Just like many other career paths teaching has undergone a revolution. The old ways of direct teaching are simply not enough. Students quickly lose focus if they only listen and take notes. That’s why contemporary teachers need to engage students more efficiently.
It’s up to them to use every tool in their arsenal to help students achieve greatness. And as the past few years have proven, teachers need to consider using more digital tools. Blackboards and chalk just can’t compete with these tech tools. They take education to the next level and ensure your students keep their attention on their curriculum.
Tablets and smart pens
Or help your students build their future with Microsoft Azure by providing access to Azure Infrastructure Management. Azure platform provides tools to improve distance learning. Note-taking is a very important skill in the modern workplace, and students are dreadfully un-trained in it. Digitalizing their notes through tablets allows you to review them more easily, and your students will have a cloud backup with them at all times.
No more lost notebooks, smudged writing, or wasted pages. While these tools can be quite pricey, they can unify all the paper notes, books, and workbooks into a single device.
Prezi
Bringing your presentations to the next level can be quite tough, but the results are clearly visible. With Prezi you can create interactive presentations that are guaranteed to ensnare students’ attention. This tool perfectly balances fun graphics and animations with serious focus-oriented designs. Because of that, there’s no need to worry about potential distractions or overbearing animations. Prezi keeps the visual appeal high and distractions low.
Kahoot
Formative evaluation at the end of a class can always be tough. If you just ask review questions orally you’ll only get as many responses as there are questions. But if you write them down on a worksheet, there’ll be no way for students to compare and evaluate their results. That’s why Kahoot can be a lifesaver. It allows you to create interactive quizzes that can be used at any point in the class to review and affirm their knowledge.
Google Classroom
Organizing materials such as worksheets, presentations, and homework can be a nightmare. But if you use Google Classroom all of that will be in the same space. Through it, you can easily share your materials. And unlike other cloud storage services, Google is especially useful since you can use it to edit materials too. Google Slides, Forms, Sheets, and Docs can provide you with any support you need without having to download, install, or worry about compatibility.
Canva
One of the greatest issues with teaching creative classes is tool access. No school administration can afford entire Adobe packages for their art students. But with Canva you can give them the freedom to pursue their dreams without crushing debt. This is a free art and design tool that’s perfect for newcomers. It has intuitive options and is quite easy to learn. This makes it a perfect starting ground for students that are starting to transfer from paper art to digital.
Zoom
It would be folly to not mention Zoom in this article. Its premier video conferencing created a space where students could safely learn even whilst guaranteeing. With Zoom, you’ll never again need to worry about reaching your students. Holding remote classes can be challenging for traditional teachers, but by utilizing these tech tools it can be easier.
Remind
Keeping the work-life balance is hard for teachers. They’re already expected to create everlasting bonds with students, sacrifice their personal time for grading and prep work, and not to mention all the extracurricular seminars. But the worst of it all is keeping in contact with parents. It’s understandable that parents want to be up-to-date with the latest happenings, but that can often lead to breaches of private information. With Remind you can still hold a solid connection with students and parents, all the while keeping your private information, such as your phone number, private.
StrawPoll
Holding classroom votes for trips is always tedious. Students flip-flop on their votes, debate, and try to persuade others to change the result. By using StrawPoll you’re immediately cutting off the unnecessary noise, and the results are quick and efficient.
Popplet
While some students can adequately learn through listening to lectures and taking notes, others need a more visual approach. That’s where Popplet comes in. It’s a brainstorming and visualization tool that can help your students conceptualize new material. Not only can you help them consume new concepts more easily, but you can also improve their teamwork as Popplet is perfect for brainstorming.
Corinth
If you’re teaching science-focused classes, Corinth can be of massive help. It offers immersive training through interactive 3d models. With its massive library, you can teach almost anything STEM related. Through these impressive visual aids, you’ll be able to present ideas to students in a way never before possible.
No matter if you’re an old-school teacher or you’re fresh out of college. It’s important to keep improving yourself for the sake of your students. These 10 tech tools will help you keep engagement high in your classroom.