6 Free Tools for Improving Student Learning [Infograph]

The internet today has significantly changed our learning and thinking patterns. Since technology and education have increasingly become intertwined, many tools have been developed to help ease our educational learning processes. Every school wants to have the necessary tools to improve learning. Which is why adding these tools to their academic assortment is strongly recommended.

We took time to compile these 6 free tools that can help teachers boost social learning, simplify curriculum and lesson planning and create a more collaborative & interactive learning atmosphere.

6 Free Tools for your School Teachers

1. Skype

Is a widely popular free online tool usually used for personal and social purposes. It supports Instant Messaging, Audio Call, Video conference + Screen sharing and lots more. Even better, Skype can be used by both students and teachers to communicate on a one-on-one basis for tutoring. Sick students who still feel the need to study despite being sick can use Skype for easy collaboration with teachers and fellows wherever they are. Teachers can attend meetings and also interact with other educationists online. Just as important, is that it allows teachers to collaborate with other classrooms during inter-class sessions. Great things to be accomplished, all for free.

2. Quora

This popular online tool, although not solely targeted towards education – is great for social learning – it is used to actively engage students in an after school discussion with one another. This teaches them to become open minded individuals by giving them the opportunity to ask and answer questions and exchange perspectives. It enables participation and catch-up – thereby learning something new as long as they are actively online.

3. Khan Academy

As educationally firm as an “academy” sounds – Khan Academy is one tool to ensure an interesting fun and effective way of learning. Many teachers already use this tool to gain more knowledge so as to take advantage of available material for classroom application. While they are at it, the courses offered helps teachers with skills acquisition and personal development. And best of all there is a version of Khan Academy that can be accessed in any remote corner of the world.

4. FunBrain

The name says it all – FunBrain brings about an entertaining yet productive way of learning, it develops curious minds and interests many due to its captivating nature. This tool has a collection of educational games which makes learning way easier. What better way to engage children in learning than providing games which actually develop their intelligence. It’s a treat that tricks!

5. Google Docs

Mostly, teachers find it quite daunting to prepare lesson plans and class projects simply because it’s time-consuming or even a bore. However, Google Docs permit teachers to easily prepare great lesson plans and design awesome and unforgettable student projects. Also, it lets both students and teachers collaborate on documents, projects and presentations as well as send and receive feedback.

6. Youtube

This ever famous tool isn’t just used to stream unrelated videos as it is popularly known for. In fact, it also entertains specific educational channels purposely targeted at teachers and students. Teachers can upload tutorials so that students have access wherever. There are other numerous videos on experiments, personal experiences and perspectives in various disciplines of learning. You can also comment and share (links) relevant content on a post.
To sum this all up, here’s hoping that the few features(tools to improve learning) we have highlighted will help you facilitate a better learning experience for your students. Feel free to share this post, your colleagues might also find these tools useful.

Originally posted on FlexiSAF blog.