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Elearning activities can be fun AND promote quality learning. Here are lots of examples and templates to use!

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G Suite

It's easy to feel anxious, overwhelmed and frustrated if you're asked to create elearning activities and teach remotely because of a school closure.

You might be asking ...

What are my students going to do?

How can they continue learning at a high level?

Can I maintain that teacher/student connection through elearning?

How can I keep up with the demands of elearning?

Some ideas and examples to follow can help. Having some plug-and-play activities to assign students can help, too -- even if you need to adjust them to fit your students' needs.

We've got you covered.

In this post, you'll find 100 elearning activities, templates and tutorials. They'll help you create elearning activities that lend themselves to powerful learning when students are away from school.

Some ideas to keep in mind as you roll out your eLearning activities:

Keep communication with students and parents at the forefront. Be ready for questions. Make your communication more thorough than you anticipate.

Simplicity is key. Activities that are too complicated can be hard to follow through without the proper support.

Make space for students' emotional needs, too. Their routine is disrupted. They don't get to see their teacher or their fellow students. Help them to make those connections while they're away.

Don't be too hard on yourself. If you've never taught with eLearning activities, it'll be a learning process. Do your best. Learn and improve.

Lean on others for support. Use social media and colleagues in your school/district to brainstorm ideas.

Here are over 100 remote learning activities, templates and tutorials you can use tomorrow:

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100 remote learning activities, templates and tutorials

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Remote learning activities can be fun AND promote quality learning. Here are lots of examples and templates to use!It's easy to feel anxious, overwhelmed

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It is time to EXPLORE the world!

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Digital archive of a variety of media produced about current events, public history and government. Bunk shows connection both spatially and across historic eras.

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This year, NPR held its first Student Podcast Challenge — a podcast contest for students in grades 5 through 12. As we listened to the almost 6,000 entries, we smiled, laughed, and even cried. Students opened their lives to us with stories about their families, their schools and communities and their hopes for the future.

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This year, NPR held its first Student Podcast Challenge - a podcast contest for students in grades 5 through 12. As we listened to the almost 6,000 entries, we smiled, laughed, and even cried. Students opened their lives to us with stories about their families, their schools and communities and their hopes for the future.

We named our winners last month - the eighth graders of Bronx Prep Middle School in New York, and the eleventh graders of Elizabethton High School in Tennessee.

But lots of other students blew us away. Here, for your listening pleasure, are just some of the many podcast entries that made us smile - and reminded us what it's like to be in middle and high school.
A divisive subject: Tater tots
The title of this finalist was enough to get our judges' attention. In "Tater Tots and their Lasting Impact on Society," fifth-graders Jack Lazzarone and Kalvin Martinez interviewed their classmates in teacher Ryan Brock's class at Jessie Beck Elementary School in Reno, N.V., about their thoughts about tots. (Not everyone loves the texture, apparently.) They even talked to a spokesperson from Ore-Ida, who told them all about the history of the deep-fried dish.
Another great debate: Which exotic house pet is for you?
The sixth graders in Zehra Lakhani's class at Clearwater Fundamental Middle School, in Clearwater, Fla., took on yet another hard-hitting assignment: "Which is a better exotic house pet: skunks or hedgehogs?" Audrey Morgan, Sophia Reese and Isabella Baltazar asked. They first gathered the data by interviewing 11 of their classmates about their thoughts on the subject. Then they dove into the facts. A pet skunk might be useful, they say, if a thief tries to rob your house. But hedgehogs are known to be great companions.
Growing up in Crow Agency, Montana
We heard from student podcasters from all 50 states, and one of our judges' favorites came from Connie Michael's students at Crow Agency Public School in Montana. "We're here to debunk myths about Native Americans," they told us. "People think we still live in tepees and still hunt for food."

In reality, the fifth-graders report, they love video games like Fortnite and Call of Duty, like other kids their age. But they also honor their heritage: They can speak Crow, and proudly celebrate their rich culture and history.
A podcast about friendship and being a teenager
We got a window into growing up in Morehead, Ky. from a group of 11th-graders at Rowan County Senior High School. In their podcast, we learn of the brotherhood that has formed among a group of young men as they spend hours and hours every week hanging out - with their friends, and their trucks - in the parking lot of the town's Walmart.

In "Tales From The Walmart Parking Lot," the students said they'll always remember this time of their lives: "We might not be blood, but we'll treat each other like family until the end."

Listen to the "Walmart crew" below. Their submission came to us from teacher Lindsay Johnson.
Complaints from fifth grade: bathroom passes
You've been there, right? Raising your hand in front of the whole class, and asking for a pass to go to the bathroom? Teacher Kathleen Isberg's fifth-graders at Park Hill Elementary School in Denver confronted this issue head-on.

"At our school, every teacher comes up with an object that you have to carry to and from class," Caitlyn Whitehead, Nico Sexton and Ramona Young told us in their podcast. "I wonder if the bathroom passes ever get cleaned?"

The students conclude that hall passes are gross and demeaning for students - but they understand that teachers have good reasons for using them.
Pickles!
"Do you ever get home, tired and hungry, and just want a pickle? That's literally me every day."

That's how sixth-grader Amy Walsh began her podcast. Amy loves pickles, and created her podcast to share the history of the food - and the practice of pickling - with the world.

She made the project in Nathan Garvin's class at Swanson Middle School in Arlington, Va.

Grab a pickle, take a seat, and listen below.
Taking fifth grade "One Word At a Time"
Many student podcasters taught us about the subjects they were learning in class. The fifth-graders at Cambridge Elementary School in Cambridge, Wis., broke into groups and made their podcasts about one word each.

"Were you in the cafeteria today? There was a huge kerfuffle!" Hannah Johnson, Makenna Angerhofer, Casey Granger, and Jacob Olson said to teach us about the word kerfuffle.

Teacher Mary Beth Steven's students created podcasts about a list of words including eureka, hippopotamus and lexical. Listen to all the entries from Steven's students here.
A father and daughter talk Pokemon Go
We heard interviews with siblings, parents and grandparents in the many podcasts that students created for the contest.

Skyler Perry made it to our list of finalists by interviewing her father about an activity he spends a lot of time on: playing Pokemon Go. Skyler, a senior at The Wellington School in Columbus, Ohio, told us how she introduced her dad, Jim, to the game. By the time they recorded the podcast, Jim had caught 23,053 Pokemon.

For her entry, submitted by her teacher Keith Leonard, Skyler talked with other Pokemon Go fans - and she even interviewed an expert who studies how the game affects its players. Knowing her dad will have Pokemon Go to keep him busy, Skyler said in the podcast, makes her feel just a little bit better about heading off to college in the fall.

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8 Student-Made Podcasts That Made Us Smile

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This year, NPR held its first Student Podcast Challenge - a podcast contest for students in grades 5 through 12. As we listened to the almost 6,000 entries, we smiled, laughed, and even cried. Students opened their lives to us with stories about their families, their schools and communities and their hopes for the future.

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90 Math Bell Ringers to start class.

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Math video links to Youtube videos by a math teacher. Each one is it's own activity.

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Digital Citizenship lessons for a 9 day unit.

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Digital Citizenship Course // NLCC Students - Listed on TpT - Do Not Delete

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Zoom for video conference chat with students (similar to Skype and better quality)

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Virtual Gifted and Talented Enrichment Support Materials

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Start by initiating your complimentary access to Newsela ELA, Newsela Social Studies, Newsela Science, and The Newsela SEL Collection through the 2019/2020 school year.

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Helping you plan and continue instruction during the COVID-19 crisis

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To help your schools and give you some degree of certainty during these uncertain times, we are making Newsela's entire product suite available, free of charge.

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Check out these 10 tips for distance learning!

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Considering that Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has already started closing schools, teachers need to have a plan in the event they are asked to convert to distance learning. Before we explore these tips, here a couple of caveats:

The fears over Coronavirus may be more hype than substance. Without a crystal ball, we cannot know the future for sure.

Not all students have devices at home or internet access at home. We need to have a much more equitable society. Beyond that, these students should not be punished in a distance learning scenario.

Having established those caveats are 10 tips for teachers who are asked to convert to distance learning.

Tip 1: Use Google Classroom for Lesson and Assignment Workflow

If you are not using Google Classroom, this is the perfect time to get started with the easiest platform for lesson and assignment workflow. Benefits of Classroom include:

Classroom makes it easy for teachers to handle typical classroom workflow tasks such as guided notes and giving students feedback. Even if your school stays open during the Coronavirus era, start taking advantage of all Classroom has to offer. For more information about Google Classroom, please visit my page of Classroom resources.

Tip 2: Record Yourself with Screencastify

Good news! Your students can still see your face and hear your voice thanks to the Screencastify Google Chrome extension. The free version of Screencastify allows teachers to make up to 5-minute videos with no Screencastify watermark. Here are some tips for using Screencastify:

Be very careful about going any longer than 5 minutes with video. Attention spans are short!

Take your slides and any websites you want to include and download them as PDFs. Viewing the PDF instead of the full-on Google Slides editor when you record will take less device memory.

Include your face on the video. It's better than the disembodied voice.

Be sure to not be backlit. If there are windows in your room, face them as you record. Additionally, stack your laptop and its webcam on some books so you look better.

You will use verbal pauses such as "um" and "like." It happens. When I started making screencast videos, I used the word "essentially" a lot. Just power through and get better over time.

Consider making quick-hit 1-minute videos about single concepts. These will hold your students' attention better and help them study.

Tip 3: Add Assessment to Video with edpuzzle

may be misnamed but it is is a wonderful tool for making the most of video. Add short answer and multiple-choice questions to video. This is perfect for lesson videos made with Screencastify. As a bonus, edpuzzle integrates with Google Classroom.

Tip 4: Use Google Forms for Assessment

Google Forms is a teacher's best friend for assessment. Some of the benefits include:

Multiple-choice and short answer questions.

So simple and easy with Google Classroom.

Response validation - when students answer, Google Forms tells them if they answer correctly or incorrectly.

Quiz mode. Give students remediation feedback when they answer incorrectly.

Shuffle questions in the form's settings and answers in a question's three-dot menu.

With digital questions, there is no longer any need for numbers and letters. No more "Number 23 is A" cheating.

Tip 5: Use Quizlet for Vocabulary

is a great web app for creating vocabulary flashcard decks. Teachers and students can do this. Quizlet integrates with Google Classroom. Quizlet diagrams are especially useful. Teachers can generate quizzes from Quizlet decks and make them into Google Forms.

Tip 6: Use Verso for Anonymous Class Discussion

is a web app for anonymous class discussions. Teachers see student identities. Students do not. For more information about class discussion with Verso, please read my blog post, Upgrade Class Discussion with Verso.

Tip 7: Use Jamboard for Math, Collaboration, Brainstorming, and Drawing

Google's Jamboard app enables freeform collaboration and brainstorming. Jamboard has perfect Google Classroom integration. Use Classroom to give a group of students edit access to a Jam. Jamboard even has graph paper as a background setting. Infinite collaborative graph paper for your students! Jamboard is also a great tool for having students draw digitally. For more information about Jamboard please read:

Tip 8: Use Google's Geography Tools to Teach Students with Geography

Google has some great geography tools that students and teachers can use to tell stories with geography. They include:

Google My Maps is a great tool for teachers to tell stories with geography. Students and teachers can now create stories with Google Earth too ( explanatory PDF). Even being away from students, teachers can still use Google Expeditions. There are 104 expeditions published on the web. Additionally, students and teachers can create VR expeditions with Tour Creator. These expeditions can be shared on the web or viewed using the Expeditions mobile app.

Tip 9: Meet Remotely with Hangouts Meet

If teachers need to confer with individual students, small groups, or whole classes, they can use Google's elegant conferencing tool, Hangouts Meet. Google recently announced they are making Hangout Meet premium tools such as recording available to all EDU users through July 1.

Tip 10: Use ThingLink to Add Dimension to Images

ThingLink is such a great app to add information and interactivity to imagery. One of the best things about ThingLink is how Google Slides, Google Forms, and YouTube videos work without opening any new tabs! Have a look at this ThingLink that condenses information in this blog post:

What do you think? What do you plan on doing if you need to convert to distance learning? Please comment below or tweet me, @TomEMullaney.

Does your school need remote professional development to keep teachers sharp during this possible time away from school? Have a look at some of my offerings and connect with me on Twitter.

Photo by Kevin Bhagat on Unsplash.

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10 Tips for Converting to Distance Learning

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Considering that Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has already started closing schools, teachers need to have a plan in the event they are asked to convert to distance learning. Before we explore these tips, here a couple of caveats: The fears over Coronavirus may be more hype than substance.

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Organizing Google Classroom for Distance Learning

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Organizing Google Classroom for Distance Learning

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Check out this guide to organizing your Google classroom.

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is a learning management system (LMS), and while there are plenty of others out there (Blackboard, Canvas, Schoology) I prefer Google Classroom for four reasons:

If you've never used it before, . Learn the basics of setting up a class, students, and assignments, then come back when you are ready to start posting assignments.

That way, on a Monday, students can quickly look at all their assignments and know the ones labeled with an "M" are what they should be working on that day.

I think part of the reason this strategy is effective at our middle school is that we developed the system as a team. We all organize our Google Classrooms and label our assignments in the same way.

I also use the stream to post short messages to students for online days, summarizing their work for the day and encouraging them to reach out with questions. I recently started to post selfies too, to remind them that there is a caring adult on the other end of their screen.

If you are interested in learning more about teaching remotely, my article Online Teaching in the Time of Coronavirus gives an overview of how to transition to online teaching and When Schools Close Down, Parents Become Learning Coaches.

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How I Organize My Google Classroom for Online Instruction

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is a learning management system (LMS), and while there are plenty of others out there (Blackboard, Canvas, Schoology) I prefer Google Classroom for four reasons: If you've never used it before, . Learn the basics of setting up a class, students, and assignments, then come back when you are ready to start posting assignments.

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Check out this guide to structuring your online class.

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In order to conduct a "live class" online, you'll need to use a virtual meeting program. There are plenty of programs out there. is a popular option for online schools, thanks to features like "break out groups" and "waiting rooms." However, Zoom is a paid-for-product, whereas is free for Google for Education accounts.

Before a "live class" I'll start by posting our Google Meet link and a reminder of our virtual classroom norms to Google Classroom about 15-30 minutes before we start (so that students don't join too early and waste too much time chatting).

Tip: If you are going to be presenting a lesson, join the Google Meet on another device (such as your phone or tablet) to monitor the chat as you present.

While the chat box and microphone can be a perfectly acceptable ways to interact with students, my favorite way to deliver a lesson remotely is through

Pear Deck allows students to interact with my Google Slides content via multiple choice questions, text response, drawing, and dragging. It gives me immediate formative data about which students are engaging and what they are understanding.

It's also important to note that once a Google Meet link is live, there isn't a way to end it, so students may remain on the virtual meeting after it's finished. If you want to be sure that students have left the meeting, stay on until everyone has logged off; however, they can always rejoin later or even create their own private meeting. This has been both good and bad at my school. On the one hand it's a great way for students to socialize during their online days. On the other hand, it can prove to be a major distraction. I usually jump back on the meet a couple times a day to see who's there and check in to make sure they're being productive.

Asynchronous learning is as simple as posting instructions and a due date for students on a learning management platform (LMS) such as Students complete their work independently (hopefully before the due date) and reach out with questions via email, text, or video chat (I have yet to have a student call me on the phone).

There have been conversations about making hotspots available in low-income areas, and schools providing mobile hotspots for students who need them. You can take action by contacting the in support of this service.

have applied for Federal Waivers to provide grab-and-go meals for students who need them in the case of school closures. Hopefully other schools or districts will follow suit.

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Online Teaching in the Time of Coronavirus

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In order to conduct a "live class" online, you'll need to use a virtual meeting program. There are plenty of programs out there. is a popular option for online schools, thanks to features like "break out groups" and "waiting rooms." However, Zoom is a paid-for-product, whereas is free for Google for Education accounts.

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Google Video Calls.

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Google Duo is now Google Meet.

Learn more

Google Meet is one service for secure, high-quality video meetings and calls available for everyone, on any device.

Meet safely

Meet uses the same protections that Google uses to secure your information and safeguard your privacy. Meet video conferences are encrypted in transit, and our array of safety measures are continuously updated for added protection.

Meet from anywhere

Get the whole crew together in Google Meet, where you can present business proposals, collaborate on chemistry assignments, or just catch up face to face.

Businesses, schools, and other organizations can live stream meetings to 100,000 viewers within their domain.

Meet on any device, anywhere

Guests can join from their computer using any modern web browser-no software to install. On mobile devices, they can join from the Google Meet app. Guests can even join meetings and calls from Google Nest Hub Max.

Meet clearly

Google Meet adjusts to your network speed, ensuring high quality video calls wherever you are. New AI enhancements keep your calls clear even when your surroundings aren't.

Meet with everyone

With live captions powered by Google's speech recognition technology, Google Meet makes meetings more accessible. For non-native speakers, hearing impaired participants, or just noisy coffee shops, live captions make it easy for everyone to follow along (available in English only).

Top questions

Expand all Collapse all

Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat were rebranded to Google Meet and Google Chat in April 2020. We announced in 2019 that we would be migrating all classic Hangouts users to the new Meet and Chat products. In order to provide enterprise-grade online video conferencing to everyone, we announced a no-cost version of Google Meet in May 2020.

Absolutely. For the no-cost version of Google Meet, all participants will need to be signed into a Google Account to join. You can create a Google Account with a work or personal email address.

For Google Workspace customers, once you've created a meeting, you can invite anyone to join even if they don't have a Google Account. Just share the link or meeting ID with all meeting participants.

Anyone with a Google Account can create a video meeting, invite up to 100 participants, and meet for up to 60 minutes per meeting at no cost.

For additional features such as international dial-in numbers, meeting recording, live streaming, and administrative controls, see plans and pricing for organizations.

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Google Meet: Online Video Meetings and Calls | Google Workspace

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Google Duo is now Google Meet. Learn more Google Meet is one service for secure, high-quality video meetings and calls available for everyone, on any device. Meet uses the same protections that Google uses to secure your information and safeguard your privacy.

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Math instruction that is individualized for each student.

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Special Offer - Ascend Math - Free Through June 30

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Special offer due to coronavirus: Schools new to Ascend Math may have full use of Ascend Math for up to 300 students free through June 30th.

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Our free Avaya Spaces offer provides a cloud meeting and team collaboration solution that enables people and organizations to connect and collaborate remotely – and goes beyond integrating chat, voice, video, online meetings and content sharing. It gives users all the meeting and team collaboration features needed, including voice and video conferencing for up to 200 participants.

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Ted Ed video list categorized by topics for easy integration.

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How to Teach Remotely with a Google Slides Hyperdoc

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How to Teach Remotely with a Google Slides Hyperdoc

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How to teach remotely with a Google Slides Hyperdoc. In this week's education technology tutorial, veteran educator and edtech enthusiast Sam Kary shows teachers how to set up a lesson during virtual teaching.

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How to Teach Remotely with a Google Slides Hyperdoc

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… Suddenly Forced to Teach Online Due to a Global Pandemic

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... Suddenly Forced to Teach Online Due to a Global Pandemic

At the time of this writing, colleges and universities around the world are cancelling face-to-face classes to slow the spread of coronavirus. At nearly every institution of higher education, faculty are being asked to prepare for the possibility of teaching courses online. As an experienced online professor, here are my Top 10 Tips to help you transition to teaching online.
Tip #1: Consider Teaching Asynchronously
For the first few weeks of teaching online, it makes a lot of sense to meet synchronously with Zoom or WebEx. Perhaps that's all we'll need and then it will be back to normal. However, it is possible that face-to-face learning will be disrupted for longer than just a few weeks. In that case, I encourage you to seriously consider teaching your course asynchronously.

What does that mean? It means that instead of live webinars, you would provide your students with lecture videos, which they can watch at any time of the day or night. There are many advantages to asynchronous learning. It provides greater flexibility for students during a time of crisis and gives them the opportunity to review lectures multiple times. For faculty, developing lecture videos can be a real time savings, especially for those teaching multiple sections of the same course.
Tip #2: Keep Course Navigation Simple and Obvious.
Everything is harder for students online. Communication is slower. Distractions are greater. The greatest gift you can give to your students is to make the learning process simple and clear. When you're a student taking an online course for the very first time, you're like an inexperienced traveler who just landed in Jakarta. Where am I? Where's the syllabus? What's my first assignment? Imagine all the uncertainty of the first day of class without an instructor there to walk you through it.

Navigation should be stone-cold obvious. In addition, I would suggest you make a brief video labeled "START HERE" that shows students exactly how the course is laid out. Here's an example of one of my welcome videos.
Tip #3: Build on Existing Content
Professors have been teaching online lecture and lab courses for well over a decade and there's an enormous number of quality educational resources already available for you to use with your students. The Open Educational Resources (OER) movement is alive and strong, and you should take full advantage of it. As you search the web you'll find lecture videos, lab activities, discussion prompts, simulations, etc. This should be your first stop before making lots of content yourself. As my old physics professor used to say, "An afternoon in the library can save you a month in the laboratory."

If you teach advanced courses, you may be underwhelmed by what you find online. Think creatively about how you can twist an activity to make it work with the resources you find. For example, did you find a great lecture video, but it's more appropriate for high school students? Ask your students to watch and critique the content, looking for oversimplifications or errors in the presentation.
Tip #4: Keep Your Lecture Videos Short
I know our slide-decks are built for 50 minute lectures, but believe me when I tell you that you're going to want to split that up into shorter lectures - it will benefit both you and your students. When students work online, they don't just sit at the computer for 50 minutes and then come back two days later for the next lecture. They consume content at different speeds in different amounts over different intervals of time. Shorter lecture videos are much like shorter chapters in a popular novel - they allow more "break-points" where a student can step away and then come back and pick up where they left off. Shorter videos also make it easier for students to find the content they want to review.

Shorter lecture videos are also a huge benefit to instructors. If you're not accustomed to recording yourself, you will quickly discover how many more mistakes you make when there's a microphone or camera recording. Hopefully you can just power through those mistakes, but if you can't - you will waste hours trying to edit or re-record a 50-minute lecture video. Instead, keep those videos short (5-15 minutes) and you will find it faster and easier to record, edit, and upload your videos. Plus if you ever decide to revise your video lectures in the future, you will be so glad that you can just update a brief video rather than re-record a full lecture.

You can make longer videos, but don't expect students to watch the whole thing. YouTube analytics will even show you which parts students are skipping (or rewatching).

By the end of this 8-min video, only 40% of my students are still watching. But many students are re-watching the video at the 2 minute mark.
Tip #5: Use Simple Technology
Technology is amazing, but it often causes problems for students. Troubleshooting technology issues remotely for 30 students is a nightmare. If you're the one causing the issue (with an overly technical assignment), then you should take a hard look in the mirror and ask yourself if the tools can be simplified. In online classes, we should always strive to use the simplest possible technology that gets the job done - even if that means students are taking cell phone pictures of hand-drawn work and uploading it for you to grade.

The same is also true for the technology that instructors use to create course content. I've been teaching online for years and all of my course content was created with Google Docs and a $20 subscription to Screencastify. None of my computers cost more than $300 - I only use Chromebooks. Why? Because it works.
Tip #6: Make It Simpler for Students So It's Easier for You
I'm a big advocate of making things simpler instead of harder. Don't get me wrong, I don't think a class should be simple as in "everyone gets an A!" I mean it should be "simple" in that students know exactly what's expected of them (so that I don't get a hundred emails a day asking questions). I've already touched on a few things we can do to simplify our online classes like using simple technology and simple navigation, but there are other things that we can do as well.

For example, let's say that I have an assignment asking students to write 500 words on examples of symmetry in nature. That's a fine assignment, but it is a bit tedious (especially the part where I have to read all of these essays). How can I make that assignment simpler? Instead I will ask each student to take ten pictures of symmetry in nature and to share those pictures with the class on a discussion board. The assignment just became way more engaging and enjoyable for students and way easier for me to grade. I call that a win-win.
Tip #7: Think Creatively About Labs
I've been teaching online science labs since 2009. And yet I continue to hear from college faculty who believe that science labs cannot be taught online. Well I'm here to tell you that they already are being taught online. Granted, online lab activities look different than those in the traditional laboratory but they're no less high quality. In my teaching, I generally take three different approaches to lab activities:
Simulations
There's an enormous variety of excellent simulations freely available on the web. These simulations were often built to replicate traditional science labs that are already being done in the classroom. Moreover many of these simulations have existing lab write-ups available for faculty and students to use. The most challenging aspect of simulation-based labs is that they often rely on out-of-date technology, Adobe Flash. Flash continues to be supported by Google Chrome (until the end of 2020), but only if it is specifically enabled by the user on the website. ( Here are instructions for enabling Flash). At the end of the day, there are always some students who are unable to get Flash simulations to work on their computers. As a workaround I often record a screen capture video of the simulation in action so that students can use the video to collect the necessary data to complete the lab.
Kitchen Labs
This is the category of labs that can be completed with common household items (or something that could reasonably be found at a grocery store). At first it may seem that the list of labs in this category would be extremely small, but when you start to think creatively you can find many interesting lab alternatives that work quite nicely. For example, in my astronomy class I have students create a spectrometer with a CD and a cereal box. They measure the speed of light by melting chocolate in a microwave. And students measure the speed of sound with a cell phone and a car horn. When you combine your expert content knowledge and your creativity, you'll be surprised with what you come up with. And... never underestimate the value of photographs as a lab assessment tool (it's impossible to cheat when you have to submit a picture of yourself and the spectrometer you just made out of a cereal box).

A student with his homemade cereal box spectrometer.
Separate Data Collection and Analysis
This third approach separates the data collection process from the data analysis. After all, data analysis can easily be done online. It is the data collection that is difficult. In a traditional science lab, students walk in and find a set of equipment. They are then told precisely how to set it up and precisely how to collect the data.

In an online classroom, we can replicate this data collection process in many different ways. You could record a video (using your own department's lab equipment) which shows how the experiment is set up as well as the data collection process. You can provide them the data to the students or ask them to record the data from the video themselves (as if they were a lab partner standing right next to you). This approach can actually be an improvement over traditional labs, since you can collect data from anywhere. Imagine taking your students with you via video to collect data from a unique ecosystem or even a professional-grade science lab.

Granted - there's no substitute for the real thing when it comes to learning how to use scientific equipment. But if we're honest about our introductory science labs - most of them are focused on data collection for the purpose of understanding scientific concepts. That can definitely be done online.
Tip #8: Leverage the Benefits of Autograding
I think autograding gets a bad rap. Consider the benefits to students of autograded assignments. Students get immediate feedback on their work. That's huge! It allows the assessment to be part of the instruction because students can immediately see what they understand and what they don't.

When combined with questions banks, autograded assignments make it easy to give students multiple attempts on homework or quizzes. I use autograded practice assignments with an unlimited number of attempts so that students can try again and again until they earn full credit. After all, why wouldn't I let my students work harder to demonstrate their mastery of the content? Especially since I'm letting a robot do the grading.

Keep in mind that "autograded" does not necessarily mean "multiple choice." Every LMS has several autograded question types like numerical response or fill in the blank. For those types of questions, students can't simply guess their way to full credit.
Tip #9: Answer Student Questions with Course Improvements
Maybe you'll be back in the face-to-face classroom in just a few weeks. (Here's hoping, right?) But maybe not. If you find yourself teaching online long-term, then consider this innovation for continuously improving your course: answer the students' questions directly in the course.

Are you getting emails from students who can't find the syllabus? Then improve your course navigation. Have several students asked about the same topic that they just don't understand? Record an additional video to address the topic and post it to the course so that other students don't get stuck. Taking this approach has the double benefit of helping students before they get confused and reducing the number of emails you receive. Over time, your course will continue to improve and both you and your students will be happier.
Tip #10: Save Time with Chunking
Without the structure of a class schedule to organize their day, online professors must become master time managers. The best time management solution I've ever encountered is "chunking your time." The basic premise is that you set aside larger chunks of time each day or week for your essential tasks rather than simply responding to interruptions when they arise.

For example, I only respond to student emails in the morning between 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM. That gives me enough time to answer all of my students' questions, and since I do it every weekday, I always respond to my students within 24 hours. It also means that I don't have worry about checking my email and responding to students at any other time during the day. I do the same thing for my grading. Every Wednesday and Friday I set aside time to grade all the student work that has been submitted. Once again by grading on these two days I can be sure that every assignment has been graded within 72 hours. You can chunk other essential tasks like updating your course content or committee work.
In Conclusion
You've been put in a very difficult position, and hopefully it is just for a little while. Remember that you have colleagues around the country (and around the world) who have walked this path before you. And we are here to help.

If there's anything I can do to help, feel free to reach out to me at avheuv@gmail.com.
Andrew Vanden Heuvel is an online astronomy professor at several community colleges across the country. He was the 2010 Michigan Online Teacher of the Year and a finalist for the National Online Teacher of the Year award.

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10 Tips for First-Time Online Professors

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Suddenly Forced to Teach Online Due to a Global Pandemic At the time of this writing, colleges and universities around the world are cancelling face-to-face classes to slow the spread of coronavirus. At nearly every institution of higher education, faculty are being asked to prepare for the possibility of teaching courses online.

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Google Drive with Shared School Documents

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Google Drive with Shared School Documents

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A Google Drive filled with lots of resources for all different types of schools and ages.

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Welcome to our Continuous Learning site.

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Welcome to our Continuous Learning site. Please see the page links at the top for information specific to each section of the school, as well as the Parents page for some helpful resources.

When our campus is closed temporarily we will engage students with learning experiences that continue the planned learning program, and help them to stay connected with teachers and classmates.

These experiences offer authentic opportunities to focus on key concepts, knowledge, and skills. They emphasize interaction and creativity, and involve a balance of on-screen and off-screen tasks that help connect to previous learning and the current curriculum.

As always, online communications are managed in a respectful and safe way. For clarity and safety, we only use Google suite products (school emails and learning platforms) to directly interact with students.

YIS is a close, caring and resilient community. With everyone's continuing support, our Live Learn Lead mission continues wherever we may be.

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Welcome to our Continuous Learning site. Please see the page links at the top for information specific to each section of the school, as well as the Parents page for some helpful resources. When our campus is closed temporarily we will engage students with learning experiences that continue the planned learning program, and help them to stay connected with teachers and classmates.

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Trim/Send Youtube Videos and Your Own Videos with Embedded Self-Grading Questions You Created

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Flipgrid is simple. Engage and empower every voice in your classroom or community by recording and sharing short, awesome videos … together!

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We express ourselves in different ways. On Flip, you can use our simple and fun built-in camera to record your thoughts, add effects and share within your Flip group as video, audio only or text in your web browser or mobile app.

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Flip is a video discussion and sharing app, free from Microsoft.

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Flip (formerly Flipgrid) is a video discussion and video sharing app, free from Microsoft, built for classrooms and beyond. Learn more.

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Math and ELA activities for K-12.

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7 Big Things Ideas as you Shift Towards Online Teaching 

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7 Big Things Ideas as you Shift Towards Online Teaching 

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If you’re reading this right now, there’s a good chance your school is moving quickly from face-to-face to online instruction. With COVID-19, there are many classrooms doing a quick shift toward online instruction. You are likely a K12 educator but you might be a professor at a university where your school has suddenly shifted classes online without any warning.

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A few days ago, we found out that all of the schools here in Oregon will be off until the start of April. Many of the universities have asked professors to switch their courses from face-to-face to online. This is a move that school districts across the U.S. and throughout the world are making. Needless to say, these are unprecedented times.

As a K-12 teacher, I had extensive experience with blended and hybrid teaching. As a professor, I've helped professors pilot new online courses and transform their face-to-face courses to online courses. And yet, I was reticent about writing this article and creating the eBook and toolkit that accompany it.

Why?

Because I still have times when I mess up with online learning. I still have lessons that tank. I still have times when I haven't developed as tight of an online community as I would have hoped. I am constantly learning and evolving as I move through new iterations in distance learning. And yet, I also see value in sharing what I've learned along the way. With that in mind, I thought I would offer my perspective and share my free resources.

The bad news? You can't convert your course.

As an education professor, I had the opportunity to work as a Digital Fluency Mentor helping professors develop online, hybrid, and virtual courses. One of the most common questions people asked me was, "How do I convert my face-to-face course into an online course?"

The truth is, you can't convert it. Learning isn't like a file that converts between a .doc and a PDF and a Google Doc. We can't simply substitute new tools and do the same exact activity. In other words, that rich, spontaneous, Socratic Seminar simply won't work in a discussion board or through a video conferencing system. That amazing collaborative design challenge doesn't transfer easily when students move out of the makerspace and into their own homes.

See, the problem with the idea of converting instruction is that you only see the limitations. You take a great in-person activity and then you try to do your best to substitute it with digital tools. But this will always lead to a deficit.

The Mindset Shift: From Converting to Transforming

But what if we chose a different approach? What if we asked, "How do I transform my course?" rather than "How do I convert it?"
With transformation, you think about the creative and connective capacity of technology to design learning experiences that would have been inconceivable before.

This idea is at the heart of the SAMR Model. With the SAMR model, the first two layers focus on using technology to enhance the learning process while the next two layers focus on transforming the learning. The first level, Substitution, uses technology as a direct substitution for the learning task with no significant change. So, a student who types an essay on the computer merely swaps a pencil for a keyboard. With Augmentation, the technology acts as a substitution with some augmentation. So, that paper essay moves to a Google Doc, where students can not only type and edit but also comment on one another's work. With Modification, technology enables significant task redesign. So, that essay is now a blog post. Students engage in online research, work collaboratively on a shared document, and publishing to an authentic audience. It is no longer an essay for a teacher. Instead, it is an article crafted for the world. With Redefinition, the technology allows for tasks that were previously inconceivable. So, that same essay is now a multimedia package, with a blog post, a podcast, and a short video. The research, too, includes video conferences with experts.

Note that Redefinition isn't necessarily better. Sometimes you simply need to substitute or modify a task with technology. At the same time, we also want to avoid the trap of handing students digital worksheets and essentially shifting toward packet work.

Equity Matters

The following are ideas we need to consider ahead of time:

If you're reading this right now, there's a good chance your school is moving quickly from face-to-face to online instruction. With COVID-19, there are many classrooms doing a quick shift toward online instruction. You are likely a K12 educator but you might be a professor at a university where your school has suddenly shifted classes online without any warning.

It's easy to step into digital spaces and forget that they are not socially neutral. The systems that perpetuate injustice off-line exist online as well. With that in mind, I'd like to remind educators to remember the following:

1. Not everyone has the same access to technology. Not every student has the same device or the same internet connection. Not every student has the same access to a quiet workspace at home. Please work with key stakeholders to address the issue of equity of access.

2. Power dynamics exist online. Pay close attention to the role of gender and race in your online instruction. There's a tendency for people to assume a false social neutrality online but you need to address power dynamics. Please consider finding experts in culturally responsive pedagogy and ask them for a critique of your online materials so that you can find areas where you need to improve.

3. Be sure to provide linguistic support. Please remember that some of your students might not be native English speakers and they deserve access to sentence stems, visuals, front-loaded vocabulary and other accommodations that you provide in-person.

4. Embrace a Universal Access and Universal Design mindset. Re-read the IEPs and 504 plans to provide necessary accommodations. Lean in to the special education teachers and disability support staff to think through how you will make your instruction universally accessible. For example, you will need to check that closed captioning is available on all videos and that transcripts are available for podcasts. You might need to provide additional assistive support technology. Often, librarians and instructional designers will have key information for you in these areas.

Seven Big Ideas as You Shift Toward Distance Learning

The following are a few ideas to consider as you shift toward online / distance learning.

Big Idea #1: Students should be creating original content.

In education, we often use consumer language to describe instruction. How do you deliver the lesson? Did the students get it? And there is some truth to this. We need to engage in direct instruction. We often model a particular skill that students then copy. Other times, we help students attain knowledge by reading articles, watching videos, or listening to lectures.

This is especially common in online courses, where the predominant model is to consume content and then discuss the information afterward.

However, at some point, we want students to engage in meaningful projects. We want them to be problem-solvers and makers and designers. In other words, we want students to develop a maker mindset.

This is why, ultimately, they need to engage in creative work online. But what does this actually look like?

Blogging: Thematic blogs are blogs based on a student's interests, passions, and ideas. It could be a foodie blog, a sports blog, a fashion blog, a science blog, or a history blog. They choose the topic and the audience. It's a great way for students to practice writing in different genres (persuasive, functional, informational/expository, narrative) with specific blog topics they choose. They can also add multimedia components, like slideshows, pictures, videos, and audio.

Podcasting: With podcasts, students create audio recordings that they then share with an authentic audience. They can work individually, with partners, or in small groups. It can be more scripted or more open. If you want, you can have students edit the podcasts and add music by using Garage Band or Audacity. But you can also do a simple recording with smartphones.

Videos: Video creation is a little more complicated. They are often more time-consuming and sometimes require additional skills. However, if students are at home, they might just be willing to spend the additional time creating a video. A simple option for video creation is the annotated slideshow. Here, students create a slideshow and then record the audio as they move through it. They can do this on PowerPoint, Keynote, or Google Slides.

Not sure where to start? One idea is a Wonder Day:
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You can also get the Wonder Day project as well as the blogging and podcasting resources when you download the eBook and toolkit at the bottom of this article.

Big Idea #2: Be sure to leverage the power of online collaboration.

We live in a world where there are countless online tools for communication and collaboration. We can send instant messages, edit on a shared Google Document, hop onto a video conference, and easily send files back and forth. And yet, when it comes to distance learning, teachers often craft tasks that are entirely independent and individual. To make the most out of online learning, we need to leverage digital tools for collaboration.

Synchronous:
Chats, including Gmail chat or Slack
Video chats, including any video conferencing software (Hangouts, Zoom, Skype)

Asynchronous:
Shared documents, such as Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets, and Google Slides
Project management software, such Trello
Voice chats, including Voice Thread

Synchronous/Asynchronous Hybrids:
Walkie Talkie apps, such as Voxer

Note that you need to know ahead of time which tools are COPPA and CIPA compliant. You need to check in with your district about your local policies. However, you should find a few key areas where you can have students work collaboratively even if they aren't in the same physical space.
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For online collaboration, you might try a small mini-project, where students engage in shared research and then come together to make something new (think the previously mentioned Wonder Day). Other times, they might collaborate by working on independent projects and sharing their processes with others.

Big Idea #3: Empower your students to own their learning in an online environment.

We often talk about what it means to move from compliance to engagement. It's the idea of creating an environment where students want to learn rather than have to learn. But if we want students to be creative, self-directed learners we need to go beyond student engagement and into empowerment. But this requires some paradigm shifts.

That's right. We're going to be talking shift.

Here's what I mean: The empowered classroom is a shift from giving choices to inspiring possibilities It's what happens when you move from making the subject interesting to tapping into student interests; when you go from saying "you must learn this" to asking "what do you want to learn?" It's a shift from taking assessments to assessing your own learning, it's an iterative process full of mistakes that ultimately lead to success. It's a shift from the teacher asking all the questions to the students asking their own questions, where they chase the inquiry process and take learning off-road. It's a shift from uncritical consuming to critical consuming and creating. Here, students move from critical consuming to inspiration to creativity, where they use the design process to launch their work to the world. It's a shift from differentiating instruction to personalizing learning And it's a shift from rigid to adjustable systems so that students own the process. They can set their own pace, choose their own formats, and decide what resources they want to use to accomplish their goals. It's a shift in mindset from compliance to self-direction. In other words, it's a shift toward student ownership. When that happens, our students become the creative, critical thinkers who change the world.
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This is a challenge in a physical classroom, with each student learning at a different pace. But that's actually the hidden advantage of online learning. The physical distance actually makes it a little less chaotic as we embrace student ownership.

The following are a few areas where you can incorporate student ownership:

Students owning the assessment process

Students choosing the topics

Students selecting the scaffolds

Students choosing how they present their learning

I go in-depth into the process in the free eBook you can access at the bottom of this article. I also include the suite of assessments that you can use in online learning. Note that because you aren't available to do in-person formative assessment, it is even more important that students engage in self-assessment and peer assessment.
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Here's a small sample of what it looks like to incorporate student choice in your online class:

Traditionally, choice menus allow students to choose how they will present what they are learning. It's a great first step for students who aren't used to having as much voice and choice in their learning. While choice menus are great, I thought I would share a variation on the choice menu that goes beyond choosing topics and toward student ownership of the learning targets and resources. Here's what it looks like.

As a teacher, I would keep an ongoing online curation of resources for each unit that I taught. Any time I saw something fascinating or relevant, I would copy and paste the link into a document. Then, I would use that curated list of resources in the choice menus. When students chose podcasts, videos, etc., I would link the option to a one-page topic-neutral document with a list of best practices, tutorials with instructions, and rubrics for that particular option.

So, if students were learning about forces and motion in science, they might select a specific standard. Then they would watch a video or podcast and then click on the slideshow option where they could see reminders of best practices (remember to use visuals, use a solid contrast in colors, cite sources, etc.) and begin creating their product.

Notice that with this choice menu, students are deciding either the topics, concepts, or skills and then deciding on their own resources and strategies before ultimately deciding on their final product.

Big Idea #4: Provide opportunities for vintage and digital mashups.

When we think of online teaching, we tend to imagine a student sitting at a computer completing work. However, some of the best tools are low tech and lo-fi. Yes, we need students to use a laptop. But we also need students to use pencils and paper and cardboard. In other words, you need to take a vintage innovation approach.

Vintage innovation happens when we use old ideas and tools to transform the present. Think of it as a mash-up. It's not a rejection of new tools or new ideas. Instead, it's a reminder that sometimes the best way to move forward is to look backward. Like all innovation, vintage innovation is disruptive. But it's disruptive by pulling us out of present tense and into something more timeless

Vintage Innovation is a both/and mindset. It's the overlap of the "tried and true" and the "never tried." It's a mash-up of cutting edge tech and old school tools. It's the overlap of timeless skills in new contexts. Vintage innovation is what happens when engineers use origami to design new spacecraft and robotics engineers are studying nature for innovative designs.

As you move toward online teaching, consider how you might embrace this mindset of a mash-up.

Big Idea #5: Be intentional with the design of your online classes.

User experience design theory (sometimes abbreviated as XD, UX, UXD or UED) focuses on the user experience of a platform. This might include accessibility, usability, enjoyment, and the overall flow of the experience. UX design focuses on both on how we use digital tools and on how we inhabit digital spaces. It focuses on systems in a way that is deeply human. What does it feel like for people? What does it look like for them? What are their processes?

The best systems are the ones that feel invisible. You step into it and immediately know where to go and what to do. Don't get me wrong. Confusion can be a great thing in a classroom if it is leading toward deeper learning. But confusion caused by poorly designed courses leads to disengagement and frustration. It cuts learning short and disrupts creative flow.

There are a few key elements of UX Design that we can incorporate into our online instruction:
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One simple step is to do a UX Design audit. I've included a template in the toolkit and eBook that you can download at the bottom of this post. Use this form as a way to self-assess the design of your online course. Focus on using this diagnostic tool as a way to improve the overall design. It helps to picture your course through the lens of a student who is accessing it for the first time.

Big Idea #6: Take a "show and tell" approach.

We tend to assign homework that asks students to take schoolwork into their world. Often, students fail to turn in their work. But what if it's shows and tell? Suddenly, kids can't wait to bring in an item from their world and share it with the class.

Show and tell is essentially the opposite of homework. It's a chance for students to bring their world into the school rather than school into their world. This approach honors student agency. When I taught eighth grade, I encouraged a "show and tell" approach to homework. Here, they could bring in experts, resources, videos, or audio from their own community as they worked on projects in class. It was always optional but many students choose to complete it, since it was a chance to bring their world into class.

As educators, we need to remember that home learning doesn't have to require us to send schoolwork home. It's about building a partnership between school and home and recognizing the ways that students might learn within their own environment.

We can take this same approach as we design distance learning experiences for our students. One small example is to ask students to share their interests and passions through a Geek Out Blog.

Big Idea #7: Be present and available as a teacher.

Distance learning doesn't mean we have to be distant. As teachers, we can be intentional about creating a sense of presence with our students. Here are a few ideas that I've found helpful:

Video announcement: This starts with he first week, where you do an on boarding video of the course and explain how it will work. But after that, you can create a weekly or even daily short video with a preview of what students will do. Although pre-recorded, these short, unstructured videos create a sense of presence for you as a teacher.

Small group check-ins: Here, you can schedule small group meeting and use video conferencing to meet with groups and look at their progress.

Email check-ups: There are a few options here. First, you can send out a whole class email with expectations, deadlines, etc. But the second option is just a short email to each student asking how they're doing. If you have 180 students in a class, rotate with 18 per day and make sure each student gets an individual email every other week. You can create an email template and personalize it.

Short text check-ins: With this option, you can ask students to use the chat function to send questions or comments as you go.

Surveys: Ask students to fill out a course survey each day where they share what their experiences have been in an online course.

Scheduled conferences: On the next page, you'll see the 5 minute conference system. With a whole day of working from home, you can easily schedule these conferences with students and let them know you are there for them.

There are so many other ways to be present and I'm sure that you, as a teacher, have other ideas of strategies you can use to build relationships and be present with your students, even as you shift toward distance learning.

Ultimately, there is no one single way to do online teaching. It's an experiment and it varies depending on your subject, your context, and your students. You'll make tons of mistakes - and that's okay. The beauty is in learning from those mistakes and iterating toward better and better instruction. Lean in to the experts in your own institution and be humble about what you don't know. Ask students for their input along the way. And over time, you'll develop some amazing distance learning units.

Below, you'll find the a free eBook, along with a toolkit full of resources you can use as you shift toward online teaching. You'll find lesson plans, writing prompts, entire projects, protocols, and guides.

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7 Big Ideas as You Shift Toward Online Teaching

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A few days ago, we found out that all of the schools here in Oregon will be off until the start of April. Many of the universities have asked professors to switch their courses from face-to-face to online. This is a move that school districts across the U.S.

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Consider using BrainPOP’s animated movies, assessment resources, and creative tools for:

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Bulb - Schools Get bulbEd Free for Rest of 2019-20 School Year

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bulb is easy to use across grade levels, with over 1.5 million bulbs published across all 50 states and 110 countries worldwide. Portable - Access bulb anywhere, anytime, on any web-enabled device, iOS and Android. Safe & Secure - Set publishing permissions. No data mining or ads. FERPA and COPPA-compliant.

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Kennesaw State University’s iTeach, a service unit in the Bagwell College of Education, is prepared to support teachers, learners, and communities in the event of a ‘tele-school’ scenario.  We provide coaching and consulting services both face-to-face and virtually through our many partnerships, and can help to ensure that educators feel supported to migrate their content and pedagogy to the cloud.

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Created by teachers, this highly interactive tool provides an easy-to-use work space where students can practice proofs while exercising their deductive reasoning muscles.

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"CanFigureIt Geometry was exactly what I was looking for! It is an interactive way to complete proofs online, which is especially useful for remote learning and/or differentiated learning. One of the frustrating parts of teaching proofs is the lack of students having the opportunity for immediate feedback.

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Chrome Music Lab is a website that makes learning music more accessible through fun, hands-on experiments.

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How were these built?

All our experiments are all built with freely accessible web technology such as Web Audio API, WebMIDI, Tone.js, and more. These tools make it easier for coders to build new interactive music experiences. You can get the open-source code to lots of these experiments here on Github.

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Music is for everyone. Play with simple experiments that let anyone, of any age, explore how music works.

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Play with data sets or import your own

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As the Covid-19 virus spreads around the world you might find yourself asking why such extreme measures are being taken when no one that you know has contracted the virus yet. The reason is that public health experts are asking us all to do what we can to help flatten the curve through social distancing. Take a look at this dataset from two cities affected by the H1N1 Influenza pandemic of 1918 and think about why your school made the decision to close temporarily. Although Covid-19 is a coronavirus and not influenza, it is a highly contagious respiratory illness and looking at these data can provide insights that may be relevant to the current situation.

Influenza pandemics have occurred multiple times throughout history. The influenza pandemic of 1918 was particularly severe and resulted in the deaths of 50-100 million people worldwide, with 500,000-675,000 deaths in the U.S. alone. Some American cities were hit much harder than others and this is believed to be partly the result of the different degrees to which individual cities implemented policies to increase social distancing. Some cities closed schools and put bans on public gatherings, while others did not or waited until later in the outbreak to take such actions.

An interesting comparison of these response strategies can be made between Philadelphia and St. Louis during the 1918 influenza pandemic. The first confirmed cases of the disease were reported in Philadelphia on September 17, 1918. City officials did not take swift action and allowed a large city-wide parade to take place as scheduled on September 28th. Schools remained open in Philadelphia until October 3rd when the disease began to fill all local hospitals past capacity. At that time the city began to shut down and encourage social distancing. In contrast, St. Louis's first confirmed cases were reported on October 5, 1918. By October 7th, St. Louis moved quickly to put social distancing measures in place.

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As the Covid-19 virus spreads around the world you might find yourself asking why such extreme measures are being taken when no one that you know has contracted the virus yet. The reason is that public health experts are asking us all to do what we can to help flatten the curve through social distancing.

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Free Explain Everything for schools affected by a temporary or indefinite emergency closure.

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Due to the recent, widespread, and constantly growing necessity to temporarily close schools, we've decided to officially express our desire to help. We believe that we can help teachers and children with online school scenarios, so everyone affected by these closures can avoid significant breaks in their educational programs.

We'd like to support any school in need. That's why we are offering extended free access to Explain Everything Whiteboard, a versatile tool which can be used for online school scenarios.

Nothing should disrupt education, and nothing has to. Remote teaching and learning solutions can be used in any case of temporary school closures. As a solid edtech tool which is already being used for online education by many institutions worldwide, Explain Everything can help avoid major interruptions.

Helpful Resources to Start Running an Online School

1. 3 Strategies for Remote Education

2. 11 Creative Uses of Whiteboard for Education

3. Document and Improve Students Thinking with Whiteboard Recordings

4. Explain Everything Essential Tutorials

5. Whiteboard Lesson Ideas - Webinar

6. Collaborate and Learn the Basics of Explain Everything - Webinar

Find us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Need some support? Try our Help Center or reach us here.

📩 Sign up to our Webinars. Learn how to incorporate remote teaching.

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🧘‍♀️Keep Calm and Teach Online - Free Explain Everything for Closed Schools

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Due to the recent, widespread, and constantly growing necessity to temporarily close schools, we've decided to officially express our desire to help. We believe that we can help teachers and children with online school scenarios, so everyone affected by these closures can avoid significant breaks in their educational programs. We'd like to support any school in need.

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We have free resources for AP students including live reviews, live trivia, and study guides!

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All 38 AP Subjects | Resources for High School Students | Fiveable

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Study with friends using the #1 virtual studying platform for students. Create a study room, invite your buddies, & keep each other accountable.

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Formative enables teachers to build their own assessments and assignments, or pull and customize “formatives” from our Library of thousands of pre-made materials. Educators can act on live student responses to intervene as needed; give feedback and auto-grade students’ work; track student growth over time; visualize student performance across assignments/assessments; and easily integrate supportive tools, like Google Classroom, Flipgrid, Desmos, Padlet and other resources.

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Meeting platform that can do conference calls, video calls, and webinars.

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Online e-book library.

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Download the Libby App: ebooks & audiobooks FREE from your library

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Bring the library to you! Free digital books, magazines and more! Available for iOS and Android devices.

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Screencasting Tool

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Free screen recorder for Mac and PC | Loom

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Best free online screen recording tool with advanced video editing and video storage trusted by over 21 million people and easy sharing from Loom.com.

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Screencasting is the capture all of the action on a computer screen while you are narrating. Screencasts can be made with many tools and are often used to create a tutorial or showcase student content mastery. This page provides links to information, ideas, rubrics, and tools for the creation of screencasts by both teachers and students.

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Screencasting is the capture all of the action on a computer screen while you are narrating. Screencasts can be made with many tools and are often used to create a tutorial or showcase student content mastery. This page provides links to information, ideas, rubrics, and tools for the creation of screencasts by both teachers and students.

If you find a link that is not working, please let me know the title, and I will fix it! Thank you!

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Screencasting is the capture all of the action on a computer screen while you are narrating. Screencasts can be made with many tools and are often used to create a tutorial or showcase student content mastery. This page provides links to information, ideas, rubrics, and tools for the creation of screencasts by both teachers and students.

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MASSOLIT works with academics from the world's best universities to produce high-quality, curriculum-linked videos for GCSE, A Level and the International Baccalaureate.

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MASSOLIT - Short video lectures from the world's best academics

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MASSOLIT works with university academics to produce short video lectures in the literature, history and the social sciences.

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Quizlet is free for teachers and students. (🎉) But what else do you need to know? Watch our four-part video series and download handouts for parents and students. If you end up really loving it, join our Quizlet Ambassador program and help spread the word. (And maybe even earn yourself some PD hours!)

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A quiz app that allows multiple students to play at once virtually.

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Join an activity with your class and find or create your own quizzes and flashcards.

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If your school has temporarily closed due to the Coronavirus and is looking for a solution for remote learning, please have an administrator contact us at sales@screencastify.com. We’ll do whatever we can to help at no cost.

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millions use Screencastify to create amazing videos

/* Sets tab pane to display block instead of default display:none */ /* Allows CSS opacity transitions */ .w-tab-pane, .w--current { display: block; } /* Any .w-tab-pane that does not have webflow .w--curent sets opacity 0 */ .w-tab-pane:not(.w--curent) { opacity: 0; } /* Any element with .w-tab-pane that has .w--tab-active sets the opacity 100% */ .w-tab-pane.w--tab-active { opacity: 1; } /* Set the opacity transition to 1 second ease-in */ .w-tab-pane { transition: opacity 1s ease-in; }

Educator, student, marketer, engineer, gamer. Whatever part you play, you'll have simple, yet powerful screen recording and editing tools.
Learn more

Easily share your creations in multiple channels. Let more viewers watch, pause and rewind on their schedule while maximizing time by eliminating unnecessary meetings.
Learn more

Collect video assignments to ensure any team or student is heard. Track viewing activity and add interactive questions and more to ensure your message is understood.
Learn more

Educator, student, marketer, engineer, gamer. Whatever part you play, you'll have simple, yet powerful screen recording and editing tools.
Learn more

Easily share your creations in multiple channels. Let more viewers watch, pause and rewind on their schedule while maximizing time by eliminating unnecessary meetings.
Learn more

Collect video assignments to ensure any team or student is heard. Track viewing activity and add interactive questions and more to ensure your message is understood.
Learn more

loved by everyday video creators

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Screencastify | Screen Recording and Video Editing

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Screencastify is the leading screen recorder for Chrome. Install the extension to record, edit, and share videos in seconds. Create video class assignments, training and tutorials, and make business communication faster.

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Browser based video making application.

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Classroom Software for Teachers | Video Learning Platform | WeVideo

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All-in-one classroom software for teachers. Create video lessons, assign projects, and track student engagement with interactive learning tools.

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These Ivy League schools are also highly selective and extremely hard to get into. But the good news is that all these universities now offer free online courses across multiple online course platforms.

So far, they’ve created over 500 courses, of which around 450 are still active. Class Central has made a collection of all these, which you can explore below.

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The eight Ivy League schools are among the most prestigious colleges in the world. They include Brown, Harvard, Cornell, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, and Columbia Universities, and the University of Pennsylvania.

All eight schools place in the top fifteen of the U.S. News and World Report national university rankings.

These Ivy League schools are also highly selective and extremely hard to get into. But the good news is that all these universities now offer free online courses across multiple online platforms. These courses are know as MOOCs or Massive Open Online Courses.

So far, they've created 500 courses, of which around 450 are still active. Class Central has made a collection of all these, which you can explore below. I've split these courses into the following categories:

Computer Science

Data Science

Programming

Humanities

Business

Art & Design

Science

Social Sciences

Health & Medicine

Engineering

Mathematics

Education & Teaching

and Personal Development

I've also assembled these courses on Class Central's collection page for Ivy League MOOCs. This collection gets updated automatically as new courses are added. You can subscribe to receive updates by clicking the blue "follow" button there.

Note that some of the Coursera courses are a bit harder to access, so I wrote this guide to show you how.

If you read this far, tweet to the author to show them you care. Tweet a thanks

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Here are 450 Ivy League courses you can take online right now for free

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The eight Ivy League schools are among the most prestigious colleges in the world. They include Brown, Harvard, Cornell, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, and Columbia Universities, and the University of Pennsylvania. All eight schools place in the top fifteen of the U.S. News and World Report national university rankings.

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Met to launch "Nightly Met Opera Streams," a free series of encore Live in HD presentations streamed on the company website during the coronavirus closure
New York, NY (March 13, 2020)-A day after canceling upcoming performances due to concerns around the coronavirus, the Metropolitan Opera announced that it would stream encore presentations from the award-winning Live in HD series of cinema transmissions on the company website for the duration of the closure. The new offering will begin on Monday, March 16 with the 2010 HD performance of Bizet's Carmen, conducted by Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and starring Elīna Garanča in the title role and Roberto Alagna as Don José.

All "Nightly Met Opera Streams" will begin at 7:30pm EDT and will remain available via the homepage of metopera.org for 20 hours. The homepage link will open the performance on the Met Opera on Demand streaming service. The performance will also be viewable on all Met Opera on Demand apps.

"We'd like to provide some grand opera solace to opera lovers in these extraordinarily difficult times," said Met General Manager Peter Gelb. "Every night, we'll be offering a different complete operatic gem from our collection of HD presentations from the past 14 years."

Here is the schedule for the first week of streams:

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, starring Elīna Garanča and Roberto Alagna. Transmitted live on January 16, 2010.

Conducted by Nicola Luisotti, starring Angela Gheorghiu and Ramón Vargas. Transmitted live on April 5, 2008.

Conducted by Marco Armiliato, starring Anna Netrebko, Dolora Zajick, Yonghoon Lee, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Transmitted live on October 3, 2015.

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, starring Diana Damrau, Juan Diego Flórez, and Quinn Kelsey. Transmitted live on December 15, 2018.

Conducted by Marco Armiliato, starring Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez. Transmitted live on April 26, 2008.

Conducted by Marco Armiliato, starring Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczała, and Mariusz Kwiecien. Transmitted live on February 7, 2009.

Conducted by Valery Gergiev, starring Renée Fleming, Ramón Vargas, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Transmitted live on February 24, 2007.

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Met to launch "Nightly Met Opera Streams," a free series of encore Live in HD presentations streamed on the company website during the coronavirus closure

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Met to launch "Nightly Met Opera Streams," a free series of encore Live in HD presentations streamed on the company website during the coronavirus closure New York, NY (March 13, 2020)-A day after canceling upcoming performances due to concerns around the coronavirus, the Metropolitan Opera announced that it would stream encore presentations from the award-winning Live in HD series of cinema transmissions on the company website for the duration of the closure.

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To maximize teaching and learning in schools within juvenile justice facilities.

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Nationwide poetry initiative and competition centered around a theme, allowing students to explore and unlock their creative talents and get their voices heard. Past themes have included transcendence, multiformity, Interconnectedness, and Authenticity. Since 2013.

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This resource guide is a living document of all the available tools for JJ teachers and schools dealing with COVID-19 virus impact. The resources have been selected to target the work in alternative settings with secondary students who need a more secure set of online tools. If you are looking for guidance around putting these tools to use in your school F2F or online you can email kcrawford@ceeas.org or click the link below to set up a planning call. We can support designing online learning and creating a secure technology setting. Rest assured, there is no fee associated with this support service.

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Welcome to my scheduling page. Please follow the instructions to add an event to my calendar.

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A lot of Wi-Fi companies are helping to curb the digital divide for families. This information might be helpful to share with students who are leaving your school to help them stay connected to education during the closures. Use the link below to check your local providers for access to free Wi-Fi.

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U.S. providers offer free wifi for 60 days

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Most notable is Comcast's free public wifi for all for 60 days, effective Saturday.

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We've found 2678 internet service providers in the US. Below are statistics on their coverage and download speeds. Enter your address above to see which internet providers offer service in your area.

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How Many Internet Service Providers are there in the USA?

There are currently 2746 Internet service providers in the United States:

895 DSL "Digital Subscriber Line" providers

246 Copper providers (Business T1/T3 connections, etc)

464 Cable companies

1407 Fiber Internet providers

1634 Fixed Wireless Broadband providers

51 Mobile Broadband and LTE providers

Internet Service Providers in the USA

As shown in the table above, there are thousands of Internet service providers, or "ISPs," in the United States (not counting unlicensed wireless operators and local overbuilders).

However, many consumers will find themselves picking between only a handful of providers. In urban areas, it is common to be limited to one cable provider and one DSL provider. In rural areas, Internet users are often stuck with DSL, satellite, or nothing at all.

As of 2018, 25 Million Americans don't have access to any broadband providers offering over 25 Mbps download speed. Even if you count wireless connections like satellite, there are still 14 Million consumers left without a robust home Internet service option.

How Are Internet Service Providers Counted?

Internet providers are listed on BroadbandNow when they file their biannual Form 477 paperwork with the FCC to confirm basic data like coverage area, subscriber base, and so on. We do not list "cowboy" providers that fail to keep up their paperwork or complete their contribution to the Universal Service Fund (USF) as required by law. In some cases, this may lead to the exclusion of small "overbuilders" that lease infrastructure and fiber from larger providers to serve specific buildings and communities.

Our database of Broadband providers is updated on a biannual basis. In some cases, we are able to update listings and coverage information before data is published on the FCC or other government websites, thanks to direct reporting.

The Top Internet Providers in the Country

As the largest residential satellite provider that covers all 50 states, HughesNet is accessible to approximately 308.7 million people with the greatest coverage in California, Texas, and New York. In recent years, HughesNet has improved their download speed which currently reaches 25 Mbps, thanks to the "Gen 5" satellite. Aside from providing satellite internet, HughesNet also offers phone service - but no TV services.

Following behind HughesNet, Viasat is the 2nd largest residential satellite internet provider with coverage in every state. The greatest coverage is in California, Texas, and New York; Viasat is accessible to an estimated 308.5 million people. In rural areas, satellite internet has proven to provide better coverage than wired broadband providers. Download speeds range between 12-100 Mbps. Viasat offers phone services as well, but similar to HughesNet, they do not offer TV services.

With coverage in 36 states, EarthLink offers DSL and fiber internet options - the former accessible to approximately 174.4 million people and the latter to approximately 26.5 million people. EarthLink has the greatest coverage in California, Texas, and New York; it is considered the largest residential DSL provider and the 2nd largest fiber internet provider in the USA. EarthLink only offers internet services and was awarded the "Most Affordable Fiber Internet Nationwide" in 2019.

Available in 22 states with the highest coverage in California, Texas, and Florida, AT&T Internet's DSL internet is available to around 122.8 million people and is recognized as the nations' 2nd largest residential DSL provider. Fiber and fixed wireless internet are also available from AT&T in certain areas, with the former available to an estimated 25.1 million people and the latter available to about 2.7 million people. On top of their internet services, AT&T offers digital TV, digital landline phone service, and satellite TV via DirecTV.

Serving 39 million states with the greatest coverage in California, Florida, and Illinois, Xfinity from Comcast is the largest residential cable internet provider with accessibility to approximately 111.6 million people. Xfinity also offers fiber internet, which is available to an estimated 18,000 people. Other primary services that Xfinity offers are TV and phone services. Download speeds for their cable internet plans range between 100-1,000 Mbps.

Charter Spectrum offers cable internet to 44 states with the most widespread coverage in California, Texas, and New York. Approximately 102.7 million people have access to Spectrum's cable internet, making it the country's 2nd largest residential cable provider. At the moment, 5,899 zip codes have access to Spectrum's fiber internet service. In addition to providing internet, Spectrum also provides cable TV and phone services, which may come in bundles or standalone plans.

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There are currently 2746 Internet service providers in the United States: 895 DSL "Digital Subscriber Line" providers 246 Copper providers (Business T1/T3 connections, etc) 464 Cable companies 1407 Fiber Internet providers 1634 Fixed Wireless Broadband providers 51 Mobile Broadband and LTE providers As shown in the table above, there are thousands of Internet service providers, or "ISPs," in the United States (not counting unlicensed wireless operators and local overbuilders).

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Over 30 Virtual Field Trips with Links!

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Teach & Learn Practical Digital Skills - Applied Digital Skills

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Thousands of teachers and students are using Applied Digital Skills to improve digital literacy, and we’re adding new lessons regularly. Join us and start learning or teaching digital skills today.

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This tool will allow you to share your presentation and lead students through lessons on their own devices.

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Resources & Community | Pear Deck Learning

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Looking for inspiration, support, tips and tricks, and more? Look no further.

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AP World: Causes and Consequences of WWI

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AP World: Causes and Consequences of WWI

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This is an excellent example of a self-paces lesson for students do work on virtually. Can't use a tool? Replace it with something else!

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U7 AP World: Causes and Consequences of WWI

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Livestream Activities Calendar

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A curation of resources we know, use and love--both in the classroom and beyond.

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We hope you are safe and healthy and that your loved ones are safe and healthy as well. While we wish the circumstances were different, we are happy to learn with you and alongside you as we expand our understanding of distance learning during the COVID-19 school closings. First and foremost--you are a TERRIFIC TEACHER. Take a moment to acknowledge and celebrate that! While there may be moments when you feel overwhelmed, don't forget that you know what to do with students and that this is just a different way of doing something that you are already good at. We are here to support your instruction and cheer for you as an educator so please let us know what we can do to help! It is important to note that this will not be a site that shares ALL the free resources that are available to students and teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, this will be a curated set of resources that we use with students to promote curiosity, student agency and deep thinking across the curriculum.

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Read the World Distance Learning Support

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We hope you are safe and healthy and that your loved ones are safe and healthy as well. While we wish the circumstances were different, we are happy to learn with you and alongside you as we expand our understanding of distance learning during the COVID-19 school closings.

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This is Google's guide to teaching from home.

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More than ever before, the world is searching for 'how do teachers do it.' Whether in a classroom or at home, we are grateful to everyone helping to keep students learning.

To teachers everywhere, thank you for all that you do.

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Giving teachers and families the tools and tips they need to help keep students learning.

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A list of online resources for art.

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Sphero EDU launches free premium activities.

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Fun ways to learn and code with Sphero robots.

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This is a series of Google Meet training videos.

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Google Meet is an easy but powerful tool for video conferencing . With Meet you can connect with other people using any device including…

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A guide to using Netflix Documentaries in your class.

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Responding to teachers' requests for access to documentaries

For many years, Netflix has teachers to screen documentaries in their classrooms. However, this isn't possible with schools closed. So at their request, we have made a selection of our documentary features and series available on the Netflix US YouTube channel. See the full list of documentary films and series below.

Each title also has educational resources available, which can be used by both students and teachers - and we'll be doing Q&As with some of the creators behind these projects so that students can hear from them firsthand.

We hope this will, in a small way, help teachers around the world.

Note these documentaries are currently available in English. Subtitles in more than a dozen languages will be available later this week. Also if you are a parent or teacher, please check the ratings so that you can make informed choices for your students and children.

The title of Ava DuVernay's extraordinary and galvanizing documentary refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States." The progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass criminalization and the sprawling American prison industry is laid out by DuVernay with bracing lucidity. With a potent mixture of archival footage and testimony from a dazzling array of activists, politicians, historians, and formerly incarcerated women and men, DuVernay creates a work of grand historical synthesis.

Abstract: The Art of Design takes you beyond blueprints into the art, science, and philosophy of design. The series goes inside the minds of the world's greatest designers, showcasing the most inspiring visionaries from a variety of disciplines whose work shapes our culture and future.

Filmed over the course of three years, Babies is a landmark series that explores the miracle of the first full year of life through the pioneering work of leading scientists from across the globe. The series examines the epic journey every person embarks on, from helpless new-born to independent toddler. Following the life-changing adventures of 15 international families and featuring the latest research from eminent scientists who share their personal journeys of discovery into the infant mind, the series is filled with the exciting uncertainty of parenting, exploring each major milestone of development like never before. From the first bond a baby shares with its parents, to learning to feed, sleep through the night, crawl across the room, speak their first words, and discover the world around them - right up to those first steps of toddlerhood.

Chasing Coral taps into the collective will and wisdom of an ad man, a self-proclaimed coral nerd, top-notch camera designers, and renowned marine biologists as they invent the first time-lapse camera to record bleaching events as they happen. Unfortunately, the effort is anything but simple, and the team doggedly battles technical malfunctions and the force of nature in pursuit of their golden fleece: documenting the indisputable and tragic transformation below the waves. With its breathtaking photography, nail-biting suspense, and startling emotion, Chasing Coral is a dramatic revelation that won't have audiences sitting idle for long.

In partnership with Vox Media Studios and Vox, this enlightening explainer series will take viewers deep inside a wide range of culturally relevant topics, questions, and ideas. Each episode will explore current events and social trends pulled from the zeitgeist, touching topics across politics, science, history and pop culture -- featuring interviews with some of the most authoritative experts in their respective fields.
Educational resources coming soon.

Four exceptional women mount grassroots campaigns against powerful incumbents in Knock Down the House, a galvanic and inspiring look at the 2018 midterm elections that tipped the balance of power. When tragedy struck her family in the middle of the financial crisis, Bronx-born Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had to work double shifts as a bartender to save her home from foreclosure. After losing a loved one to a preventable medical condition, Amy Vilela didn't know what to do with the anger she felt about America's broken health care system. Cori Bush, a registered nurse and pastor, was drawn to the streets when the police shooting of an unarmed black man brought protests and tanks into her neighborhood. A coal miner's daughter, Paula Jean Swearengin was fed up with watching her friends and family suffer from the environmental effects of the coal industry.

Narrated by Sir David Attenborough This eight-part series will explore the unique and precious wonders of our natural world from the creators of the award-winning series Planet Earth. In partnership with World Wildlife Fund, Our Planet combines stunning photography and technology with an unprecedented, never-before-filmed look at the planet's remaining wilderness areas and their animal inhabitants. The ambitious four-year project has been filmed in 50 countries across all the continents of the world, with over 600 members of crew capturing more than three and a half thousand filming days, and will focus on the breadth of the diversity of habitats around the world, from the remote Arctic wilderness and mysterious deep oceans to the vast landscapes of Africa and diverse jungles of South America.

In a rural village outside Delhi, India, women lead a quiet revolution. They fight against the deeply rooted stigma of menstruation. Period. End of Sentence. - a documentary short directed by Rayka Zehtabchi - tells their story. For generations, these women didn't have access to pads, which lead to health problems and girls missing school or dropping out entirely. But when a sanitary pad machine is installed in the village, the women learn to manufacture and market their own pads, empowering the women of their community. They name their brand "FLY," because they want women "to soar." Their flight is, in part, enabled by the work of high school girls half a world away, in California, who raised the initial money for the machine and began a non-profit called "The Pad Project."

A Netflix original short documentary, set in Aleppo, Syria and Turkey in early 2016. As the violence intensifies, The White Helmets follows three volunteer rescue workers as they put everything on the line to save civilians affected by the war, all the while wracked with worry about the safety of their own loved ones. Moving and inspiring, The White Helmets (directed by Academy Award®-nominated director Orlando von Einsiedel and producer Joanna Natasegara) is both a snapshot of the harrowing realities of life for ordinary Syrians who remain in the country, and a humbling portrait of the power of the human spirit.

Zion is a gripping portrait of Zion Clark, a young wrestler born without legs who grew up in foster care. Clark began wrestling in second grade against his able-bodied peers. The physical challenge became a therapeutic outlet and gave him a sense of family. Moving from foster home to foster home, wrestling became the only constant thing in his childhood. The Netflix original documentary short is directed by Floyd Russ.

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Responding to teachers' requests for access to documentaries

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Responding to teachers' requests for access to documentaries For many years, Netflix has teachers to screen documentaries in their classrooms. However, this isn't possible with schools closed. So at their request, we have made a selection of our documentary features and series available on the Netflix US YouTube channel.