This is probably my #1 go-to app! Design anything in minutes with thousands of templates and images!
Consider giving students a choice for projects!
Simple tool for creating awesome digital books!
Padlets help organize by providing a collaborative corkboard.
Build strong and connected classroom communities.
FLIP
100% Free for Educators!
Engage and empower every voice by recording and sharing short videos.
Engage students using live online polling, surveys, question-and-answer forums, formative assessments, and word clouds.
Remember Todaysmeet? This is the new alternative to that! A safe, moderated chat room for your class.
A content library of thousands of formative assessments.
Drive meaningful and inclusive student-lead discussions.
A space for real-time group brainstorming and decision making.
Incentivize students to deliver and apply constructive feedback to peers.
Award-winning! Collaboration in the cloud.
Get your students connected with each other in study sessions on this social site.
Game-shot platform where students compete by answering questions.
Sticky note and photo sharing - colorful collaboration
Differentiate Google Classroom Assignments - very powerful tool!
Flashcards for quick reminders on how to differentiate with Chromebooks and Chrome!
Speech to Text
There are dictation features built into many devices.
There is also a speech-to-text feature built right into Google Docs! Click "tools" and "voice typing".
Google Slides and Google Meet come with closed-caption features. Zoom may have the feature soon so keep checking. YouTube videos offer this service too.
Free Chrome extension to eliminate banners and ads from cluttering webpages.
Awesome Chrome extension for turning online productivity into a game! "Grow" digital plants based on the time they spend on-task.
Insure students with visual impairments are able to clearly see color distinctions in your lesson.
For English language learners
For English language learners.
Chrome extension could help students follow along
Turn Off the Lights
Google Chrome extension that fades the entire page to dark. Students can watch videos as if they were in the cinema. Works great with YouTube and other video sites. Helps students focus on the video.
Snap Type
Helps students keep up with their peers even when their penmanship holds them back. Easily complete worksheets with the help of an iPhone or iPhone.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
GUIDELINES
Check Accessibility
For your overall course, do a check with your LMS accessibility checker
For your online content, go to a web content accessibility checker (Google one - there are tons)
For your Microsoft documents, use the Accessibility Checkers that are built in!
Caption Videos
YouTube does this automatically, but GO BACK AND EDIT THEM!
For videos you create and upload to your LMS or site, add your own captions for a screen reader to read
Avoid Long Text Pages/Blocks
Use shorter paragraphs
Avoid idioms, jargon, acronyms
Use common terms and language
Avoid capitalizing or italicizing long blocks of text
Provide Alternate Forms of Content
Your LMS may provide alternate forms (such as Blackboard Ultra)
For PDFs, try to provide the original Word or text-based document for screen readers
Describe Visual Elements (Alternate Text)
ALWAYS provide alt text for images
Use Font Color and Contrast Carefully
Google "font color and contrast accessibility checker" and you'll find tons of sites to help you with this
Use Consistent Design
Use consistent naming conventions for easy navigation
Keep layout consistent
Use plenty of white space
Use visual cues to highlight important information
Always Check Ways Your Elements Work with Assistive Tools
Does your drag-and-drop activity work with a student's assistive technology? It may not. So use sparingly.
Articulate Storyline
Storyline is a powerful e-learning authoring tool that lets you create fully interactive, custom-designed learning modules. It offers slide-based design (similar to PowerPoint) but adds branching scenarios, quizzes, animations, and multimedia so you can tailor learning paths and make content engaging and immersive. Storyline is ideal for complex courses or simulations that need flexible navigation and detailed interactivity.
Articulate Rise
Rise is a rapid-development e-learning tool for building responsive, web-based courses that look great on any device. It uses a block-based structure, making it quick and easy to create visually appealing lessons, scenarios, and knowledge checks without complex programming. Rise is perfect for streamlined, mobile-friendly content that faculty can develop and update quickly.
Example of Rise Microlesson (Online Learning Best Practices)
Example of Storyline Lesson (When Words Go Public: Social Media Professionalism)
Custom ChatBots
Example ChatBot (Business Roleplay Coach)