There are plenty of articles out there that list the top software platforms and apps for teachers. So many, in fact, that sorting through them can be overwhelming. Some are more applicable in a certain geographical location, some are written by companies advertising their own tool in conjunction with others, and almost all of them are indeed very helpful—to a particular audience.
We love a good digital tool! We are also firmly of the belief that the tool itself is less important than how it’s used. All of the bells and whistles and latest tech advancements are fun to play with and can be incredibly useful to educators. However, if they’re not achieving the outcomes you want for your learners, they’re not worth the time, effort, or money. Digital tools are a means to an end; some more effective at achieving it than others.
It’s easy to get caught up in what’s new and exciting. Some of the best and most effective digital teaching aids, however, are the simple ones that have been in our collective digital toolboxes for years.
Rather than prescribing a list of tools, we’ve put together some questions we think you should be asking as you assess the options—with a few examples that might help you meet your goals.
Does the digital tool DEEPEN learning?
A primary goal of using digital tools in education (in fact, of using any tools in education) is to deepen and extend learning. If you’re covering the same subject matter in the same way but doing it on a screen rather than on paper, you’re not adding value—so what’s the point?
The SOLO taxonomy is a good way to envisage the different depths of learning to aim for. It presents the concept of students moving through different levels of understanding by engaging with increasingly complex tasks and ideas: prestructural, unistructural, multistructural, relational, and extended abstract. You can find out more about the SOLO taxonomy here. The relevant point is that a good digital tool for any given teacher is one that will help them to move through the levels of understanding; the “best” tool for this purpose can change from classroom to classroom, school to school, country to country, context to context.
Here are some tools that could help teachers to deepen learning:
Youtube and other video platforms: video snippets, inserted into Google Docs/Classrooms and other learning materials, provide context and more in depth information in a way that is often more engaging, to support the learning.
iMovie, Animoto, and other movie-making softwares: having students put together a short video to demonstrate a topic will encourage them to order and extend their thinking.
Copilot and other generative AI tools: with supervision, students can use these to help them refine their ideas.
Does the digital tool make learning more COLLABORATIVE?
Working collaboratively—not just adjacently—is a crucial soft skill for learners, one that will serve them in good stead throughout the course of their lives. As an educator, you want them doing more than just contributing their own individual part to a group project. The aim is to be able to produce together something that is better than the sum of their individual efforts.
Digital tools are not a requirement for collaborative learning, but they are certainly helpful. Technology can bring teachers and learners together even when they are not geographically together. We learnt that lesson during COVID-19 restrictions! They can also provide platforms for students to interact and collaborate at different levels and through a variety of media.
Here are some tools that could help teachers to make learning more collaborative:
Google Docs: this is a simple but effective way to put students on the same page, with collaborative docs that allow them to build and iterate on each others’ ideas.
Seesaw: this all-in-one learning platform keeps everyone in the loop at home, and offers multimodal tools for collaborating and creating together in class.
Padlet: this is designed specifically for collaborative content creation and ideation, a fantastic way for students to make projects and assignments together.
Does the digital tool provide a RICHER, CLEARER PICTURE of the learning journey?
We’ve written in the past about how you can achieve meaningful assessment online and also in the age of generative AI. Assessment is a key part of the job for any educator. While the news recently is full of the ways that technology can interfere with assessment, there are plenty of ways it can improve it, too.
From simple to sophisticated, digital tools can help you to create and share with relevant parties a rich and comprehensive picture of where a learner is at in their journey. Good practice for assessment includes approaches like: creating learning portfolios that use multiple forms of media to create snapshots of progress; and using instructional rubrics to allow learners to take control of their own goals and progress. These practices don’t rely on digital tools, but they can be enhanced and made easier with the right ones.
Here are a few tools that could make it easier for teachers and learners to create a richer, clearer picture of progress:
Hero is a fantastic homegrown platform for school management, including features to capture students’ learning and make it easily visible.
Google Classroom is a versatile tool that deserves another mention—it allows students to work through embedded media while providing teachers with simple features to share assignments, set marking criteria, and view student work in one place. This can contribute to the whole picture of where a student is at.
SeeSaw gets another mention for its ability to keep everyone informed. It is user-friendly for teacher and viewer alike, with physical examples of aligning with learning outcomes.
Does the digital tool make learning more ACCESSIBLE?
One of the most wonderful things that digital tools can achieve is making learning and assessment more accessible to learners of different abilities. There are plenty of specific assistive technology tools, but even the basics can minimise roadblocks and help educators to diversify their methods in a way that connects with a variety of preferred learning needs.
Adaptation is made much simpler on a digital platform, and that’s a big asset in the classroom. The following are some favourite tools that can aid accessibility:
Microsoft Immersive Reader makes reading web pages easier by reducing distractions and adapting font size, spacing, and more.
Piccles is a great tool for breaking down text barriers, allowing participants to contribute through drawings.
Newsela makes history and current events accessible to all. This tool structures reading texts so that after each section, comprehension is checked through questions, and the next section adapts based on the answers given.
Is it worth the hassle?
Finally, it’s important to consider whether the learning curve, price tag, and any other cost of money or time validates the value you’ll be getting from any specific digital tool. Is it providing a better outcome than a simpler tool—or a more manual method—and if so, is the output better enough to justify the input?
This assessment will depend on many things beyond just the tool itself: the relevance of its capabilities to your curriculum, how much it costs, the skills and confidence of the educator to set it up and use it efficiently, and the time it will take for both teachers and students to learn how to use it. Teachers are busy people, and this is a real-world constraint when it comes to exploring digital platforms for use in the classroom.
Remember also that some digital tools are multi-taskers. If you already have a program with which all parties are comfortable, can you use that to achieve the same outcome? Teachers receive advice from all fronts about the latest and greatest bit of technology, and a lot of it is valid. But you can’t use it all, so curate your toolbox carefully.
Making choices
There are many different ways to assess the value of a digital tool against the outcomes you are shooting for. The Triple E Framework was developed in 2011 by Elizabeth Keren-Kolb as a way to bridge the gap between theory and practice when it comes to using ICT in the classroom. It helps teachers to select tools to meet learning goals; to choose which ones will engage learners and enhance learning. From there, it is easier to decide which tools will bring the most value for the least time, effort, or financial cost.
The SAMR model is another framework which can be helpful in assessing digital tools. While it is often used to describe the journey of integrating digital technology into teaching practice, it also helps people to determine what level of benefit a tool will provide. Is it simply substituting? Augmenting? Modifying? Or will it redefine the lesson entirely, making it more worth the investment?
Simply asking the five questions above is also a fantastic simple audit of new digital technology possibilities.
The Think e-Learning team helps educators with incorporating tech into their teaching in a way that’s effective, efficient, and impactful. We love equipping leaders to guide and nurture their teams as they develop their digital literacy. Get in touch!
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