[Handpicked] 8 Best Tools To Teach Online For Educators
The world looks very different than it did a decade ago, dare we say “unrecognizable”. One of the most significant changes we have seen is how quickly everything became virtual. In the blink of an eye, major aspects of human life were lived out on the internet. It wasn’t just socializing anymore. Today is the age of:
- remote working,
- live streaming content,
- online grocery shopping,
- online movie premiers, and of course,
- online education.
Yes, yes, people, especially the younger generation, love everything online. Yet, surely teaching and learning MUST be better in a traditional classroom setting, right? You cannot create the same learning environment through virtual teaching or distance learning.
Oh, how wrong we were!
Are Online Teaching Tools Effective?
Not only is virtual teaching possible, but it is clearly the next step in the future of education and learning. Even back in 2019, global Edtech companies were investing in online education and learning tools.
Research shows that students retain 25%-65% more material with e-learning compared to 8%- 10% of classroom learning. Especially with students who have access to the right online education tools. Even formative assessments and summative assessments can all be held online!
Hence, educators must have the best teacher tools at their disposal. Not only for students to have a better experience, but for teachers to have an easy process of teaching as well. There are a couple of things to consider, like:
- the sheer amount of content and quantity to keep track of,
- lesson plan,
- efficient contact with the students,
- answering their doubts, and
- keeping it interactive.
With the above in mind, here is a comprehensive list of the best tools to teach online to help every teacher easily reach students globally.
The Best Tools To Teach Online
1. ScreenRec - Free tool for creating educational content
ScreenRec gives you the tools to aid in creating content for education. Built on top of a business video hosting platform, it is 100% secure. With this free screen recorder, you can:
- create tutorials,
- create training videos,
- narrate presentations, and
- give feedback.
ScreenRec even auto-saves your screencasts and screenshots as you record. Besides saving time, this means you also don’t have to upload anything anywhere. The app provides you with a private link to share them immediately.
It is easy to use, as you can create a visual library with different videos, screen recordings, and visually help students step by step. ScreenRec is one of the best tools for teachers that truly helps add the much-needed human touch to online teaching.
Unique Features
Install this free app and start capturing images or videos of your screen right away. Works with as few clicks as possible. No need to climb a learning curve. Not to mention the automatic shareable links are fully encrypted to prevent downloading.
Reviews
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
“I am an educator who teaches students with ASD. Using ScreenRec has helped my students with processing disorders because they can replay recordings as many times as needed. Thank you for providing me extra space and features to accelerate my students forward.”
Price
Free app which is completely more than enough for recording tutorial videos. Advanced features, such as a shared team account are available on the paid tiers. There is also a 50% discount for educational institutions!
2. EdPuzzle
EdPuzzle gives you the ability to customize regular videos with engaging interactive tools. In addition, you can add questions, audio, and even notes. It helps you track a student's performance and see a full analytics report on their progress.
You can also take a YouTube video and edit it to complement your lessons, or if you’re feeling up to it, you can even make a video from scratch. Amazing length capacity which means they don't all have to be short videos.
Unique Features
Creates a shared library for everyone. It's a great assessment tool to have as teachers can watch students’ progress, hold them accountable, and optimize the learning experience accordingly.
Reviews
Rating: 4.6 out of 5
“You can use different features to present material. Use a mini-movie, a video, a music video, or other types of video, and the students can interact with it.”
Price
Free for basic, $11.20/month for Pro Teacher
3. Flip
Flip is one of the best tools for online teaching which allows teachers to create “grids” for video discussions. Each grid is a message board for teachers to pose a question and their student's responses are by posting video answers that appear in real-time.
The platform is accessible and interactive. It is also fully customizable with multiple means of expression and creativity applied to any topic.
Unique Features
Add photos from your camera roll, texts, or stickers to your videos to add context and make them engaging. Their video discussion platform helps teachers hear from every student.
Reviews
Rating: 4 out of 5
“Most of the time we use this tool to summarize lessons, and encourage the students to revise their lessons and have it organized in their own way.”
Price
Free
4. Pear Deck
Pear Deck is an interactive presentation and lesson-teaching tool that can be used via web or add-on integration. Students join their teacher’s Pear Deck sessions and follow along on a classroom screen.
To set up, teachers need to spend a little time preparing presentations and adding other interactive tools. For example, audio files, quizzes, and closed captions for different students’ learning needs.
Unique Features
Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint users can add their presentations to Pear Deck. They can make their videos interactive and visually appealing. They also have a slide library with pre-created activities to choose from.
Reviews
Rating: 4.2 out of 5
“It has great features, particularly the ability to save student results as evidence of learning.”
Price
Free for basic plan. $149.99/ year for Premium plan.
5. Buncee
Buncee is an interactive tool for educators with a nice drag-and-drop feature. This is helpful for students and educators to create engaging projects and presentations. The tool helps visualize
concepts and communicate creatively for all ages. They even have a variety of stickers, animations, and templates to choose from. Alternatively, you can even upload your own.
Unique Features
The canvas’ ease of use empowers students of all ages to become content creators.
Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
“One of the benefits of Buncee is that it allows users to add a wide variety of multimedia elements to their creations, including text, images, audio, video, and animations.”
Price
30-day free trial then $7/month, $10 - $20/ month for Premium plan.
6. SeeSaw
Seesaw is a virtual teaching tool with a robust digital portfolio and interactive platform. It enables teachers to create a meaningful experience for students. To start, teachers manually enter students or integrate classes from Google Classroom. Teachers can:
- create their own content or use from the library created by other teachers,
- assign tasks for students, and
- keep the students engaged through videos, photos, drawings, or text fields.
Peer-to-peer feedback is enabled for teachers making communication swift and painless. A classroom blog can even be created on-platform to keep a more connected experience and help everyone stay off the distractions of social media.
Unique Features
Students can build their portfolios and share progress with teachers and parents. SeeSaw provides a space for teachers to go through students' work and give instructions to students individually. Parents can track their progress as well.
Reviews
Rating: 4.7 out of 5
“It is versatile and intuitive, allowing kids to largely navigate the platform on their own (making kids, teachers, and parents happy).”
Price
Free for the basic plan, $120/year for SeeSaw Plus.
7. Google Classroom
Developed by Google, the aim of this virtual classroom is to simplify
- teaching,
- creating,
- distributing, and
- grading assignments.
It is also to streamline the process of sharing documents and files between teachers and students. This suite of apps includes Google Docs, Gmail, Google Sheets, Google Classroom, Google Drive, Google Meet, and Google Calendar. They make teaching an easy process by having everything in one place.
Unique Features
Originality reports help students scan their work for potential plagiarism. Teachers can set permission for all students (or an individual student) to comment or make posts. Easily interactive in aiding teaching and learning online.
Reviews
Rating ranges from 5 out of 5 to 2.4 out of 5
The good:
“This is an excellent tool because it enables the teacher to post everything without the use of a pen. For students, everything is published assignments and agendas on the dashboard.”
The bad:
“Laggy, assignments in the TO DO stream don't refresh so you think something is missing and it's not, or something wasn't turned in, and then eventually everything syncs and the list seems to reflect status correctly.”
Price
Free
8. Zoom
Zoom was originally designed for business meetings online. However, it quickly became popular for real-time video conferencing. It also developed into a virtual teaching tool for both individual freelancers and big companies. Real-time online classes or e-learning by recording videos beforehand, both can be provided via Zoom.
Unique Features
Virtual background. Waiting room. Personal meeting ID. Multishare and filters to make meetings engaging.
Reviews
Rating: 4.6 out of 5
“Being an online tutor, the ability to request a meeting member to unmute is also very useful.”
Price
Free version for Basic plan, $14.99/month for Pro plan, $19.99/month for Business plan.
More Tools To Teach Online: Honorable Mentions
Name | Descritpion | Price |
Helps create interactive presentations, videos, and projects easily. While presenting your content, moving and engaging visuals help keep the human connection. | $5-$19/mo with free trial available | |
Includes features like file sharing, tracking, scheduling, and more. Easy to have all in one workspace. | Free to use; paid plans with more features start from $8.75/mo | |
Professional attendance taker that keeps a history of attendance and even has face recognition. | Free | |
Free and easy online tool to gather various types of content on one page. Organize and personalize it the way you like. | Free limited plan; Paid plans from $4.99/mo | |
Helps collect all your online resources in one place the way you like. Highlight any web texts, add sticky notes, archive web pages, and share them among students easily. | Free limited plan; paid plans $10-$59/mo | |
Collaborative digital canvas for engaging learning. Draw, write, or add sticky notes at the same time. | Prices range from $6/user/mo to $22/user/mo |
FAQ
The tools mentioned offer a variety of features to cater to different learning styles, such as video discussions with Flip, interactive presentations with Pear Deck, and creative project creation with Buncee. For accessibility, features like closed captions, voice-over explanations, and screen reader compatibility are common. It's essential to explore each tool's specific features to ensure they meet your students' learning and accessibility needs.
Most online teaching tools have age restrictions in place, typically requiring users to be 13 years or older, in compliance with international laws like COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act). Some tools, however, are designed specifically for younger learners and include additional safety and privacy measures. Always check the terms of service for age requirements and obtain necessary parental consent when using these tools with minors.
Yes, the tools featured offer flexibility for both synchronous (real-time) and asynchronous (on-demand) learning. For instance, Zoom and Google Meet are ideal for live, synchronous sessions, while ScreenRec and Buncee support asynchronous learning by allowing students to access content at their own pace.
Conclusion
It is now evident that with the above-mentioned tools for educators, virtual teaching is possible. It is the next step in the evolution of the education system. With so many interactive tools and possible learning platforms, it might get overwhelming to choose which is best. While you rationalize which one, we invite you to try ScreenRec. It is small yet extremely robust and one of the best tools to teach online.
References & Further Reading
- How to Create Professional Training Videos
- The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Meeting
- The Best Team Communication Apps
- How to Record Your Computer Screen and Audio
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