12 Standard Edtech Tools for Teachers

Hey there, fellow educators! 🌟 In the vast world of educational technology tools, some shine extra bright for their versatility in crafting engaging lessons. So, to sprinkle a bit of cheer into your lesson planning, I'm excited to share the love with you! Presenting the "12 Edtech Standard Tools for Teachers," neatly categorized to make your selection a breeze. 🚀 While not an exhaustive list, these popular tools are sure to add that extra sparkle to your teaching toolkit. Got any favorites that didn't make the cut? Let's chat about them for the next round of recommendations!

🍎 #EdTechJoy #TeacherTools #SpreadTheCheer

Collaborative Learning Tools:

1. Flip (formerly Flipgrid)

   • Description: Enables the creation of video prompts and discussion forums for student engagement.
   • Use Case: Foster interactive video-based discussions.

2. Kahoot

   • Description: A popular formative assessment tool that engages students through live competition.
   • Use Case: Gamify learning and assess students' understanding in real-time.

3. Padlet

   • Description: A collaborative learning app allowing teachers to create discussion forums, idea boards, and more.
   • Use Case: Facilitate collaborative brainstorming and idea sharing.

Learning Content Tools:

4. Nearpod

   • Description: Nearpod is an interactive platform for teachers to create engaging multimedia lessons.
   • Use Case: Teachers use Nearpod to deliver dynamic lessons with quizzes and polls, adapting in real-time to student needs and enhancing overall comprehension.

5. IXL

   • Description: Offers comprehensive K-12 curriculum in various subjects, providing analytics for student progress.
   • Use Case: Support individualized learning and track student performance.

6. Edpuzzle

   • Description: Allows teachers to turn any video into a formative assessment by adding questions.
   • Use Case: Enhance video-based learning with interactive assessments.

Lesson Support Tools:

7. Google Sites

   • Description: Build websites to host lesson plans, files, discussions, and essential course information.
   • Use Case: Create a centralized hub for course resources and information.

8. Canvas

   • Description: A comprehensive learning management system for curriculum upload, assessment, and progress tracking.
   • Use Case: Streamline lesson delivery, assessment, and student management.

9. HyperDocs

   • Description: HyperDocs are digital lesson plans that embed various multimedia elements in a single document, including links to content and assessments.
   • Use Case: Design engaging and interactive lessons with multimedia elements, fostering student exploration and understanding.

Useful Tools:

10. Remind

    • Description: Enables teachers to send messages, files, and emojis to students without sharing personal phone numbers.
    • Use Case: Facilitate communication and updates with students and parents.

11. Canva

    • Description: A versatile design tool for creating visually appealing documents, infographics, and presentations.
    • Use Case: Enhance lesson materials with visually engaging content.

12. Mentimeter

    • Description: Facilitates interactive presentations, polls, and formative assessments for remote and hybrid learning.
    • Use Case: Engage students with interactive elements during virtual classes.

These tools cover a range of functionalities, from fostering collaboration and interactive learning to managing content and communication. Depending on specific needs, educators can integrate these tools to enhance the overall teaching and learning experience.

Inspired by: Essential EdTech Tools Article

A Blended Learning Rally Cry

Let's go! 

To prepare our students to be successful in the future, to be able to thrive, lead, and achieve their potential, then learning with technology is paramount. Technology is ubiquitous, an integral part of everything that we do, see, touch, feel. Harnessing the power of technology is the task at hand for our future-ready students.

We are preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist. There are two fundamental skills that will benefit students regardless of career path: solving problems and working with others. Equipping students with these skills is our task at hand. Today’s technology truly broadens the possibilities of solving personal and world problems and allows for engaging with an authentic audience. Blended learning allows us to personalize and take ownership of learning and springboard us into greater depths of learning than we have ever had before. Each student must personally be able to connect to the information available through fast, reliable, and secure devices. They should be able to create, research, and share what they learn with others through these digital tools. The teacher should seek ways to best implement a differentiated approach to better personalize the learning for each student. 

We need willing students. We need passionate teachers. We need a powerful software. We need versatile tools. We need collaborative leaders.

- Brad Moser 2022

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Creating User Friendly Online Course Pages

I wanted to share a thought from Mr. Winslow about generating and using buttons or icons as buttons in his Canvas course. If you are wanting a way to improve the navigation of content on course pages or make the interface a little more welcoming then you will want to use icon, images and buttons. 

For example, you might have seen these icons in our online pd courses:

    

 

Also here is another example to use a button generator found online. 

"Brad,

Here is the screenshot of a canvas page showing how I use buttons to hyperlink within a course. The buttons were created at buttongenerator.com and all you have to do is put an acknowledgement somewhere in the application or on a website, like I did at the bottom of this page.

I appreciate all your support!

Thanks,

Mr. Winslow

Chemistry/Physics Instructor

Instructional Leadership Team

NHS Sponsor

Senior Class Sponsor

Belton High School

​"​

Make your own buttons, headers and dividers. Springfield Public School has developed a nice resource with pre-populated images for headers, dividers and buttons. Check out their page and save the header images as needed or make your own using Google Drawing or PowerPoint.

​Canvas Buttons and Dividers​

#LearnForever​

TechChat: Blended Learning

Brad Moser - @bmos

April 2015

---

What is blended learning?

Blended learning is a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through delivery of content and instruction via digital and online media with some element of student control over time, place, path, or pace.

wikipedia

Learn more: UCF Blended Learning

Prezi that share some thoughts about Blended Learning

Thoughts from articles: ACSD Blended Learning

1. Have a dream or vision
2. Make a plan
3. Try it out
4. Use technology effectively
5. Have clear expectations
6. Be flexible

Blended Ideas:

Asynchronous learning - blogging, discussion boards, quizzes, lab results

Synchronous learning - labs, group work, direct instruction

Pacing - self paced, group paced, whole class pacing

Tracking - student keep record of standard or completion, badges?

Expectations - How much is completed in class, out of class, online, face to face

Example from Physics Class:

Students will research and apply principles of momentum through selected tasks, then demonstrate understanding in group project.

1. I believe I can allow access to content online and change our class functions by allowing students to complete task at own pace. With selected benchmark checking days.
2. Created a website and built content in Canvas LMS. Assignments would be submitted through Canvas.
3. I attempted the labs on the iPads and submitted through Canvas.
4. Students used the portability of the iPads to collect images of themselves completing the labs and used those images for their student reflective journals and for submitting the assignments.
5. Student were shown the entire unit and what was expected at the beginning. They were given the due dates and what was expected.
6. We could not always get the computer labs for the project iMovie. We had to change when the computer labs were open to complete the video project at the end.