Teacher Tools for Digital English Education

The digital revolution has revolutionized education, opening up endless new vistas for teaching and learning. For English teachers in this age of digitization, this means no longer being limited by geographic borders: reaching students around the globe from your home! However, to make use of this opportunity effectively and efficiently requires special tools and teaching software; here we explore some of the best free tools and programs that can help English online more efficiently and effectively.

What are some of the best free teacher tools available online English teaching?

Zoom

Zoom is a cloud-based video conferencing tool that has seen tremendous growth since the recent pandemic began. Thanks to its user-friendly interface, high-quality video and audio content, breakout rooms, screen sharing features, and recording abilities - Zoom has quickly become one of the essential tools for online English teaching.

Zoom can meet all your one-on-one and group teaching needs, whether that means individual sessions or classes with multiple participants. Zoom's breakout rooms feature allows you to divide up classes into smaller groups for discussions or activities, and recording allows students to review material later.

Skype

Skype, as an early pioneer of video conferencing, offers another excellent tool for online English teaching. While not offering as many features as Zoom, its user-friendly interface makes it an appealing choice for less tech-savvy students.

One distinct advantage of Skype over Zoom is that there is no time limit imposed on meetings in its free version - something which can be crucial if conducting long classes. Deciding between these two services often comes down to personal preference and meeting student needs.

Google Docs

Google Docs is an innovative approach to document creation and sharing that provides unparalleled accessibility from any device with internet access - it lets users create documents quickly and collaborate efficiently without being bound by traditional word processors like Microsoft Word. Moreover, users can save draft versions and access them later if need be.

Google Docs' greatest strength lies in its collaboration features; you and your students can work simultaneously on one document, making it ideal for collaborative activities or instant feedback. Changes are automatically saved with revision history so there's never any fear of losing work!

How can I share large files with my students?

WeTransfer

As an online English teacher, you may encounter times when it's necessary to share large files with your students - be it a video lecture recording, high-resolution images, or comprehensive PDFs. Email attachments have size restrictions; with WeTransfer however, files up to 2GB can be sent for free!

WeTransfer makes it simple and effortless to share files between devices - simply upload, enter the recipient's email address, and share! They receive a link directly from their email client so they can download directly. No more dealing with file compression or splitting files into multiple parts!

What tools can help me schedule classes more effectively?

Calendly

In online teaching, scheduling efficiently is of utmost importance. Juggling different time zones and availability can be challenging - but Calendly makes scheduling easy!

Calendly is an online appointment scheduling software that makes setting your availability and sharing it with students simple and efficient, freeing you to focus on teaching more without dealing with back and forth communication over scheduling classes.

How can I create engaging visual content for my lessons?

Canva

In today's digital world, visual content is more vital than ever before. Studies show that people remember information more easily when presented visually. The Proximity Learning Canvas is a perfect example of this, being a web-based graphic design tool that can help you easily create engaging visuals for your lessons. Canva, another such tool, also offers a user-friendly platform for designing educational content.

Canva's drag-and-drop interface is simple for even novice designers to use, providing access to an expansive library of templates for presentations, infographics, flashcards and worksheets. By making lessons more visually appealing and interactive with Canva you can help your students better comprehend and retain material covered.

How can I receive payments from students easily and quickly?

PayPal

When it comes to accepting payments from students from different countries, PayPal is often chosen. As a secure online payment system that supports multiple currencies, PayPal makes receiving student payments simple and safe.

Noting the PayPal's fee structure when receiving international payments should also be factored into your pricing or have students cover it themselves.

Additional Useful Tools Available Here

Edmodo

Its an all-inclusive learning management system (LMS) tailored specifically towards K-12 educators and their students, but can easily adapt for use in any teaching scenario. It enables virtual classrooms with assignments, grades, announcements and more!

Edmodo allows users to create quizzes, polls and discussions for an engaging learning experience. Plus, all your resources are conveniently housed under one roof for easier organization and time savings for you and your students alike!

Google Classroom

Google Classroom, part of their Education Suite of tools, is another superb LMS for online English teaching. Like Edmodo, it enables instructors to manage assignments, communicate with students and organize class materials; but unlike Edmodo it offers seamless integration with other Google services like Docs, Sheets and Slides for added efficiency and accessibility.

Dropbox

Dropbox is a cloud storage service that makes sharing files with students simple and safe, offering easy storage solutions like lesson plans, worksheets and audio files across devices - perfect for sharing lesson plans or worksheets anytime anywhere!

Teaching English online presents unique challenges, but with the right tools and software you can overcome them and provide high-quality lessons to your students. Zoom, Skype, Google Docs, WeTransfer, Calendly Canva PayPal Edmodo Google Classroom Dropbox are just a few tools we discussed that can help streamline processes improve lessons increase earning potential and streamline operations - we covered these here in this article!

Remember, every teacher and class are unique - don't be intimidated to experiment.