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By Monica Gill

The way of teaching and learning is changing every day. In today’s classrooms, keeping children focused on the content they are studying is a big challenge. Innovative and creative technologies and strategies make it easier for teachers to keep their students interested in the topic, distribute pre-class, in-class, and post-class study material, and gauge how much each student really understood the concept discussed in class. 

Digital learning tools are the pen and paper of our time. Digital technology is the lens through which we are experiencing the world now. Hence, we bring you some of the most popular and result-oriented classroom technologies that can help you improve the learning outcomes of your class:

Best Digital Learning Tools to Make Classrooms Interesting and Engaging

In typical classrooms, students learn from textbooks or lectures and then solve the problems given at the end of the chapter. Digital learning tools that can come up with real-world problems related to the concepts being taught in class can come in handy for the teachers to make the class interesting and relevant for students. 

Such technology can help create an active environment in class where students not only learn how to solve problems but also how to find solutions to their problems. Some of the most popular digital pedagogical tools for classrooms that serve this purpose are:

• Zooniverse: This site contains meaningful research volunteered by citizen scientists around the world. Teachers may ask the students to access the site or download its app on their smartphones. It can help stimulate the investigative spirit of the students as well as satiate their curiosity through interesting tutorials.

Galaxy Zoo, for example, teaches kids about classification. 

Teachers may also find great resources in the About and Education sections. Many teachers also upload sample lessons and project guides on the site.

• GooseChase EDU: This site allows creative integration of digital scavenger hunts into curricula. In English class, students may try ‘vocabulary’ scavenger hunt. In Math class, students may hunt for geographic shapes or math solutions to move ahead in the game. In Science class, hunting for different elements in school or hunting for different kinds of vegetation and wildlife during fieldtrips is possible.

Available as a web-based app as well as mobile apps for iOS and Android devices, GooseChase EDU helps teachers create scavenger hunts with clues. These clues can be in the form of texts, photos or videos, or locations.

It’s a great app for field trips.

• Edheads: This site has won several awards for its excellent educational content. It enriches Math and Science classes by providing free online simulations of several concepts – ranging from Simple Machines to Virtual Knee Surgery. 

The site also offers awesome Science and Math games to make classroom studies innovatively engaging.

Popular Tech Tools for Formative Assessments

Many apps and online tools help teachers assess their students’ understanding of a concept, get valuable data on how they are learning and learning outcomes, and modify their classroom instruction strategies. These apps include ones that:

• provide interactive lessons and videos, 
• create quick quizzes and polls, and
• track students’ progress.

Some of the most efficient and powerful formative assessment tools popular with teachers are:

• Edpuzzle: How many times have you played an online video for your class, but your students don’t really watch it? This interactive tool allows you to crop, customize, and remix online video content. It means you can play a part of the video, then insert a quick quiz about what the students have already seen. It will help you assess the students’ attention and understanding levels quickly.

You can also pick up useful content from different sources (such as Khan Academy, Coursera, YouTube etc.) and mix it to play in class. You can also add voice-overs, resources, comments, and quizzes to the online videos you create.

This flipped classroom tool is quite engaging if you are creative and imaginative. 

• Edulastic: One of the favourite formative assessment tool for teachers and academic leaders, Edulastic allows one to create, assign, track, and share assessments easily. Teachers can choose common standardized test formats and custom-create the assessments.

The app is free for teachers. It also monitors students’ topic-wise test performance and reports their progress to the teachers. 

The main reason many teachers advocate the use of this app is because it allows them to create cross-curricula assessments and allow them to see real-time data as students are solving their tests. It is a wonderful tool to help teachers personalize instruction for students with special learning needs. 

• Kahoot!: This free app can be accessed through any device with a web browser. Students may also download its Android or iOS app on their smartphones.

Kahoot! is a great formative assessment tool for grades 8 to 12. It uses bright colors and game-like experience and makes for lively classroom engagement. The app provides points to the students for solving a question, and update ranks on the classroom leaderboards after each question. Its design also allows students to open up the classroom screen to try and find answers to the questions they get stuck on.

Teachers can create their own quizzes or mix available quizzes using their tool. They may also create surveys, jumbles, discussions, and surveys using Kahoot! Students can also connect with their peers in more than 180 countries using their app in real-time.

Every day, new educational apps and sites are popping up online. It is crucial for the teachers to keep a track of the progress their students are making with the help of specific classroom technology. It would help them filter out any disruptive or distracting technologies and determine which apps should be a part of their stack of digital learning tools.

About the author

Monica a self-driven person and loves to spend her leisure time reading interesting books that come her way. She is passionate about writing and collecting new books. She believes in hard work and it is her persistence that keeps her doing better. She is a perfectionist and doesn’t let go off things that don’t appear perfect to her. She loves traveling whenever she needs time off her busy schedule. Her favorite holiday destination is Hawaii.

This article was originally published by The Learning Counsel, a research institute and news media hub focused on providing context for the shift in education to digital curriculum.