If you give a kid a book, a notebook, and a pencil to learn, I can guarantee they will look at you like you eat children for supper.
Today, when technology has joined forces with education, it is impossible to imagine learning without a gadget. Which explains why our kids are so dependent on gadgets. But we cannot blame technology because, if anything, it has made education and learning more accessible and engaging. No more bored students throwing each other chits in classrooms.
Apart from this, EdTech has also made teachers’ lives easier. Not only that, but it also takes away their burdens with its stellar automation capabilities. No more miserable teachers buried in huge, dusty registers.
Keeping all these benefits in mind, I am going to be reviewing the best EdTech tools that are making education easier, accessible, and fun for both teachers and students.
Top 3 EdTech Tools Changing Online Education
1. Nearpod
Nearpod is more than your classroom management platform. It is a classroom engagement tool that helps teachers and educators deliver engaging and interactive lectures to students. Teachers can create interactive presentations and enrich them with quizzes, videos, and activities, which turn daily lectures into interactive sessions.
With this tool, teachers can not only assess students over their learning and provide real-time feedback, but also switch between teaching modes to focus on individual students or teach everyone together. Plus, they can also save a lot of time with its AI Create and automation capabilities.
What I love about Nearpod is its accessibility. My students can still be a part of daily lectures even when they cannot make it to school. The Nearpod mobile and desktop apps keep them connected. All it needs is a stable internet connection to remain connected. I use AT&T on the days I am working remotely and have great things to say about the AT&T customer service. Their 24/7 support has made me realize how a stable internet connection is crucial for modern education.
1. Microsoft Education
Microsoft takes modern education a step further with its futuristic tools that help both teachers and students. Microsoft Education is not just one tool; in fact, it is a powerhouse.
The tool provides equal learning opportunities to students from all walks of life. It includes Office 365 products, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams, which contain Learning Accelerators to make these products more helpful for students.
Another feature, called the AI-enabled Reading Coach, caters to individual students with varying reading fluencies. Reflect helps students with varying emotional levels and allows them to express feelings. Search Coach teaches the art of research and makes information literacy accessible. Lastly, Speaker Coach can help improve speaking and oration among students and provide real-time feedback.
I have seen my peers using Microsoft Education to cater to diverse classrooms. Its AI capabilities let them focus on each child individually to improve learning.
2. Book Creator
Today’s kids have grown up using technology and social media, which has wired their brains to be very different from ours. This explains why it is nearly impossible to engage them in physical books.
Book Creator is a software that allows teachers to create and publish digital books. These books have text, pictures, and videos that help teachers engage young students. It has an easy-to-use interface that teachers can use to create multi-modal books enriched with storytelling and other engaging aspects.
It is also a great tool to engage students in project-based learning activities. With its easy and interactive interface, students can also generate content by collaborating with each other online. I use Book Creator to test my students’ knowledge by asking them to create ‘books’ on what they have learned so far.
In my career as an educator, I have found technology to be an irreplaceable asset in education. EdTech allows us to focus individually on each child. This brings fruitful results as every child has different learning capacities that cannot be polished in a traditional classroom.
To conclude, I am listing my reasons on why every teacher should use these tools:
- We can work on personalized learning experiences for students
- Such tools can foster a positive learning environment where every child feels included.
- The flexibility and automation in these tools have made administrative tasks a breeze.
- Teachers can come on the same level as students with EdTech, which can foster positive relationships.