prezi
Prezi makes a change from the more traditional PowerPoint presentations. It creates an environment where teachers can create a presentation with a zoomable canvas, which means that you can zoom in and out of different sections of your presentation and add motion, effects, and 3D elements (in the paid version). Teachers can also collaborate with students to track their progress, give feedback, and share resources. Further, it allows you to present anywhere through the web, including your mobile devices – perfect for traveling teachers!
10. Microsoft Sway
Microsoft Sway is a presentation tool designed to allow users to create and share interactive reports, presentations, personal stories, or newsletters. You can develop Sways with text, images, and videos. You can also insert YouTube videos and Twitter feeds into your Sways. Sway content is responsive to different screen sizes and automatically adapts itself to optimize the content for the device’s size.
11. Powtoon
Powtoon is one of the best free animation tools out there. It has a simple drag-and-drop interface that allows users to create custom animations in minutes. The result is a very professional-looking video that you can use for various classroom purposes, including creating lesson introductions and reviews with animated characters, objects, and text bubbles. Users can even incorporate audio into their presentations, making for an engaging experience for students.
12. Animoto
It provides a very user-friendly interface for beginners to create quality videos that can be used as visual aids during the class. You can use its simple drag-and-drop features and free music from their libraries.
13. Visme
This is another simple-to-use designing tool that you can use to create presentations, maps, infographics, report cards, and certificates.
Assessment Tools
Assessment tools help teachers assess the learning and progress of students, which they can then analyze to form better teaching strategies as per the performance of students in various aspects. These include online games and quizzes, polls and surveys, and rubric maker.
1. ProProfs Assessment Software
ProProfs Assessment software is a powerful tool designed to streamline assessment and evaluation. Featuring an intuitive interface, it allows users to generate, distribute, and evaluate assessments effortlessly. The software offers a wide range of question types, from multiple choice to essay, ensuring versatility in testing methods. It also provides robust analytics and reporting features, enabling educators and trainers to gain valuable insights into individual and group performance. Whether for educational institutions or corporate training programs, ProProfs Assessment software is a comprehensive solution that enhances assessment efficiency and improves learning outcomes.
2. Quill
It is one of the best free sites available for students to learn English grammar. Quill provides various activities, lessons, and even performance analytics.
3. Socrative
Socrative is an innovative student response system that helps teachers engage students and monitor their comprehension throughout the lesson. It works by gathering data from smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Teachers use Socrative to pose questions during lectures and formative assessments (i.e. exit tickets) that allow students to respond via multiple-choice, short answer, or true/false answers. As soon as students submit their responses, teachers receive feedback on their performance — which informs them on what concepts need more improvement.
4. Quizlet
Quizlet has been around for a long time but only recently became popular. It allows you to share your sets with other users through a web interface or email for them to use them as well. Users can create their own sets or import existing ones from other sources (such as flashcards). It also supports multiple languages and has an iOS app available on the App store.
5. Plickers
Students answer multiple-choice questions by scanning cards with their phones or tablets. The teacher’s phone or tablet then collects all of their answers, which they can use later in class discussions or share via email with parents and other educators interested in seeing how kids are doing on specific subjects like math, science or reading comprehension levels.
6. Quizalize
This online quiz platform allows teachers to create custom-made quizzes for their learners about any topic. You don’t need to be an expert on coding or other technical aspects to use this site, as it has been simplified so that all you need to do is choose the topic and prepare your questions and answers, then let the platform know how you want the game to progress. Using its global leaderboard feature, you can share your results and engage with other teachers worldwide, which tracks how your students perform against others from different schools.
7. Quizizz
This tool is similar to Kahoot! with one significant difference: It doesn’t require a projection screen. Students play Quizizz on their own devices, and answers are projected onto each student’s device as they log in via quizizz.com or their mobile app (available in Apple App Store).
Classroom Management Tools
These classroom teaching tools help teachers keep track of the progress of students in a systematic way, and include online grade books, parent communication tools and information systems, to name a few. Here are some of the tools:
1. FlipGrid
FlipGrid is one of the best online teaching tools and a web-based platform for educators to share videos. It’s intuitive and straightforward to use, with various options for teachers to create groups and share videos. This tool is great for teachers looking for more ways to bring video into the classroom. We love Flip Grid because it helps teachers encourage students to learn from others, not only from the teacher. Students can use FlipGrid in various subjects and classes: Spanish, history, science, and even math!
2. Nearpod
With Nearpod, there’s no need to be tech-savvy. The platform is intuitive and straightforward so that anyone can use it. You can enhance existing lessons by adding interactivity. Create your assignments from scratch. Assess students through real-time polling, quizzes, open-ended questions, and more. Then share lesson materials with students and parents to revisit and review the content at home. All in one place!
3. Baamboozle
It is a free site where students can play games designed by teachers. There are over 900,000 games like Rhyming Riddles, Tongue Twisters, etc.
4. Padlet
Padlet is one of the popular digital bulletin boards out there. It’s simple and easy to use. Students can post their projects on the board to share with peers and teachers, or you can use Padlet as a platform for students to collaborate on projects together. It can create visual boards using images, text, wallpapers, Venn diagrams, etc, and can be used for reading and listening.
5. TeachThought
The blog is an excellent resource for teachers as it provides them with innovative ideas for classroom practices. It has over five categories: technology, pedagogy, curriculum, learning spaces and professional development.
Choosing the Right Teaching Tools for your Students
What are the best teaching tools for your students? It depends on their age, learning style, and whether you’re teaching in person or remotely.
The first thing to understand is that education is changing. And to stay ahead of the curve to teach your students, you can take the help of the discussed interactive online teaching tools.
Several factors can influence which teaching tools you choose. Here are some of the most important ones:
Age of the students
Younger kids will benefit from different tools than older students.
Learning style
Some students learn best with hands-on experiences, while others prefer educational videos or interactive learning games.
Remote or In-person classes
The best tools might differ from what works in a traditional classroom setting if you’re teaching remotely.
Wrapping It Up
Now that you know what all these bst online educational tools can do for you, you can get creative with these to make your next class more fun and efficient. With these digital teaching tools, you can help students gain access to more dynamic and precise information available online. This allows them to research and present projects on topics they relate to or can get enough relevant information about them.
No comments:
Post a Comment