Thirteen Distance Learning Tools

It’s still possible to teach your class if you or your students are out of the classroom for a long period of time.  I’ve compiled a list of digital learning tools that can help in the event students or teachers are absent for long periods of time.

 

Screencastify: Record your lectures. Record your voice over your Google Slides or Powerpoint presentation. Create questions on a Google Doc which your students answer while watching your presentation.

Explain Everything: Digital whiteboard. Record explanations of key concepts and math problems. Upload your recording to Your Google Classroom.

Google Hangouts Meet: Meet with your class or individual students over a Google Hangout.

Nearpod or Peardeck: Create student paced lessons with assessments. Include videos, short answer questions, and a space for digital white boards.

Edpuzzle: Create an assignment out of a video.  EdPuzzle allows for the insertion of questions in the video. You can even record yourself explaining a concept and turn it into an EdPuzzle video. 

Flipgrid: Students can use Flipgrid to record what they’ve learned.  Students can give an oral book report, summarize events in history, comment on a classmates video and so much more!

Socrative: Easy to use assessment tool. Use Socrative to ask multiple choice or short essay questions.

Padlet: Use Padlet as a classroom backchannel.  Set up a Padlet for each of your Google Classrooms for student questions.

Book Creator: Have students create books based on their learning. Students can insert text, drawings, photos, and recordings of their voice.

Google Calendar: Post all daily activities and due dates.

Google Classroom: Use as the hub for student work and online discussions.

Google Drawings: Great for math.  Students can work out math problems and turn in using Google Classroom.

Google Forms: Use Forms for not only assessment, but for virtual worksheets as well. Forms is also great for a weekly/daily check in with students.  Ask how they’re feeling, goals for the week, etc.  Multiple choice check-in’s are easier to review because you can then use conditional formatting in a Google Sheet to flag certain answers.

One of the Most Important Digital Tools in Your Classroom

In light of current health concerns, many students are missing class. Because students are asked to stay home with the slightest symptoms of a cold or flu, it’s important to keep your students aware of what you’re doing in the classroom. With technology it’s even easier to keep your students up to date with the classroom activities. One of the most important tools you can use in your classroom is an online calendar. If you use Google Classroom, it’s already built in. If students are home sick, they can access the calendar and find out what their class did or is doing that day. In Google Classroom, assignments are populated on the class calendar (if there’s a due date for the assignment). But what about the day in day out activities of the class? Perhaps you had a discussion about a topic. That particular day you read a passage from a book or watched a video clip. These activities may not qualify as classroom assignments with due dates. This is why it’s important to get in the habit of posting daily activities on your classroom calendar.