Using educational programs and apps will allow your English learners to progress and practice at their own pace.

Students love technology, so getting any opportunity to use it in the classroom automatically increases their engagement and motivation to learn.  So, rather than traditional lectures and worksheets, opt for more interactive digital options that make learning a new language fun!

Each student has their own way of learning content best, through either, Visual, Auditory, Reading / Writing  or Kinesthetic learning styles.  

ELLs all come from diverse cultural, linguistic, and educational backgrounds, they’re each going to need different supports to successfully acquire new language skills. Instructional Scaffolding is such an essential aspect of teaching ELs.

Technology can provide low-risk opportunities for ELLs to communicate and collaborate. Early on in their English language journey, many ELs don’t feel comfortable speaking aloud in class. Online forums, programs, and apps eliminate that barrier of intimidation, making it possible for students to interact with more confidence.  

Google Translate can translate typed text in 108 languages as well as text in photographs and offers automatic two-way voice translation. It can be used for a wide variety of classroom activities and communication needs daily.

Talking Points performs two-way translation of messages in real-time between ESL teachers and immigrant parents. It also offers in-app tips to help support positive relationships between school and home.

Allows teachers and students to create interactive, digital bulletin boards. Students can use it to share notes, display work, engage in discussions, and visually organize information.  

Google Chrome extension helps boost reading confidence for English learners by making documents, web pages, and files more accessible. It offers the following support features:

Duolingo is a free language learning app that offers engaging English lessons in over 20 first languages. The lessons are set up like a game, and students can either compete against themselves or their peers on any device. You can also tailor Duolingo to your learning objectives with customizable lessons and assignments.

Recording tools such as Voice Recorder and Vocaroo are simple yet valuable technology resources for ELL students. These tools are especially useful while teaching ELLs to read. Students can record themselves reading a passage or poem, then listen to the recording to analyze their pronunciation and expression.  English learners will be able to hear how their reading skills have improved.

Quizlet is a free, digital flashcard program to help students learn and practice vocabulary terms. Quizlet also offers practice quizzes, games, and assessments that can be used for progress monitoring.

These tools offer interactive, audiovisual learning games where students can compete with each other in real-time using a simple code on their device. With Quizizz, students can work at their own pace, while everyone works at the same pace while playing Kahoot. Both platforms are great for informally assessing an ELL's vocabulary and reading comprehension in an engaging, low-risk way.

Audiobooks and eBooks are fantastic technology resources for ELL students.  Audiobooks are helpful for beginner-intermediate ELs who have a basic understanding of spoken English but struggle to comprehend the written language. They are accessible have assistive capabilities such as text-to-talk to aid in understanding.