11 Interactive Tools for Teaching in Virtual Learning Environment
In the outbreak of a contagious pandemic, online teaching and learning become the significant educational need of the time. To reduce social contact and the spread of Covid-19, education facilities around the world are moving their instruction online. However, this drastic change also brings new challenges for academia and teaching at large. The teaching in a virtual environment is way different than a four-walled classroom teaching. Collaborative and kinaesthetic activities that teachers usually include in their lesson plans do not work in a virtual classroom. According to a survey made in March 2020 by UIO, about 74% of teachers finds that the overall transition from traditional teaching to digitization is difficult or tough due to several challenges. The top among the list is technological challenges that include digital overload, pedagogical insecurity and learning new educational technologies.
Therefore, I come up with 11 interactive tools that facilitate virtual learning and communication between teachers and students.
(Sources: Elearning Industry & Wabisabi Learning)
Socrative is a system that allows teachers to create exercises or educational games which students can solve using mobile devices, whether smartphones, laptops, or tablets. Educators can see the results of the activities and, depending on these, modify the subsequent lessons to make them more personalized.
It is a tool that allows individuals to create multimedia presentations, with dynamic slides in which you can embed interactive maps, links, online quizzes, Twitter timelines, and videos, among other options. During a class session, teachers can share with students’ academic presentations which are visually adapted to different devices.
This is an excellent resource for art collection and education. Lots of tools make it an ideal resource for art classes.
Customize regular videos with engaging, interactive learning tools. You can even track students’ actions and progress with this tool.
Note-taking was never this much fun. It’s a feature-rich tool available for Mac devices. Write, sketch, and interact with your notes.
A bookmarking tool for teachers on the go. Save articles, videos, images, and lots more for later viewing.
It is a tool to improve student behaviour: teachers provide their students with instant feedback so that pleasant disposition in class is ‘rewarded’ with points and students have a more receptive attitude towards the learning process.
This tool aims to promote writing and reading skills in students through storytelling. Teachers can create interactive and artistic books online through a simple and easy to use interface.
It is an educational platform that is based on games and questions. Through this tool, teachers can create questionnaires, discussions, or surveys that complement academic lessons.
This is a simple tool that lets teachers collect real-time formative assessment data. This happens without the need for student devices.
The perfect tool for class brainstorming sessions. This is an online whiteboard app for computer, tablet, or smartphone.
I hope these tools will help educators making their LPs more interactive and fun-loving.
Good Luck 😊