Free Online Learning Tools For Elementary Students
Elementary students are in a unique place. They’re still learning the basics, but they’re also developing an interest in the world around them. They want to learn more about the things that interest them, but it can be hard to find resources that are age-appropriate and educationally sound. That’s why we’ve put together this list of free online tools for elementary students!
These tools are all 100% free and designed specifically with elementary students in mind. They’ll help you get started on projects, keep up with your studies, and learn new skills as well as old ones—all while having fun!
Free Online Learning Tools For Elementary Students
Thanks to the internet, we have an entire world of information and resources at our fingertips–and sometimes that feels like both a blessing and a curse.
Sure, we have access to archives, databases, tools, and up-to-the-minute commentary on current events, but finding and using this information requires that we wade through endless notifications, advertisements, and questionable content – not to mention the ‘fun’ online distractions that challenge productivity on a daily basis (we’re looking at you, Twitter).
One of the greatest struggles for many students — and teachers, if we’re being honest — is staying organized and on-task in this sea of information, and although there is an abundance of apps and software that promise to assist in this endeavor, more often than not, they just add to the distracting background noise and create more digital clutter.
“Using technology for learning makes sense. Technology creates access, transparency, and opportunity. Any smartphone or tablet is media incarnate–video, animation, eBooks, essays, blog posts, messages, music, games. The modalities of light, color, and sound all arranged just so to communicate a message or create an experience,” said our own Terry Heick. “But there is a difference between using technology and integrating it deeply into the learning experiences of students.”
See also The Difference Between Technology Use And Technology Integration
This distinction between technology use and integration is an important one. The use of technology is almost a given in this day in age – however, knowing which resources to use and when is a skill worthy of exploration. Keep these resources in mind while planning your lessons and help students develop an online toolkit that will benefit them beyond the classroom.
33 Of The Best Free Online Tools [Updated]
- IXL
IXL is a K-12 platform to help students practice and learn Math, Science, Social Studies, Spanish, and Language Arts. It ‘teaches’ through assessment (questions) and has diagnostic modes, suggested curriculum, and more.
You can also read more about how to use IXL.
- Better Explained
Better Explained is a free resource that seeks to explain mathematical concepts through quick visuals. - Khan Academy
Khan Academy is the popular, online platform used to learn academic content–mostly STEM-based. - Google Docs
Google Docs is a word processor that’s part of a web-based productivity suite offered by Google within its Google Drive service. This platform also includes Google Sheets and Google Slides, the former a spreadsheet tool and the latter a presentation program. - YouTube
YouTube is everyone’s favorite video platform and is one of the most popular websites on the internet for a reason: you can learn almost anything. Here is YouTube’s Learn at Home resource. - Quizlet
Quizlet is a free study app for digital flashcards to memorize, review, and learn new ideas. One of its best features is the ability to download other users’ cards to save a lot of time–or even learn content you might not have considered. - Audacity
Audacity is a free, open-source audio file editor - Gimp
Gimp is a free, open-source image editor. - OpenShot
OpenShot is a free, open-source video editor. - Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a project-management tool with a free tier feature-rich enough to use for students to plan out classwork, projects in project-based learning, plan businesses, or communicate with groups from and around school. - Slack
Slack is a project-management tool with a free tier feature-rich enough to use for students to plan out classwork, projects in project-based learning, plan businesses, or communicate with groups from and around school. - Trello
Trello is a project-management tool with a free tier feature-rich enough to use for students to plan out classwork, projects in project-based learning, plan businesses, or communicate with groups from and around school. - Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is a collection of over 60,000 free eBooks - Wikipedia
Wikipedia is everyone’s favorite crowd-based encyclopedia. It is supported by donations by free for end-users. - MIT Open Courseware
MIT Open Courseware is a collection of MIT’s free course materials for public use. - Duolingo
Duolingo is a simple and free way to practice a foreign language. - Microsoft Translator
Microsoft Translator is TeachThought’s favorite language translation app. Here’s a link to the main site but you can obviously find it in the iOS and Google Play store for mobile use, too. - Zotero
Zotero is a tool to collect, organize, and share online research. - Wikiversity
Wikiversity is a Wikipedia-sourced platform for free online course materials. - Readworks
ReadWorks is a free platform for K-12 reading comprehension practice. You can some ways to use ReadWorks in the classroom, too. - Youtube Channel: Smarter Every Day
YouTube Channel: Smarter Every Day and Smarter Every Day 2 are two of TeachThought’s favorite YouTube channels and great examples of inquiry and learning through play. - Youtube Channel: Crash Course
YouTube Channel: Crash Course is another useful channel for delivering free online learning resources in an engaging way. - OpenLearn
OpenLearn is a free learning platform, delivered by The Open University as part of the “Royal Charter commitment to support the well-being of the community.” - Academic Earth
Like OpenLearn, Academic Earth is a collection of free online courses and materials. - National Geographic for Kids
National Geographic for Kids is a free online resource to learn about nature and animals through the familiar National Geographic approach. - Yale Open Courses
Yale Open Courses is a collection of Yale’s–well, you can probably guess what this is. If you’re curious what one of the most expensive university’s look like in terms of courses and content, this is a decent start. - Desmos Graphing Calculator
While there are many free graphing calculator apps, Desmos is web-based and free–a “suite of math software tools, including the Desmos Graphing Calculator and Scientific Calculator. Desmos claims these free online tools for students are used annually by over 40 million teachers and students around the world. - Desmos Scientific Calculator
See above. - Polynote
While this is an advanced learning tool, it’s really quite something. A Netflix-created open-source program, Polynote is a Machine Learning and Data Science workflow tool. Polynote is a “different kind of notebook. It supports mixing multiple languages in one notebook and sharing data between them seamlessly. It encourages reproducible notebooks with its immutable data model.” - Blender
Also an advanced tech tool, “Blender is the free and open-source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, video editing, and 2D animation pipeline.” - Ableton’s Free Learning Synths Browser
According to the developers, with this free online learning resource, you’ll learn the basics of using synthesizers (or synths). The box above controls a synth running in your web browser, but synthesizers come in many shapes and sizes. They can be physical instruments that musicians play on stage, noise-makers inside electronic devices and toys, or software running on a phone or computer. - Netflix Documentaries
There are free documentary resources across the internet and Netflix has joined the party, releasing thirteen free educational documentaries for learning. There are also some free Netflix documentaries, too. - CK-12
CK-12 is a free and fantastic way to learn science by compiling your own learning STEM resources–either those that you upload or those provided by CK-12. Think online, custom STEM textbooks for free. With animations and interactive activities.
best free online teaching tools
With a million and one things to do at all times, it can feel near to impossible to stay organised while teaching. Between last minute cover lessons, remote teaching tech challenges and unexpected parent-teacher meetings, it can be difficult to know what day of the week it is, let alone what class is next. To help you remain on top of your teaching game, we have curated a list of the top 25 free online teaching tools and software for you. From Canva to ClassDojo, you will soon have no excuse for missing your lunch five days in a row. Enjoy.
Canva
A brilliant, free graphic design tool you can use to create educational visuals and infographics for the classroom. It couldn’t be more intuitive and is loved by both beginners and experts alike. We guarantee you’ll be hooked.
WeTransfer
The answer to your prayers. Transfer large files easily to colleagues and keep your ideas moving. It’s free and does not even require you to create an account. Just upload files, enter the recipient’s email and you’re away.
Teacheroo, the online teacher community
Teacheroo is a dedicated, friendly space for teachers everywhere to connect, share ideas and browse 1000s of free resources. Share posts, blog and stream live video from your Teacheroo profile. Search, follow and chat with like-minded educators, join groups, and get tailored news, tips and insights straight to your feed.
Create an account and prepare to be inspired. From epic lesson plans to clever classroom design, Pinterest is the place to be. Create your own boards to collate all your ideas in one place and share your best boards with your students.
Pixlr
Pixlr is an online photo editing tool that allows you to design, create and edit your photos and images easily. Right now, Pixlr for Education is offering an upgraded version of Pixlr for free, for teachers and educators.
Loop
Ask your students anything in under 30 seconds on Loop’s easy student feedback app and website. Free for teachers and students.
Calendly
Stay in control of who you meet and when with Calendly, a free calendar booking app. Calendly integrates with your calendar so you are never double-booked – a miracle when teaching – and allows you to save time when booking in your parent-teacher appointments or meetings with colleagues.
Edmodo
No teacher is an island – join Edmodo’s global education network and connect with your fellow teachers and students now. Collaborate in groups, administer and provide educational materials, measure student performance and communicate with parents to create a more personalised and enriching learning experience for both you and your students.
ClassDojo
A favourite among teachers, ClassDojo is a free school communication platform that teachers, students and parents can use every day to build close-knit communities by sharing what’s being learned in the classroom through home photos, videos and messages. Parents can track their child’s progress, and children can showcase their learning. There are also free class behaviour management tools system and lots of added features for teachers too. Check out this free beginner’s guide for teachers to learn what ClassDojo can do for you.
Schoology
An award-winning learning management system, Schoology allows teachers to create a private social network for their students, parents and colleagues. Communicate with families and students, manage your classroom, collaborate with your colleagues, plus much more.
Google Classroom
Google Classroom helps classes communicate, save time and stay organised. It also makes teaching more productive by allowing you to streamline assignments, boost collaboration and foster communication. You can create classes, distribute assignments, send feedback and see everything in one place. Google Classroom also seamlessly integrates with other Google tools like Google Docs and Drive, helping to keep you organised and, most importantly, save time.
Classcraft
Gamify learning and turn your existing curriculum into an adventure. This app has huge praise from teachers with their students reportedly emailing in to ask for extra homework outside of school hours. Need we say more?
Bouncyballs
The perfect classroom assistant. Simply turn on your microphone and let the bouncy balls do all the work. Students can see when they’re making too much noise so you don’t have to tell them, making noise management much easier and, miraculously, less personal.
Classcraft’s Volume Meter
Another useful volume meter which is also free and proven to work. Students already engaged with Classcraft really respond to this and you can even integrate it with Classcraft to achieve further points.
Kahoot!
Create a learning game or trivia quiz on any topic, in any language in minutes and make learning fun again with Kahoot!
Teach Learn Lead
A curated, forum-like platform for teachers to access professional development resources, share ideas and connect with remarkable people, events and places along the education continuum.
Seesaw
A student-driven digital portfolio and simple tool for easy parent communication. Seesaw is an excellent tool for teachers and students to share their work seamlessly with their families and is perfect for keeping everyone in the loop.
Doceri
Doceri is an interactive whiteboard for teachers that is free for use with an iPad. This not only means that you don’t have to draw directly onto the whiteboard and then erase it when space runs out, but you can walk around the classroom, draw on the iPad, cast it from a projector, and save projects to return to later. Ideal.
Padlet
A fantastic tool for teaching, says @coolcatteacher, in her informative how to use Padlet guide. Even if you have never used productivity software before, Padlet is familiar and fun and easy to get to grips with. In fact, it couldn’t be easier to make beautiful boards, documents and webpages that are easy to read and share with colleagues, so why not get started now?
educreations
The essential tool for teaching and learning on the go, educreations is simple and intuitive. Simply record your voice and iPad screen to create dynamic video lessons that your students and colleagues can access at any time and start collaborating now.
Dropbox
Always a classic. Access your files both in and out of school, share your content and stay organised.
Evernote
Eliminate handouts. Take notes anywhere and share ideas with anyone so that nothing falls through the cracks. The perfect place for all your notes, ideas, lists and reminders.
Class123
A free classroom management tool loved by millions. Class123 has a number of handy gadgets including a timer, seating chart, random picker, chalk board, goal tracker and more.
TED-Ed
Create your own interactive lessons, gain presentation literacy skills and celebrate innovative leadership with Ted-Ed’s video-based lessons organised by subject and theme.
Storybird
Promote storytelling and boost your students’ writing skills while creating interactive and artistic books online through a simple and easy to use interface.
EdPuzzle
Save time and simply choose a video, create a series of questions that your students must answer and assess their learning in one short clip.
Doodle
No more back and forth. Simply create a meeting on Doodle and send the link to your colleague or friend. Once your colleague confirms, the meeting is booked and automatically added to both of your calendars. That’s it. Doodle is the perfect tool for when you need to find dates that work for everyone such as essential parent-teacher meetings or the infamous staff Christmas party.
Conclusion
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