As the new coronavirus, COVID-19, spreads throughout the country, more and more schools are canceling classes and shifting their in-person instructional time online.
Edmodo:
Edmodo is a distance learning toolkit. As educators, you can send messages, share class materials, and make learning accessible anywhere. Families can receive class updates, support the learning that is taking place at home, see classroom activity, and monitor their child’s grades all from within the platform.
Free Services Offered: Always Free
How to utilize: Visit go.edmodo.com/distancelearning/ and sign up for a teacher account.
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Flipgrid:
Flipgrid is a social learning communications platform. Educators create grids, which are the meeting place for your class, and then discuss the topics you have uploaded. Your students can share their ideas, stories, and work by recording short videos based on the assigned topics and share them within the app.
Free Services Offered: Always Free
How to utilize: Visit https://auth.flipgrid.com/signup and register for your educator’s account.
G Suite:
G Suite for Education allows educators to facilitate learning, keep track of tasks, and create opportunities for critical thinking. Google is giving all current customers free access to advanced Hangouts Meet video-conferencing capabilities. This allows for larger meetings (up to 250 participants), live streaming for up to 100,000 viewers, and the ability to record meetings and save them in Drive.
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Free Services Offered: Advanced Hangouts Meets video-conferencing for existing customers
How to utilize: Follow the instructions that were sent to G Suite Admins or visit the learning center page.
Hāpara:
Hāpara is a digital instructional suite that helps teachers with virtual classroom management. When using Hāpara to provide instruction, your students see what you see. The platform gives you the ability to monitor the webpages that your students have open during the session, share files and assignments directly to student Drive folders, and co-teach all in one workspace.
Free Services Offered: Free access until the end of June 2020
How to utilize: Fill out the form on their website to get your free access.
Kami:
Kami is a remote learning platform that integrates with Google Classroom, Schoology, and Canvas. The platform gives you interactive tools (such as the ability to provide text, voice, or video feedback to your students), real-time interventions, in-app assignment submission, and a built-in grading feature. Kami can even be used offline! Once a file has been opened you can work on it knowing that Kami will save your pending changes and upload them once you are back online.
Free Services Offered: School-wide license activated until April 30th (with the option to extend as long as your school is closed)
How to utilize: Send an email to [email protected] to sign up.
Pronto:
Pronto is a self-described ‘communication hub’ that will connect you with your students via chat and video. You can have a group video chat with up to 10 people for collaborative projects or broadcast your video live to up to 400 students. Within the app you can send announcements, share files, and create lists so students can keep track of their tasks. Pronto is also has accessibility features – such as screen readers and dynamic text – and is FERPA compliant. You are connected without sharing phone numbers or emails.
Free Services Offered: Available for teams and teachers at no cost during this time.
How to utilize: Fill out the form located on their website.
Zoom:
Zoom is a video conferencing platform that allows for both video and audio conferencing. For students who don’t have access to computers at home, but do have a phone, they can call in to join the meeting! Zoom’s free license allows you to have an unlimited number of video meetings that up to 100 students can join. There is also a chat feature that would allow your students to ask you questions while you are presenting.
Free Services Offered: Free License
How to utilize: Visit Zoom’s website and register for a free account.
Edpuzzle:
Edpuzzle is a platform that allows you to take any video and make it interactive! As the teacher, you can track if your students are watching the videos you assign and how many times they’ve watched it. You can add your own voice narration and questions to any video (you can use videos from YouTube, Khan Academy, Crash Course, and more). They even have the ability for you to record your own video and upload it. Only one teacher from your school needs to fill out the form.
Free Services Offered: Full Access to the Platform
How to utilize: Create an Edupuzzle account and then fill out this form
Explain Everything:
Explain Everything is offering extended free access to Explain Everything Whiteboard. This virtual tool can be utilized for online scenarios by helping you create explanation videos. Within the platform you get infinite space to create, annotation tools to mark everything you have put on your canvas (including videos!), and all-in-one recording & editing features.
Free Services Offered: Extended Free Access to Explain Everything Whiteboard
How to utilize: Fill out the form on the website.
Nearpod:
Nearpod is an online platform that allows you to create interactive lessons in minutes. You can choose to import existing lessons, add in virtual field trips, create quizzes and polls, and even use matching pairs activities. Nearpod can also add these features to your presentations in Google Slides. As the teacher, you can synchronize and control the lessons across all student devices, evaluate student responses (individually or as a class), generate post-session reports, and even create game-based learning opportunities for your students!
Free Services Offered: Free Access to Nearpod
How to utilize: Fill out the form on the website by clicking the ‘Request Support’ button in the middle of the page.
Pear Deck:
Pear Deck was founded by educators to help engage every student, every day. With the Google Slides add-on you can create interactive questions and prompts for slideshows. Once you have created your presentatio, you can either control the speed at which you present the material or allow students to move through at their own pace. Pear Deck even offers the ability to publish a notes document that shows the information from the session!
Free Services Offered: Complimentary Access to Pear Deck Premium
How to utilize: Request Individual Access or District-Wide Access on the website.
Screencastify:
Screencastify is an online platform that helps with blended learning. You can add the Google Chrome Add-on to recording full or partial lessons, recording assignment solutions & explanations, and provide verbal student feedback. Screencastify also helps your students make their voices heard – great for speech and language practice! You can also save time by recording Professional Development, lesson plans, and parent communication. Screencastify is COPPA, FERPA, and SOPIPA compliant, and integrates with Google Drive and Google Classroom.
Free Services Offered: Free Chrome Extension, other services upon request
How to utilize: Email [email protected], they have tweeted that they will do whatever they can at no cost!
Slido for Education:
Slido for Education is a package for educators to increase interaction during lectures and virtual classes. Slido for Education integrates with PowerPoint, Google Slides, Zoom Video Webinar, and provides improved Slido Quizzes. You can integrate interactive polls, quizzes, and audience Q&A right in your presentation.
Free Services Offered: Free for teachers & students globally until July 1.
How to utilize: Send an email to [email protected] & [email protected] to get access!
Book Creator App:
Book Creator is a simple way for your students to make their own ebooks. This platform can be used to create for any subject across any grade level. The resources hub gives you a range of lesson ideas, or create your own assignment that lets your students get creative to demonstrate their knowledge! There is also a list of…
