Best Online Teaching Tools
Introduction
Online teaching tools came into existence before few years but they were not used so much but due to coronavirus, their demand is increased immensely all over the world. Schools are not open because of the health and safety issues and the future is still uncertain as the pandemic is still spreading a lot. In this situation, all the educational organizations and private teachers are going for alternative options to provide education to the students. Online classes are being organized by schools daily on mobile apps where multiple options are available. Here, some of the best online teaching tools are discussed.
Online teaching tools
Zoom
Zoom is an online teaching tool that is used by many educational organizations where the teacher can organize live classes with all the students of a class via video conferencing. The students do not pay anything extra to expect their school fees for accessing the class. Usually, this tool was used for organizational meetings, but now it is widely used for online classrooms. This is one of the best online teaching tools, and in India, many schools are operating their classes via the Zoom app. The size of the mobile app is 25 MB. The mobile application has 100+ million downloads on the Google Play Store.
Latest Version: 5.2.45092.0831
Release Date: 24 January 2013
Uniqueness: Capable to hold up to 100 people in live sessions without having any kind of delay in the video. It also has the feature of customer languages for language interpretation. The video quality of online classes is really good.
Pricing: Zoom provides different pricing based on the number of participants. These pricings are given below:
Up to 100 participants – INR 13,200 per year license
Up to 300 participants – INR 17,700 per year license
Students just need to install the Zoom app on their mobile or visit the official zoom website to join the live class. There are a login ID and password needed that are provided by the school staff. This is one of the best online teaching tools, especially in the coronavirus crisis.
This online learning tool is not only for classes, but there are also online tests provided. The results of these tests are recorded in the student profile, and their performance statistics are calculated accordingly. These unique elements make this app one of the best online learning tools available.
YouTube
YouTube is one of the oldest online platforms that is mostly used for uploading videos on the internet, but it always has been one of the best online teaching tools. The best thing about this tool is that people can get free access to educational and teaching videos. People can create a YouTube channel for free and upload their videos. Since the last few years, YouTube has started live streaming of videos where the teachers can have live sessions, and the students can ask questions via live chat. YouTube is available on the website and mobile app both. The mobile applications have more than 5 billion downloads on Google play store.
Latest version: 15.35.41
Release Date (Mobile app): 20 October 2010
Uniqueness: Free Availability of videos, high-quality videos, a wide variety of videos.
As the pricing is concerned, there is no charge demanded neither by YouTube nor the channel owner. The people who make the videos earn money by YouTube advertisement policy. In the context of teaching, many people find this platform to be the most helpful, and of one do not find the answer in one video, there are thousand more videos available on the same topic.
Google Classroom
This is another online teaching tool that is in high demand as this platform can be used by anyone with a Google account. It provides free service to schools and non-profit organizations. It has 100+ million downloads on the Google play store.
Latest version: 6.8.341.03.35
Release Date: 14 January 2015
Uniqueness: Easy to set up, Saves time, Improves organization, and enhance communication
Edmodo
Edmodo is a great teaching app where teachers can engage with students and keep their parents updated. This tool can be accessed quickly and easily from any location, which is the best advantage. Basic features are free.
Latest version: 10.24.0
Release Date: 02 November 2010
Uniqueness: Automatically updated planner, best communication
Evernote
This online teaching tool is used by the teacher when they want their typed notes or scanned handwritten notes to be shared with their students. This app has 100+ million downloads, and teachers all around the world make use of it. During corona, teachers used the app to share their notes and other study material to their students via this app.
Latest version: 8.13.3
Uniqueness: provide 10 GB of new uploads each month, an Unlimited number of devices, Annotate PDFs.
Pricing: In-app purchases ranges from INR 60-6200 per item.
Remind: School Communication
Teachers use this tool to stay in touch with the students and the school community. Real-time communication can be done via this tool, and information can be translated into more than 90 languages. Most of the functions are free to use.
Latest version: 11.11.2
Release Date: 25 July 2014
Uniqueness: Contact information privacy, 90 languages for translation
Tick Tick
While teaching online, it is difficult to keep a schedule, so teachers use this teaching tool to schedule their sessions and to keep the online classroom organized.
Latest version: 5.8.2
Release Date: 19 June 2013
Uniqueness: Classify to-do list and folders, Attachment options for notes.
Pricing: In-app purchases ranges from INR 50-1390 per item.
ClassDojo
This is a great teaching tool, and teachers use this to communicate with their students and parents. It has more than 10 million downloads on Google play store.
Latest version: 5.1.1
Release Date: 25 February 2013
Uniqueness: Instant contact with students and parents, digital portfolio.
Pricing: In-app purchases ranges from INR 67-1134 per item.
Liveaboard Interactive Whiteboard
This online teaching tool is a real-time whiteboard where teachers connect with their students via video tutoring. Messaging and Audio chat is also available.
Latest version: 4.16.0
Release Date: 28 August 2020
Uniqueness: Graphical study, PDF files.
Pricing: In-app purchases ranges from INR 80-2650 per item.
Slack
Slack provides a communication facility to the teachers for online classes where text and documents can be shared and edited at the same time. Online storage can also be used by teachers such as Google Drive for file sharing. Basic options are available for free.
Latest version: 20.08.30.0
Release Date: 22 July 2013
Uniqueness: Integration with other platforms, Documents can be edited.
Conclusion
The coronavirus has brought a revolutionary change in the education system, and online teaching tools seem to be the future of education. In this situation, the students and the parents must try these online teaching tools because the pandemic will last for an uncertain time, and the studies should not be disturbed due to that. With time these online teaching tools will get better and make the students more tech-friendly and more intelligent in their studies.
