The Best Online Learning Tools: For the New Term

A while back, I described some of the best online learning tools for the classroom; tools that benefit parents, students and teachers alike, allowing them to be involved in the process of learning. Since it’s almost time for another academic year now, there is no time like the present to regroup and explore some more fun platforms, websites and apps to make learning more interesting for all!

instaGrok
Conducting research and evaluating sources are some of the most important skills students develop through their education. instaGrok is especially useful to students who are first becoming familiarised with conducting research. This tool is a search engine that provides students with videos, images and articles in response to their queries. What’s best is that students can quiz themselves on certain topics of interest in order to learn them more in depth. Moreover, instaGrok works in combination with Edmodo, where students can upload their assignments and other work they have created from the former directly onto the latter system.

Wolfram Alpha
This database is excellent for students wanting a more systematised way of learning. Wolfram Alpha covers a wide range of topics, with a particularly clear focus on STEM topics. It provides learners with step-by-step solutions and explanations, so that they actually learn the how’s and why’s of a complex equation instead of simply memorising a result.

Quizlet
As is probably obvious from its name, Quizlet allows students to create quizzes, flashcards and games to enhance their learning. It can be accessed both online as a website and on mobile devices as a free app. Students don’t have to be alone in their creation of study material either; Quizlet allows users to work together and access each other’s work.

LightSail
“Revolutionising reading,” is their motto, and is precisely what the LightSail tool sets out to do. It consists of 80,000 books which assess a student’s learning process through reading comprehension questions and quizzes. The website material targets mostly students in grades 1-12 and adjusts the reading material in order to cater to the needs and performance of each student.

NewsELA
Another programme that aims at cultivating reading skills, NewsELA addresses students up into high school. This online reading programme tests the students’ understanding through quizzes, and attunes to the reading level of each student. What is noteworthy is that NewsELA allows all students to read the same content of an article, though at the same time to his or her own ability.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to bring up these tools in your classroom and at home. Use technology to get closer to your learning process and to the people who wish to work with you on that, such as your parents and educators. You won’t regret having them!