Tech Talk: Top Ten EdTech Tools

I was recently asked "What are some of your favorite former edTech tools?"

My response, "How much time do you have?"

As one of three Technology Specialist Instructional Designers & Trainers at my former company (a K-12 school) in charge of training & transitioning all of the teachers into using their LMS + edTech + Zoom for Virtual & hybrid instruction from the start of the Pandemic, I have a LOT. For the sake of simplicity, here are...

Megan's TOP 10 EdTech

Megan's TOP 3:

Canvas LMS	​Canvas is the K-12+ LMS of choice. It is designed to be user-friendly for both teachers & students. It was an absolutely essential tool for me to facilitate my blended e-learning course design. I was able to truly differentiate through branching modules. So much edTech is built into the system for educators that it, in and of itself, can do so much. In addition, it has so many integrations and app add-ons available; it's mind-blowing! Prior to Canvas, I used Google Classroom as an LMS because it was free. It's more limited, BUT plays nicely with a lot of other edTech because it's a Google-based platform. Speaking of Google…
​G-Suite	​This is a bit of a catch-all. I know that the corporate world is firmly rooted in PC & Microsoft based systems, but as a GSuite trainer & guru + power Mac user, I have a strong love of Google Drive, Docs, Forms, Sheets, etc. The main reasons? It's FREE and it's COLLABORATIVE. Anything you do in Gsuite is instantly sharable and collaborative. You can also break down work history in a document by user. This is great for group projects AND live collaborative trainings. Really, the amount you can do with GSuite is pretty much endless. Click here to read an article I wrote about teaching Collaborative Writing Skills by leveraging Google Docs & Forms.
Chrome Extensions	​Again, this is a WIDE net I'm casting, but the number of free chrome extensions that are designed for teachers/ trainers to increase organization, productivity, and virtual collaboration are practically endless. I used to use the chrome extension Screencastify (a free screencasting plug in) to screen record flippled classroom lessons similar to the way we might use Camtasia, BUT Screencastify is FREE & you can instantly upload your recordings to YouTube in a customized and curated channel. Personally, I love screen-recordings for providing step-by-step technical instructions rather than delivering them live, as learners have the option to pause, rewind, re-watch, in their own time as they use the technology. Want to learn more about this strategy? Click here for another article I wrote on Differentiated Instruction with Flipped Classes & Video Instructions.

If you're an EdTech fan, I really hope you're on Twitter. It's the single most valuable resource out there for new and emerging tech.

In a recent Tweet, I said I could get rid of all my other edTech and still be happy as long as I had Gsuite + Chrome Extensions and it's true, but here are a few of my favorite stand-alone edTech applications.

Stand-Alone EdTech:

​EdPuzzle	​Upload videos (from your PC, YouTube, or any you have screen-recorded), then create & embed your own questions to check for learner comprehension as they go. It generates a report for each learner with the questions they got correct and/or missed. You can create and assign as many videos as you want. You can even embed them in some LMS courses. As I mentioned in my tweet, I love combining Tech Tools for maximum learner impact, and screen recording lessons with tools like Screencastify or Screencastomatic, then embedding them in EdPuzzle is a no-brainer win for me.
​Flipgrid	​Record short videos & have learners record short videos back. It's like a virtual forum where you use video responses instead of written ones. This is powerful for virtual training, where learners often feel unseen/ unheard and invisible in the learning process.
​Nearpod	​Bored with PowerPoints? Guide learners through interactive presentations. (Note: This platform is very much a K-12 tool... it is too "young" in it's design & assessment tools for a Corporate application, BUT the technology & concept behind it is very much applicable. Can somebody make the grown-up version for adults trainers, please?).
Padlet	​It's a simple concept, but I LOVE a good virtual stick-note wall. I also love the additional look & features that this particular virtual discussion board has to offer in the variety of ways you can set up your Padlet Walls as a facilitator. Plus, participants can add notes in real time and up-vote the ones they like as well.
​Canva & Adobe Spark	​Essentials for Instructional Designers. The corporate world has been using Adobe for design work for over a decade now, so this is not a new tool, but they continue to evolve and stay relevant--which is essential in a long-standing edTech world where so often cool tools come and go. And if you don't know about Canva, please STOP reading now and go check it out. I honestly use Canva for everything. It's just so *easy* to use!
​Go Formative and Quizziz	​Such great formative assessment & interactive audience polling tools. These two options are so much better than Kahoot. Speaking of polling tools, I love Mentimeter for presenting at conferences.
​Classcraft	​This is for K-12 only and definitely not intended for a corporate audience, but GOD I love a good gamification tool. Classcraft's concept and design are brilliant. I swear I'm not a paid spokesperson; I just genuinely believe that this could evolve into the future of differentiated, student-led self-paced education.
​Honorable Mention: Wakelet	​Virtual source curation tool. Save, organize, and share web-based content with a single link. Side Note: There are lots of other curation tools out there--I've even seen people use One Note for this purpose--but I personally like the ease of use for Wakelet.
​Honorable Mention: DeckToys	​This website has a lot of potential in terms of gamification & learner engagement as well, but the UI is not intuitive and a little cumbersome. If they step up the design, they could be a real contender in the K-12 edTech world.

This Top 10 is really just scratching the surface for K-12 & higher ed edTech! For more on this topic, I recommend following the #edTech on Twitter.