Top Tech Tools for the Teachers in 2023 (21st Century Classroom)

Hello Teachers,

The world is constantly changing and technology is increasingly becoming a part of all aspects of our lives. By using technology, professionals are able to do better work and contribute to shaping the world. As teachers are the backbone of our society, it's important that technology reaches them so they can shape the future of the world.

In this post, I'll be covering my top tech tool picks for teachers in 2023. Specifically, I'll be looking at tools that help you do things with your teaching that would be much more challenging, if not impossible, without technology. For example, I'll tell you about tools that turn any activity or piece of content into an interactive learning experience, tools that turn boring quizzes into engrossing games, tools that help you make faster, more effective video tutorials with the help of artificial intelligence, tools that both you and your students can use to explore your creativity using technology, and much more.

#1 - Whiteboard.chat

First on my list is Whiteboard.chat - the most feature-rich digital whiteboard available right now, and best of all, it's free. Whiteboard.chat was designed by teachers who continually make upgrades to their program. If you can think of an issue that annoys you about other online whiteboards, you can pretty much guarantee that Whiteboard.chat has addressed that problem and then some.

Let's look at a couple of examples. You can have a large variety of different types of grids to add to the background. Similarly, you can add an almost dizzying array of media types. For example, there's an option to add things like dice that you can roll to pick who goes next, or even a calculator that students can use to solve math problems directly on their whiteboards. You can add audio recordings to give students audio instructions for assignments or directly embed websites that students can access without ever having to leave the Whiteboard.chat interface. By clicking on Grid view, you can see all of your students' boards at the same time, and when students write on their boards, you'll see that work show up in real-time. When you click on an individual board, you'll also have the option to join that board, and once you're in, you can leave students with immediate feedback or help them with their work. Students can also raise a digital hand to let you know that they need extra help or to tell you that they finished with their work. Whiteboard.chat also has an embedded polling feature, and you can do things like freeze boards temporarily if you need to get students' attention, as well as add timers to boards and lock the images in the background so students can't move them on their end. You can even save boards and reuse them again at a later time. You'll love using this tool.

#2

Canva Education

Next on my list is Canva Education, my top pick for both teacher and student creativity, though it's also highly functional for creating interactive activities for students too. Canva Education is a great resource for both teachers and students, providing education-specific creativity tools and templates to create interactive activities, collaborative whiteboards, graphic design, and video projects. Teachers can design material for their classrooms using Canva's editable templates, including Classroom Decor Kits and whiteboard templates. 

Canva Education also offers interactive worksheets spanning a wide range of subjects, and students can collaborate on group projects using Canva's platform. Teachers can assign templates directly to students or groups of students, and once completed, students can submit their work to be reviewed and receive feedback. Canva Education integrates with Google Classroom, making it easy to sync class rosters and bring students directly into the platform. Additionally, Canva offers editable slide presentations, allowing teachers to mix up how they deliver their lessons.

#3

Gimkit

All right, next up on my list is my top tech tool for gamifying learning, and that tool is Gimkit. Gimkit sounds like a fun and engaging way to gamify learning for students. 

It's great that there are different options for creating questions and answers, from manually adding them to using pre-made ones from the question banks. The ability to include multimedia elements like images and audio recordings adds an extra level of engagement. And with the different game options available, there's sure to be something that appeals to every student. The cost of a monthly subscription seems reasonable for the value it can provide. Overall, it sounds like a great tool to add to a teacher's tech toolkit.

#4

Actively Learn

On my list of top tech tools for teachers in 2023 is Actively Learn, a platform that allows you to transform web pages, articles, and videos into interactive learning experiences. With the free version of Actively Learn, you'll have access to a vast library of articles with built-in interactive questions, which students must answer as they read through the material. Additionally, you can upload up to three pieces of your own content per month and make them interactive. This could be a PDF, website URL, or other digital materials. Actively Learn also provides helpful features to support students' reading, such as annotating, highlighting, and note-taking.

#5

iorad

My next top tech tool for teachers in 2023 is iorad, a tutorial builder that uses artificial intelligence to create step-by-step tutorials based on your screen recordings. Unlike other screen recorders, such as Screencastify, Loom, or Screencast-o-Matic, iorad builds tutorials for you, eliminating the need to manually create them. If you need to demonstrate a process or walk students through a task, iorad can be a powerful tool to simplify the process. With a paid subscription, you can add your own voiceover to further customize your tutorials.

#6

Wakelet

The last top tech tool on my list for 2023 is Wakelet, a free digital bulletin board. Wakelet is highly versatile and can be used for a variety of purposes, such as teacher-created collections of mixed media content, student digital portfolios, or collaborative research projects. It's similar to Pinterest, but with an educational focus. For example, you can create a lesson plan for students by adding a collection with the lesson's name, embed a Flipgrid video to explain the lesson, include links to related websites or Edpuzzle videos, upload relevant documents, and conclude with a Flipgrid assignment. Wakelet allows you to share your collections with others and explore public collections made by other educators.

I hope you're as excited as I am to try out some of these tech tools in your classroom in 2021. If there are any programs you love, that you think I might have missed, definitely let me know in the comments below.  

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CHEERS!!