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Top EdTech Tools for Teaching and Learning
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Estimated reading time: 13 minutes
Discover the top education technology tools to help teachers save time, organize activities, and engage students. Get started now!
This blog post comprehensively lists fun education technology tools for teachers to use in high school curriculum and lesson plans.
Background
Looking back to 2000, transitioning from overhead projectors to PowerPoint presentations was a huge leap in education technology. Fast forward a few years, I started using education technology (edtech) we know today in classrooms in 2007. I was researching Web 2.0 tools to migrate my classes in our online academic program into Moodle.
Using edtech tools for teaching and learning was a new concept back then. Education administration and students were reluctant to believe communication, writing, and public speaking could be delivered entirely online or in a blended learning format.
However, by integrating useful and meaningful edtech tools, students’ individualized learning styles were ignited for engagement and creativity, making the transition to online learning a success.
Teaching Today with EdTech
Following a 20-year career as a post-secondary professor in Canada, I moved to teach high school in China in 2019. Teaching English language arts to tenth graders, lesson plans in my curriculum map include different contexts for tenth graders to command the conventions of standard English grammar.
Students practice creative writing, parallel structure, and learning about real-world situations.
We accomplish this through the following:
- social studies
- reading world literature
- literary analysis
- understanding of figurative language
- language functions
- writing short stories
- writing parts of speech
- vocabulary knowledge
Students engage in learning the meaning of words and how to apply them through knowledge of language using real-world examples.
Applying Common-Core Standards
Focusing on common core state standards, my high school curriculum is designed at grade level with specific purposes to engage students in each lesson and prepare them for life in and out of the classroom.
Edtech Tools
In today’s world, technology is everywhere. It’s hard to imagine a world without screens, constant connection, and overwhelming amounts of data. Integrating education technology into classrooms is common practice now, and finding the right edtech to pair with lessons is increasingly challenging for teachers.
Edtech can be defined as the use of technology in order to aid and improve the educational process. This can manifest in many different ways, such as through the use of computers or other digital devices and tools, in order to create more engaging and individualized learning experiences.
Advances in Education Technology
Technology in the classroom is not a new concept. It has been used in some form or other for many years. However, recent advances in technology have made it possible to use technology in the classroom in new and more effective ways. Edtech can be used to create more engaging, inclusive, and individualized learning experiences.
Teaching in the digital age has never been easier! With the plethora of available tech tools, teachers can find ways to save time, organize activities and engage their students more effectively.
Explore the top tech tools for teachers, from project management to virtual reality and video conferencing. Discover how they can help make the classroom experience more interactive and engaging for students.
Engaging Students
The edtech industry has boomed in recent years due to the potential for scalable individualized learning. This type of learning considers that everyone learns at their own pace and in their own style.
Using education technology approach is much more effective than the one-size-fits-all model used in the past. Edtech has the potential to revolutionize how we learn.
By tailoring education to fit each individual’s learning style and pace, we create a more engaging and effective learning experience. This is especially important in today’s world, where we often have to learn new things quickly and efficiently.
As more and more edtech tools are developed, classrooms are changing in various ways. For example, edtech robots, virtual reality lessons, and gamified classroom activities can help students stay engaged by making learning more fun.
Inclusive Learning
Education technology in the classroom can provide a more inclusive and effective learning environment for all students, no matter their age or ability level.
With the right edtech tools, teachers can create customized lesson plans and learning experiences that cater to the needs of each individual student. This can help boost academic performance and give all students a fair chance at success in school.
High School Students
Today’s high school students are more connected than ever before. They’re using technology in their everyday lives to stay connected with their friends on social media or in online gaming, get their news and entertainment, and even do their shopping.
So it only makes sense that they would use technology in the classroom to help them learn.
Teachers Using EdTech
As the world progresses, so does the importance of a good education. Students typically populate the modern high school classroom with vastly different academic aptitudes and interest levels.
A typical high school teacher is responsible for many aspects of a student’s education. Successfully teaching students of all levels while maintaining the class’s attention is as important as challenging.
College application essays, standardized testing, and other responsibilities demand most of a teacher’s time. At the same time, proper lesson planning and organization are essential to make the class enjoyable for all involved.
EdTech for Formative Assessment
Formative assessments are an important tool for teachers to evaluate student learning and quickly adapt their instruction.
Education technology has made it easier for teachers to use formative assessments in the classroom. Popular tools like Google Forms and Socrative allow teachers to create quizzes, polls, and surveys in minutes and get real-time student feedback.
Teachers quickly assess students’ understanding and adjust their lesson plans as needed through these tools.
Notetaking Apps for Students and Teachers
Writing things down and taking notes are essential skills for teachers and students. Unfortunately, most of us have limited desk space to do so–which is where digital notetaking apps come into play.
Notetaking apps like Evernote or OneNote allow teachers and students to take notes on any device and access them from anywhere.
With these apps, teachers can create collaborative notebooks for class projects, peer feedback activities, or student self-assessment tools.
EdTech Prepares Students for Life
To keep up with the latest and greatest, high school teachers must be on top of their game regarding educational technology tools. From keeping students engaged to preparing them for college and real-world scenarios, there is a lot that these edtech tools can do to help the teaching and learning process.
In the classroom, teachers can show their students how to use technology while teaching a lesson that creates meaningful engagement using technology.
Real-World Applications Using Education Technology
One of the greatest things teachers need to do is demonstrate to their students that scientific knowledge and technical education are used outside the classroom. Real-world scenarios are as simple as providing students with an opportunity to practice with technology.
When working in their future careers, students will need to learn new technology specific to the companies where they are employed. For example, they will need to learn how to fill out time sheets, write reports, and possibly policies and procedures.
EdTech Prepares Students
Preparing them in high school is the best way to give students an edge for functioning at a career readiness level.
There’s a valuable piece of advice that every high school teacher should know: You can assess a student’s character by watching how they act when they think no one is looking.
Learning to use new education technology can be frustrating for students but should not interfere with the learning process. Edtech is a tool to motivate and engage students while reinforcing higher-level learning experiences.
Applying Edtech Examples
Here are a few examples of education technology enhancing students’ learning experience.
Demonstrations
Teachers can use technology to show their students how different things work.
For example, if you are teaching a lesson on how soap works, you can explain how soap works by showing the students a video on the internet of liquid soap being made.
If students are learning vocabulary about machines, teachers can use an app for students to practice the new vocabulary and the meaning of the words.
Online Dictionaries
One of these ways is by showing students the power of online dictionaries.
Many students believe that online dictionaries are archaic or very hard to use. In reality, it is the most effective way to look up a word because it gives you a definition, synonyms, antonyms, and example usage in one spot.
As a bonus, many online dictionaries are free!
Language Learning
Technology has great potential, especially in language learning.
Speakers of other languages often use translation devices in class. Translation devices are becoming more efficient.
Using an app or a digital translation device, students translanguaging from their mother-tongue language to the target language in the lesson quickly and precisely.
Choosing Edtech Tools
Many different education technology tools are available for high school teachers. Finding the right tool can be challenging, but it is important to find one that fits the needs of both the teacher and the students.
Teachers should consider the following essential questions when selecting and using educational technology in their classrooms:
- How does the tool enhance your lesson?
- How familiar are you with the tool?
- Is the tool compatible with the devices you have in your classroom?
- How much time does the tool take to learn and master?
- Any downsides to using the tool?
- Is there an alternative tool that meets the same learning outcomes?
Education Technology Landscape
Technology has recently changed the education landscape, making it easier for teachers to find and use the best educational resources. With so many options available, it can be difficult to know where to start. However, some great educational technology tools can help high school teachers with this.
Many different tools and resources can be integrated into lessons with the Internet. Technology can be used both in the classroom and outside of it.
Some of the best educational technology tools for high school teachers include classroom management software, online learning platforms, and assessment tools.
Classroom management software helps teachers keep track of their student’s progress and manage their classrooms more effectively. Online learning platforms provide an engaging way for students to learn material outside class.
Top Edtech Tools List
Besides Google and Microsoft’s suites of tools teachers can use for edtech, the following list includes other resources teachers can use to enhance lessons.
| A to Z Teacher Stuff | Create word searches, crosswords, etc. for students. |
| ABCya | A wonderful free resource of interactive games with logic and content skills, vocab, strat, everything really. |
| All Crossword Puzzles | Teachers can make crossword puzzles for lessons and formative assessments. |
| Breaking News English | 3,233 Free English News Lessons in 7 Levels. |
| Canva | Media program and social app where you can create infographics and other visual and print media for lessons. Students can use it to create infographics about a topic. Creations can be downloaded or shared directly to western social media sites. |
| ChatterPix | Student presentation tool where students can animate any picture with their voice. |
| Coggle | Students can create mind maps and organize their thoughts into a visual representation. |
| Conversation Starters | Generate random questions for students to discuss in conversation. It also has a ‘would you rather?’ question generator. |
| Day One | A journaling app includes collaboration tools where teachers and students can upload media, audio, images, text, and dictations. |
| Ed.VoiceThread | Ed.VoiceThread is a platform where students develop critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity skills. |
| Epic | Digital library for students. |
| FlipGrid | A video discussion platform to help teachers and students engage in dynamic conversations about a topic. Designed to promote social learning, it is an instructional tool used by teachers to create focused discussions. |
| Freckle | With Freckle, your students automatically work on the Math, ELA, Science, and Social Studies lessons that are perfect for them. That way, they are always engaged and challenged, never facing material that is too difficult or easy for them. – Over 49,000 math questions aligned to Common Core and state standards, covering all of K-9 |
| Free Rice | An app from the United Nations with vocabulary practice donates money to charity every time you use it can be used to engage students in equity, research, and global citizenship and practice their vocabulary/ sight words. |
| Grammarly | An online grammar checker for spelling errors, sentence structure, and voice when writing. |
| Hemmingway | Like Grammarly, Hemmingway highlights lengthy, complex sentences and common errors and is free. |
| ISL Collective | This resource is especially handy if you have a smart screen in your classroom, as they have a lot of interactive PPT games to scaffold new vocabulary concepts. |
| Kahoot | Students have to do the quiz, sometimes in groups, to have fun and focus on their emerging themes in language learning (vocabulary, grammar). |
| Make Beliefs Comix | Students can create comics, a helpful app for creativity, and written assignments. |
| Medium | Similar to WordPress, Medium is a content-sharing tool where teachers and students can do research and post a profile for a project. |
| My Free Bingo Cards | Create Bingo Cards for vocabulary. |
| My Storybook | Both teachers and students can create their own digital stories using the creation tools on mystorybook.com. There is also a selection of premade stories to choose from. This is great for reading and writing classes. |
| Nearpod | Nearpod creates a well-synced network for students and tutors alike. The app works similarly to Google Classroom and FlipGrid. Tutors can create entire lessons on the site and decide how to engage students with their work. Nearpod is also an excellent resource for teachers who are looking for ready-made lessons. |
| Padlet | Padlet empowers everyone to make the content they want, whether it’s a quick bulletin board, a blog, or a portfolio. Collaboration and sharing tools are great for student projects and class discussions. |
| Pinterest is a social site where you can collect and share images of anything you find interesting. You can also visually discover new interests by browsing the collections of other Pinterest users. Teachers and students can use it for research or sharing class projects. | |
| Prezi | Online presentation platform that allows the creation of presentations that can be more interesting than the standard PPT. |
| Procreate | Students can use this drawing app to create artwork or to use it for mind mapping. With a plethora of drawing and writing options, the completed works can be downloaded in various formats for sharing with others or submission to the teacher for grading. |
| Prodigy | Math games. |
| Quizlet | Flashcards for vocabulary review, Quizzes, and Games |
| ReadWorks | ELA, English-language Learning, Critical Thinking. |
| Seesaw | Student-Centered Activities, Online learning platform, Assessments and etc. (Basically Everything) |
| Shadow Puppet | Students use it to create videos from pictures or writing. Record their voices, do book reviews, present their learning, create videos, plays, etc. It’s easy-to-use, even for young learners. |
| Splicer | Video editing and creating app. Students can use images and video and audio clips to make video presentations. They can add voice-over, background audio, text, and art to the video slides. This app is great for classroom presentations, building media for your lessons, and social media sharing. Students also use this to put together presentations and can take screenshots of ppts and include them in a video presentation. |
| Storybird | Storybird is a digital platform that allows students to tell stories using words and images. |
| Twinkl | Teachers can access various resources to supplement their lesson plans. Anything from PPTs to worksheets. |
| WeChat (China Only) | Social media chat and moments sharing platform where students submit homework like ppts, word documents, audio clips, videos, etc., can research by posting on moments and viewing others’ work. The app also has a highly intuitive built-in translator, which is handy for learners when reading instructions sent by teachers. |
| WordPress | A content management system where teachers and students can share blog posts, art tours, and classroom newsletters. |
| YouTube | Watch educational videos on topics from the lessons. |
Thanks for stopping by! Please let us know what tools you find helpful in your classroom.
Until next time,
Suzanne
