No one would deny that the pandemic robbed students and teachers alike of valuable learning opportunities. But the silver lining is bright. By forcing educators to reinvent their approaches, the worldwide crisis inspired the creation and refinement of the best online learning tools to date. We are excited for the next chapter of education. It promises to be an exciting one, combining new technology with more traditional methods.
However, in this embarrassment of riches, the number of options can be overwhelming. In order to help you navigate them, we’ve put together a list of the best online learning tools as well as some qualities all educational technology should possess.
The term “online learning tool” encompasses a wide range of applications. In addition to video conferencing platforms, it includes everything from learning management systems (LMS) — software that helps teachers design courses and track student performances — to tools with highly specialized functions.
But there are some things that great elearning tools have in common.
In reviewing the best online learning tools, we’ve discovered that they all have these five qualities. You want tools that are:
The next generation of classes will combine modalities. Current technology allows educators to supplement traditional in-person schoolwork with online learning.
Some of these internet interactions will follow the pattern of in-person learning, bringing groups together at an appointed time. Others will allow students to consume course content at their own pace and on their own schedules.
You need tools that lend themselves to this multifaceted pedagogy. You will want to record lectures and classes, distribute materials, facilitate face-to-face conversation, and manage varied schedules.
The ability to foster different types of course interactions is also important. You may need to hold office hours, full-class discussions, or small-group sessions. In addition, students may want systems that allow them to communicate independently about assignments or even things not directly related to the course.
You want tools you can customize to meet the needs of your students, your class, and your education brand.
No matter how sophisticated and flexible the application, it isn’t very useful if students and instructors struggle to take advantage of its features. We believe that well-designed tools need to be created for the people who will use them.
The interface of the tool should be intuitive. It should allow students to move between functions and devices with ease. Teachers should be able to manage different groups and applications within the software.
While there’s a place for live stream or recorded content, educators need to take advantage of the interactivity provided by software such as video conferencing platforms. They enable the dynamic communication at the heart of good pedagogy. Students don't just passively consume material. They are invited to engage with it, asking questions or raising their own points.
One of the hallmarks of the best online learning tools is that they integrate easily with other tools. You don’t want applications that are hostile to collaboration at any level.
Teachers and schools may wholly adopt a blend of software suited to their purposes. Or an instructor may discover that a certain lesson requires a more specialized tool. Elearning industry leaders should compete to provide the best experience, not the most circumscribed one.
Protect your students’ information and secure remote learning against disruption. Elearning vendors should be transparent about their security measures and data-privacy policies.
However, remember that strong security requires full buy-in from the whole team. Everyone needs to adopt best practices — such as the creation of strong passwords — in order to keep your students as safe as possible.
Now that you know the traits for which you should look, let’s discuss some of the options available to you. Regardless of your needs, we’re confident you can find a solution right for you.
During the beginning of the pandemic, Zoom became a household word as an available video conferencing platform that allowed schools and businesses to get back to work as quickly as possible. It even became a group-calling and meeting tool that friends and families could use to connect while staying safe.
Zoom popularized many of the features common to other online learning tools such as breakout rooms, screen sharing, and recording capabilities. It also performs well across devices, allowing students to connect with mobile or desktop devices.
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Nooks is designed for more spontaneous conversation and collaboration within a virtual office. It provides teams with personal desks, dedicated coworking spaces, hangout rooms for informal conversation, and rooms for specific projects.
It’s easy to keep work apps and project management tools to hand or in certain “rooms” to enable information-sharing and simultaneous work.
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Class aims to make the Zoom experience more classroom friendly. It adds several of the best online learning tools, including applications to track focus, administrate coursework, and measure student participation. It substantially expands the number of things that instructors can accomplish through Zoom.
With Class, educators can manage courses, monitor multiple breakout rooms, grade assignments, and set up individual sessions. It also provides a “Teacher Podium” that puts the teacher at the front of the screen.
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Gather works in much the same way as Nooks, but Gather facilitates the creation of virtual schools as well as offices, conferences, and social events. Interactive spaces give participants the ability to move between groups, and informal gathering areas supplement online classrooms.
You can hold class in small seminar rooms or large auditoriums, or you can have office hours in a less formal, more collaborative space. In addition, Gather allows you to design common areas such as hallways and libraries, and students can host their own club meetings or study groups.
Gather’s retro videogame-like graphics and user avatars will likely charm some but alienate others.
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Google Meet is Google’s Zoom-like offering. It provides the same type of video conferencing experience, complete with screen sharing, polls, and breakout rooms.
While free, limited accounts are available, more advanced features require a Google Workspace subscription. In addition to Google Meet, Workspace for Education gives you access to a suite of tools including:
All of these applications integrate with Meet in order to allow real-time collaboration and communication.
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Microsoft joins Google and Zoom to provide its own digital hub, joining the list of the best online learning tools. Microsoft Teams aims to help teachers with both administrative and classroom tasks.
Teams has video conferencing and chat capabilities and is designed to be used with other Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It allows teachers to create classrooms and assignments and to collaborate with other staff members.
Microsoft provides a large number of education-focused applications, some of which are free with Teams. For example, Immersive Reader provides translations on demand as well as tools designed to aid reading comprehension in all students, including those with learning differences such as dyslexia.
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Engageli is built around the study group experience. The company’s goal is to enable group interaction and peer-to-peer teaching without disrupting the broader classroom.
Students separate into various “study tables” of anywhere between two and ten. This small-group approach allows for a scalable virtual learning environment, specifically designed for higher-education courses, which often feature high enrollment numbers.
Instructors can choose between moderated and unmoderated discussion modes. They can also broadcast synchronized video clips to the whole class and incorporate features such as polls and quizzes into their lesson plan.
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Canvas is an LMS designed for use within K-12, higher education, and business courses. It has hundreds of integrations as well as native applications to help educators design and manage every element of their classes.
Canvas is mobile-responsive and links up with the major providers of video conferencing software and the most popular education productivity tools. In addition to communication and collaboration, it can help instructors with rubrics, analytics, and a speed grading app.
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One of Canvas’s main competitors, Blackboard is an LMS that prides itself on its reliability and the freedom it affords educators as they design courses in any format they choose. Students benefit from the notifications the LMS provides, reminding them when they have work due.
Blackboard also has a strong suite of assessment and communication tools that — like those of Canvas — can be used on mobile devices as well as desktops.
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Miro replaces one of the staples of traditional classrooms and offices: the whiteboard. As an online whiteboard that integrates with video conferencing platforms such as InSpace, Miro gives teachers a space to illustrate concepts. Students gain a place to brainstorm and plan.
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11. Panopto
Panopto can help you improve your video content. Universities swear by its quality recording, searchable content libraries, and accessibility features.
Primarily designed to capture lectures and demonstrations, Panopto increases course flexibility, allowing students to engage videos when they can. By making content available outside class, it also opens up possibilities for flipped classrooms, learner-centered classes in which class time is reserved for interactive discussion and problem-solving.
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Whether their lectures are live, remote, or hybrid, Slido enables lecturers to engage their students with live polls and surveys. They can also gauge class comprehension with quiz questions that show what percentage of listeners have mastered key concepts.
The tool also allows students to post questions either anonymously or not. Instructors can then track the number of students who have similar concerns through the number of upvotes any question receives.
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Created by professors and educational technology pioneers, InSpace seeks to humanize the online learning space with a “socially sensitive” video conferencing platform. It draws on the freedom of movement, organic forms of engagement, and visual cues that characterize in-person learning.
In addition to full-class discussions, chat threads, and presentations, participants can open up and move between breakout rooms as needed. However, teachers still can control spaces with public, private, and guest-list-only options. They can also personalize spaces with their own background images.
One of InSpace’s most innovative features is the availability of proximity-based audio, which mimics real-life conversations by changing the relative volume of participants. Participants can move their icons closer to or farther from groups in order to hear and be heard by people closest to them in informal “hallway” spaces. When viewing a presentation, they can sit next to friends, creating small groups in which they can talk during breaks.
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In order to find the perfect suite of tools, you’ll need to take stock of your needs, which will differ between educators. Ultimately, the best online learning tools will provide your staff with a flexible space that promotes interactivity and collaboration through intuitive and secure features,