Digital education tools have truly become necessary over the past year and a half. While they have existed for quite some time, they weren’t given the proper attention until it was absolutely necessary. Now, they are more widely used than ever. And even though everyone is slowly falling back into the old way of classroom teaching, many have seen the benefits that digital learning provides and decided to stick with it. And, the countless teacher discounts or promotional offers make online learning and the use of education tools an even better alternative.
Given the situation, people that never thought about taking online classes or learning a new skill have started to change their opinions and are now taking the opportunity to learn new skills and advance themselves in general with the help of the internet. The same thing applies to educators, those who have previously worried about a space to teach and having students are now hopping to the internet where they can teach from the comfort of their own home with students from all over the world.
And beyond just online learning, people are starting to implement online materials into their everyday classes as well, having seen the benefits of digital tools in teaching. These can include anything from online quizzes to presentations and educational videos.
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Some of them are purely functional, while others may even bring in an element of fun, so let’s get started.
Padlet
Padlet can be an extremely useful tool for any educator and student, no matter the age range or class difficulty. It’s basically a digital pinboard that allows everyone to pin important and useful materials in a place everyone can access.
This can include notes, homework assignments, images, videos, or presentations – you name it. This can help everyone collaborate better as well as entice communication between participants. The board can also be customized to a variety of different backgrounds, and there are different layout styles to choose from.
Quizlet
Quizlet is suitable for students of all ages and can also bring in an element of fun to your everyday classroom activities. The tool is quite versatile and allows you to use different knowledge testing methods such as flashcards, games, quizzes, and other fun activities.
The students can also learn independently and test their knowledge by themselves through anything created on the platform. There are also quite a few customization options that allow students to create their own study set or choose from an existing one.
PlayPosit
PlayPosit is a bit more suitable for older students, but it helps teachers get the point across with the help of videos. With this tool’s help, teachers will be able to create super-informative and engaging instructional videos for their students.
Simply take a video that you fancy and wish to implement or create your own. After the basic structure is done, you’ll be able to add all kinds of engaging materials right into it – ranging from multiple choice questions all the way to fill-in-the-blanks type of questionnaires.
It’s really easy to work with and even easier to integrate into an already existing teaching program.
Prezi
Prezi is like the improved version of PowerPoint; it’s much more feature-rich and allows you to add a facecam into the presentation so you can talk to your students directly.
It comes with many different design templates with visually appealing elements that keep the students engaged and pay attention. Interactive presentations are one of the best ways to simplify a complicated subject and present the information in easy-to-remember bite-sized pieces, and Prezi is the perfect tool for that.
Edmodo
Edmodo is a digital tool designed to help you better the communication between you and your students. It’s almost like a self-contained social network where you can create private chats and groups and share just about anything – images, videos, study materials, and so forth.
Students can also communicate with each other, and there’s even an option to post reminders and update about information parents need to know, such as fields trips, upcoming quiz or test dates, etc.
It also significantly lessen the chances of your students forgetting assignments or having to ask around and getting confusing information when they’re sick as they’ll be able to find everything in the chat you’ve created for the class.
Storybird
Storybird might be a bit of an unconventional choice or this list. Still, according to research, people are way better at remembering things and learning in general when the information is presented to them in the form of a coherent story. That’s just one of the reasons why we all remember the fairytales we were told as kids and not a math equation we were taught two and a half minutes ago.
And this is exactly what Stroybird can help you do. This is an especially useful tool for language classes, whether foreign or native or any sort of literature class.
With the help of this tool, your students can improve their writing skills through storytelling, which will not only make them better at your subject but will also have a positive impact on your brain. Plus, it can be a great creative outlet for teachers who feel their jobs lacking in that department.
Final Thoughts
Adding digital elements to your daily teaching routine not only helps you engage your students but makes your job more dynamic and interesting overall. Communicating better with your students and adding a bit of fun to class is beneficial both for you and your students. It helps them memorize better and quicker and helps you make your job a bit more dynamic. It’s a win-win, really, so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t give at least one of these tools a go.