Things Great School Websites Have in Common

• Event Calendars
• Virtual Tours
• Teachers Introduction 
• Clubs and Achievements
• Funding
• Branding
• Easy Contact Info
• Language Options
• News and newsletters
• Social Media Share
• Useful Resources for Online Education
• Easy Application Forms
• Optimization and Security

Interactive Event Calendars

Most school websites will use posts to convey information about upcoming events. In order for visitors to find them out, they will need to scroll around. There is a better way to approach this and make the information easily accessible with a few clicks. Use interactive event calendars instead with the names and dates of your events. It’s a great way for visitors to have an overview of all your upcoming events at first glance and make them interested to click and view more information or book a ticket, all in one click!

The Indianapolis Children’s Museum, for example, has a great calendar that displays not only when and where the event will be, but also additional information on how to attend.

Lausanne‘s calendar is also easy to scan and allows you to see all events for the current month with their respective time and locations.

Offer Virtual Tours

Being able to show people around even in lockdown conditions will be much appreciated by everyone and will convey more way more information than you could with photos or descriptions. Creating the virtual tour is very easy, all you need is a camera, computer, and a free tool like klapty.com

King School has a great virtual tour experience, that allows students to get to know their future school in the comfort of their home.

Rider is a great example of diverse ways to present information. They allow you to choose the interactive method of exploring their campus, including a printable map.

Add photos and videos to your website

Give a great first impression of your facilities with photos and videos. Being able to control the lighting and angles you can make amazing images. Another good idea is to consider is hiring an FPV drone pilot to make breathtaking videos of your building inside and out.

A photo gallery is very important in order to see how past events have gone and to soak on the nostalgia from before. Norwich School is a great example of how that should be done.

Introduce Your Teachers

A school wouldn’t be a school without its teachers whose work builds the reputation and community. With this in mind, introduce your teachers with photos or short videos and list their experience and expertise in 1-2 sentences. This way you will start building trust with the parents of the potential student.

Finalsite is a great example of how to welcome new team members. They have information about who the teachers are, what would it mean to work with them, and even an introduction video.

Sometimes just putting pictures of your staff isn’t enough. You could go an extra step to show your teacher’s strengths and what makes them great mentors to students. Gilman School, for example, has added video introductions.

Show off your Clubs, Achievements and Other Interesting Features

A school is not only a place to learn, it also has one of the biggest social factors among any other institution. It is very important to communicate what extracellular activities a student can join. Use your website in order to communicate why students would love your beautiful school.

McDonogh, for example, has a lot of clubs and activities to offer. So many, in fact, that they organized them into collapsable menus by subject.

You might have one club or activity that is doing really well and you are proud to show. This is the case with The Prep.

Drexel on the other hand, has a different approach. They use data visualization to share statistics and numbers to reassure their potential students.

Invite Investment, Donations, and Funding

Being able to afford renovations, new equipment, and funding for clubs and sports teams will increase the prestige of the school. In order to ask for donations, make sure to include sections that explain exactly how the money will be spent. It’s always better if you include different payment methods (like PayPal, IBAN, credit and debit cards).

Bcsc.org not only gives a large variety of donation options, but they also very clearly communicate how the money will be spent!

Branding is Everything!

Being able to clearly communicate your school’s core values is very important. This is your brand: your logo, anthem, slogan, mascot, and cherished values. In order to achieve memorable branding, keep it consistent in your website, newsletter design, and even during school ceremonies. For example, on any page of your website, there should be your logo and the same color scheme and design as all the other pages, possibly including the school homepage. Your logo and general design should also be included in every email sent by the administration.

Source: amandamartocchio.com

Tbcsc.org show what they believe in and what they stand for.

Archer is a great example of standing out from the crowd. They have a page specifically dedicated to how and why they are different from similar schools.

Easy Contact Info

Your contact info should not be more than a click away from the homepage. People should have easy access to phone numbers of the administration, email addresses and a map with the physical location.

Times2, for example, includes a convenient build-in mab for easy directions to anyone new.

The Summit Country Day School has great administrative office organization. Being able to call the specific office saves time and gives an impression of great structure, organization and professionalism.

Language Options

Add a drop-down menu on the top of the sides of your school website homepage, that allows people to switch between different languages!

Every school website should have language options for international and transfer students. Round Rock is a good example of that.

News and Newsletters

To make sure everyone knows about the most recent developments, news, events, and plans of action, you will include them on your school website. However, it’s always better to go extra safe (and extra professional) by sending newsletters.

Having a news page like Webb School of Knoxville is crucial as it is where parents and students will first go to find more information about anything that is going on in their school.

The newsletter is also a great way to include daily updates. Stuartholme School does that right.

Social Media Sharing

Your school website will accumulate a lot of posts about students winning in competitions, sports and participating in different events. This is information that parents will be highly motivated to share.

St. George School‘s website has clickable share buttons for all the popular social media platforms.

Useful Resources for Online Education

Even without the current situation that makes it necessary to offer online education, it’s always essential to have reading materials and tools for students to read or download. This grants your students access to what they are studying at any time.

Harvard Resources Page

MIT Resources Page

Easy Application Forms

Applying for your school should be an easy experience accessible from your homepage. It’s good to add detailed information about acceptance criteria, needed documents, and a very easy-to-fill intuitive form. One good tool you can use to make custom forms is 123formbuilder.

Park University has an easy application form that presents the required information and contacts.

Add to Optimize

With the increase in digitalization and digital storage of information, it is getting more and more important to consider good cyber security. If you are looking for a simple solution that doesn’t require a specialist you can use one of the most downloaded and best-rated WordPress plugins for that is WordFence.

With tools such as Google Analytics you can easily see how many people have visited your website, how many return, how much interest is based on location, and other useful data, that can help you understand your target visitors better.

In conclusion

Your website is an expression of your company. The same goes for your school website: it represents your school, values, and community. You can take advantage of your school website to build trust and reputation and strengthen the community.

In the meantime, on the topic of online education, you might be also interested in checking some of the related articles.

• The 25 Education Tools Teachers Need To Know About (Apps, Extensions, and Platforms)
• Top 25 Teaching Blogs To Help Your Educational Process
• Inspirational Small Business Website Examples That Do It Right

The post What Makes a Great School Website Design [with Practical Tips and Examples] appeared first on GraphicMama Blog.

The Ultimate Guide to Online Teaching in 2022: Overview

• How Will Online Education Evolve in 2022?
• Why Teach Online in 2022
• How to Start Teaching Online in 2022?
• Great Additional Tools for Online Teaching in 2022
• Online Education Gets More Exciting for Students in 2022

1. How Will Online Education Evolve in 2022?

More educational platforms are being created as the demand gets higher. Following the tendency, we will have better established learning communities with even more resources. Right now we mostly rely on chatrooms, servers, and systems that we were already using before the pandemic. However, those tools weren’t specifically created for online education on such a large scale. It’s safe to say we can expect better and more suitable tools very soon.

For example, Ivy League universities have already invested time and resources into creating a better online learning environment that they are debating to maintain for some of their programs even after the pandemic is over. In addition, just before the beginning of 2022, Mark Zuckerberg is also planning to invest in the development of VR technology available to the public with higher connection speeds. This VR shift from gaming to education means that soon we could immerse ourselves in virtual classrooms that almost seem like the real thing.

With all of this in mind, it doesn’t seem that education would simply return entirely to the traditional style once the pandemic is over.

2. Why Teach Online in 2022?

Let’s focus more on why teaching online is not a bad thing and pinpoint the key advantages.

Switching to online teaching might be intimidating at first especially for tutors with decades of experience in traditional teaching. There are different apps, programs, and websites for this purpose. However, it might be frustrating at first when you’re not sure where to start.  Fortunately, the tools are pretty easy to work with and intuitive. It usually takes less than an hour to understand the basics and a couple of days to get used to.  The educational software is user-friendly, and there’s a lot of community support with forums, tutorials, and explaining videos on YouTube YouTube.

So what are the benefits of online teaching?

Customizable Classes

Nowadays most people, especially students, use prerecorded video tutorials, lectures, and reviews on YouTube and other platforms to gain knowledge and skills in fields of interest. In many cases, when students struggle with subjects that they couldn’t understand well in class, they would go to the internet to find answers. They might also have specific interests in different subjects that they’d want to develop. This is because each student has interests, strengths, and skills, learns at a different pace, and requires a different learning experience.

The traditional method usually involves introducing new material, practicing the new skill, and students demonstrating what they’ve learned. Unfortunately, the class then moves forward regardless of how many students who didn’t understand the material get left behind.

In traditional education, it’s harder for a teacher to facilitate the academic success of each student personally.

However, online education offers the flexibility to make personalized education possible as it offers students the freedom to learn independently, customize a curriculum and experience the subjects at their own pace.

You can be everywhere

One of the biggest benefits of online teaching is that each participant can do it in the comfort of their homes. Distance doesn’t mean anything anymore and you could tutor students who live in other parts of the country while drinking coffee still in your slippers.

Save time

As a logical conclusion to the previous argument, you also save time from driving to school. With the click of a button, you can switch from one student or classroom to another. In addition, you can give virtual activities to your students. For example, you can play educational movies about your subject or go on virtual tours together.

Pro Tip: You can visit almost any place with a virtual field trip 

You’re in demand

There is a great demand for remote teachers, and the supply is fairly low. The value of your work and contribution to education is paid accordingly.

You can reuse materials

You can record your lessons, share screenshots and pictures instantly. Reusing your lectures saves you from repeating the same material for different classes ten times a week.

Video courses as a side hustle

Platforms such as Udemy, Skillshare, TutorMe, Coursera, and Courses.com, have always been the first place to go to learn a new skill or master a subject. Needless to say, today these platforms are more popular than ever.

You can take advantage and create your own courses. Whether you create a course dedicated to each field you’re knowledgeable about, or multiple courses about a field you’re proficient in, this will be a valuable asset. On one hand, you can use those courses for the online classes you already have. While on the other, these courses mean additional profit. Depending on the quality and value, they will reach people from all over the world.

3. How to Start Teaching Online in 2022?

In this section, we’ll focus on where to start. Depending on your set of skills, experience, and preferred method of tutoring, you’ll find which form of online teaching best suits your teaching style.

3.1. Online Teaching for Experienced Teachers

If you have a lot of experience behind your back, the best way to get new students is to make your expertise well known to them. If you are using an online teaching platform or any form of social media/blog posting, put a little bio section with past work experience and means for your students to contact you.

Get familiar with the different software you will be using. You can find detailed tutorials on YouTube about all of the popular ones like Google Classroom, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Discord.

3.2. Online Teaching for Freelancers

Having decades of experience as a traditional teacher isn’t the only way to get students. As a freelancer with credentials, you will naturally improve the quality of your teaching with each class. In the meantime, you can start by checking out some of the top platforms that offer teachers the chance to get into remote teaching, tutoring, instructing, and mentoring.

When it comes to promoting yourself, there are two proven ways.

Advertising yourself on social media, chatrooms, and freelancing websites.

This includes Facebook groups, LinkedIn, and even subreddits. You already offer a meaningful and valuable solution to a problem, so what’s left is to make people know about it. By being active in the community, your future students will find you.

You can also create a profile with freelancing websites like Upwork and Fivver. The more work you do there, the more ratings you will have. If you get a lot of good five-star reviews these websites will even promote you organically.

Creating a website

Having a professional website is a huge advantage when it comes to looking professional. If you don’t have the skills the design and code a website from scratch or the budget to get an agency to do it for you, there are still plenty of free online solutions for creating websites easily without writing a single line of code. Wix and Squarespace are popular tools for the occasion.

3.3. Online Courses

This is the best way to get passive income. You will put work upfront to create an awesome course (or even better- multiple awesome courses!) and then reap the profits.

If you do know a lot about a topic of your interest, you can make a complete full course about it. In case the topic is too complicated and one course won’t be enough, even better. This means you can record multiple courses on that topic. By taking inspiration and insights from other educators, you can try to be one step ahead with more comprehensive material for the students.

4. Great Additional Tools for Online Teaching in 2022

Tools like Zoom, Google Hangouts, and the other usual suspects are good enough. However, there are other engaging solutions for online teaching that you can add to your arsenal. We listed 10 online tools for a wide range of educational purposes that you can check and improve your program.

1. K12 Resources

If you want free high-quality information about a vast number of different topics, made by specialists in their fields, this is the place to go!

• Pricing: Free

2. Amazing Educational Resources

Here you can find almost everything you are looking for and also benefit from a great community in social media.

• Pricing: Free

3. Digital Whiteboard

This is an online interactive digital notebook designed by teachers for real-time collaboration.

• Pricing: Offers a Free Plan

4. Shared Google Docs

Students can have a shared document to work on and edit together.

• Pricing: Free

5. Google Forms

This tool is perfect for creating online forms, questionnaires, and, of course, online tests and exams.

• Pricing: Free

6. Plagiarism Checker

Grammarly offers one of the most accurate plagiarism checkers you can use and its algorithm isn’t as sensitive.

• Pricing: Free

7. Wooclap

A collaborative platform for classes, conferences, and training sessions.

• Pricing: Free for k12 teachers, $6.99 per feature, per month for non-k12 teachers

8. Stopwatch

Free online countdown tool with classroom timers.

• Pricing: Free

9. No Hands

This online tool can help you select a student’s name randomly.

• Pricing: Free

10. Adobe Character Animator

This is the tool to go when you want to create lectures with animated characters, that can move, gesture, and lip-sync in real-time.

• Pricing: Part of Adobe Cloud, Free trial

In addition, you can also read our article on technology in education where we review some of the key areas teachers and educators can utilize that technology to create value for their students, and also save time and effort.

5. Online Education Gets More Exciting for Students in 2022

Remote learning has become the preferred method amongst students from all around the world, of different ages and interests. It is just too convenient, constantly developing and there are undeniable benefits. Let’s see exactly why.

Cost-effective

Education costs have been rising exponentially, especially in universities. This is a huge obstacle in front of many students on their way to pursuit their dreams, and study for the carrier they want. Fortunately, there are now more resources, masterclasses, and means for online learning, that make it possible for many students who can’t afford higher education to gain the skills they want regardless.

Easy to adapt

We are being exposed to technology from very young ages and with costs of production going down, we will be seeing this trend only rising. Kids nowadays know how to use a phone and a computer from a ridiculously early age, which will make it even easier for them to adapt to learning from the same devices they already use.

If it exists, you can learn about it on the Internet

In classical educational institutions, the subjects might be limited. In high school, we have next to no control over what we study. When we get into university, we can choose the direction of our studies and a few extra courses. However, once you go online, nothing is off-limit and personalized education is more possible and easier than ever. You can learn almost everything you want about any topic because now you’ve tapped into the greatest storage of information with millions of people creating different courses every.

Students can graduate from university without even going there

If you get accepted into a prestigious university that offers online education and diploma, this is the biggest advantage as students don’t even have to move to another country to get there.

Online teaching is more efficient

Students have full control over learning and can do it at their own pace online. If they know more about a subject they can do it faster without waiting for the rest of the class to catch up. It’s the same in case they’re having trouble, as they can slow down, and do more research without the social pressure.

Microlearning

Online students can choose very specifically what they study. If they need to learn a specific thing about a topic they won’t need to enroll in a full class.

Technology Practice

Technology is constantly evolving and no matter the age, it is not only useful but mandatory for all of us to develop our computer skills.

In conclusion

Online education has undeniable benefits for both teachers and students. As with everything else we have little control over, we can make the best out of it and create a flexible and engaging online class environment for everyone. In 2022, we are getting more tools, more resources, and more perks that we never thought possible before.

If you found this useful, why not continue with some of the related articles on the topic of online teaching:

• How to Create an Online Course in 7 Simple Steps
• Online Teacher’s Guide: Best Practices And Useful Tools
• How to Use Technology in Education: Save Time and Better Engagement

The post The Ultimate Guide to Online Teaching in 2022 appeared first on GraphicMama Blog.

Article overview:
1. Chrome Extensions for Teachers
2. Mobile Apps for Teachers (Android and iOS)
3. Other Tools and Platforms

We wanted to share some of the most awesome extensions for Chrome available for teachers. Most of them are pretty useful not only for online classes but also for the years to come long after the pandemic is over. This list contains free extensions that you can install on your browser and access with one click.

1.1. Mote: Voice and Notes Feedback

This Chrome extension lets you add voice notes and feedback to shared documents easily.

It’s integrated into the Google package (Gmail, Docs, Classroom, Sheets, Slides, and Forms), as well as it allows you to create voice notes for any website directly from the extension menu.

Features:

• Emojis
• Over 20 languages, including English, French, Spanish, and Arabic
• Voice comments within Classroom Stream and Private comments
• STEM mode for mathematical expressions and chemical compounds

1.2. Insert Learning

The tool allows teachers to insert instructional content directly on any page like questions, discussions, and insights. When the students go to that website, they can respond and join the discussion and take their own notes.

Features:

• Insert questions and comments within an article by clicking on a paragraph
• You can also insert videos in a sticky note by embedding code from YouTube or another video provider
• Highlight text and insert sticky notes
• Assign a lesson to a specific class

1.3. Calendly

Since Calendly is a website for scheduling meetings, you will first need to create a free account there. With the Calendly extension, however, you can access all your meetings and events from your Chrome browser and Gmail to quickly set up ad hoc meetings and share links to your Calendly event scheduling pages.

The purpose of this tool is to connect to your current calendar. Once you send a link, your students can see your available hours and sign up for a session, class, or tutoring. You will then receive an email notification for the scheduled meeting.

1.4. Talk and Comment

As a cool addition to Insert Learning, this extension lets you make voice notes and comments on any service. These services include Google Docs, Classroom. Gmail, YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, Slack, and Facebook. All you have to do is record your voice comment via the widget. Once you’re done, the extension will generate a link with the record so you can paste it.

1.5. Screencastify

The free tool allows you to record short videos and screen captures. You can trim the start and endpoints of your videos, merge, crop, and add text to the videos, and draw on the tab with a pen tool. In addition, all videos autosave to Google Drive, while you can still share them to YouTube, Classroom, and export them as MP4, Gif, and MP3.

1.6. Fullscreen Interactive Slides

With this tool, you can present your Google Slides documents full screen while staying in edit mode. Meaning, that you can present the slides fullscreen and edit them at the same time. The extension is a great addition to use during a Meet or for making presentations on projectors. It’s a very valuable tool for teachers and educators during remote classes.

Features:

• You can navigate through your document with arrow keys or scroll with your mouse. Once you’re done with the presentation, reload the page to exit.

1.7. Print-Friendly and PDF

The purpose of this extension is to remove navigation, ads, and junk from web pages and optimize them for printing. You can edit and delete content, including images, before printing. You can also generate PDFs from a web page for sharing, saving, and archiving, while still keeping the clickable links.

Features:

• Print preview
• Email Page
• Changing the size of the font
• Save as PDF
• Remove images and other content

1.8. Kami

Being one of the most popular tools for online teaching, Kami helps you sort assignments and grade them. It’s an all-in-one asset that makes any document interactive. This includes PDFs, images, and all kinds of learning resources. You can easily collaborate with your students through notes, video, and audio recordings and drawings.

Features:

• Google Classroom, Canvas, and Schoology integration
• In-app grading and real-time feedback
• Creation of interactive exercises
• Present documents on-screen
• Special education inclusive learning tools

1.9. Classroom Zoom

Not to mistake it for Zoom, this tool is an extension of Google Classroom and doesn’t offer software for video conferencing. What it does, however, is visualize student work over the Google pack, so you can have a closer look and evaluate it all at once. How does it work? The tool takes all the information from the revision history and visualizes it in a neat timeline. Not just for one student, but for your entire class. With this infographic, you can easily understand the process and make decisions quicker.

Once receiving access permissions, Classroom Zoom visualizes information about your student’s work in Google Slides, Sheets, Docs, and Drawings, including deadlines from the class calendar. Of course, this refers to work assigned through Classroom.

1.10. Dualless

If you don’t have a dual monitor, this would be a great solution for you. The tool splits your browser windows into 2 and allows you to adjust the ratio as you see fit.  You can merge the splitter windows back into a single one or make it full screen.

Features:

• Bookmark management
• Utilizes space for 16:9 monitor
• You can resize the windows according to a ratio of your choosing: 3:7,4:6,5:5,6:4,7:3

1.11. Bonus Extensions and Tweaks

Mobile apps for teaching have also become inevitable. Fortunately, both Google Play and Apple’s App Store offer a huge choice of tools, designed for teachers and educators to make their work easier. Below we’ve selected our favorite apps that we believe will enhance your communication with students and make the process fun and inspiring. We also featured apps with databases with helpful materials for you and your students.

2.1. Khan Academy

A worthy asset for teachers, educators, students, and everyone who wishes to learn. It’s basically a huge database of thousands of videos, interactive exercises, and articles on different topics. The personalized learning library has resources for maths, science, finances, economics, history, politics, grammar, and more subjects for free.

Features:

• A huge database of videos, lessons, quizzes, exercises, and tests with instant feedback
• Allows bookmarking and downloading content for offline learning
• Includes mastering system with feedback and recommendations based on the level of the student

Available for: Android and iOS

2.2. Quizizz

We strongly recommend this one for a joyful learning process. Basically, this free app allows you to create fun quizzes, assignments, and presentations, ideal for group activities. You can create and host quizzes for your students, or find already existing ones amongst a huge database of science, maths, English, and general knowledge topics.

Features:

• Database of quizzes
• Hoisting and creating quizzes
• Insights
•  Training sessions
• Respond to live presentations and polls
• Complete surveys
• Students can invite friends to compete with

Available for: Android and iOS

2.3. Slack

One of the most popular and preferred tools for communication and collaboration. This app allows you to communicate with your students in group chats or send secure individual messages to a particular student. You can also send documents and edit them in sync with real-time updates.

Features:

• Dedicated channels
• Setting statuses
• Integration with Google Drive and Dropbox
• Share documents with multiple people
• Customized notifications

Available for: Android and iOS

2.4. Todoist: To-Do Lists, Tasks, and Reminders

Being Google’s editor’s choice for 2020, Todoist is a great app to organize, plan, and collab on your projects. With it, you can capture and organize your tasks, remember deadlines via reminders, and more. It’s your personal digital organizer.

Features:

• Prioritize tasks
• Organize projects with boards
• Assign tasks and collaborate
• track progress
• Integration with Slack, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Amazon Alexa

Available for: Android and iOS

2.5. Study Blue Flashcards and Quizzes

This app helps you create and share digital flashcards, study materials, and interactive sessions for free. Perfect for both teachers and students to create their materials with images and audio content, get to know about new flashcard recommendations, and stay connected to their classes.

Features:

• Customize study materials with images and audio
• Create quizzes and track progress
• Set study reminders

Available for: Android and iOS

2.6. Epic: Kids’ Books and Educational Reading Library

This digital database offers over 40K high-quality books, learning videos, and quizzes for kids 12 and under. The platform is an ad-free safe space for children of all reading levels and is great to use both in classrooms and at home.

Features:

• Ebooks, educational videos for kindergarten, 1st to the 7th-grade learning level
• Audio-enabled read-to-me materials.
• Audiobooks, bilingual books, educational videos, and quizzes
• Up to 4 individual child profiles
• Personalized recommendations
• tracking progress
• Online and offline reading

Available for: Android and iOS

2.7. FormsApp

You can use this tool to create Google forms and edit them on the go. It’s ideal for course evaluations, assessments, feedback forms or simply to create surveys for your students.

Features:

• Form templates library
• Google Form responses notifications
• Offline work
• Multiple Google Forms accounts
• Conduct surveys

Available for: Android and iOS

2.8. Seesaw Class

Always free for teachers, this app is a student-driven digital portfolio. It aims to inspire your students to express themselves by giving them the tools to create a portfolio to be proud of.

Features:

• Thousands of great activities ready to use in your classroom
• Helps you see and hear what each student knows so you can better understand their progress
• Differentiated support through comments and feedback
• Translate notes, comments, and captions into 50+ languages

Available for: Android and iOS

2.9. Groovy Grader

This iOS app is designed to replace the old school paper grading system with a more flexible and convenient digital one. It can work for 100s of questions and has the option to display the grade as a whole number.

Features:

• It can view 50 or more grades on the screen at once
• Turn auto-dimming screen off option
• Optimized for iOS 12 to use on iPad, iPhone and iPod

Available for: iOS

2.10. TeacherKit

A class companion for teachers to manage everything from maintaining a grade book to behavior management and progress reports. The tool generates data visualization for better comprehension. It’s also really easy to use with quick taps and slides.

Features:

• Organizing classes
• Importing student rosters
• Timetables
• Attendance log
• Creating and printing charts
• Behavior notes
• Grading scheme creation
• Keeping parents informed

Available for: Android and iOS

2.11. Saving Spree

This award-winning fun app aims to teach kids 7 and above, a serious lesson on how their choices can add up to big savings or big expenses. It’s a game-based app that teaches money management. It shows kids the concept of short-term saving, donating, and investing. This game also introduces the concept of earning money and guides them through making choices.

Available for: iOS

Since we couldn’t sort the following picks into the previous categories, we will list them here. Below you will see some amazing resources that will help you teach kids and students valuable practical skills like money management, creative writing, and coding.

3.1. Practical Money Skills

This website is all about teaching and testing money skills for students. It features fun educational games such as Cash Puzzler, Peter Pig’s Money Counter, and more. For older students, there are learning materials about mobile banking, evaluating finances, and crediting. The database also offers materials for teachers and parents on educating kids about finances.

The materials have a great comprehensive design with infographics, tables, and tests.

3.2. Boddle Learning: Math Game Platform Grades 1-6

You can sign up for free as a teacher or a parent to engage your students with a fun 3D math game. The tool allows you to create assignments, track performance, and address learning gaps with automated reports.

Boodle uses AI to adapt practice and learning to the right level for each student.

3.3. Boreal Tales: Grades 1-8 (Free Trial)

This platform aims to motivate students to write. It’s a game of literary and artistic creation to help them work on reading, writing, and exercise based on their education level. The diverse content features historical themes, objects, and characters to populate the adventures your students create.

Since it’s a teaching platform, it has a catalog with writing and reading challenges, sorted into education levels so you could easily find the appropriate challenges for your classes. You can also track progress and give personalized feedback.

3.4. CodeMonkey

A fun educational platform with game lessons for students to learn to code without prior experience. It features a teacher kit and support team to help you teach the basics of computer science. It’s also equipped with student solutions, grading, and curriculum management.

CodeMonkey offers educational resources for students of different grades and experience levels. Students not only learn coding basics but also how to code in real programming languages.

Final Words

Those were our picks for the best assets for every teacher and educator for 2022. We hope you have found one (or few) particular tools that will make a change and assist you with all you need to make your lessons even better.

In the meantime, you might be interested in some other valuable materials on the topic, so why not check out these articles:

• How to Use Technology in Education: Save Time and Better Engagement
• Top 25 Teaching Blogs To Help Your Educational Process
• 21 of the Best Educational Cartoon Channels for Both Learning and Entertaining

The post The 25 Education Tools Teachers Need To Know About (Apps, Extensions and Platforms) appeared first on GraphicMama Blog.

Don’t miss these 23 Great Free Google Slides and PowerPoint Templates for Teachers.

Here are 25 top teacher’s blogs from general to subject or age-specific, that we think are worth their weight in gold. Check them out.

1. Teach Junkie

For: All teachers

A comprehensive website and blog (used to be teaching blog addict) dedicated to all teachers and educators who want a general one-stop shop for all the best education blogs and resources on the Web. Posts are arranged by categories, so teachers looking for ideas in a certain subject can find content quickly and easily.

Key features:

• Free Resources
• Activities
• Ideas

2. Cool Cat Teacher

For: All teachers, emphasis on using technology to teach

A deservedly award-winning teaching blog with masses of useful teaching tools and an emphasis on how to utilize new technology to aid learning. Cool Cat is an American teacher and author, with years of classroom experience in The Captivating Teacher Manifesto. The Cool Cat Teacher Blog gives all teachers practical advice, ideas, and inspiration.

Key Features:

• Podcast
• Advice & support
• Free downloads

3.  Speed Of Creativity Teaching Blog

For: All educators interested in using multimedia and technology to aid learning

A blog by the well-known author and speaker Wesley Fryer.  Key topics are digital storytelling, creativity in multimedia, and technology integration in education. Many of his presentations, handouts, and other materials are available to read and download from the linked website for free.

Key Features:

• YouTube Channel
• Video Tutorials
• Workshops

4. Free Tech 4 Teachers

For: All teachers interested in using technology to teach

A resource-rich, award-winning site from former Social Studies Teacher Richard Byrne. A huge archive of material and posts from all kinds of educators, in all kinds of classrooms,  all over the world, there are over 60,000 subscribers.

Key Features

• Huge archive of material
• Tools and tips for teaching
• Up to date material

5. Learning Is Messy Teaching Blog

For: Teachers interested in alternative learning styles in STEM

Teacher and blog author Brian Crosby specializes in “at-risk” students. The blog is a forum sharing his ideas for learning in a personal style and encouraging other teachers to understand non-linear learning.  It hasn’t been updated recently but many of the issues covered at timeless.

Key features

• STEM lessons and activities
• Links to presentations
• Examples of student’s work and videos

6. Wabisabi Learning

For: Educationalists interested in learning styles, critical thinking, mindfulness, etc.

All things education-related in this regularly updated site. Less a blog than a full-on resource and articles site, and paid for learning programs.

Key Features

• Resource downloads (paid)
• Regularly updated topic sections

7. Elearn Queen

For: Teachers interesting in remote/distance online learning

An entertaining focus on distance learning, e-course design, and social/psychological issues surrounding the online education process. from Susan Smith – the self-styled Queen’s assistant of E-Learning. (you are the Queen)

Key Features

• Regular updates
• Practical tips and guides
• Humor

8. Edutopia Teaching Blog

For: Innovative Teachers

The education blog from the Educational foundation Edutopia comes up frequently when searching the Web for anything innovative in education. The aim of the foundation is to keep education moving forward and at the cutting edge of the discussion. You’ll find videos, blogs, and up-to-date articles on the latest tools for educators, spanning all topics from numerous contributors.

Key Features

• Videos
• Up to date articles
• Topic searches (A-Z)

9. Schrock Guide

For: All teachers in search of resources and ideas on technology issues

Kathy Schrock has put together an impressive array of technology resources over her years as an educational technologist. Her blog has not only her own articles but also a list of her own recommended education blogs. Her website is fantastically well-organized, list of resources just waiting for you. You’ll find something you need here for sure.

Key features

• Resources
• Ideas
• Tips

10. The Kindergarten Connection

For: Young learner teachers and parents, not only kindergarten, despite the name

Not only great blog articles but also a great specialist site for all Kindergarten level resources, sometimes paid but including free printables. This site’s aimed at teachers, homeschoolers, and parents alike. While Kindergarten is their forte, there are loads of learning activities for preschool and first-graders available.

Key features

• Free Resources
• Blog articles
• Activity ideas
• Weekly free activity
• Chat function for any questions

11. Resourceaholic

For: Secondary School maths teachers

Great ideas and resources for maths/math teachers out there by maths teachers out there.  Updated weekly this award-winning blog is brilliantly organized into topics and subtopics of the math curriculum.

Key features

• A huge number of resources
• Separation of topics
• Ideas and activities
• Up to date Real issues blog

11. Art Is Basic

For: Art teachers & Parents

American teacher Marcia Beckett from Wisconsin and over 8-years of experience with this blog. The ideas are presented as grade suitable or into art categories for projects such as painting, drawing, clay, etc. There are also tips for the art teacher.

Key Features:

• Ideas
• Tips

12. 123 Home School 4 Me

For: Homeschoolers, parents, and teachers

Beth Gordan has over 100,000 pages of learning activities. Including over 200,000 free worksheets. An ideal resource hub for teachers, homeschoolers, and parents. There are also recipes, links to other sites such as virtual field trips, and tips and ideas.

Key Features:

• Resources -by grade or subject
• Homeschooling Tips
• Ideas and Activities

13. Free Home School Deals

For: Home Schoolers, parents, and teachers

A blog and site with quite literally everything you need for great homeschooling. Free education resources, printables, downloads, themed lists, and subject/grade categorization for all levels and schools. It’s a massive hub of resources from teachers and educationalists around the world. If the resources aren’t enough, you can add information services on Educational apps, homeschooling meals, and homeschooling costs plus more besides.

Key Features:

• Enormous resource hub -subject and grade
• Information
• Tips and ideas
• Inspiration

15. Mrs Mactivity Teaching Blog

For: Primary/Elementary teachers and parents

A paid-for subscription site with a free sample option that has a fantastic selection of learning resources for parents and teachers to download and print, with new resources uploaded every week. An entire collection of Key Stage 1 and 2 resources, categorized by subject and fulfilling national curriculum objectives.

Key Features:

• A huge number of resources
• Assessments
• Sats resources
• Maths and Phonetics schemes

16. The PE Geek Teaching Blog

For: PE teachers using technology

Jarrod Robinson is a PE teacher from Victoria, Australia who writes about using technology to engage physical education students. An interesting angle using interviews with PE teachers and experts across the globe who are innovative including webinars, videos, and downloadables

Key Features:

• Top class articles
• Expert Tips and information
• Online workshops

17. Teacher Toolkit

For: All teachers

The Most Influential Blog on Education in the UK. This website is run by Ross McGill, an award-winning deputy headteacher working in North London. One of the most popular blogs on the web, he writes about everything from leadership habits to keeping safe on social media. Add to this resources (sometimes free) lessons plans, podcasts, webinars, and more.

Key Features:

• Comprehensive
• Great resources
• Lessons plans

18. Hands As We Grow Teaching Blog

For: Parents and Teachers looking for Craft Activities

Hands On As We Grow is a blog all about learning to do hands-on activities with your kids from toddlers through Primary School.  Jamie shares a lot of practical, easy activities, and sneaks in learning opportunities whenever she can. You’ll find crafts, art projects, gross motor activities, and fine motor activities regularly on the blog. Regular posts and updates. Monthly or yearly subscription.

Key Features:

• Practical ideas and activities
• Free Inspiration
• Great articles

19. The Nerdy Teacher

For: Teachers using technology in the classroom

An Educational Technology Blog that focuses on integrating tech into the classroom. A true blog that has an archive of nearly 1000 articles dating back to 2010.

Key Features:

• Technology in education type articles
• 1000+ articles

20. Magical Maths Teaching Blog

For: Math teachers

This blog is a fun and friendly site that was set up in early 2007 to act as a learning hub for Maths teachers around the world and was recently voted as one of the most effective learning hubs online.  The site receives thousands of visits per day and has developed into an influential educational site where educators across the globe share resources and strategies.

Key Features:

• Shares resources
• Classroom strategies
• Humor section

Linked to the wider-based Educator site for more curriculum areas.

21. Extra Special Teaching

For: Special Needs teaching

A blog by a teacher of students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), plus students with autism, traumatic brain injury, emotionally handicapped, and intellectual disabilities.  Full of great articles, games, and free resources

Key Features:

• Free resources
• Specific articles
• Games ideas

22. The Chalkboard by TeachStarter

For: Primary Teachers and Parents

Free blog articles and a paid-for site providing high-quality teaching resources which can be easily downloaded and printed at home by primary school teachers and parents. Over 140,000 downloadable resources and lesson plans are all frequently added to and updated.

Key Features:

• Topics articles
• Loads of resources
• Lesson plans

23. Fabulous Classroom Blog

For: Busy teachers or parents

A great selection of educational resources and ideas for teachers and parents for all levels of learning. Sign up for free membership to access these worthwhile time-saving resources and plans. Plus resources and articles in Spanish.

Key Features:

• Resources
• Lesson plans
• Spanish sections

24. My Great Teacher Educational Blog

For: Teachers’ life

A blog focusing on teachers as individuals and lives outside the classroom. Research-based articles that help teachers live life to its fullest-spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally.

Key Features:

• Focus on teacher lifestyle and well-being.

25. Just a Substitute Teacher Blog

For: Humor

The Blog adventures of a Substitute Teacher. Light, amusing, and worthwhile written blog posts.

Key Features:

• Alternative viewpoint

Conclusion

Teaching blogs are full of resources (often free) ideas, tips, inspiration, and topic-specific articles. It’s fair to say they are some of the best article blogs on the net too. Ready and waiting to be dipping into for a specific purpose or sometimes for light relief, empathy, and entertainment. So makes the most of the support by teachers for teachers.

You may also be interested in some of these related articles:

• How to use Zoom for Education [+ Useful Tips and Ideas]
• Guide To Online Teaching: Best Practices And Useful Tools
• How to Use Technology in Education: Save Time and Better Engagement

The post Top 25 Teaching Blogs To Help Your Educational Process appeared first on GraphicMama Blog.

To give you the best chance to succeed read the guide to best practices below and check out the great tools that can make your teaching life a whole lot easier.

Article overview:

In the meanwhile, you may be interested in these 23 Free Google Slides and PowerPoint Templates for Teachers.

1. Online Teaching Best Practices

Online teaching, like classroom teaching, is varied and wide-ranging, in a not only subject but also style. However, there are certain general guidelines that are worth considering in order to make the best job out of the situation and help you deliver the best lessons, fulfill the learning outcomes and create a dynamic and creative learning environment.

1.1 Be organized

It is so easy to become lost in courses, lessons, class groups, and different curriculums, to lose track of homework, assessments, attendance, etc. especially when you are based online. You are using your computer to teach, so use it to the full. Set up files got each group and subfiles, and make sure they have clear titles that you can understand without having to open everything. This will help you during your present courses but also be invaluable for later courses, so you can access and edit previous worksheets, and presentations without having to start from scratch. Set these up under a wholly separate category from your personal files, it helps keeps a distance between work life and home life.

The other key here is to organize your time, set a time for work and time away from work, don’t get dragged into doing crazy hours, it’s easy to do but in time won’t benefit anyone. Be disciplined.

1.2 Engage

Teaching is about engagement. Even if you are online teaching, there needs to be personality, otherwise why not just let the students read the books. Part of your job is to motivate, explain, inspire, and create an atmosphere for learning. The ways might be different from a physical classroom but the essence is equally important. Think about the classroom strategies you use, and consider if they will work as well in an online teaching setting. this can vary between subjects and definitely between groups, so be flexible in your approach.

Try to keep your personality. Humour, interaction, questioning, chatting, and personal touches are what will bring your classes to life.

There is a tendency to over-plan for online teaching, a fear that you will run out of things to do. Be careful to go at the speed of the students, not just what you want to get done. A well-planned activity at the end of the lesson is great but not if it interrupts a great discussion- you can always use it next time.

1.3. Provide materials

You are already using a computer and the internet so you’ve got a whole host of materials available to teach from, but that doesn’t mean the traditional textbook methods are useless. Many prefer a combination. Yes, the internet will provide up-to-date articles, videos, news sites, and plenty of innovative activities but it is possible to run these alongside your books. Many textbooks, especially for online learning of language have special digital versions that you can have up on your screen and annotate, often these include extra materials too.

If you are using online materials make sure you check out the links before the lessons and watch the videos in full. You don’t want to get any major surprises during the lessons.

1.4. Establish rules

The best classrooms are the ones with established rules and expectations, this goes for online teaching classrooms too. Ideally, the students should have a very clear set of expectations of behavior and requirements from the very start. Think about how they should be encouraged to communicate (some platforms have hands-up buttons), also discipline, assessments, timelines for work, deadlines, etc.

This is still a lesson it is not an online chat  – the sooner you establish the classroom etiquette the better it will be for all involved.

1.5. Establish patterns

It is even harder to keep the student’s attention when online teaching than in the physical classroom, so it is vital to keep lessons moving. Long texts or videos don’t work unless you break them down into smaller chunks and add in questioning or activities. It’s a good idea to think of your lesson like opening a website if you are suddenly hit by masses of text, poorly presented, you immediately switch off. If the text is broken up with pictures, graphics, colors, fonts, good layout -then there is a much better chance you will read it. Your job as a teacher is to make the material accessible -as a good web designer would do.

It’s also a good idea to keep consistency, again like branding. Keep colors and fonts consistent through all of your lessons and they become associated with you. The same goes for graphics and image style. Hold your work together by considering a consistent character to help present your work, all of these things help the student associate and feel at home in your lesson.

1.6. Online presence

Of course, you can’t be physically present in the classroom but online teaching opens up lots of opportunities for presence. Obviously, if you are running face-to-face lessons online you will be present on the online platform, but there is more to present than that. It’s a good idea to set times when you will be available to answer questions and queries about work, but there are other ways too, discussion boards, forums, and emails all show that the students are not being left alone. In many ways, these are ideal for forming learning communities and developing interclass relationships.

1.7. Learning Objectives

How easy is it to get caught up in the power of all the materials you’ve got at your fingers tips, all the interactive games, and presentations… I know. Be strong, and keep the lessons on track with clear learning objectives. The whole lesson should involve this focal point, objectives, and assessments, anything else is extra. Students quickly pick up on what they are actually getting out of the lessons and this is perhaps the biggest motivation of all for online teaching and learning.

1.8. Ask for feedback

Feedback is vital in all forms of teaching and learning, and feedback for online teaching has even more importance. Whilst the primary goal is to encourage and improve the work produced and explain issues, online teaching feedback does more. It establishes a vital personal link between you and the student that can otherwise easily be lost. Work emailed without feedback is work that has disappeared into the ether. An emailed reply is surprisingly personal and works wonders.

And remember feedback can work both ways, use this opportunity to ask how the course is going for the student, what they enjoy and don’t enjoy, how you can improve your lessons, how inclusive they are, etc.

1.9. Make smaller classes

In an ideal world online classes should be smaller than physical classes, although, of course, this may not always be possible. Lectures-type lessons can work well with larger groups but anything involving direct participation is better when limited in size. Discussion classes work best with up to 10 students, anything more and people tend to get lost and bored. Some platforms allow you to split the groups up, which can be useful. Another plus of some platforms is shared hosting by different teachers, which is also worth trying out.

1.10. Ask questions

Questions allow you to get a feel for the understanding of what you have delivered. In online teaching, you can use traditional open group questions or directed student questions. However, there are also possibilities to use online materials such as forms and polls to gather information.

2. Online Tools that improve the teaching process

We are all looking for the magic bullet that makes online teaching easier. The good thing is that with the rise in online teaching numbers there is a rise in online teaching resources and tools. There are some great tools available that are easy to use and incorporate into your lessons. Here are some of the best.

2.1. Google Classroom

One of the most popular online teaching platforms is Google Classroom,  developed by Google for schools with the principal aim of creating, organizing, distributing, and grading assignments and allowing easy file sharing and communication between teachers and students and vice versa. Google Classroom is free for state schools and included in G Suite for Education although here is a paid version with additional features. there are some great features including security but also the possibility of creating separate classrooms and people pages plus google’s well-known easy-to-use functionality. However, Google classroom doesn’t give possibilities for virtual online classes and interaction is only through documents.

It’s a great tool to help in certain online teaching situations but it clearly isn’t a full, package on its own. Check out these 8 Google Classroom Tutorials for Teachers to Start Online Lessons.

2.2. Zoom.us

Zoom is principally a video conferencing tool with extras for education. Very popular for online teaching with virtual lessons, Zoom has become a by-word for video conferencing in the last few months. It has high-quality video and audio, great teaching tools for screen sharing and annotating, a whiteboard, and easy integration with other teaching tools such as Canvas or Blackboard. You can use break-out rooms to separate groups, control chats and screen sharing, and file sharing at the touch of a button. Added to this the security issues that emerge at first now seem to be a thing of the past. there is also a touch button record (to cloud or computer) function and handy discipline tools like “remove to waiting room” and mute buttons. The basic package is free for 1:1 meetings, and they’ve just removed the 40 minute limit for group meetings, and there are paid packages for larger groups of over 100.

To learn more on how to use Zoom for education, check out How to use Zoom for Education [+ Useful Tips and Ideas]

2.3. Digital Cloud

A digital cloud is an information store that is mobile and accessible everywhere, through an internet connection. For teaching, this means that you can save work from your machine at home and access it from another machine by simply logging on to the required site with your password. Well-known examples are Google Drive, One Drive, Dropbox, or plus others. Your cloud can be personal or you or your school can give access to others. In practice, if you are sharing heavy files, the cloud is the way to go as students and colleagues can download directly from your cloud. This is particularly useful for schools to store resource books and material so whole staff groups have access.

2.4. Google Calendar

one of the great benefits of online teaching is flexibility regarding time, you don’t have to make sure a classroom is free, you can work “unsocial hours”, etc., however, this can mean your whole schedule has been thrown out of the window, things change quickly, lessons need to be rearranged and you need to keep track. Google Calendar is a free application that can help you organize your time and schedule and sync everything. It has some great features that can be really useful when teaching online such as Scheduling meetings with groups using “Find a time” or “Suggested times.”

Other tremendously useful features are that you can attach documents to events and event reminders so students will be guaranteed to turn up with the material required, automated email invites, desktop reminders and notifications, and a world clock for international lessons.

2.5. Office 365

Office 365 is Microsoft’s way of bringing together all its creative, communicative, and collaborative tools in one place. Students and educators at eligible institutions can sign up for Office 365 Education for free, and the A1 package includes  Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Skype, and at present Microsoft Teams, plus additional classroom tools such as Forms. All great tools and with masses of variety to create a full curriculum, assess, and deliver. There are more advanced paid-for options too.

2.6. Communication apps

There are many other communication platforms such as Slack, or Microsoft Teams, where you can deliver online lessons, and Facebook Groups where you can keep in touch with students. Shop around, and see what’s popular and what your students are into. Be open-minded, all communication is good.

2.7. Online test solutions

One of the biggest causes of concern for online teaching is assessment. It is difficult to give tests, especially timed tests, and guarantee honesty. Even if the pupils are on screen, you can’t be sure what is just off-screen, and pupils can be very inventive. There are options online. Why not try Classmarker.com a custom web-based Testing tool that allows you to easily create secure online Exams & assessments with advanced settings such as time limits, public & private test access, randomized questions, instant feedback, multiple-choice, matching, short answer, video, audio, essay & more Question types with Free and professional pricing options.

Another possibility is Google Forms a tool that allows collecting information from users via a personalized survey or quiz.

2.8. Plagiarism checkers

Plagiarism is nothing new and certainly not confined to online teaching. There are a number of online plagiarism checkers such as Smallseotools.com or Grammarly.com that will help ease your suspicions. It doesn’t take long for word to get around if you catch someone.

2.9. Pre-record lessons

Why not consider pre-recording lessons or at least parts of your lessons. Online teaching is intensive and hard work, a pre-prepared section can give you the opportunity of putting something of real quality together that you can use time and time again. There are many online, including free online, applications that can help you create a video of yourself. A further option would be to create a character through Adobe Character Animator that can deliver your lessons for you. This adds interest and engagement for the learner and allows you to sit back, assess the learner, stop, and answer questions and further discussion without having to focus on the delivery. It also means you’re viewed as a pretty cool teacher, which can help too.

Final Words

Online Teaching is likely to go away and is going to be a part of our lives long-term in varying proportions of learning activities. A well-prepared, well-organized teacher with good online teaching skills is not going to be out of work. If you want to improve as an educator, diversify, add tools for when you get back to the physical classroom, or concentrate on the new online teaching trends then these tips will help you on your journey.

Do you want to continue with these related articles?

• 25 Free Education PowerPoint Templates
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• Online Graphic Makers with School-Related Design Templates

The post Guide To Online Teaching: Best Practices And Useful Tools appeared first on GraphicMama Blog.

There are plenty of articles about the rise in online learning, for obvious reasons. Our article here goes beyond that, looking at some of the key areas teachers and educators can utilize technology in education and create value for their learners, or save time and effort for yourselves.

In this article:
1. Try plagiarism checkers
2. Integrate Virtual and Augmented Reality
3. Use video and animation lessons
4. Use 3D prints for more interesting exercises
5. Use cloud storage for easier access to materials
6. Try Artificial Intelligence apps for exercises
7. Get your class into Social Media or message platforms
8. Present on interactive whiteboards
9. Make digital lessons

1. Try plagiarism checkers

With the rise of distance learning, plagiarism has become more of an issue but let’s not kid ourselves that it didn’t exist before. However, in years gone by teachers and especially university lecturers had to really on gut feelings and wide-ranging reading to detect cases of plagiarism. Often it is easy for an experienced educator to recognize the originality of a student’s work, by the nature of their writing style and knowledge of the actual pupil. This is getting harder and harder, but technology in education has developed online plagiarism checkers to make your life a whole lot easier. Automated online checkers can quickly compare millions, even billions of web pages to detect duplicated content in whole documents or sections of documents.

These checkers are also great for students who may have inadvertently included some content without correct citations. There is a great selection of free and paid plagiarism checkers online such as Grammarly, Turnitin, Unicheck, and Paper Rater. Check these out to find something that specifically addresses your needs.

2. Integrate Virtual and Augmented Reality

Enhancing engagement, and improving learning retention are two areas that educators really appreciate. In a classroom setting it can be difficult enough, online can prove even more challenging without your physical presence, and with all the additional distractions. Virtual reality can be used to provide students with a completely different perspective and experience, whereas augmented reality is usually used to enhance the environment around and add to it. Both areas look set to push the boundaries and make learning really interactive as we move away from textbook and presentation style learning. This will be a slow and gradual change and the time has not yet come where we’ve put aside our traditional teaching methods for good, but it’s well worth considering the roles these new technologies can play in education.

Imagine, taking your geography class on an interactive walk through an Amazonian rainforest, sitting your foreign language class down in a Spanish taxi, doing a history presentation from the center of a battlefield – the possibilities are becoming realized and it is very exciting prospect.

3. Use video and animation lessons

Technology in education is developing on both a pull and push basis. The more technology is used, the more it is developed, the choice and functions grow and people become more technologically savvy. On top of this developers are aware that for the technology really to take hold, it should be easy to use – few are prepared to spend weeks learning a new application, alongside planning courses and lessons, marking, delivering lessons, etc. The good news is it’s getting easier and easier. One area that has made great strides has been the idea of making videos and animations for lessons. Technology is now widespread where you can make your own videos or animations with basic computer skills rather than professional animation skills. From simply recording yourself via your webcam, right through to producing your own animated character, the software is available -cheap and even free in some cases, online tutorials and guides will help you through every stage.

It may take a bit of time but the engagement for a younger class when using an Animated Cartoon Character created on something like Adobe Character Animator is well worth the effort. These videos and animations can be saved and used in later courses and classes, can be adapted for different levels or groups, and can be shown online or in class. Adaptable, fun, and engaging.

4. Use 3D prints for more interesting exercises

3D printers are everywhere now and they are really accessible and they are not vastly expensive. this new 3D printing facility lets teachers and all educators bring screen images to life and create enriching, memorable learning experiences. Ideal for promoting teamwork in class through planning and design stages but also for providing a physical hands-on model of what are sometimes difficult concepts to explain. Popular in art and science but absolutely usable, with a bit of imagination in all other areas of the curriculum, and let’s not forget it is great fun.

5. Use cloud storage for easier access to materials

Technology in education is not always about innovation in teaching techniques, sometimes the most useful and helpful technology is the most practical.  Cloud-based solutions have been a godsend in the recently pandemic and consequential rise in home school learning. Storage on clouds means that teachers can access materials on various devices and make documents such as textbooks or homework sheets available without the need for printing. You can also share resources, collect homework, and collate projects. Shared drives mean teachers can share materials and administration documents too as well as access software without the need for downloading and storing on their own devices. Equally cloud solutions mean you can work from one device, perhaps your home computer, and access the work from another, maybe a school computer. There are free cloud storage, or paid-for premium services with great capacity. Check out Google Drive and Microsoft’s Onedrive for two of the most popular.

6. Try Artificial Intelligence apps for exercises

AI is benefitting and is going to continue to benefit many fields, education is one very important one. AI apps are commonly seen as helping engagement by improving Virtual reality and creating interactive learning games. Especially useful in language learning(such as Duolingo for example), with plenty of smart solutions to help you with your grammar and sentence structure as well as vocabulary. However, AI is growing and becoming more useful in analyzing results and knowledge allowing teachers to target certain students or areas. We can see how this could also be useful in creating lessons and whole curriculums as well as placing particular types of learners with particular types of teachers.

7. Get your class into Social Media or message platforms

Communication is vital for teachers, and student relationships and again we’ve seen how the current rise in online learning has forced us to look at different, non-traditional methods of communication. Chat platforms and social media platforms such as Facebook Groups, WhatsApp groups, etc have proved a vital cog in the continued destination of information classes by educators. and students also feel comfortable asking questions or looking for further information via these channels of communication. Another way to communicate with your class is Slack or Microsoft Teams. These platforms can also be used to share links, resources, and even documents.

8. Present on interactive whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards are great for classroom use, and many online communications platforms for education such as some have integrated interactive whiteboards as standard functions. An interactive whiteboard allows you to use a display as a touchscreen device, multiple people can engage in a collaborative experience using a touchscreen to take notes, annotate content, and more physically or online. They give flexibility to your teaching, add engagement for the student, and make the lessons a fully interactive experience. Many resources are now designed with interactive whiteboards in mind, making the resource even better.

You can try these 23 free teaching presentation templates for education purposes.

9. Make digital lessons

We can’t ignore the rise in online digital lessons, whether out of necessity given the pandemic, or preference. Like video and animation software, the need has created the market and the market has added to the need. Online platforms such as Zoom.us have become ubiquitous for digital classes. Many of these platforms have added functions specifically designed for teaching and delivery of lessons, file sharing, and shared screen being the most obvious. The good thing is that these platforms are also aware of the need for control and security, settings can allow teachers to mute and remove students if necessary. There are numerous admin settings, registration, password-coded lessons, break-out rooms for group work, and other options that mean that your digital lessons are no longer just like a video conference call. A creative and flexible approach can make these types of lessons a great success. Learn more on How to use Zoom for Education [+ Useful Tips and Ideas].

Of course, these platforms have also opened up the world of teaching, there is a global market for education ready to be tapped into.

Check out these 8 Google Classroom Tutorials for Teachers to Start Online Lessons.

Final Words

Technology in education should really be termed technology and education as they inevitably go hand in hand these days. It’s been coming for a while, but these recent few months have seen growth like never before in the creative use of technology for educational purposes. Necessity has pushed schools and educational institutions of all kinds into pushing technology to the forefront of their teaching process. Even when inevitably we return to majority classroom-based teaching, it is certain that technology will retain its place. The positives are there for all to see, and we will keep moving forward with innovative and creative solutions and improvements.

Want to learn more about remote teaching? Check out these related articles:

• The Best Online Learning Platforms in 2022
• 15 Sources Where You Can Find Remote Teaching Jobs
• How to Create an Online Course in 7 Simple Steps

The post How to Use Technology in Education: Save Time and Better Engagement appeared first on GraphicMama Blog.

So let’s look at why Zoom has become one of the biggest players in the market and what it can do for your teaching.

In this article:
1. How to use Zoom.us for online education?
1.1. How to install
1.2. How to get your class in the Zoom.us meeting
1.3. Requirements
1.4. Pricing
2. 10 Useful tips to integrate zoom into your education process

1. How to use Zoom.us for online education?

As well as a general use communication and collaboration platform Zoom has a specific education plan aimed at schools, universities, and private tutors and is widely used by schools and also universities such as Berkeley and the University of Sydney as well as the British Council. All you need to do is set up an account through your school’s email account. and wait for verification.

1.1. How to install

Installation is via download from www.zoom.us once you’ve activated your account through the emailed link. Simply follow the on-screen steps.

1.2. How to get your class in the Zoom.us meeting

Once you are up and running you’ll need to schedule a meeting (class) by pressing the schedule a meeting button on the zoom site. Enter the required details of the lesson Topic, Date, and other related details and press Schedule.  You can also set up the Registration required when scheduling a meeting, as that allows you to generate a registration report at the end of the meeting. Once you’ve scheduled a class, your class members can join when you “start” the class. There are 3 ways for participants to join the class, and all are straightforward.  Option 1 is to join via meeting URL by clicking on a shared link from an email. newsletter or calendar invite. Clicking on this link will take the student directly to the meeting. Or the student can join through the desktop using the Meeting ID. Or finally Option 3is through the Web client/browser.

1.3. Requirements

The primary requirement is an internet connection, the stronger and more stable the better. Zoom, however, does not require ultra-fast internet speeds. You will also need speakers and a microphone in order to communicate, plus a webcam.

As for your computer system Zoom is supported by Windows, Linux, and Mac plus other operating systems. It works on Android and Ios devices and for tablets with Windows 10. Zoom for education also works on most popular browsers.

Full system requirements can be found at Zoom.Us Requirements.

1.4. Pricing

The basic (personal meeting) version is free, and the previous 40-minute limit on group meetings has temporarily been removed. This basic plan is for an unlimited number of meeting with up to 100 participants.

The Pro version costs $13.99 per month per host with up to 9 hosts included. This includes all the standard features but with additional admin, management, and reporting features plus cloud recording.

There are two higher plans for business and enterprise that are available.

2. Useful tips to integrate zoom into your education process

Zoom for education is designed to aid virtual classroom education and as such has features that you can easily integrate into your teaching to add value to your lessons.

Tip 1: Introduce your students to Zoom for education

For your first class, set aside some time to introduce your students to Zoom for education and ensure that they’re able to connect their audio and video. zoom is easy to use but the sooner everyone is comfortable with the platform the better it will be.

Tip 2: Share Your Screen

One of the main functions is the harder screen option. By simply clicking on the button at the bottom of the control panel you can share your screen with your students. This means you can prepare your lesson as a presentation, access online resources, and look at pre-prepared worksheets and other documents. Additionally, Zoom allows you to annotate these documents live, by circling, underlining, pointing, and writing and you can allow designated students to annotate too. Usefully, when your screen is shared your pupils are still shown on a moveable window within the screen.

Remember when you share your screen, the learners can see whatever is on your screen, so remove personal screen savers, desktop icons, and anything personal that you do not wish to be seen.

Tip 3: Promote engagement

Zoom for education has icon buttons to promote reactions from your classes, these include hands up, thumbs up, clapping, speed up, and slow down reactions. These encourage engagement in the learners. without interrupting the lesson flow. there is also an interactive whiteboard feature so you can imagine you are back in the physical classroom, the board can be saved within zoom if you wish to reuse it.

You can also create single choice or multiple choice (up to 10 choices) polling questions within the Zoom app.  Another way of using Zoom for education to promote engagement is to designate a student to share their work by allowing them to share their screen, this way they can show off their own presentation or work for the group to see.

Tip 4: Use the Chat Function

Zoom for education has an in-built chat function, allowing the teacher to chat with individuals or the whole group during the lesson. It also allows learners to ask direct questions to the teacher that they may not want to ask publically, asking for help or extra work for example. This chat function can also be used for students to chat with each other, the settings options enable this function to be turned off or on depending on the host’s choice.

The chat function can also be used to send files, with a simple drag and drop method. The student then clicks on and saves the file to work on or look at later. It should be noted that it is worth having email addresses for students on devices that cannot access these shared files on chat.

Tip 5: Session Record

The paid-for version of Zoom for education features a record button at the bottom of the control panel. Clicking on this button gives you the option of recording to your own computer or to the cloud. This function is ideal if you want to review your lessons or send them to students who have missed the lesson for whatever reasons. It is also good for evidence-based learner activities that the teacher wants for their own portfolio or advertising. you do not need to record all of the lessons, simply turn the recording off and on whenever you choose. If you record to the cloud, you will receive an email after the lesson has finished, notifying you that the lesson link is available. You can then share this link with whomever you choose.

Tip 6: Try Zoom Virtual Backgrounds

Zoom for education includes the possibility of adding a virtual background. Virtual backgrounds can interest the lesson, introduce talking points and ice-breakers, and vitally can disguise your usual background. If you are teaching from home you may not wish to give your student an insight into your home circumstances.

Tip 7: Let Students Work Together

Zoom for education allows for students to be split into smaller groups for joint work projects. The breakout room feature, gives the host complete control over separate rooms, including sizes and number of rooms. The host can manually assign learners to a room or automatically assign them, and the host can join in and out of whichever room they decide for however long they want. This gives you plenty of control. A further useful feature here is the ability to broadcast a written message to the rooms, perhaps informing them of how much time they have left. When you are ready, the host can close down the rooms and rejoin everybody together in the main lesson.

Tip 8: Prepare videos

Using videos for online education is a great idea. You can find useful videos that explain your subject on the web or make your own videos – this way you will save time explaining the same thing over and over again. As you can share the screen, you can run video on your own screen, which the pupils have direct access to.

Tip 9: Connect with Google Calendar

The Zoom Chrome Extension allows participants to schedule Zoom cloud meetings directly from Google Calendar. With the click of a button, you can start an instant meeting or schedule a future meeting. This is really useful when lessons are flexible or changing times and even more so if you are teaching classes in different time zones.

Tip 10: Control discipline

Without the hands-on discipline of the physical classroom, many teachers don’t feel they have the same control. Zoom for education helps out here. The host can use settings to establish what learners are allowed or are not allowed to do. For example, settings can turn off pupils’ ability to chat with each other or rename themselves, which will automatically solve a lot of potential problems. Hosts can also mute pupils and if need be”remove to waiting room” which places the student outside the classroom until you choose to readmit them. It is well worth going through the setting before you start teaching and preempting any issues so you are not always playing catch-up.

Final Words

Zoom for education has become ubiquitous, and with good reason. Early issues with security seem to have been resolved and the platform itself is reliable, with high video and audio quality. The additional educational resources such as interactive whiteboards, screen sharing, share files, etc add educational value and flexibility of performance. There is no need for your lessons to become one-dimensional lectures. there is plenty of scope for collaboration and creativity. Our advice would give it a try, and spend some time getting to know it, it’s easy to pick up quickly but the more efficient you feel on the platform the more confident you will appear in the lessons. There’s plenty of material online to help you with any issues, should you experience problems.

You may also be interested in some of  these related articles:

• How to Turn Yourself Into Animated Cartoon in Zoom.Us
• 23 Great Free Google Slides and PowerPoint Templates for Teachers
• 8 Google Classroom Tutorials for Teachers to Start Online Lessons

The post How to use Zoom for Education [+ Useful Tips and Ideas] appeared first on GraphicMama Blog.

You could work completely independently, get lessons through word of mouth, and advertise yourself on your own site or social media -many teachers do so quite successfully, but there is another way. Platforms that help you get started, find students, and match your needs with potential students around the world, or link you to remote job offers.

Here are some of the top platforms that offer teachers the chance to get into remote teaching and the opportunity to make some money online teaching, tutoring, instructing, mentoring, or any number of the transferable skills that you’ve picked up along the way.

1. Fiverr.com

The well-known and well-used online marketplace for all freelancers, typically but not exclusively in the creative professions, especially the fields of art and design. the basic system is used to offer jobs or “gigs” online starting at $5.

As a teacher, you could quite easily create a ‘Gig’ on the site to offer your service to learners from all over the world. Offering digital remote lessons via Skype or Zoom for example. It doesn’t have to be traditional teaching by any means- broaden your scope freelancers on Fiverr often offer digital services such as; content writing, website reviews, proofreading, translations or even selling your lesson plans, and resources, or creating study guides.

How does it work? Simply, sign up for free, create a gig, wait for a notification, complete the task and wait for payment into your account through the Fiverr platform. It’s free to sign up and use, with no subscription fees but Fiverr takes 20% of your transactions.

2. Indeed.com

Popular job platform Indeed is an American-based worldwide employment-related search engine for millions of job listings from thousands of websites. Whilst, not a specific remote working site you can filter the search for remote employment and indeed remote teaching, tutoring, or related fields. If you see a remote teaching job that catches your eye, click on it for more information and application details.  You can also upload your CV, and resume, and let the employers come and find you.

3. Ziprecruiter.co.uk

Similarly to indeed.com, Ziprecruiter has a good reputation with employers all over the world and it’s free for job seekers. Again you can filter your search through location and job type e.g. remote teacher, online teacher, online remote English teacher, etc. You might need to play around with variations. Click on potential; jobs for more information and apply via the button or site link.

4. Workingnomads.co

The Working Nomads platform gathers remote job offers in different distinct industries including education and related teaching, instructing, and tutoring areas. Although education is pretty far down the list numbers-wise it is expected to grow rapidly.  You can sign up for free and receive email notifications of new jobs in your selected field or fields of remote teaching, other related keywords.

5. Edsurge.com

For something specifically targeted to educational services, EdSurge is the leading site for educators, entrepreneurs, and investors involved in education technology. As such it is an all-around educational technology site and it does have a job board. The static jobs are American based but you can go ahead and filter the search from a remote and online teaching positions. The offers are not solely for teachers, they include content writers, admin, curriculum developers, etc but all in the general field of education. You can also filter through job category, part-time or full-time, experience, and organization and receive email notifications for new positions after free sign up.

6. Virtualvocations.com

A site for finding part-time and full-time, and virtual jobs in over 50 career categories, including teaching-related professions. Trained researchers find job offers across the web, from employer websites, blogs, industry-specific job boards, etc, and then gather them all here. You can create a free account giving partial access to the database or 3 monthly subscription paid options. Filter your searches by job, hours, status, and other defining services to find the remote teaching job that suits you.

7. Simplyhired.com

Simply Hired is a free service employment website and mobile application and an online recruitment advertising network based in the US that collects and collates job listings from thousands of websites and job boards. There are plenty of teaching jobs for your remote needs with flexible hours from around the world. Each job gives either more details and then if you’re interested click on the apply now button or link you directly to the employer’s site. You can create email alerts in your chosen field all at no cost.

8. Newremotejob.com

Another specialist in remote job offers. First select by category, education, and then simply search through the offers. Various potential openings from ESL teachers, transcribers, to mentors, and student advisers or curriculum writers. Basic and not a vast number of offers but you only need the right one. It’s free to use, so what is there to lose.

You may also be interested in How to Create an Online Course in 7 Simple Steps

9. Workathomeads.us

WorkAtHomeAds pretty much says it all with its site name. Search through categories or open the search bar option for teaching and related activities. Click on the job for details and to apply. This site also contains useful links and information about remote, online, home working  etc.

10. Teacherjobs.io

Straight and to the point, a job board for educators and teachers around the world. although you can choose by location (continent) there is a dedicated remote worker section. It’s basically a collection of jobs post from around the world, clicking on the job links you to the original site ad. Very much a work in progress but one to watch out for in the future.

11. Learn4good.com

A free registration site that is mainly a general educational information and resource site but does contain job offers, especially for teachings of ESL or EFL including remote online teaching. Not easy to navigate but trust us it’s there.

12. Jooble.org

Jooble is a job search engine that aggregates and displays job ads from thousands of job boards, corporate, recruiter pages, and newspapers. Jooble is represented in 71 countries and is available in 24 languages. Type into the search bar and count the job offers. Filter by salary, job type, and latest posts and make sure you check out the similar jobs category, it doesn’t have to be remote teaching.  It’s bigger than most sites, with plenty of choices so it’s worth spending a bit of time here. Register for email notifications.

13. Higheredjobs.com

A free site for all job seekers looking specifically for faculty and administrative positions at colleges and universities.  It’s up-dated on a daily basis and lists nearly 50,000 positions. Set up an account for free and start your job search. Remote/online jobs in the search bar bring up over 300 wide-ranging offers from professor to facilitators. Once you’ve made an account you can create and upload your CV, get email alerts, and track applications. There are are some informative articles to keep you up to speed.

14. Flexjobs.com

Remote work from home offers & other flexible jobs in 50+ career categories including remote teaching, education & training. An established and trusted job service in the flexible work field, it is a subscription service starting at $14.95 per month. It could be worth it as there are other benefits as well as job searches, but the posts are not exclusive so these job offers could well be available on other sites for free. However, it is an up to date service with plenty of job offers all in one place.

15. Remote.co

Remote.co is really a resource for companies looking for remote workers. Whilst focusing on providing insight, best practices, and guidance for organizations thinking about or already working with remote teams, Remote.co also provides help and advice for remote workers and you can search for remote job offers. Not widely used by teachers looking for work and consequently by students looking for teachers, but if you think outside the box there may be opportunities in linked fields such as proofreading. More useful for advice than actual jobs, but nevertheless handy.

Final words

These sites can give you options when looking into remote work, it’s a growing area and more jobs are being advertised all the time. Many of the sites are free, even if they don’t contain a huge number of jobs. You can sign up and join most of them, and spread your net far and wide. Expand your searches too, as a teacher you will have many invaluable skills which are required in a whole host of jobs so be flexible with your searches. By picking up work where ever you can, you may grow your workload and build up a skill set and reputation that enables you to have the choice and flexibility that remote working provides and still make a living or gain the extras that make it all worthwhile.

You may also be interested in some of these related articles:

• 23 Great Free Google Slides and PowerPoint Templates for Teachers
• 10 Teaching Strategies Adapted for Remote Online Learning
• The Best Online Learning Platforms Right Now

The post 15 Sources Where You Can Find Remote Teaching Jobs appeared first on GraphicMama Blog.

Enlightening, educational, and entertaining for everybody, everywhere.

1. For young students
2. For toddlers
3. For teens and adults

You may also be interested in Top 25 Teaching Blogs To Help Your Educational Process

For young students

These free video animations are perfect for young learners up to teens and let’s be honest adults too. A huge variety, selection of topics, and styles. Whether you just want to deep in and select a video for the topic you are covering or use the whole or part of the series as a theme, it really doesn’t matter. Short, entertaining, fact-filled, and free. Just open up the YouTube channel, select and play from any device.

1. The Fixies: How do Things Work?

Songs, How-to situations. Problem-solving, science, and technology. 6-11 Age range.

For a mixture of science, technology, and social/emotional learning, The Fixies is pretty hard to beat. Free on YouTube, there is also a fantastic website thefixies.com, that breaks down the 104 episodes, so you can find exactly what you need. The Fixies is a series of 6-minute shows featuring a human child character, Tom Thomas, depending upon the help of his Fixie friends to save the day. Often, Tom Thomas acts as a child would and does not always consider the feelings of his Fixie friends. However, he learns how being kind and considerate of others is the most important aspect of getting help when he is in trouble and how cooperation only works when both sides work together. Viewers see the problems arising from poor social skills benefits of working well with others.  The fixies are tiny creatures that live inside machines, appliances, and devices maintaining and repairing them with the aid of their tool-filled pack-o-mats. Each episode contains 2 inserts briefly explaining some “how-to” situation.  A great mix of adventure, humor, music, education, and heart: each story centers on an aspect of technology but the central themes are feelings such as worry, excitement, jealousy, surprise, competition, and fear. Encouraging problem solving, social and emotional learning as well as science and technology. And songs too! Aimed at the 6-11 age range but could easily be for older children.

2. Peekaboo

Songs, Lullabies, and “How-to” animations. Middle or Primary school children.

Peekaboo channel is specially designed for young learners as they explore the world. It’s YouTube site is a great mix animated educational videos, classic English songs, phonics songs, lullabies and short “how it” works animations hosted by Dr. Binocs. It is particularly good at covering natural disasters, ecological issues and medical problems even with a short explaining the Corona Virus among a huge range of other issues. Short videos of a couple of minutes or longer 5/6 minutes ones depending on the issues, it can easily be dipped into for your particular lesson. Aimed middle or Primary school children, it’s another great free resource.

3. Dr. Panda Toto Time

Kindergarten, Primary children animations for basic learning skills

Dr. Panda Toto Time channel is for children of 3-8 years old encouraging development of educational values and basic skills to help learn more about the world with new episodes every week available on their YouTube channel for free. Dr. Panda & Toto help out their friends with an emphasis on learning.  The early episodes are simple 2D animations before the more recent and definitely more accessible 3D transformation. There is whole Dr. Panda franchise beyond the TV series that includes more than 30 apps that  go further than the ABCs and 1, 2, 3s.

4. EnglishSingSing

Learning English videos with Nursery Rhymes, Dialogue, Song, Rap, Story, Phonics, and more.

Perfect for ESL young learner teachers, EnglishSingSing is an educational YouTube channel for younger children to learn English as a foreign language.  Lots of video content updated weekly, offering Nursery Rhymes, Dialogue, Song, Rap, Story, Phonics, etc. It’s got specific grammar videos, role-play dialogues and key vocabulary lessons all done in light easy to follow animated style. A perfect way into the language for younger, with short interesting educational cartoons.

5. TheWorldsofAlex

Videos for young children, learning English. You will find Nursery Rhymes, Dialogue, Song, Rap, Story, Phonics, and more types of English-learning videos.

Alex is an animated cartoon series, especially designed to help young children discover the world surrounding them.  Alex is a curious 5 years old boy who loves to discover and understand the world around him. The episodes can be themed, for learning about the Sea, Music, the Jungle, Vegetation, etc. Ideal for continuous project work. Excellent 3D animation with great characters in short, 5 minute(ish) cartoons all freely available on YouTube.

Education Clipart Bundle

Take a look at GraphicMama’s mega bundle of educational clipart. The bundle packs 176 educational clipart graphics of teachers, students, kids, school items, and backgrounds for education-related projects. This collection comes in AI, EPS, PDF, and transparent PNG files, so it can be easily used by non-professionals.

6. Free Animated Education

Primary curriculum videos -dubbed into other major languages.

A partnership between the largest non-profit animation and illustration studio in the world and major educational NGOs. Well more than 500 animated explanatory educational videos on their YouTube channel and more being added all the time. The grand idea is to be able to educate around the globe with completely free access to courses. There are 400 videos covering the basic primary curriculum and free courses from very basic to advanced are being created in Maths, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Computers, Medicine, history and languages. All the videos will be translated or dubbed into all major languages. Quite a vision. Very comprehensive, short, and informative, with basic animation that focusing on the content rather than the art. Check the individual videos for age appropriateness, they can be quite technical.

7. Bright Side

Science and life lesson video for young learners

Bright Side’s YouTube channel has a great selection of animated videos about scientific discoveries, space exploration, mysteries, shocking true stories, health and fitness, fun tests and riddles, or even useful tips for self-improvement, psychology, relationships, gadgets, or just your day-to-day routine. Updated daily, it has videos in a variety of styles from full-on cartoons to real-life films. Most videos are around 10 minutes, and there are 100s to choose from. Ideal for dipping into and searching for your topic. Aimed at young learners right through to older teens and even adults can pick up some great information it is the 29th most subscribed YouTube channel, with over 6 billion views.

For toddlers

If you need something to keep to toddler entertained for a least 5 minutes then this selection of educational cartoon channels are perfect. You can justify their screen time by the educational quality.

8. RocknLearn

Songs, Nursery rhymes and first words for the very young

Award-winning Rock n Learn have been producing educational media for over 30 years. Their YouTube channel has entertaining, educational videos for toddlers, kindergarten and kids up to fifth grade (US) Year 6 (UK) There are videos for baby’s first words, preschool videos, nursery rhymes, favorite kids’ songs, and videos for learning many languages. For the slightly older children there are also videos for reading, maths, and science. Select from the home tab the age range that you require, there well over 200 videos, with more being added each week. Short clips for a class or full videos up to an hour for parents. They also produce apps and audiobooks in the same vein.

9. Akili and Me

Basic life skills and educational stories set in Tanzania

Akili and Me is an edutainment series from the creators of Ubongo Kids. Aimed at Kids 3-6 year olds who can follow Akili  and her friends on their magical adventures in Lala Land. Akili is a curious 4-year-old who lives with her family at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania. She has a secret: every night when she falls asleep, she enters the magical world of Lala Land, where she and her animal friends learn all about language, letters, numbers and art, while developing kindness and coming to grips with their emotions and rapidly changing toddler lives! Focused on learning numbers, letters, drawing, and English. They have a YouTube channel for animated cartoons and an accompanying website akiliandme.com with printable worksheets. and download music, apps, etc.

10. BabyBus

Nursery rhymes, songs and stories for toddlers

BabyBus is really a developer of educational applications for preschool children. They have created over 100 apps that support in 9 major languages, but vitally for us, they have a YouTube channel featuring educational songs, nursery rhymes and stories. Their home tab usefully categorizes the songs for you.

11. We Are Busy Beavers

English As a Second Language program for speaking and singing.

Busy Beavers is an online children’s educational program. It is aimed at parents and teachers of toddlers who speak English or are learning English as a second language, and parents of children with a learning disability, autism, or delayed speech. Busy Beavers Create Fantastic, Fun Children’s Educational Videos that try to get children speaking & singing. For babies, toddlers, kindergarten kids, ESL English students, daycare & preschool teachers or mums & dads. There is a strong focus on the alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes, and social learning such as caring and sharing. The website has some great downloadable worksheets, textbooks, music, and flashcards.

12. Toddler Fun Learning

British English Songs and Nursery Rhymes for babies and toddlers

A YouTube channel. for babies, toddler and very young children to  learn to count, learn the alphabet, and much much more. Full of educational cartoons, kid’s videos, children songs, and nursery rhymes, all in British English. a number of different themed videos follow Gecko’s Garage, Number Zoo, Dr Poppy’s Pet Rescue, and The Zorbits plus there are nursery rhymes videos of The Wheels on the Bus and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. The site toddlerfunlearning.com is great for downloadable resources from worksheets, coloring sheets, home school timetables, craft instructions, and ideas, and even they have free stories on Spotify. Add this to the 7 pm blog for tips for parents and you’ve got a pretty useful online package to help you through.

13. Dave and Eva

Adventure stories for learning for very young learners

Dave and Ava is a childhood learning channel on YouTube, where two children; Dave (the young boy in the orange puppy pajamas), Ava (the young girl in the blue kitty pajamas), and many other varied characters go through adventures and teach various learning skills along the way. The animated series has been developed especially for young children. Each episode features Dave and Ava along with their friends – Matilda the Sheep, Oscar the Kitten, Stella the Star, cute little mouse Philip, Itsy the Spider, Felix MacDonald, Bingo the Puppy, Izzy the Cat and other. The nursery rhymes teach little ones ABCs, numbers, shapes, colors, etc. There are new videos every Thursday and the videos are also available to download and watch offline. Added to the YouTube channel is a website daveandava.com with downloadable posters and print outs and of course an app. The videos are also available in Spanish.

14. Cocomelon

Traditional Nursery Rhymes and Original songs for preschoolers and lower grades.

ABCkidTV  is now Cocomelon, an American YouTube channel for Nursery Rhymes, simply known as Cocomelon a is an American YouTube channel. They specialize in 3D animation videos of both traditional nursery rhymes and their own original children’s songs. The idea is to help preschoolers and the very young to learn letters, numbers, animal sounds, colors, and more, but the animations also include social learning lessons. There are new weekly educational cartoons added to the site.

15. BabyFirstTV

Color, counting, and vocabulary for babies

An American TV channel and YouTube channel that has content for babies up to the age of 3 and their parents through television, the internet, and mobile applications. The content is intended to develop the child’s skills, such as color recognition, counting, and vocabulary. A huge selection of music videos of lullabies, nursery rhymes, and baby songs. The site babyfirsttv.com also has free printables as well as selling the linked apps.

16. KidsCamp

Song and rhymes based learning video for preschoolers

KidsCamp takes toddlers into the world of Elly and her little sister Eva as they sing and dance on a journey through the world of songs and rhymes. They can learn the Alphabet, Numbers, Shapes and Colors through the  series as the sisters come across curious situations and learn about them in creative and innovative ways. Or go with the Lucky Ducky cartoon animated series on the same YouTube channel. Short, fun videos with catchy songs.

17. Tino – Toys & Toddlers

Song and rhymes based learning video for the first years of childhood

For the very young children between 0 -24 months Tino – Toys & Toddlers is a new fun channel. This is a channel for children to learn colors, shapes, numbers with high-quality 3D video animation. Tino is a wooden train and his adventures are beautifully and colorfully portrayed.

For teens and adults

So you’ve organized some variety and constructive screen time for the youngster, but what about you? From teens to adults there’s still more to learn and why not be entertained by the learning experience. Here is a selection of sites suitable for self-study or secondary/senior school teachers looking at a way of getting information over in an accessible, entertaining way.

18. TED-Education

Older Primary, Secondary, High School to adult learning

TED-Ed is TED’s award-winning youth and education platform. A growing video library of free original animated lessons on their YouTube channel from experts in their field. These original animated videos, are paired with questions and resources to promote further research, makeup what are referred to as TED-Ed Lessons. The TED-Ed platform allows users to take any TED Talk , TED-Ed Lesson, or educational video and easily create a lesson plan of customized questions and discussions. Users can then distribute these lessons, publicly or privately, to a class or an individual student. The videos are often short, typically around 5 minutes, in a variety of animation styles, and add a playlist of linked videos for further viewing.

19. Kurzgesagt

Secondary or High School Students -science,tech and social sciences

A German animation studio that have a  YouTube channel that contains very cool highly stylized minimalist animated educational content and added humor. Mainly concerning scientific, technological, political, philosophical, and psychological subjects, the videos are around 5–15 minutes long. They have German and Spanish channels as well as English and over 10 million subscribers. The Home tab categorization makes videos easy to find in whichever area you take an interest in.

20. The Infographics Show

From teens to adults

The Infographics Show is a YouTube channel and a company that provides educational videos for teens and anybody who wants to be informed about a subject. Often humorous there is a mixture of more serious topics alongside lighter subject matter. The studio focuses on making animated motion infographic videos, made in a fun and entertaining way. Some of the topics covered are military comparisons, celebrity comparison, video game comparison plus a lot more.

21. Simple History

High School History

Simple History aims to bring history to life through animation. A series of that shows how people lived throughout history: their culture, key figures, developments in technology, epic battles and events. you can explore what it was like to be in the trenches of the First World War, a plundering pirate in the Caribbean or a factory worker in the Industrial Revolution through Home tab categorization or through their website simplehistory.co.uk.  Simple animation, contrasting with a more high brow script. They histories are also available in book form.

Final words

With these free sites, there is little excuse for not knowing anything. They’ll give you the information you need and spark further curiosity in a highly accessible entertaining way. Ideal for teachers working from home, sharing screens from home learning platforms, and even just messaging links. Ideal for parents struggling to make the most of their youngster enforced isolation. Ideal for preschool parents who are trying to encourage learning from as early an age as possible. These are not time-wasting, filler cartoons, they are educational animations in their own right. Professional videos and presentations that can clarify information, reinforce learning and social skills, and make studying a fun, interesting, and rewarding experience.

You may also be interested in some of these related articles:

• Cartoon Coloring Book: 60+ Free Printable Pages PDF
• How to Make Cartoon Animation Like Ted-Ed
• 23 Great Free Google Slides and PowerPoint Templates for Teachers

The post 21 of the Best Educational Cartoon Channels for Both Learning and Entertaining appeared first on GraphicMama Blog.

So, how do you make Ted-ed-style animations for your own in-class or online lessons? How can you animate your material and your class, encouraging engagement and interest?

1. Write a script
2. Create a storyboard
3. Choose your animation style
4. Animate
4.1. The Best Animation Software to Try
4.2. Add Some Stop-Motion (+ software options)
4.3. Add Some Real Footage (+ software options)
5. Add/Tweak/Change
6. Narrate

Do you want to check out these 25 Teaching Blogs To Help Your Educational Process?

Why is TED-Ed so popular?

The simple reason is because it’s so good. There are endless resources and sites on the net for teachers, but TED-ed stands out for the sheer quality of content. Short, accessible animated videos made in collaboration with top experts in each area of learning. The animations and animated cartoons can then be linked to further resources, discussions, and or questions to form all round lesson plans with clear learning objectives, thus customizing your lesson. These animations are accessible for free via the ted-ed site or the Ted-ed YouTube channel. Simply register and explore this vast resource (nearing 100,000 videos and growing all the time). You can also use Ted-ed to create your own video lesson by importing a video from another source or even creating your own animation or cartoon.

So, how to make educational cartoons like TED-ed?

If you can’t find exactly what you are looking for, or you want to personalize your lessons, it is possible to create your own animation or cartoon without being an expert in art or technology but by using generally available non-specialist software. You can then use this video animation as a stand-alone with the Ted-ed model as your inspiration or use it and share it via the Ted-ed platform.

There are some steps to go through when making an animated video -and here is a non-expert guide to show you how to make a video animation and what steps to take in the process.  And of course, there are even Ted-ed animations that tell you how to do it!

1. Write a script

As a teacher or educator, you’ll know that you need a well-defined learning objective, the focus of your script should be all about what the student will have gained by the end of the animation. Have a clear goal and a clear purpose. It’s too much work to be a time filler, this is a wow lesson. Think of your audience, the type of language, what they need to know, how detailed it needs to be, and how you will work with the video. Will you play it through, or stop it and discuss? Will you use it with other resources? How are you going to use it to develop your lesson? You’ll need an introduction – the first 30 seconds grab the attention, the body will deliver your key message and a conclusion to set up the next steps.

2. Create a storyboard

Once you’ve got an established objective and target audience it’s time to start getting those ideas down.  An edited version of your key objectives –  set out and explained with approximate timings. Ted-ed animated videos are often brief (usually between 5-10 minutes) but to the point. Better to focus on 2 or 3 main issues and then create another video animation, than try to fit everything into one. There’s no need to tell you about attention spans. Everything will work from this plan, it’s like the architectural drawings of your new house. it can be tweaked, altered even changed but it’s better to do this from solid ideas than random dreams. Luckily there are some great software packages that will help you get your ideas and concepts into a storyboard format.

3. Choose your animation style

This will depend on your audience, your objectives, your preferred style, and your material. There are a variety of styles to choose from:

• 2D – familiar, traditional animated style made popular in children’s cartoons. simple but can be very effective
• Typography/Motion Graphics – text animation, keep the focus on the words. you can use different effects to hold the interest. Think Karaoke.
• Infographic –   Using data charts, graphs, timelines, etc in fun interesting ways.
• Whiteboard/blackboard  – use as you would in class, simulations of drawing, and writing. great for explaining and obviously a very familiar technique for your students
• 3D- more modern, adding depth and realism
• Stop motion -individual shots, often a character or puppet captures in one pose and moved slightly to the next, shot again, etc.

4. Animate

There are teams that will animate for you, specialists, and professionals who know what they are doing and have all the tricks of the trade or you could go down the DIY route. If you choose the cheaper option, then the software and platforms available online are fantastic resources, allowing you great creative freedom and flexibility without requiring high-level technical skills.

Below are some great examples showing exactly how impressive these applications can be on real Ted-ed videos.

You may also be interested in these educational channels for inspiration: 21 of the Best Educational Cartoon Channels for Both Learning and Entertaining

With the technologies these days, it is possible to make some great animations on your own. So let’s take a look at some software that can help you.

4.1. The Best Animation Software to Try:

Option 1: Adobe After Effects

Adobe is the most well-known apps supplier for video editing, visual effects, animation, and much more. After Effects will help you create titles, intros, transitions, motion graphics, and other digital effects. You can animated text, logos, and characters or even an individual object from a clip. There are hundreds of effects to choose from and the only limit is your imagination. Ideal for giving a professional look to your text and logos.

It’s available on a 30-day free trial, simply by creating an account. After the trial costs $19.99 per month as a single app but it works better with the complete Adobe suite including Photoshop and Illustrator. There is step by step easy to follow tutorial available on the Adobe site and plenty of extra information on YouTube.

Option 2: Adobe Character Animator

Adobe Character Animator is an award-winning desktop application software product that combines live motion capture with a recording system to control 2D puppets drawn in Photoshop or designed in Illustrator. the puppets then have movement or “behaviors” assigned and can be placed into “scenes”. The controller can use webcam face tracking, microphones for lip-syncing, and control by the keyboard or mouse. The software allows your puppet, which could actually be an image of you, to move and be part of the video. A cool image capture that gives a guaranteed wow factor for any teacher. This app could be used for free and there are many free premade puppets that you can easily import and start animating in minutes – you can find some of them here.

In order to start your animation journey, YouTube has plenty of how-to-make tutorials to help you, but you can also look into our article 16 Tutorials to Learn Adobe Character Animator.

Option 3: Animaker

Animaker is a DIY video Animation software. A complete video-making tool that allows users to create animated videos using pre-built characters and templates in a range of styles, such as infographics, whiteboards, text animations, YouTube videos, or cartoon animations. It’s easy to use, with drag and drop features, stock photos, and 1000s of templates, and all with explainer “how-to” videos to guide you through each type and stage and useful blog articles.

As it’s cloud-based you don’t have to download anything to use it, and you can get started for free, but only for 2-minute maximum length videos. After that, there are a series of paid options from the personal plan at $12 per month (5-minute videos), a start-up at $19 (15 minutes), or business at $39 for 30-minute videos. Each higher-paid option offers more options and possibilities.

4.2. Add Some Stop-Motion

Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically micro-manipulated in between individually photographed frames so that they appear to move or change when the series of frames is played back.

Below are some YouTube examples of Stop motion animated videos that should get your creative juices flowing.

Some applications that can help you create this type of animation for your animated educational ted-ed esque videos are:

Option 1: q StopMotion

qStopMotion is a free application for creating stop-motion animation videos. Users are able to create stop-motion from pictures imported from a camera or from a hard drive and export the animation to different video formats. It’s a free downloadable software package that comes complete with an instruction manual to guide you through the features, tools, and whole process. Once you have your idea and storyline, qStopMotion will help you create an ideal stop-motion animation movie.

Option 2: StopMotionPro

StopMotionPro has tools such as camera controls, lip-sync, various special effects, onion skinning, and marker all on an easy-to-use intuitive interface. Eclipse is the animation program and Lip Sync Pro is a software application for planning (“breaking down”) dialogue for animation. There is a free trial download and plenty of support videos on the website to get you started, then it’s a case of playing around and trying things out. The paid versions start at $18 per month for eclipse and $50 for lip sync.

Option 3: DragonFrame

If you’ve seen Shaun the Sheep, you’ve seen DragonFrame stop motion animation software. Also used to make several full-length motion picture films, including Disney’s Frankenweenie and Laika’s Coraline. It’s more for professionals than starters, but whoa the hey. It includes tools such as step-to-live, auto-toggling, drawing with a virtual grease pencil, and onion skinning plus professional production features.

Get started today with a free trial of Dragonframe 4 stop motion software, giving you the chance to test your camera and familiarize yourself with the features of the program but the images are watermarked. There are special teachers and students non-commercial use offer or educational non-profit pricing, check out their site for details.

Option 4: Adobe Photoshop

You’ve probably heard of Adobe photoshop the most popular image-changing software package,  widely used by photographers for photo editing (changing colors,  adding effects, fixing brightness/contrast), and by graphic designers and Web designers to create and change images for web pages. It’s also possible to use this well-known software package to create stop motion videos by using time-lapse frames and other techniques. Photoshop is available through Adobe’s creative cloud.

4.3. Add Some Real Footage

Whilst you’re coming up with animation ideas and concepts, why not include some real video footage in your educational animations. It can demonstrate real-life and often show in seconds what would take a lot of needless work to recreate. For editing videos, we recommend using:

Option 1: Adobe Premiere Pro

One of the top Video editing apps is Adobe Premiere Pro and though part of the Adobe Creative Cloud it can be purchased separately for $19.99 per month. With Premiere Pro you can edit software for film, TV, and the web. There is a great selection of Creative tools and seamless integration with other apps and services.

As with all Adobe apps, there is a 7-day free trial option.

Option 2: Camtasia Studio

Camtasia is a software suite, all in one screen recorder and editor, ideal for creating video tutorials and presentations directly via screencast, or via a direct recording plug-in to Microsoft PowerPoint or meetings, lessons, etc. Like Adobe, Camtasia is professional-level video editing software with high-quality control and UI. You can add effects and music, edit audio clips, create titles and annotations, transitions, and add interactive quizzes and more. It is available at a special price for Educational (requires verification as working in or with a non-profit making educational institution) and there are alternative pricing structures for differing users. There is a free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Option 3: Davinci Resolve

If you are looking for free video software then  ‘DaVinci Resolve 16’ is perhaps the version for you, download it from the official website without paying anything. DaVinci Resolve combines professional editing, color correction, visual effects, and audio post-production all in one software tool meaning that you can easily move between editing, color, effects, and audio with a single click.

The upgrade is ‘DaVinci Resolve Studio’ features everything available in the free version along with several other tools like grading, motion blur effects, multi-user tools, 3D, and much more! there are numerous tutorials that will help you learn how to use it.

Option 4: VSDC Free Video Editor

Another free option may well be VSDC  Free video editing software. for editing all videos including GoPro videos, YouTube videos, and Educational animations right down to family movies. It has screen recording and video capture plus audio and video editing tools such as effects, filtration, correction, and a useful video converter.

There is a pro version – VSDC Video Editor Pro which costs  $19.99 and includes some more advanced video editing tools.

You may also be interested in 15 Sources Where You Can Find Remote Teaching Jobs

5. Add/Tweak/Change

The animation and storyboarding carry the message, now you want to make it even more memorable by adding the effects and backgrounds including music and sounds that will get it stuck in the memory banks of your students long after they left the lesson.

6. Narrate

Now add the voiceover, talking the students through, or giving voices to your characters and giving it that personal touch.

Final words

We know Ted-ed is great, we love it, and we really do. You should use it- it’s a top-class learning resource. There may however be times when you can’t find exactly what you are looking for, and you really want to design something from scratch. If so, it’s possible. As we’ve shown there is software available sometimes free, and with some time and effort, you can create a video animation to target your specific purpose and audience. Once you’ve got, you save it and use it time and time again, tweak as needed and build up your own set of resources that will set you apart from the crowd. Perfect for online, remote teaching, excellent for physical lessons in school.

You may also be interested in some of these related articles:

• 23 Great Free Google Slides and PowerPoint Templates for Teachers
• 100+ Free School Clipart for your Education Projects
• 12 Best Animation Software for Beginners (Premium, Free, and Online)

The post How to Make Cartoon Animation Like Ted-Ed appeared first on GraphicMama Blog.