eLearning is something that’s hard to ignore, so we thought we’d take a quick look at a few of the tools that can help you out along the way. We’ve chosen a real mix that can be used by teachers, lifelong adult learners, as well as students of all abilities. That way you’ll be able to find the right tool to take your project in the right direction. Let’s get started with the first entry on our list…
Google Drive
If you want a tool that keeps all of your work in one place and allows you to access it from any device, Google Drive is just what you need. “When you’re working on an essay, and you need to refer to some slides and a couple of different documents, you might find yourself forever carrying around a couple of external hard drives. It might feel secure, but you’ll waste so much time and effort.” – notes Alex Anderson, marketer for TopWritersReview.
Easy access to your work will make a much bigger difference than you think.
Momentum
One of the real issues that some people find with the rise of eLearning is that they need to be able to have the organization to juggle half a dozen things at the same time. Learning remotely is great, but you might always be creating to-do lists and then losing them.
Luckily that’s where Momentum comes in. It allows you to quickly and easily append to-do lists to your Chrome browser so that they’re always right where you need them. The best thing about it is just how simple it is. Sometimes simplicity is all you need when you’re trying to get better at something isn’t it?
Mural
Sometimes you’ll have to work with other people on an eLearning project, just like the group activities of old that we all undertook in the classroom. With everyone on different platforms and timescales, this can be a tricky thing to get right, even if it doesn’t seem so at the outset.
Mural is a brainstorming and creativity board that allows everyone to share ideas and make suggestions with the click of a button. Think of it as the eLearning equivalent of Pinterest. It’s that intuitive and relaxed user experience that allows it to fit seamlessly into your toolbox of eLearning resources.
Google Calendar
The second entry from those clever folks at Google is just as useful as the first, but you might not have thought about it as an eLearning resource at all. Simply by having a calendar you can sink across all your devices will make all the difference to the way you learn online.
That way you’ll be able to budget enough time to get everything done to the best of your ability, and you won’t end up producing last-minute work that doesn’t meet the standards you set yourself. Just what you need when you want to get the high grade your hard work deserves.
YouTube
This is another one that you might not instantly think of as an eLearning tool, but that would be very much mistaken. There may be a million hours of sports videos and silly home movies on YouTube, but there’s also plenty of great educational content that you can use to supplement the learning experience.
Find a couple of reputable channels, and add them to your evening watch list. That way you’ll be able to keep your head in your work, whilst also showing the family what you’ve been working on. This can be especially useful when, as a teacher, you want your students’ parents to become as invested in the eLearning process as you are.
Adobe Captivate
If you need a tool that allows multiple students and learners to be able to work through ideas as if they were all in the same room as one another, Captivate is just what you need. It’s all based around storyboarding and is designed to allow users to share ideas, make suggestions, and fully immerse themselves in the collaborative process as they author eLearning content.
Having students create their own explainers, presentations, or even lessons for younger students is a great way to make the learning experience far more interactive. You’ll be surprised at the difference in attainment that occurs with a little extra engagement.
Zoom
If you’re trying to manage an eLearning project, tools like Zoom are really essential. It’s a video conferencing platform that allows you to chat with people and see what they are up to, just as if you were in the room with them.
The great thing about it is that you can also use it to deliver webinars, tutorials, and online seminars to everyone involved. This could be to answer questions from students, bring new members of the teaching staff up to speed, or just to have a dialogue with your fellow students. This all makes it a great tool for students and learning providers alike.
Just Press Record
If you’re looking to manage a project, you’ll no doubt have to try and juggle half a dozen competing for interests at any one time. The tricky thing about trying to do this is that you’ll often have great ideas when you’re in the middle of something completely unrelated.
Just Press Record is essentially an online dictaphone that stores all of your wise words in the Cloud so you can play them back at a more convenient time. Just what you need when you want to be able to stay on track with everything.
Trello
You might think of it as a business project management tool, but Trello has something to offer everyone in the world of eLearning. Find out which Trello pricing model works best for your needs. The simple visual order that it displays the key milestones in makes it easy to see the big picture, without feeling overwhelmed. Just what you need when you want to be able to give it your best shot.
Final Thoughts
It’s tough to know if eLearning will replace classroom learning for good, and there’s been much debate about it. The key thing is to use the two approaches side by side and find the learning tools that allow everyone to get the most out of the experience.
Hopefully, we’ve given you everything you need to find your perfect tool; whether you’re a teacher, adult learner, or aspiring young student.
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