11 Best Educational Technology Tools To Watch Out For In 2022.
Manika Pankt
Are you a tech-savvy teacher? Are you known among your peer teacher-group as a ‘technophile’? Do you like to keep yourself abreast with 'all-things-technical' related to teaching and education? If you are one of those teachers who are excited to learn and try out the latest educational technology tools with their students, then stay right here.
Here are the 11 best free educational technology tools to watch out for in 2022.
The pandemic brought the ‘School-from-Home’ scenario that one could have never imagined. Schools ran full-swing with online classes, online exams, online competitions, online admissions, and online interviews. Do you think all this would have been possible without technology?
HMH, an educational technology company, asked teachers for their feedback on the use of edTech in their classrooms. According to their Educator Confidence Report, 2021, 95% of educators experienced benefits from using technology; 71% reported increased student engagement; 77% expressed that edTech will help them become more effective teachers.
As per Promethean, an ed-tech company, 9 out of 10 educators in the UK feel that education and technology can and should be integrated. According to research by Yi Hsuan Wang, (Dept. of Educational Technology, Tamkang University) by 2025, Virtual Reality in the field of education is going to be a huge $700 million industry.
Nothing is permanent but education and technology are here to stay, and the process of education can be enhanced and continued hassle-free with the use of these online teaching tools. Whether you want to plan effective classroom lessons; create quizzes and assessment tools for your students; prepare teaching slides and presentations; explain a topic or just want to improve your student-teacher-parent interaction and communication, these new educational technology tools come in handy. Read more to know 11 free educational technology tools for the power-user teachers of 2022.
Kahoot
This one is already ranked 7th out of the top 40 educational technology tools of 2021. Kahoot doesn’t need an introduction as 50% of US teachers are already using it.
With its growing use and demand, Kahoot is an excellent free online educational game creating tool for teachers. The online games or trivia quizzes can be made on any subject/topic and in any language. To simplify it further, here is a quick and easy Kahoot tutorial for teachers.
2. Pear Deck
Chosen as the ‘‘Top 10 School Tool’ by EdSurge, Pear Deck is a free online teacher tool to create excellent classroom presentations on Google slides. Google slides is a simple tool to create presentations. Combine it with the ease and expertise of Pear Deck and what you have will be highly engaging and interactive slides. Watch this video to learn more.
3. Canva
Now this one is an absolute gem. Not many people know how useful Canva is for teachers. Make lesson plans, prepare interesting worksheets, create teacher slides and tutorials, record video lessons and go all creative with this new educational technology tool. Take a look at the Math video lessons that I have prepared using Canva.
This latest edTech tool is also useful for higher education. Here’s how Canva can be used for education by teachers.
4. Headspace
Stress and anxiety hit both students and educators too. In a recent survey by McKinsey & Company, 37% and 26% parents reported of increased levels of anxiety and depression in their children, respectively.
Social and Emotional Learning(SEL) has become an indispensable part of today’s education system. Many relaxation techniques and distraction techniques for special learners can be used. Why not incorporate mindfulness in your classroom?
Headspace is one of the top free educational technology tools to improve the mental health of students and teachers. Practice a variety of meditation sessions with your fellow teacher group or in the classroom; hold virtual mindfulness lessons; download positive posters for your classroom and practice self-care for teachers and children. Watch how
5. Mote
How difficult were assessment and paper-checking during the pandemic? Teachers missed giving synchronous feedback to their students. Imagine incorporating audio feedback in your Google slides and Google forms? How interactive can your lessons become?
With Mote, you can provide verbal feedback, voice commands, translate voice feedback into another language, include verbal responses in Google Docs and Slides, and deliver effective language lessons. Mote can be creatively used in the classroom in many more creative ways. Try today for yourself!
6. Bulb Digital Portfolio
Everything is going to be digital in the coming years. In fact, according to a report by Newschools, 96% of principals and 85% of teachers fully support and claim that the use of digital learning tools is going to increase in the future. According to the latest study by Apple, Digital books, ebooks, and iPads are already a favorite among students.
So why not have a digital portfolio for teachers and students to save and showcase all their hard work of years? Bulb Digital Portfolios can be accessed from laptops, tabs, or smartphones. You can organize all the worksheets, drama scripts, music compositions, educational content, teaching videos, lesson plans, quizzes, question papers, and everything created by you in one place. Bulb is the first and simplest edTech tool for educators’ professional development.
7. Explain Everything Interactive Whiteboard
There are many online whiteboards available, however, this one is extremely interactive and it provides a variety of functions for the teachers. Explain Everything Interactive Whiteboard allows you to embed audio, videos, PDF’s and other forms of media into your lecture. You can also record them and share them later on with your students.
8. Poll Everywhere
If your students are shy to respond in the live class then this one is for you. Poll Everywhere is a host for virtual/online meetings. To add to this, you can engage with the introverted students of your class by giving and getting asynchronous responses in the classroom. The teachers and students can give anonymous feedback and responses. This is a good educational technology tool for higher education and university professors.
9. Anchor
Podcasts are the most convenient form of teaching, learning, and motivating. Edison Research and Triton Digital conducted a study and found out that at present, 116 million people listen to podcasts every month. As an educator, your voice can reach millions of students and teachers. It’s a big community where every teacher has something to teach through their stories and experiences. Create teacher podcasts for free using Anchor and let your voice get spread and heard.
10. Embrace Race
What is the aim of a good education?
Exceptional grades? Excellent marks? To land a high-income job?
Not at all.
No matter how advanced we become with edTech, the purpose of education will never change. We want our young minds to become the empathetic, self-aware, socially-aware, and responsible decision-makers of tomorrow. Value learning is the foremost part of education. Embrace Race makes teachers’ work easier by providing resources, webinars, and action guides to help students accept all races and colors as early as in kindergarten.
11. Edpuzzle
No, it’s not just any other puzzle/quiz-making teacher tool. Edpuzzle is an educational video-making tool where you can create your own video lessons using the pre-uploaded videos in their database. You can cut the parts of the video as per your choice, add your voiceovers, and add questions for your students. They cannot move further in the lesson without answering them correctly.
Final Takeaway
The present education system needs tech-savvy teachers. The new age classrooms require digitally sound educators. EdTech helps improve teacher productivity and saves time and effort. The new academic year of 2022 will see many different changes and challenges because of the uncertainty and education gaps brought by the pandemic. Only those educators will successfully sail through, who have joined hands with educational technology. You are already one step ahead of others because of your keen interest and enthusiasm in using educational technology tools in your classrooms. It is time for you to use these 10 edTech tools in 2022.