DISTANCE (REMOTE) LEARNING  AND TEACHING RESOURCES*

*This list of websites and tools has been taken from https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse/solutions ; however, some links are edited or removed if they include broken links. It also seems that the page has been updated to include new content: Education: from school closure to recovery. 

 Resources to provide psychosocial support

• InterAgency Standing Committee guidelines to protect and improve people’s mental health and psychosocial well-being in the midst of an emergency

• Questions to ask before dropping out of College

• WHO mental health and psychosocial guidance during the COVID-19 outbreak

• UNICEF guidance on how teachers should talk to children about COVID-19

• UNICEF guidance on how parents and caregivers can talk children about COVID-19

Digital learning management systems

• CenturyTech – Personal learning pathways with micro-lessons to address gaps in knowledge, challenge students and promote long-term memory retention.

• ClassDojo – Connects teachers with students and parents to build classroom communities.

• Edraak – Arabic language online education with resources for school learners and teachers.

• EkStep – Open learning platform with a collection of learning resources to support literacy and numeracy.

• Google Classroom – Helps classes connect remotely, communicate and stay-organized.

• Moodle – Community-driven and globally-supported open learning platform.

• Nafham – Arabic language online learning platform hosting educational video lessons that correspond with Egyptian and Syrian curricula.

• Paper Airplanes – Matches individuals with personal tutors for 12-16 week sessions conducted via video conferencing platforms, available in English and Turkish.

• Schoology – Tools to support instruction, learning, grading, collaboration and assessment.

• Seesaw – Enables the creation of collaborative and sharable digital learning portfolios and learning resources. 

• Skooler – Tools to turn Microsoft Office software into an education platform.

Systems built for use on basic mobile phones

• Cell-Ed – Learner-centered, skills-based learning platform with offline options.

• Eneza Education - Revision and learning materials for basic feature phones.

• Funzi – Mobile learning service that supports teaching and training for large groups.

• KaiOS – Software that gives smartphone capabilities to inexpensive mobile phones and helps open portals to learning opportunities.

• Ubongo – Uses entertainment, mass media, and the connectivity of mobile devices to deliver localized learning to African families at low cost and scale,available in Kiswahili and English.

• Ustad Mobile – Access and share educational content offline.

Systems with strong offline functionality

• Kolibri – Learning application to support universal education, available in more than 20 languages.

• Rumie – Education tools and content to enable lifelong learning for underserved communities.

• Ustad Mobile – Access and share educational content offline.

Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Platforms

• Alison – Online courses from experts, available in English, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese

• Canvas Network – Course catalogue accessible for free for teachers in order to support lifelong learning and professional development.

• Coursera – Online courses taught by instructors from well-recognized universities and companies.

• European Schoolnet Academy – Free online professional development courses for teachers in English, French, Italian and other European languages.

• EdX – Online courses from leading educational institutions.

• iCourse – Chinese and English language courses for university students.

• Future Learn – Online courses to help learners study, build professional skills and connect with experts.

• Icourses – Chinese language courses for university students.

• TED-Ed Earth School – Online lessons about nature made available continuously during a 5-week period between Earth Day (April 22nd) and World Environment Day (June 5th).

• Udemy – English, Spanish and Portuguese language courses on ICT skills and programming.

• XuetangX – Online courses provided by a collection of universities on different subjects in Chinese and English.

Self-directed learning content

• ABRA - Selection of 33 game-like activities in English and in French to promote reading comprehension and writing skills of early readers.

• British Council – English language learning resources, including games, reading, writing and listening exercises.

• Byju’s – Learning application with large repositories of educational content tailored for different grades and learning levels.

• Code It – Helps children learn basic programming concepts through online courses, live webinars and other kid-friendly material. Available in English and German.

• Code.org – Wide range of coding resources categorized by subject for K12 students offered for free by a non-profit.

• Code Week – List of online resources to teach and learn computer coding, available in all EU languages.

• Discovery Education – Free educational resources and lessons about viruses and outbreaks for different grade levels.

• Duolingo – Application to support language learning. Supports numerous base and target languages.

• Edraak -  A variety of resources for K-12 education in Arabic, targeting students, parents and teachers.

• Facebook Get Digital - Lesson plans, conversation starters, activities, videos and other resources for students to stay connected

• Feed the Monster – Android application in multiple languages to help teach children the fundamentals of reading, available in 48 languages.

• History of Africa – A nine-part BBC documentary series on the history of Africa based on UNESCO’s General History of Africa book collection.

• Geekie – Portuguese language web-based platform that provides personalized educational content using adaptive learning technology.

• Khan Academy – Free online lessons and practice in math, sciences and humanities, as well as free tools for parents and teachers to track student progress. Available in 40+ languages, and aligned to national curriculum for over 10 countries.

• KitKit School - Tablet-based learning suite with a comprehensive curriculum spanning early childhood through early primary levels.

• LabXchange – Curated and user-created digital learning content delivered on an online platform that enables educational and research experiences.

• Madrasa – Resources and online lessons for STEM subjects in Arabic

• Mindspark – Adaptive online tutoring system that helps students practice and learn mathematics.

• Mosoteach – Chinese language application hosting cloud classes.

• OneCourse – Child-focused application to deliver reading, writing and numeracy education.

• Profuturo – Resources in different subject areas for students in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.

• Polyup  – Learning content to build math and gaining computational thinking skills for students in primary and early secondary school.

• Quizlet – Learning flashcards and games to support learning in multiple subjects, available in 15 languages. 

• SDG Academy Library - A searchable library of more than 1,200 educational videos on sustainable development and related topics.

• Siyavula – Mathematics and physical sciences education aligned with South African curriculum.

• Smart History – Art history site with resources created by historians and academic contributors.

• YouTube – Huge repository of educational videos and learning channels.

Mobile reading applications

• African Storybook - Open access to picture storybooks in 189 African languages.  

• Biblioteca Digital del Instituto Latinoamericano de la Comunicación Educativa – Offers free access to Spanish language works and book collections for students and teaching staff in schools and universities

• Global Digital Library – Digital storybooks and other reading materials easily accessible from mobile phones or computers. Available in 43 languages.

• Interactive Learning Program – Mobile app in Arabic to advance reading, writing and numeracy skills created by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.

• Reads – Digital stories with illustrations in multiple languages.

• Room to Read – Resources to develop the literacy skills of children and youth with specialized content to support girls.

• StoryWeaver – Digital repository of multilingual stories for children.

• Worldreader – Digital books and stories accessible from mobile devices and functionality to support reading instruction. Available in 52 languages.

Collaboration platforms that support live-video communication

• Dingtalk – Communication platform that supports video conferencing, task and calendar management, attendance tracking and instant messaging.

• Lark – Collaboration suite of interconnected tools, including chat, calendar, creation and cloud storage, in Japanese, Korean, Italian and English

• Hangouts Meet – Video calls integrated with other Google’s G-Suite tools.

• Teams – Chat, meet, call and collaboration features integrated with Microsoft Office software.

• Skype – Video and audio calls with talk, chat and collaboration features.

• WeChat Work – Messaging, content sharing and video/audio-conferencing tool with the possibility of including max. 300 participants, available in English and Chinese.

• WhatsApp – Video and audio calls, messaging and content sharing mobile application.

• Zoom – Cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, collaboration, chat and webinars.

Tools for teachers to create of digital learning content

• Thinglink – Tools to create interactive images, videos and other multimedia resources.

• Buncee – Supports the creation and sharing visual representations of learning content, including media-rich lessons, reports, newsletters and presentations.

• EdPuzzle – Video lesson creation software.

• EduCaixa - Courses in Spanish language to help teachers develop the skills and competencies of learners in areas such as communication, entrepreneurship, STEM and big data. 

• Kaltura – Video management and creation tools with integration options for various learning management systems.

• Nearpod – Software to create lessons with informative and interactive assessment activities.

• Pear Deck – Facilitates the design of engaging instructional content with various integration features.

• Squigl – Content creation platform that transforms speech or text into animated videos.

• Trello - A visual collaboration tool used by teachers and professors for easier coursework planning, faculty collaboration, and classroom organization.

External repositories of distance learning solutions

• Brookings – A catalogue of nearly 3,000 learning innovations. Not all of them are distance learning solutions, but many of them offer digital education content.

• Education Nation – Nordic countries have opened up their learning solutions for the world for free, supporting teachers and learners during the school closures.

• EdSurge – Community-driven list of edtech products, including many distance learning resources for students, teachers and schools, covering primary to post-secondary education levels.

• European Commission Resources – A collection of online platforms for teachers and educators, available in 23 EU languages. 

• GDL Radio: a collection of radio and audio instruction resources.

• Global Business Coalition for Education – List of e-learning platforms, information sharing platform  and communication platforms.

• Keep Learning Going – Extensive collection free tools, strategies, tips and best practices for teaching online from a coalition of USA-based education organizations. Includes descriptions of over 600+ digital learning solutions.

• Koulu.me – A collection of apps and pedagogical solutions curated by Finnish edtech companies to facilitate distance for pre-primary to upper secondary learners.

• Organisation internationale de la Francophonie: Resources for primary and secondary school students and teachers for learning and teaching French.

• Profuturo Resources: Spanish language resources in different subject areas for primary and secondary school students.

• UNEVOC Resources – Tools, guides, MOOCS and other resources collected by UNESCO’s International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training for continued learning in the area of TVET.

• UNHCR – An extensive list of over 600 distance learning solutions from the United Nations agency for refugees.

Artificial Intelligence

• The Future IS Here: How Artificial Intelligence Can Improve Your Studies. This article discusses how artificial intelligence is used in education, and also it offers the best tools for learning. 

https://ivypanda.com/blog/the-future-is-here-how-artificial-intelligence-can-improve-your-studies/