Tools for Online Teaching and Learning

Tools you can use to create online content, share your created content, and connect with students/colleagues.

This video was a portion of today's webinar...

Many of you find yourself in a unique situation right now. You may be scrambling trying to find ways to connect with, or deliver content to, your students and/or colleges. In this blog posting I'll share some of the tools I use and provide some alternatives as well. If you have found other useful tools, please share.

Here are the tools discussed in the video with links...

(none of these are any sort of affiliate links, nor are we associated with any of these companies. these are honest recommendations)

Zoom - Online meetings. Probably the best option for getting a group together and having a discussion. You can even record your sessions and post them for later viewings. Free but with limitations, mainly that your session cannot go over 40 mins. Works on all devices.

Slack - Communication tool. Can replace text/emails. Able to share files, whether those are word docs, Mastercam files, or even videos recordings. Free with limitations, max 5GB of storgage. Works on all devices.

Google Apps - Docs, Sheets, Slides, and others. Very useful tools in that they are shareable, free, and work across all devices. You can edit a document and it will update in real time for everyone else. I like to use Sheets to provide assignment checklists and due dates.

Google Classroom - A step up from using individual apps, Classroom works great for issuing assignments, making announcements, and keeping in contact with your class. Another free option and it is available on all devices too.

Open Broadcaster Studio - Free. Can be used to record to mp4 or even live stream. Highly recommend.

Screencastomatic - Free version has recording limit.

Camtasia - This is the tool I use. Includes a video editor. Educational pricing for those who qualify. Produced by TechSmith who have other offerings as well.

Snagit - Similar to Camtasia but no video editor. Educational pricing, even without this is an affordable option.

Adobe Captivate - Similar to Camtasia. Subscription purchase only. Unfortunately, this is not included in Adobes Creative Cloud offering and must be purchased separately.

SmoothDraw - Whiteboarding software...think Kahn Academy.

Hitfilm Express - Probably the best free video editing software for Windows.

iMovie - Probably the best free video editing software for Mac.

Adobe Premiere Pro - Can be purchased as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud. This is professional level software.

YouTube - For sharing the content you have created, just watch your share settings if you do not want the entire world watching your videos.

Vimeo - Similar to YouTube but you must pay for an account.

Screencast - Another service from Techsmith. Free version but this limits you to 2GB of video storage and 2GB of bandwidth per month.

Kahoot - fun trivia type game that students can join from their phones or computers.

Classmarker - Automated online tests and quizzes.

CTE Coalition - Lots of course offerings can be found through this website.

Sanvik Metal Cutting Course - Nice free online course from Sandivk.

YouTube Channels...