Teachers have no shortage of AI tools that promise to save time, but most still rely on writing prompts and refining the results. TeacherForge offers a structured approach to help build classroom resources through dedicated lesson generators.

This is designed specifically for English language teachers and creates grammar worksheets, vocabulary exercises, reading comprehension tasks, writing prompts, listening activities, and complete exams. Teachers choose a CEFR level, select the type of activity they want, and let the AI generate ready-to-use materials.

Unlike general AI chatbots, TeacherForge keeps everything focused on ESL and EFL teaching. Resources can be regenerated to produce fresh versions, downloaded as editable Word documents or PDFs, and include answer keys automatically. Listening activities also come with audio and transcripts.

For language teachers looking to reduce planning time without sacrificing quality, TeacherForge offers a streamlined way to produce classroom resources in minutes. This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about how it could work for your class.

What is TeacherForge?

TeacherForge is an AI-powered lesson creation platform built specifically for teachers of English as a second or foreign language. It focuses entirely on producing language-learning resources, giving teachers a set of purpose-built tools instead of a general chatbot interface.

The platform is organized around six resource generators covering grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, listening, and exams. Each one is tailored to the type of activity being created, so teachers choose options from guided menus rather than relying on carefully worded prompts. That makes it easier to produce consistent resources while reducing the amount of editing needed afterward.

Everything is designed around the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), allowing teachers to generate materials suitable for learners from beginner through to advanced.

Activities can focus on specific grammar points, vocabulary themes, or language skills, while reading exercises can either use AI-generated passages or text supplied by the teacher.

Once a resource has been created, it can be downloaded as an editable Word document or as a PDF for printing or sharing digitally. Listening activities also include generated audio and transcripts, while worksheets automatically include answer keys.

TeacherForge also stores the settings used to create each activity, allowing teachers to return later and generate fresh versions without starting again.

The result is a platform that feels less like chatting with AI and more like using a specialist lesson planning tool that happens to be powered by AI behind the scenes.

How does TeacherForge work?

Using TeacherForge follows a straightforward workflow that should feel familiar to most teachers. After signing in, you select the type of classroom resource to create before choosing the appropriate CEFR level for the learners. From there, each generator presents different options depending on the activity being built.

A grammar worksheet, for example, allows teachers to select the language point they want students to practice before choosing the exercise format. Reading activities can generate an original passage or build questions around text uploaded by the teacher. Vocabulary exercises can be based on custom word lists or predefined themes, while writing activities include prompts, guidance, and model responses. Listening exercises combine generated audio with accompanying classroom tasks.

After reviewing the generated material, teachers can download it as a Word document for further editing or as a PDF ready for printing. Because the documents remain editable, it is easy to adjust wording, replace examples, or tailor activities to a particular class before using any.

One of the platform's more useful features is its ability to regenerate resources. Instead of producing exactly the same worksheet every time, TeacherForge can create fresh versions using the same structure and level of difficulty. That makes it useful for parallel classes, revision activities, or assessment retakes in which teachers want similar exercises without repeating identical questions.

By guiding teachers through structured lesson builders instead of relying on free-form prompting, TeacherForge reduces the amount of trial and error needed to produce classroom-ready materials.

What are the best TeacherForge features?

TeacherForge's big appeal is its specialist focus. Every part of the platform has been designed around English language teaching rather than general classroom use, making the generated resources feel far more targeted than those produced by a standard AI chatbot.

The ability to regenerate worksheets is another standout feature, allowing teachers to produce multiple versions of the same activity for different classes without rebuilding the lesson from scratch.

Editable Word downloads also make it easy to personalize resources before reaching students. Automatic answer keys and listening transcripts remove several additional preparation steps.

Combined with CEFR alignment throughout the platform and these make TeacherForge really useful for teachers who regularly create their own language-learning materials.

How much does TeacherForge cost?

TeacherForge offers a free plan with a limited number of credits, allowing teachers to try each of its lesson generators before subscribing.

Paid plans start at around $5.75 per month when billed annually, with a higher-tier subscription offering unlimited generation and batch creation tools. School licences are also available for departments and institutions.

Best TeacherForge tips and tricks

Build differentiated lessons
Generate the same activity at different CEFR levels to support mixed-ability classes.

Upload your own texts
Turn class readers, articles, or curriculum materials into comprehension exercises instead of relying on AI-generated passages.

Create resit papers
Regenerate saved activities to produce fresh assessments that match the original level of difficulty.

Teaching in reality is very different than many of us envision it beforehand. It’s also harder than is depicted in movies and television.

That said, I find that those new to teaching often need a reminder that they are not alone in facing difficulties inspiring students, preparing classes, responding to inappropriate AI use, and much more. I still struggle with all this, and I’ve been teaching for more than a decade.

What I find actually helps is talking with other educators. I make a point of trying to share my struggles honestly and openly with other educators, especially new ones as they, in particular, typically need reminders of this.

So if you will be stepping into a classroom for the first time soon, here are some things I remind myself of and which may be helpful for you as well.

1. Not Every Idea You Have Will Work

Most teachers, especially when starting out, have constant innovative ideas for improving their lessons and classes. These ideas are impassioned and are really and truly great ideas—the problem is that students don’t always recognize their brilliance.! Or at least I’ve found It’s common for well-thought-out lesson plans to fall flat with students due to a variety of factors that are beyond my control.

This realization is a bummer when it happens, but it will happen, and more than many teachers will admit. Just realizing that I wasn’t the only one experiencing this helped me when I started.

2. There’s Such a Thing As Overpreparation

Teachers tend to be people who pride themselves in preparation. This is generally a good thing, but new teachers have a tendency to lean too much into this and can easily burn a lot of time painstakingly crafting lesson plans and overstuffed slides.

At best, this is just more work than necessary, but it can also actually hurt by eliminating the chance of spontaneity. Underpreparing isn’t good, either, but I learned fast that just because I spent my whole weekend preparing a lecture didn’t mean it would be good. In fact, I find that often spending less time on preparation allows me more time to focus on other teaching-related tasks and ultimately be more present for my students.

In other words, follow the old advice: work smarter, not harder.

3. You Will Encounter More AI Than You Think

Everyone knows about AI and has gotten used to spotting computer-generated slop on social media, but there’s still nothing quite like reading student emails or papers for the first time and realizing that these are AI-generated.

As a teacher, you are going to see this more often than you expect and in many cases, in the absence of clear institutional guidelines, you will have to determine how to handle AI misuse on your own. I’ve written about various approaches, but no approach of which I am aware is perfect, so be prepared to be flexible in your response to AI.

You also have to accept that teaching in the age of AI adds a layer of complication that wasn’t present years ago. Of course, there are many educators who find that using it can help save time in class prep and other areas of teaching, so for some, AI takes but also gives.

4. Good Teachers Question If They Are Good Teachers

Every good teacher I’ve ever met has one thing in common: they worry if they are doing a good job. This is because good teachers care, and the more you care, the more you feel like there’s more you can do. So those worries that you blew it or should be doing more are actually a sign that you’re doing the right thing by continuing to strive to do better for your students.

On the other hand, I’ve found that teachers who are overly confident often have blind spots. These folks give feedback that is less helpful than they think it is, and their “fixes” for AI misuse and other problems don’t actually work, but they’re too arrogant to see it.

Ultimately, if you feel some doubts creeping into what you’re doing here and there, that’s a good sign. You can start worrying when you feel like you have all the answers!

PlayKids Learning is an educational platform designed for children aged roughly 2 to 12. It combines videos, games, activities, stories, and original shows in a single app, with a focus on safety and age-appropriate content.

The company says this can help children develop academic and life skills while maintaining a healthy relationship with screen time. Something that could make this a parent's favorite educational app pretty fast.

PlayKids Learning lets children move between educational games, videos, creative activities, and interactive content covering areas including literacy, mathematics, arts, music, science, and social-emotional learning.

The platform is available across devices, including smart TV and interactive whiteboard platforms, making it accessible both at home and in school. This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about PlayKids Learning.

What is PlayKids Learning?

PlayKids Learning is an educational entertainment platform developed by Sandbox Group. It offers a large library of children's content that includes educational games, videos, cartoons, podcasts, and interactive learning activities. It is designed to provide a safe, ad-free environment in which children can learn through play and exploration.

The company says the platform is used by millions of families across more than 180 countries and supports multiple languages. Content includes both PlayKids original productions and licensed children's programming featuring familiar characters.

A key focus is helping children build skills beyond traditional academics. PlayKids highlights areas such as creativity, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and social-emotional learning alongside literacy and numeracy development.

How does PlayKids Learning work?

PlayKids Learning works as a subscription service that gives teachers and families access to a large library of child-friendly educational content through a single app. Once an account is created, parents or teachers can set up profiles for individual children and begin accessing games, videos, stories, podcasts, and interactive activities tailored to different age groups.

The platform is available on smartphones, tablets, web browsers, and many smart TVs, allowing children to switch between devices while keeping their progress and preferences. Content can also be downloaded for offline use, making it useful for travel or situations where internet access is limited.

PlayKids Learning combines entertainment and educational activities in one place. Children can move between watching shows, playing learning games, listening to audio content, and completing creative activities, while parents can use built-in controls to manage screen time and monitor usage.

The service is designed for independent use by younger children, with a simple interface and large visual navigation elements that make it easy to explore without constant adult supervision.

What are the best PlayKids Learning features?

One of PlayKids Learning's appealing aspects s is the variety of content available in a single subscription. Children can watch educational videos, play games, complete activities, listen to podcasts, and engage with interactive learning experiences without needing multiple apps.

The service is also designed with parental oversight in mind. Parents can set screen-time limits, manage profiles, and download content for offline use. Multiple devices can access the same subscription, which can be useful for families with more than one child.

Safety is another major selling point. PlayKids Learning is ad-free and promotes its kidSAFE certification and curated content approach. This can help parents avoid advertising and recommendation algorithms.

The platform also encourages activities beyond passive viewing. Alongside videos and games, children can access drawing activities, creative projects, music content, and hands-on exercises designed to extend learning away from the screen.

How much does PlayKids Learning cost?

PlayKids Learning offers two main subscription options through its website. The monthly plan costs $7.99 per month, while the annual plan costs $79.80 per year, effectively reducing the monthly cost by around half compared to paying monthly. A free trial is also available for new users.

Subscriptions include unlimited access to the platform's content library, support for multiple devices, offline downloads, parental controls, and access across supported mobile, web, and TV platforms.

It's worth noting that pricing can vary slightly depending on whether families subscribe directly through the PlayKids website, Apple App Store, Google Play Store, or a partner platform.

Best PlayKids Learning tips and tricks

Start with age-appropriate profiles
Take time to set up profiles that match each child's age and developmental stage. This helps ensure the recommended content remains relevant and engaging.

Use offline downloads for travel
Download videos and activities before trips or long journeys. This allows children to access content without requiring an internet connection.

Balance screen time with hands-on activities
Look for the platform's creative projects, crafts, music activities, and offline exercises. These can help turn screen-based learning into wider real-world experiences.

Even though it was composed more than 2,700 years ago, The Odyssey never gets old. This summer it will be brought to the big screen by Christopher Nolan in a much-anticipated film starring Matt Damon, Zendaya, Tom Holland, and Anne Hathaway.

Emily Wilson, a professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, says film adaptations of the epic poem always generate interest in the classic work and could provide a good excuse to introduce the epic into the classroom.

Wilson knows of what she speaks.

Nolan consulted her much-heralded 2018 translation for his film version. Wilson’s translation is also the first complete translation by a woman, and in it, she hoped to convey the rhythm of the original.

“Most of the available modern English translations before and after mine, use free verse or prose, rather than metrical, rhythmical verse,” she says.

Wilson recently shared some of the strategies she uses when teaching The Odyssey, and other works by Homer and myths, to her undergraduate students.

Teaching The Odyssey: Take A Detour From The Hero’s Journey

The Odyssey is frequently taught through Joseph Campbell’s framework of the “hero’s journey,” but Wilson thinks that approach can be too limited.

“[It] invites students to see The Odyssey as a kind of template for all other quest narratives, and to focus exclusively on the perspective of the protagonist,” she says. This can overshadow how Odysseus interacts with many other characters, “including those who do not have either a quest or a journey home.”

She adds, “When I teach undergraduates who have read The Odyssey in high school, I often invite them to reflect on both the appeal of this universalizing approach and to consider what it leaves out, including the historical specificity of the poem's concerns, which echo the particular preoccupations of the archaic Greek world, a world of large-scale Greek migration and colonization.”

Don’t Shy Away From The Alien Nature of The Book

“The Odyssey, like other works of ancient literature, is fascinating largely because it is both extremely familiar in its concerns and themes and also extraordinarily alien,” Wilson says. “The deities, for example, may seem like narrative conveniences, and in a sense they are, and yet The Odyssey was also created by and for people who worshipped and sacrificed to Athena, Zeus, and Poseidon.”

She finds that examining the conflict between the familiar themes and alien ones can lead to deep discussions with students. “The first four books are about the small-scale journeys of Telemachus, Odysseus' son, to visit his father's old comrades. The theme of a lost, anxious young person exploring his own identity through visiting alternative homes, is entirely relatable for any young reader.”

But at the same time there are limits to how far that relatability goes. “The terms in which the poem defines adult masculinity may be quite alien and even disturbing,” Wilson says. “Telemachus demonstrates a divinely inspired confidence by telling his mother to be quiet, and later takes a new step to manhood by murdering the thirteen enslaved people claimed by his mother's suitors to reclaim the honor of the household.”

Examine Gender Roles

Many students today take issue with gendered inequality seen in the poem.

“Those feelings can be an excellent opportunity for discussion and reflection,” Wilson says. She adds, it’s also “an opportunity to consider whether these feelings are invited by the poem itself, or the result of a gap in values between The Odyssey and modern values.”

Wilson’s students are often “outraged by the fact that Odysseus spends eight years in sexual relationships with two goddesses, at least partly voluntarily, and yet he seems to suffer no repercussions in his marriage to his eternally faithful wife.”

She adds, “There is an interesting and teachable mismatch between the modern idea of ‘adultery’—a gender-neutral disapproval of extramarital sex—and the ancient idea of moicheia, which refers only to sexual relationships between a man and another man's wife.”

This disconnect is more complex than students might realize. “The affair of Paris and Helen, or that of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra, threatens the integrity of the household and the male lineage, whereas Odysseus's affairs abroad are of no relevance for the household,” she says.

This is all an example of how, in Wilson’s words, “There are many opportunities for discussion of the relationship between modern norms of gender and sexuality and those of the poem.”

Use Visuals and Share Technological Breakthroughs

“When I teach myth, including The Odyssey, I often juxtapose it with ancient art; students who struggle with literary analysis often flourish in response to visual representations,” Wilson says. “There's a lot to say about, for instance, how Athenian vases depict the blinding of Polyphemus, and how this might compare or contrast with the poem's version of the same scene.”

Modern technology is also playing a role in the ongoing story of ancient texts. High-profile AI-assisted translations of damaged text have recently been released, but that’s only the beginning of what technology can do, Wilson says.

“One of the most exciting developments to me is not AI but digital imaging combined with radiocarbon analysis, which has enabled the decipherment of papyri that would otherwise be unrecoverable,” Wilson says. “It's exciting for everyone, including students, to learn that we're still discovering ‘new’ ancient literature.”

Talk About Translation

Wilson is, of course, interested in the differences between various translations of Homer’s work, but stresses that there are many excellent translations beyond hers, and students should be invited to compare and contrast the differences.

“As a way of teaching the value of close reading and the fact that every word matters, there's no better exercise than asking students to look closely at maybe two to three lines of The Odyssey in several different translations," she says. "I love this exercise, and I find it wakes students up to the fact that literature isn't just, and in fact, isn't primarily, about meaning; it's about specific words in a specific order, and every choice matters.”

Wilson's new book Crossing the Wine Dark Sea, which will be released in September, ends with a long essay about what Wilson calls the “minutiae of choices involved in translating just a few lines of The Odyssey and comparing multiple different translations of the same lines.”

This essay is a great introduction for educators looking to explore the role of translations in The Odyssey.

Remember: Teaching The Odyssey Shouldn't Be An Epic Challenge

Wilson says sometimes teachers shy away from teaching The Odyssey because they think it will be daunting.

“In many ways, Homer, especially in a reasonably user-friendly modern translation, is far less daunting than Shakespeare, whom I hope people also teach,” she says.

She adds, “The debate about teaching great books or the canon is sometimes framed as if teaching canonical or ancient texts were antithetical to the project of inviting students to be aware of themselves, their own culture, and their own world, but to me, nothing could be further from the truth. We learn about ourselves by discovering who we aren't, and who we almost are, and how we relate to others. There's no more generative text than The Odyssey for exploring those questions.”

Smore aims to solve the problem of poor school-to-home communication by turning school newsletters into visually engaging, mobile-friendly web pages that are easy to create and share.

Newsletters traditionally were blocks of text and a few images. Smore lets teachers and schools build interactive updates that can include videos, calendars, forms, links, images, documents, and more.

The platform is designed as a communication tool rather than a classroom teaching platform. Teachers can use Smore to keep parents informed about class activities, share resources with students, celebrate achievements, publish project work, or create information hubs for events and school projects.

Because everything is web-based, newsletters can be viewed on phones, tablets, laptops, or desktop computers without requiring parents to download a separate app.

So what exactly is Smore and how can teachers make the most of it?

What is Smore?

Smore is an online newsletter and family engagement platform designed specifically for schools and educators. It allows teachers and admins to create visually rich digital newsletters -- using drag-and-drop tools rather than needing web design experience, as some platforms demand.

Teachers can build newsletters from templates or start from scratch, adding text, images, videos, buttons, calendars, documents, forms, polls, and event information. Completed newsletters can then be shared through email, links, QR codes, social media, or embedded into school websites.

Lots of communication tools focus on one-way messaging. Smore is designed to encourage engagement. Features such as polls, event RSVPs, embedded content, and analytics help schools understand whether information is actually reaching families.

The platform is used by individual teachers, entire schools, and districts that want a more modern method of family communication.

How does Smore work?

Smore works through a browser and requires very little setup. After creating an account, teachers can choose from a range of newsletter templates and customize one using a drag-and-drop editor.

Content is added in blocks, making it easy to insert announcements, photos, videos, links, classroom updates, homework information, event details, and downloadable files. Teachers can rearrange sections as needed without having to touch any code.

Once a newsletter is published, it receives a unique web address. That newsletter can be emailed directly through Smore, shared as a link, embedded into another website, or distributed using a QR code.

One very useful feature for schools with diverse communities is automatic translation support, allowing families to read newsletters in their preferred language on supported plans.

Teachers and administrators can also track readership through built-in analytics, helping them see how many people opened a newsletter and which links attracted the most attention.

What are the best Smore features?

One of Smore's best features is its ease of use. Teachers can create professional-looking newsletters in minutes without needing graphic design skills.

The multimedia support is another highlight. Rather than attaching files to an email, teachers can embed videos, include image galleries, add links to resources, and create a more engaging experience for families.

The event RSVP tools can also be useful for school activities. These help teachers collect responses for trips, performances, parent evenings, and classroom events.

For schools focused on accessibility, Smore includes support for accessibility standards and offers translation options that can help improve communication with multilingual families.

Analytics provide another advantage, allowing educators to see whether important communications are actually being read rather than simply assuming an email reached its destination.

How much does Smore cost?

Smore offers a free version that allows you to create up to three newsletters, send up to 200 emails per month, and access basic designs and limited analytics. For teachers who want to use the platform regularly, paid plans are likely to be the more practical option.

The Basic plan costs $99 per year and includes unlimited newsletters, advanced analytics, customizable designs, PDF exports, file attachments, event RSVPs, polls, and up to 5,000 email sends per month.

The Pro plan costs $179 per year and adds automatic translation into more than 130 languages, Canva integration, custom headers, a table of contents feature, logo branding, and a higher monthly email allowance of 15,000 sends.

For larger schools or educators with extensive communication needs, the Premium plan costs $299 per year and raises the monthly email limit to 30,000 while adding priority support.

Schools and districts can also opt for Smore for Teams, which adds multi-user access, shared folders, collaboration tools, branded templates, enhanced analytics, and administrative controls. Pricing is available on request.

Best Smore tips and tricks

Create a weekly class hub
Use a single newsletter format each week so parents know exactly where to find homework, key dates, and classroom updates.

Showcase student work
Embed photos, videos, and project examples to give families a window into classroom learning.

Use analytics to refine communication
Monitor which sections receive the most engagement and adapt future newsletters accordingly.

Critical thinking really can be taught, suggests a new study led by Michael Bishop, a professor of philosophy at Florida State University.

For the study, published earlier this year in the Journal of American Psychology, Bishop and his collaborators split 397 students into two groups. Students in one group took a critical thinking class while students in the second group did not. The students who took critical thinking saw significant advantages over the students who did not.

As Bishop and his co-authors note, “the results suggest that an appropriately designed critical thinking class can dramatically reduce four common biases in judgment and decision making: honoring sunk costs, inferring causation from correlation, ignoring regression to the mean, and overlooking opportunity costs.”

Bishop is currently working on a book about teaching critical thinking. He discusses some highlights from the study as well as his experiences teaching the topic to students.

Teaching Critical Thinking: Defining What Critical Thinking Is

Attempts to teach critical thinking frequently fail, Bishop says. He believes this is because most approaches don’t follow the proper steps to teaching the topic, the first of which is defining what it means for somebody to be a better critical thinker.

“A lot of people who try to teach critical thinking go wrong on this first step,” Bishop says. This is because Bishop believes common definitions of critical thinking often focus on the wrong things.

"One wrong answer is that a rational thinker uses good rules or rational methods," he says. "Or you might think a rational thinker is an expert debater." But he says these definitions of critical and rational thinking are incomplete. Instead, with students, he focuses on providing them with effective strategies for engaging more deeply and accurately with various topics.

“I think that, really, a rational thinker in the end, it's not somebody who wins a lot of debates or the person who's most well-informed about issues," Bishop says. "It’s somebody who asks helpful and fruitful questions. These are questions that tend to lead to better answers.”

Emphasizing that it's about learning the proper process, Bishop adds, “I’m not teaching them rules. I'm not trying to teach them to win debates. I want them to ask fruitful questions.” 

Implementing Critical Thinking Lessons

Once you define what critical thinking looks like, you have to accurately assess why your students are not asking fruitful questions.

Bishop says that often students can ask fruitful questions in idealized situations yet fail to understand the implications of these strategies in real-world scenarios. For instance, Bishop has a scenario he asks students about in which they have to imagine their country is going to war with an unfriendly country. Students are told that ultimately, the war will be beneficial for their country with rewards outweighing costs.

Putting aside the non-financial costs of war for the sake of this argument, most students say that going to war is a good idea. However, in giving this answer, they’re making a potentially costly assumption that becomes clear if they think about the problem another way.

Instead of going to war, Bishop asks students to imagine they’re given three envelopes and told they can have the contents of one of the three envelopes. If they look in the first envelope and see a $5 bill, they can stop the game then, and they’d be $5 richer than they were before the game started. But since seeing the contents of the other envelopes before making their decision is permitted, students realize that taking the $5 is a bad choice because there could be much more money in the other envelopes. 


Part of what Bishop tries to convey to students is that the envelope problem and the war scenario should be treated the same way. “When I argue that ‘Hey, we should go to war because it's going to bring us this benefit,' all of a sudden it's harder to see. It's harder to recognize.”

Critical Thinking in Different Contexts

The three-envelope and war example Bishop provides is a variant of the operational cost fallacy in which we tend to ignore the cost of pursuing alternative strategies — for instance, the benefits we miss out on by a course of action we could take instead of going to war. Each of these fallacies can take some time to understand and then implement in the real world.

This is part of why Bishop calls his strategies for overcoming these fallacies in real life "cheat codes.” Once students do the initial work to learn them, they tend to have more informed decision-making.

While this research focused on a handful of fallacies, Bishop says that teaching good critical thinking skills involves teaching additional fallacies and mistakes. For instance, another thing students should look for is confirmation bias. This occurs when people use good critical thinking when opposing ideas they disagree with, but throw all that out the window when examining their side of the argument.

This is so common that Bishop wrote a short ditty about it that serves as a quick and important critical thinking lesson all on its own. It goes: “Low standards for my views and high standards for yours/Make us bad thinkers, extremists, and bores.”

Blended learning is a teaching approach that combines both traditional in-class instruction with digital technologies for lessons, assessments, feedback and more. In other words, face-to-face teaching is supplemented and supported by online lessons and content.

The advantages of blended learning include flexibility, student engagement, and the ability to personalize lessons.

The following blended learning sites, many of which are fully free, provide a variety of features through which educators can implement their blended learning approach.

Best Sites for Blended Learning

FREEMIUM

Newsela
A multiple award-winning platform, Newsela includes ELA, social studies, and STEM topics, and is particularly strong for differentiated reading and current events. A 45-day free trial of premium Newsela is provided to educators with no credit card required. The free version, Newsela Lite, provides a new leveled article each week, standards-aligned skill-building activities, and access to the Binder to review student work.

Pear Deck Learning
From its beginning as a Google Slides add-on, Pear Deck has expanded to now offer three additional services: Pear Start, Pear Practice, and Pear Assessment. Pear Start offers more than 40 AI tools to save teachers time, while Pear Practice allows teachers to build, share, and assign practice sets for individuals or groups, and Pear Assessment enables formative and summative assessments and automatic grading. The original Pear Deck’s free educator plan offers generous features such as lesson creation, differentiated learning, Immersive Reader, and student participation controls. Each program provides a free account for educators and premium accounts for schools and districts. Well worth checking out.

Parlay
Parlay, a powerful platform for discussion and debate in classrooms, makes it easy for educators to sign up and explore its features. Create a new discussion (written or verbal), browse more than 7,000 discussion prompts, and select grades. Topics can be entered directly as text, or though a link or PDF. The output will feature everything needed for a productive classroom discussion, including learning goals, questions, and peer feedback instructions. Students can be invited via code, roster, link, or Google Classroom. Basic Parley Free for teachers includes up to six roundtables with 50 students per roundtable.

Kahoot
One of the oldest and best-known quiz game platforms, Kahoot offers millions of ready-made gamified quizzes as well as the ability to create your own. Kahoot offers four paid plans ranging from $36 to $228 per year. Kahoot’s free basic account for educators and others allows creating and hosting a limited number of games, as well as joining games and exploring public kahoots.

PREMIUM

Canvas LMS
A complete learning management system providing tools for course creation, grading, collaboration, and mobile learning. Canvas integrates with multiple other platforms, including Microsoft Teams, Nearpod, Google Assignments, Discovery Education, Skyward SIS, and Slate. Unfortunately, the popular Free-for-Teacher accounts are currently unavailable, as Canvas rebuilds the backend, aiming for a fall 2026 launch.

Starfall
Starfall’s easy-to-navigate site and modest membership cost makes it ideal for both home and education, while its gamified interface will engage young users. Aimed at preK-5 students, Starfall’s games are research-based, standards-aligned, and cover reading and math topics from rhyming to factor pairs. While they don’t offer a free trial, each topic provides one or two free games for interested users to try. Education accounts are modestly priced at $70-$355 annually for individual teacher, classroom, or school accounts, and include student access on campus and at home.

IXL
Offering a comprehensive, skills-based K-12 curriculum, the award-winning IXL platform also includes diagnostic, assessment, and analytics tools for language arts, math, science, and social studies. Unlike many other such sites, IXL permits generous exploration of skills and lessons without joining. A full, free 30-day trial is offered for educators.

WeVideo Classroom
Designed for education, the video-editing platform WeVideo Classroom includes a wide range of built-in tools for video editing and export, and the ability to upload and integrate text, audio, image, and other files. Teachers can create classes, add multimedia assignments and projects, and provide feedback. Webcam, screen recording, templates, interactive videos, storyboarding and podcasts, and more are all part of the WeVideo ecosystem. Free seven-day trial with no credit card required.

FREE

Khan Academy Kids
This educational app for kids aged 2-8 has earned a five-star rating from the independent nonprofit Common Sense Media. Friendly animal characters and the gamified interface create a welcoming and engaging atmosphere for kids to learn early literacy and math skills, as well as to explore the natural world. Teachers can assign lessons and track progress in the app, which is 100% cost- and ad-free.

CK-12
A robust education nonprofit that started by providing open source digital textbooks in 2008, CK-12 has steadily added digital teaching resources for the past 10 years. Their products include new AI teaching tools and agents, customizable, interactive digital textbooks and science simulations, PLIX (Play-Learn-Interact-Explore) interactives, and much more. A wide range of subjects and grades are covered, from K-5 science to college algebra to adult education. Integrates with Google Classroom, Canvas, and Schoology.

OpenStax
From Rice University, OpenStax claims to be the world's largest publisher of free, peer-reviewed digital textbooks. Although I can’t confirm that claim, I can attest to the diversity of K-12 subjects for which digital textbooks are provided. OpenStax’s textbooks are written by experts in their fields, peer-reviewed, and standards-aligned. Digital books can be viewed online or downloaded as PDFs. A free educator account with your school email is required for full access. Available in English, Spanish, and Polish.

TEDEd
Not only does TedEd offer a wide range of educational videos, it also offers lessons built around these videos. Even better, educators can customize video lessons according to their teaching goals or upload their own video as a lesson foundation. Each lesson includes questions as well as a discussion forum.

Nowcomment
A free collaboration platform that allows for the discussion and annotation of online documents, Nowcomment offers an easy signup process and a fairly intuitive site. Teachers can upload documents, create private groups of students, and invite them to add comments. Files accepted for upload include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, image, video, copy-and-paste from HTML, and text entry. For security and privacy, only invited users can comment on documents and private groups are not searchable by search engines.

iCivics Education
Top-notch collection of K-12 civic and social studies games, lesson plans, simulations, mystery-themed curriculum units, and more, iCivics Education allows educators to assign games, monitor student progress, and manage classes in one place. Integrates with Google, Clever, and other single sign-on solutions.

Khan Academy
A free learning platform that allows teachers to create and manage classes, assign courses, and monitor student progress, Khan Academy now also features Khanmigo Tools, free AI-powered tools for education. Courses include math, test prep, ELA, science, social studies, computing, professional learning, and more.

Prodigy
Fully free for teachers, schools, and districts, the game-based Prodigy platform gives educators the ability to create classes, assign lessons, monitor student progress, and identify learning gaps. Students play math and English learning games as individuals or in teams. Integrates with Google, Classlink, and Clever.

zSpace takes a different approach to VR, offering immersive 3D learning experiences without asking students to strap a device to their faces.

Designed specifically for education, zSpace combines hardware and software to create interactive lessons that allow students to explore complex concepts in a more hands-on way.

From dissecting a virtual heart, to examining the inner workings of an engine, or investigating scientific phenomena that would be impossible to recreate safely in a classroom -- the aim is to move learning beyond textbooks and flat screens.

STEM subjects, career and technical education (CTE), and workforce readiness all get a focus. zSpace has found a place in schools looking for ways to make learning more engaging while helping students develop practical skills.

Here's everything you need to know about zSpace and how it can be used for teaching.

What is zSpace?

zSpace is an immersive learning platform that combines dedicated hardware with a library of educational software designed for schools, colleges, and training environments.

The company focuses on what it calls experiential learning. This aims to give students the opportunity to interact directly with digital objects and simulations -- rather than simply reading about processes or watching videos.

zSpace does not rely on traditional VR headsets. Instead, students use specially designed laptops or workstations that display 3D content that can be manipulated using a stylus. This creates the feeling of interacting with physical objects and dodges lots of the practical challenges associated with headset-based VR.

The platform is popular for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), but it also supports health sciences, manufacturing, skilled trades, and career-focused learning programs. The idea here is to help students better understand difficult concepts through direct interaction and exploration.

How does zSpace work?

zSpace is designed to make digital learning feel more physical. Students can pick up, rotate, enlarge, shrink, and examine virtual objects from every angle.

Rather than viewing a diagram of the human body, for example, they can pull virtual organs apart, explore anatomical systems layer by layer, and investigate structures that would be difficult to visualize using more standard teaching methods.

The same approach applies across other subjects. Engineering students can inspect machine components, science students can investigate molecular structures, and technical education learners can practice procedures in simulated environments before working with real-world equipment.

For teachers, the platform functions as another instructional tool rather than a replacement for existing teaching methods. Lessons can be integrated into classroom activities, used as part of blended learning programs, or offered in small groups.

Because students are actively interacting with the content rather than passively consuming it, the technology is designed to encourage curiosity, exploration, and discussion.

One of the biggest advantages is the ability to provide experiences that would otherwise be too costly, dangerous, impractical, or simply impossible in a normal classroom setting.

What are the best zSpace features?

One of the most standout features is the headset-free approach. zSpace removes the need to wear VR goggles, as many other immersive tech platforms require, making classroom use simpler and potentially more comfortable for learners.

The platform's interactive 3D models are another major strength. Being able to manipulate objects directly can help students grasp concepts that are often difficult to understand through static images alone. This is helpful for subjects such as anatomy, engineering, physics, and technical training.

zSpace also stands out because of its focus on CTE and career readiness. Much of the content is designed to teach academic concepts and to help students with skills and scenarios they may encounter in future professions.

The company also provides curriculum resources, implementation support, and professional development for educators, to help schools integrate the technology into existing teaching practices rather than treating it as standalone.

How much does zSpace cost?

zSpace does not publicly list pricing. Costs vary depending on the hardware selected, the software packages required, and the level of support and training a school needs.

As a result, schools interested in adopting the platform will need to contact zSpace directly for a customized quote.

Best zSpace tips and tricks

Use it for concepts students struggle to visualize
The biggest gains are likely to come when teaching topics that are difficult to understand through diagrams, photographs, or written explanations alone.

Build discussion around the experience
Rather than treating zSpace as a solo activity, use it as a starting point for questions, predictions, and classroom conversations that help students process what they have explored.

Focus on experiences you cannot easily recreate
The technology is at its strongest when it enables students to do something that would otherwise be impossible, unsafe, prohibitively expensive, or unavailable in a typical classroom.

ispring Free is a specific version of the larger ispring ecosystem that's designed to help make courses, and lesson creation, a simple process. Crucially, this offers a way to help teachers make digital interactive lessons using their own skills.

The idea here is to work as an add-in with Microsoft PowerPoint so that educators can build slides into lessons easily. This means using a platform that may already be familiar, only now with the option to add questions and more before outputting to an LMS for use.

The powerful free version lets you get going with lesson making right away, but you also have some other paid features including AI-driven tools to enhance the offering even further.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about ispring Free, primarily, with those extra paid tools mentioned later on so you know what else is available too.

What is ispring?

ispring is an elearning creation tool that works directly within Microsoft PowerPoint. This adds extra teaching and publishing features right there within a tool that many educators already know how to use.

Teachers can create lessons using standard slides, then enhance those with quizzes, embedded video, audio, YouTube clips, web objects, and interactive elements. Once finished, the presentation can be exported as HTML5 content or packaged as a SCORM course for use within an LMS.

You can also use PowerPoint animations, transitions, triggers, and layouts as these are preserved during conversion. Consequently, existing classroom presentations can often be repurposed rather than rebuilt from scratch.

The free version includes three quiz types: multiple choice, multiple response, and short answer. These are enough for many classroom assessments and knowledge checks, plus you can pay for the more premium features if needed.

How does ispring work?

ispring Free appears as an additional tab inside PowerPoint. Teachers build lessons as they normally would, then use ispring’s tools to add interactive and assessment elements.

To publish, educators can export lessons as SCORM 1.2 or SCORM 2004 packages for upload into LMS platforms, or simply create HTML5 lessons that can be shared via links or websites.

Courses are responsive, so these automatically adapt for phones, tablets, and desktop devices without extra work. That's very useful for homework, remote learning, or flipped classroom teaching so students can then access content on different devices.

Teachers can track learner progress when using an LMS. Quiz scores, completion rates, and learner participation data can all be monitored through these systems.

This is built to be quick and easy to pick-up and use. So while there are limitations in terms of complexity, for a lesson building tool that works with ease, this does the job well.

What are the best ispring features?

ispring is integrated into PowerPoint, which is one of the main appeals here for ease of uptake and simplicity of creation. No training is going to be needed here in most cases.

SCORM publishing is another major appeal. Lots of other free tools struggle with LMS compatibility, but ispring Free supports SCORM 1.2 and 2004 output, allowing courses to work with platforms such as Moodle and Blackboard.

Courses automatically resize for different screens, which helps students access lessons on phones or tablets -- something that's rare to find in free tools such as this.

Quiz creation is simple but effective, with built-in knowledge checks that can include timers, shuffled answers, and feedback. In addition, there's support for embedding web objects and multimedia directly into lessons, helping otherwise less engaging slide decks feel more interactive and enthralling.

The biggest limitation is depth. The paid ispring Suite adds far more advanced interactions, branching scenarios, drag-and-drop tasks, AI tools, narration features, and richer quiz options.

How much does ispring cost?

ispring Free is just that, without any cost to use. It has no limits on time or slides, and does not include forced branding.

It's worth noting that the free version is very much intended as a gateway into the paid ecosystem. Those who want advanced quiz types, video creation tools, AI features, role-play simulations, or content libraries will need to upgrade to ispring Suite.

Individual accounts for the full suite start in the hundreds but for education institutions there are bespoke prices available on request.

ispring best tips and tricks

Reuse old presentations
Convert existing PowerPoint lessons into interactive online resources rather than rebuilding content from scratch.

Add quick knowledge checks
Use the built-in quizzes after key slides to reinforce understanding and keep learners engaged.

Publish for mobile learning
Export lessons as responsive HTML5 content so students can revise on phones and tablets.

As a journalist who writes about education tech, my kids' favorite education apps are those that have been tested and stand out above the rest. Over the many years of doing this there are some that really jump out, are loved by my kids, and get used continually over longer periods of time. Crucially, these also have a noticeable effect on their schooling and progress.

The apps I've written about have largely fallen across a few categories, some feeling too like homework, others repetitive when the novelty wears off, and some which strike the balance between playful and instructional while staying engaging. That last category is from where these app recommendations are coming.

So these are the apps that my kids genuinely returned to, out of choice, over the last year as I've been trying them out in our home.

Best of My Kids' Favorite Education Apps

Best overall

Wayground

Wayground is one of our favorite apps, bar none. This manages to combine the best of quiz-style platforms in a way that plays to the needs of the child.

So, in my house for example, one child was drawn to using it in a competitive way while the other was a lot more exploratory. It supports both, allowing them to enjoy it their way while still getting the learning from being on here.

While a lot of apps can feel built for the classroom and teacher-first, this is also good as an at-home app. It's easy enough to setup and use for parents and children, but that it can also be a bridge between class and home use.

Since this works across devices, using a browser, I could have one child on the laptop and another on my phone so they get their own experience, at their level. The pre-built quizzes make it as easy as handing over the device and letting them explore.

That said, the addition of AI now makes adapting to each child far more accessible as an option that's easy. Crucially, for me as a parent and for teachers, this isn't time consuming so you actually use it and -- as a result -- so do the kids.

To be clear, this is designed for teachers to setup and use, and works best that way. So if this is something your child's school is offering, or considering, I'd very much encourage you to take advantage of this and have your littles ones give it a go.

Best for literacy

IXL

IXL is a literacy app that's far less repetitive than many similar platforms by breaking learning into smaller, achievable chunks that build confidence steadily over time. Covering everything from spelling and vocabulary to grammar and reading comprehension, it offers a huge amount of structured practice while still feeling approachable for younger learners.

What worked well with my kids was the sense of progression. They could complete shorter activities, earn rewards, and immediately see improvement. The adaptive system also helped keep frustration levels lower by adjusting difficulty as they worked, which made it easier to maintain engagement.

The platform’s clean layout and focused exercises keep distractions to a minimum. While it still feels academically solid underneath, IXL avoids becoming overly classroom-heavy, which helped it slot naturally into home use. It became very useful for quick daily practice sessions that never felt too demanding.

Best for math

Buzzmath

Buzzmath feels much closer to puzzle-solving over traditional drills, which immediately made it more appealing in our house than many worksheet-style alternatives. Designed for middle school learners, the platform combines interactive challenges with visual learning tools that encourage experimentation and problem-solving -- rather than memorization alone.

One of the strongest features is how it handles mistakes. Instead of simply marking answers wrong, Buzzmath encourages students to retry, rethink, and work through problems independently. That helped reduce frustration levels, particularly with more difficult topics.

The game-inspired structure also works well without overwhelming the educational side of the experience. Progression feels rewarding, but the learning remains central throughout. Visual explanations and interactive feedback helped make more abstract concepts easier to grasp, especially for anyone that struggles with text-based instruction.

For kids who normally disengage quickly from math practice -- my daughter -- Buzzmath offers a far more approachable and confidence-building alternative that still delivers strong educational depth underneath the playful presentation.

Best for STEM

NASA Space Place

NASA Space Place stands out because it captures the sense of curiosity that great STEM learning should inspire. The platform introduces complex ideas through playful activities, bright visuals, games, videos, and short articles that make science feel approachable and exciting.

Space is naturally engaging for my and most other kids, and this platform uses that brilliantly to pull learners into wider STEM topics, including engineering, climate science, physics, robotics, and astronomy. One minute my kids were exploring planets, the next they were learning about satellites or weather systems without really noticing the educational shift.

The platform also feels refreshingly straightforward. Plus, no subscriptions, pop-ups, or overly gamified distractions competing for attention. Instead, the focus remains firmly on exploration and discovery.

For younger learners especially, NASA Space Place strikes an excellent balance between education and accessibility. It offers great STEM learning while still maintaining the excitement and imagination that often gets lost in more formal educational platforms.

Best for gamification

Roblox

Roblox may not look like a traditional education platform at first glance, but the creative side of the experience offers far more learning potential than many parents initially realize. Beyond simply playing games, children can build environments, experiment with coding concepts, design interactive experiences, and collaborate creatively with others.

What stands out most, watching my kids use Roblox, is how naturally problem-solving becomes part of the experience. Whether adjusting game mechanics, building worlds, or figuring out systems together, there is a constant layer of experimentation underneath the entertainment. It encourages creativity in a way that feels self-directed rather than instructional.

That said, Roblox still benefits from active parental involvement and sensible controls, particularly given the scale of the platform. The educational value depends heavily on how children engage with it.

Used thoughtfully, though, Roblox can become a surprisingly effective gateway into coding, digital creativity, collaboration, and design thinking. For children already interested in gaming culture, it offers opportunities to shift from passive consumption into active creation, which is where its strongest learning potential can emerge.

Best for AI

aiEDU

aiEDU offers one of the most accessible introductions to artificial intelligence I’ve seen for younger learners, managing to explain a fast-moving and often intimidating subject in a way that feels clear, balanced, and genuinely useful. As AI tools increasingly become part of everyday life, helping children understand the technology behind it all feels more important than ever.

Rather than focusing purely on flashy demonstrations, aiEDU places a strong emphasis on digital literacy and critical thinking. Lessons explore how AI systems work, where biases can appear, and why understanding the technology matters, all without becoming overly technical or difficult for younger people.

The platform also offers a clean design that keeps the focus firmly on learning rather than distractions. My kids engage particularly well with the real-world examples and discussion-led style of the content, which encourages curiosity rather than passive consumption.

Considering the quality of the material available completely free, aiEDU feels really valuable for families and schools looking to introduce AI concepts without adding yet another expensive subscription service into the mix.

Best for video

ClickView

ClickView takes the strengths of video-based learning and packages it all into a far more focused educational experience than the open-ended chaos of general video platforms. With curated educational content, interactive quizzes, and classroom-ready resources, it creates an environment in which children can stay engaged without constantly being pulled toward unrelated distractions.

What works particularly well with my kids is how effectively video helps unlock topics they might normally avoid in text-heavy formats. Complex ideas often becomes easier to understand once presented visually, especially through shorter clips and structured explanations designed specifically for learning.

The platform also feels thoughtfully designed for both school and home use. Teachers can integrate lessons easily while parents benefit from knowing the content has been curated with education in mind.

Importantly, ClickView avoids making video learning feel passive. Interactive elements throughout encourage participation and reflection rather than endless watching. The result is a platform that manages to feel engaging and educational in equal measure, which is surprisingly difficult to achieve consistently.

The recent trend of pushback against tech in the classroom is seeing schools across the country moving away from emphasizing 1-2-1 digital devices and focusing on old-fashioned classroom and group activities.

Dennis R. Willingham, superintendent of Walker County Schools in Alabama, recently realized how this trend has touched his own district when a principal told him about witnessing student behavior that had not been seen in years: the passed note.

“A little tear came in my eye that the kids were actually writing instead of texting,” this educator told Willingham.

In addition to reviving the once-extinct practice of students writing notes to one another, the new trend is cutting back on distractions in the classroom and helping support student learning, Willingham says. It’s been pushed by a combination of events, including decreased funding for 1-2-1 programs in the post-COVID era and a general fatigue among teachers and students that we’re all spending too much time looking at screens.

Willingham discusses the benefits of screen-free time he’s seen in his district as well as the challenges around continuing to provide device access to students, which remains a necessity.

Less Screen Time, More Social Interaction

Back in 2018 and 2019, there was a big push to provide every student access to a digital device, Willingham says. That intensified during the pandemic, but now many in the education world are realizing the embrace of digital devices may have been a little too enthusiastic.

“Now the trend seems to have shifted back the other way, and people are calling for more direct instruction from the teacher, going back to more cooperative learning groups, and more student engagement within the classroom,” Willingham says. “The big reason for that is for the sake of social skills. Because not only in the schoolhouse but also outside of school doors, kids are absorbed by electronic devices, with their phones, with laptops. And so we are seeing that students are lacking in social skills.”

In Willingham’s district, this movement has been facilitated by state legislation banning cell phones in schools, which went into effect at the start of the academic year. Most people, including Willingham, have applauded the new policy.

“We’re receiving positive feedback from just about every stakeholder about these electronic devices being banned in our schools,” he says.

The Need For Devices

Despite the benefits of cell phone bans, the larger movement away from 1-2-1 devices isn’t all positive. Walker County Schools still has a 1-2-1 policy in place that is needed, Willingham says, but funding for the program long-term is in question since COVID-era funds have dried up and federal funding for education is currently uncertain.

“We have state-mandated assessments starting in second grade. And those state-mandated assessments are electronic,” Willingham says. “It’s kind of a Catch-22. The trend now is going away from 1-2-1, but at times you need the 1-2-1.”

Federal funds are crucial to continuing to provide that access in Walker County Schools.

“It is going to be a challenge going forward. It is not feasible to continue finding 1-2-1 because of the upgrades and updates. That's not only with the hardware, but also with the computer systems and the software as well,” Willingham says. “We are a poverty district. We are about 70% poverty. And so we do rely on federal funding to keep our heads afloat.”

Advice On Going Device-Free

Ongoing uncertainty about federal funding notwithstanding, Willingham believes there is real benefits right now for teachers to provide more screenless activities in the classroom.

“Cooperative learning and student engagement, that's really where it's at. It's proven to be effective for learning, and it's also great for social skills, which we're seeing that our students greatly need,” he says.

Perhaps ironically, AI can help educators prepare more old-fashioned, pen-and-paper and group activities.

“It’s fantastic you can type in, ‘I want to teach a lesson on standard A3, and I want to involve cooperative learning and group activities,’ and boom, you’ve got all of that at your fingertips," Willingham says. "All you’ve got to just tweak it and make it your own.”

These types of group and in-person activities have the added bonus of limiting students’ increasing tendency to rely on AI themselves in unproductive ways, such as making it write a paper for them.

In a less digitized classroom, for instance, when students are writing notes back and forth to each other, you know, regardless of the content, that at least the students wrote the notes themselves.

Edcafe AI is a rare tool in the world of AI as it, unlike many others out there, is specifically designed to support classes through the entire teaching cycle.

Built for educators, this AI tool works to offer support across the full teaching process, from lesson planning to assessments -- all in one easy-to-access platform.

The idea here is to offer a more time-efficient way to work, without jumping around between tools. From building a lesson from scratch -- differentiating for mixed abilities -- to tracking student progress, this tool should streamline that process for ease.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about Edcafe AI for use in your class.

What is Edcafe AI?

Edcafe AI is a digital AI-powered assistant for teachers to help across planning, teaching, and assessing lessons. By combining multiple tools, this offers a single platform for teachers to create, organize, deliver, and evaluate learning.

This allows teachers to plan curriculum-aligned lessons and then create classroom-ready learning materials. Assigning these to students, and assessing as well as tracking progress, is also built into the platform.

That all should mean teachers only need to open this one tool to get everything done, saving on time and effort -- so they can focus on more valuable teacher-student time.

How does Edcafe AI work?

Edcafe AI combines the power of artificial intelligence with the materials already being used by teachers. Current and sourced materials can be uploaded for use, all being enhanced to work with the AI ecosystem.

What that actually looks like is a teacher uploads a document, slides, or curriculum content. The AI then generates lessons, quizzes, or activities that can be shared using links or QR codes. Students can then work with these materials as teachers track engagement and performance in real time.

Usefully, there are feedback loops that allow teachers to see how students are responding, so as to refine future lessons based on student ability.

Since students don't need accounts, this is all super simple to setup and share so students can begin working with the materials right away.

What are the best Edcafe AI features?

Edcafe AI uses artificial intelligence to make the creation of materials fast and easy from full lesson plans, slides, and quizzes to reading activities.

Chatbots can also be created, with custom inputs, which are then able to assist students as they work through topics. They then can get personalized feedback and help as they work, without it costing teachers on time.

Those quizzes that can be generated are also able to be auto-graded, saving even more teacher time. This can be a quick way to assess student ability with any learning gaps easy to identify and work on improving.

Since Google Drive can be used with this system, it makes for an easy way not only to access and enhance current materials, but to generate and share more across the school.

Everything is end-to-end here, so teachers can work in one platform to get everything done. This is not only helpful for saving on time, but can also be far less mentally straining.

How much does Edcafe AI cost?

Edcafe AI offers a tiered pricing model, including a free option. The plans break down like this:

Free plan: Limited AI generations and core tools.

Pro plan: From around $7.99/month (annual billing) with expanded features.

Premium plan: From around $14.99/month with unlimited usage and school-level tools.

Custom options are also available for schools and districts, including onboarding and integration support.

Edcafe AI best tips and tricks

Start with your own materials
Upload existing lesson content to get more accurate, curriculum-aligned outputs.

Use chatbots for differentiation
Set up different chatbots for varying ability levels or topics to personalize support.

Generate then refine
Treat AI outputs as a starting point and tweak for tone, accuracy, and class context.

ClassPoint is one of those tools designed to perfectly blend other software that teachers, until now, have been using separately. The idea being that this can save time and effort with one do-it-all solution.

The combination here is of the ever-helpful slides-based tools, such as PowerPoint, with quiz-style apps that allow for more measurable engagement.

This does plenty more though, thanks to AI and the ability to gamify learning, all while offering real-time feedback to educators.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about ClassPoint to see if it could save you time and enhance your instruction.

What is ClassPoint?

ClassPoint is a digital tool that combines slide-based teaching with interactive assessment options to offer a more dynamic class experience.

This integrates directly with Microsoft PowerPoint so teachers can use current tools and slides to make it all more interactive.

The app offers quizzes and polls that allow educators to measure student answers, live. This also helps teachers to turn slides into interactive whiteboards, with slide annotation live as the class works through materials.

To be clear, this works within PowerPoint, so existing class materials can be reused rather than doing everything from scratch.

How does ClassPoint work?

ClassPoint works as a PowerPoint add-on, so you can get this installed and then work on your slide decks directly.

Teachers can work with the interactive elements right there from within the slides. Students are sent a join code that allows them to interact using their own devices. Everyone can be working on the main whiteboard screen, with interactions sent live from their devices.

So while teachers are presenting as normal, students are able to respond with answers to quizzes, annotation drawing, or even uploads from their devices. The results of all this can be shown immediately on screen at the front of class.

Also integrated is an AI quiz generator. This scans the slides you're using and automatically offers questions that will work with that presentation. That can mean a huge saving on preparation time for teachers as well as the ability to get into a quiz on any slide section, even if previously unplanned.

What are the best ClassPoint features?

ClassPoint is all real-time so feedback from students is live, allowing teachers to adapt their teaching -- stopping longer on a topic or moving on -- as the lesson progresses.

That AI quiz generator is a really big value as saves time, offering more spontaneity and the ability to adjust these to suit different ability levels.

Teachers can gamify everything as there is the option to award stars, track progress, and even display leaderboards to help with motivation and participation.

Thanks for the ability to annotate directly, this allows any PowerPoint slide to become an interactive whiteboard canvas. This is for teachers, live, but also for students that want to add text, images, audio, video, drawings and more.

Usefully, for teachers, this can help with tracking of participation, with built-in reporting tools.

How much does ClassPoint cost?

ClassPoint offers a tiered pricing model that includes a free plan. The levels break down into:

Free (Basic): Limited features, small class sizes, and capped quizzes.

Pro: Around $8/month (billed annually), unlocks larger classes, unlimited questions, and more advanced tools.

Premium: Custom pricing for schools, with features such as unlimited AI credits and deeper analytics.

The free tier is functional enough for trying it out, but most of the more powerful features, especially AI and analytics, sit behind the paid plans.

ClassPoint best tips and tricks

Turn slides into instant quizzes
Add interactive questions directly into your PowerPoint to check understanding without switching tools.

Use live responses to guide teaching
Adjust your lesson in real time based on how students answer polls and quizzes.

Gamify participation with points
Reward correct answers and engagement to motivate quieter students to get involved.

ClickView is a video-learning platform that's been designed specifically to work in education class scenarios. That means this is a safe, classroom-appropriate resource that's loaded up with educators in mind.

Unlike the mine-field that can be YouTube, this is filled with curriculum-aligned content that is well-organized so teachers can find and use what they need with ease -- saving on time and effort.

Thanks to the vetted and curated content, along with interactive tools, this can be used as a powerful way to deepen or introduce learning in class and beyond.

This guide aims to lay out all you could need to know about ClickView as a potential tool for your class.

What is ClickView?

ClickView is all about video, specifically school-based video viewing. This education-focused video platform offers access to thousands of curriculum-aligned, curated videos that cover a range of subjects and topics.

Since this is built for education specifically, the content is all age-appropriate, curriculum-linked, and vetted for classroom use.

Usefully, it's all well-organized too. Teachers can browse by subject, topic, or learning level to get to video content that relevant and high-quality -- ultimately saving on search time. Plus, it's possible to add interactive, assessment elements to make this even more engaging.

Students can access this via a single sign-on, class code, or school credentials -- all meaning access through a secure and school-friendly system.

How does ClickView work?

ClickView is made to work as a tool that teachers can use to make their planning easier, more rich, and ultimately, faster -- while still giving students the most engaging experience.

Teachers start by logging in to their school account. They can then immediately search by topic, subject, or keyword as needed. Filters help to narrow results with results focused on level, content type, and topic.

When the video has been picked, it can be played in class, shared with students directly, embedded into lesson plans, or assigned for independent study at another time.

Teachers can give student access via a class code, or students can get in using their own login, depending on how the school is setup. This can mean in-class use but also at-home learning, if a hybrid model is being used with this setup.

Usefully, teachers can also add interactive layers to follow after the video has been watched. These include questions, annotations, and interactive timeline elements. All that should make for a more active learning experience that sticks.

What are the best ClickView features?

ClickView has thousands of videos that are all curriculum-aligned, so teachers can search by specific topic to quickly find ideal materials without the need to vet it themselves.

The interactivity of videos is a big draw here as it allows teachers to tailor the follow-up experience. That can lead to a more engaged viewer, knowing they need to answer questions after.

The search functionality is a big draw here as it allows for direct keyword searches but also a browse function. This can help stimulate lesson planning by browsing what's available, or offer direct results to save on time.

Since students can access these videos via a shared code, or school login, it makes for easy access across devices. Sharing these for in-class or at-home use is just as easy either way.

Analytics tools allow teachers to see how students have engaged with the videos and interactive elements. This should be useful in guiding help for students, adapting lesson plans, and generally tailoring support.

Teachers can even upload their own videos and resources to help build the customized library available across the school or class.

How much does ClickView cost?

ClickView pricing is not publicly listed and is typically offered via a school or district subscription model.

Costs vary depending on school size, region, feature access, and licensing requirements.

Schools usually need to request a quote or demo to get specific pricing details.

ClickView best tips and tricks

Use clips instead of full videos
Short segments keep attention high and allow for more targeted discussion.

Add questions directly into videos
Embedding quizzes help check understanding in real time without extra worksheets.

Flip the classroom
Assign videos as homework so lesson time can focus on discussion and application.

Dotstorming is a digital point of centralization for a class to help get everyone contributing as a team.

While real-world voting and brainstorming can leave out the quiet voices, this tool works to help everyone have a say. It's equal parts digital sticky notes and voting system, all working live in the room.

This is a simple tool at its heart, offering voting to the class, but in a way that's powerful in its potential output. With the option to span in class use and hybrid learning models, this is a helpful way to keep the class focused as a group.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about how Dotstorming could work for your class.

What is Dotstorming?

Dotstorming is a digital tool that is browser-based for easy access across the class and devices available. This works as a brainstorming and decision-making system that lets the group share ideas and vote in real time.

Use text, images, videos, and PDFs, as the virtual board system allows for a range of materials to be shared in the class for discussion purposes.

This, used in conjunction with the "dot voting" system, allows the students to participate in group decisions instantly. Teachers can then cut the debate and noise when trying to get directly to a group consensus, or gauge of class opinions on a matter.

Easy organization of these "boards," by popularity, allow for further streamlining of this process for use in class with minimal teacher effort.

How does Dotstorming work?

Dotstorming offers teachers a space to create boards that can then be shared with students via a link. Since there is no login needed, or special devices thanks to browser access, this can be used across student devices easily.

Students are then able to add their own ideas in a post-style system using text, images, and videos. They can see the contributions of others and vote on preferred ideas using their limited number of votes to pick and choose.

For teachers, there is the chance to manage the number of votes each student has before letting them take part. Control over chat and commenting is also available, with the option to disable. Finally, teachers can also lock submissions ready to move onto voting as the only option, for simplicity.

Once voting is all done, the results can be stored and used as part of future discussions or lesson planning. All that helps this become a useful formative assessment tool as well as prioritization pointer.

What are the best Dotstorming features?

Dotstorming works in real-time so group collaboration, at speed, is possible without getting lost in debate or counting of votes. That can result in high-energy and inclusive lessons while keeping everyone involved in voting.

The rich media support makes this a powerful tool to use across a range of subjects. That means using images, videos, text, and PDFs to help teachers bring in ideas but also to allow students a way to freely express themselves.

The sticky note-style layout on the board makes for a very visually engaging way to share information. It strikes the balance between digital and analogue that feels easy to use while still staying efficient and organized.

The fact students can join in with a simple link and their name, without account creation being necessary, is a hugely powerful part of how easy and effective Dotstorming is for use in classes, even for the first time. It also supports student data privacy.

How much does Dotstorming cost?

Dotstorming works on a freemium model. That means you have two levels:

Free: Limited boards and topics, but fully functional for basic classroom use.

Paid plans: Offer expanded usage and additional features (pricing varies).

For many teachers, the free tier is enough to run effective sessions, especially if boards are reused.

Dotstorming best tips and tricks

Start with a focused prompt
Clear, specific questions lead to better quality ideas and more meaningful voting.

Limit the number of votes
Restricting votes forces students to prioritize rather than select everything.

Use it for checks
Have students post what they don’t understand, then vote to surface key gaps.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

These provocative and powerful words are familiar to most 21st-century Americans. But to truly appreciate their radical and revolutionary meaning, we must understand what political and social ideas were commonly held during the Colonial era.

These semiquincentennial lessons and activities provide a broad range of pathways through which educators can teach the founding of our country, its remarkable exceptionalism, and equally remarkable divergence between ideals and practice.

A note about the word semiquincentennial: As the semiquincentennial approaches, you may be feeling nostalgic for the days of the bicentennial, which was easier to pronounce and spell. But the word is actually quite logical in both. Based on Latin roots, semiquincentennial deconstructs as follows: semi meaning half; quin meaning five and centennial meaning hundredth. It’s pronounced sem-ee-kwin-sen-TEN-ee-uhl. Happy 4th of July!

Best Lessons and Activities for the Semiquincentennial

National Constitution Center: The Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights
What’s the difference between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution? And what about the Bill of Rights – how does that fit? Although the U.S.Constitution and Bill of Rights didn’t exist in 1776, it’s best to understand these documents as part of the same striving toward democracy and freedom. This in-depth article, written by constitutional experts Jeffrey Rosen and David Rubenstein, explores and clarifies the similarities and differences among these three crucial founding documents. An ideal place to start for students in grades 6-12.

American Battlefield Trust: Declaration of Independence Lesson Plan
A detailed, standards-aligned lesson plan for use in middle and high school classrooms. Students will learn about the process of creating and adopting the Declaration of Independence as well as its importance in history. Includes a teaching guide, PowerPoint presentation, student worksheets, and digital versions of primary source documents.

PBS: The American Revolution Learning Resources
Based on video excerpts from Ken Burns’ The American Revolution, these standards-aligned lessons explore topics such as: demographics and economy of the colonies; causes of the American revolution, key events and figures; and consequences and legacies of the era. Lessons are classified by grade and include teacher guides, discussion questions, vocabulary, and handouts. Shareable to Google Classroom with a free PBS account.

DocsTeach America 250 Activities and Documents
From the National Archives, a selection of downloadable digital versions of the key primary source documents related to America’s founding and early years. Each document is accompanied by explanatory text as well as a complete transcript so readers don’t have to try to decipher faded old- fashioned handwriting. Activities for selected documents serve as grade-leveled lesson plans and formative assessments, and include suggested teaching instructions. Sharable to Google Classroom.

Bill of Rights Institute: Declaration of Independence Lesson
What were the philosophical bases and practical implications of the Declaration of Independence? This complete, scaffolded lesson plan takes a deep dive into these questions about our country’s founding document. Includes all required readings, activities, educator answer key, lesson extensions, student handouts, and graphic organizers. A free account is required to download the full lesson plan in a single PDF.

Museum of the American Revolution Mini Lesson Plans
Ten American Revolution lesson plans that while concise, nonetheless include everything needed to cover topics including historical object analysis, dissecting the Declaration, Alexander Hamilton, the people of colonial America, and George vs. George–a comparison between King George III and George Washington.

Museum of the American Revolution: Season of Independence
To Americans of our modern era, it may seem “self-evident” that all colonial Americans would have supported their states’ efforts toward independence. While the majority did support independence, this was not universal. Explore how the demographics of Revolution supporters vs. Loyalists changes over the first six months of 1776. Map-based interactive with links to further inquiry about people and places.

Beyond the Battlefield: A Virtual Field Trip to the Museum of the American Revolution
An enthusiastic and engaging virtual visit to the Museum of the American Revolution, hosted by Lauren Tarshis, author of the bestselling I Survived children’s book series. The video appears to be aimed at younger learners but the classroom kit that accompanies the video contains readings for students in grades 2-8. Downloadable PDFs include vocabulary, discussion questions, and answers. An excerpt from Tarshis’ I Survived the American Revolution 1776 is also provided. This would be a great place to start with younger learners or any students who respond well to a people-centered approach to history.

iCIVICS Education Investigation Declaration Game
Oh no! A criminal enterprise, known as Baddies Against Rights and Freedom (B.A.R.F.) has hacked into the Bureau of Ideas with the intent to destroy files related to freedom, democracy, and rights. Enlisted as Special Agents, players will collect clues from 1776 to restore the ideas and damaged files of the Declaration of Independence. This absorbing game is intricate enough to keep older kids involved, while also providing a glossary for younger learners. Available in English and Spanish. A free account is not required, but does allow users to save in-game progress and compete with others.

National Humanities Center: The American Revolution as Civil War
We think of the conflict that led to American independence as a revolution—and we commonly refer to it as the “American Revolution.” But at its heart, wasn’t it actually a civil war? In this lesson for grades 10-12, students will read and analyze a travel journal from 1775, written by a Scottish woman who visited her brother in North Carolina and observed patriot and loyalist activities. Provided are a teacher’s guide, close-reading questions, and a fillable PDF assignment for students. An excellent lesson for advanced students.

Gilder Lehrman Institute: The Declaration of Independence at 250
A wealth of activities devoted to the Declaration’s 250th anniversary. All activities are grade-leveled and include formative quizzes, teacher’s guide, and interactive elements. Explore topics such as whether the revolution was justified, how and why Congress changed Thomas Jefferson’s initial draft, and the reaction of British people to their colony’s assertion of rights.

iCivics: Why Do We Have So Many Governments?
In this inquiry-based, standards-aligned lesson plan, students will learn about the three levels of government, the principle and practice of federalism, and how life in the colonies and the Articles of Confederation affected the founders’ decision making. Includes Google Slideshow, PDFs, and student handouts. With a free account, educators can create a class and assign this lesson.

Abigail Adams and “Remember the Ladies”
Abigail Adams is famous for appealing to her husband John Adams during the months prior to the signing of the Declaration. Students will read her letters and analyze their words in response to close-reading questions. A teacher’s guide, fillable PDF, vocabulary, interactive exercises, and follow-up assignment are all included.

Discovery Education: Free Classroom Resources to Commemorate the U.S.'s 250th Anniversary
Organized by grade level and theme, this downloadable guide offers selected K-12 social studies resources relevant to the semiquincentennial. Topics covered include the Declaration of Independence, origins of the U.S. Constitution, equal protection under the law and more. Video, slideshow and interactive text materials are included.

Flint is an AI tool designed to offer personalized learning, and teaching, to students and educators in a very effective way.

Unlike many of the ever-appearing new AI tools out there, this is designed from the ground up as a way to make learning better. That's where this stands out. Rather than acting as a generic chatbot, it is designed specifically for classroom use, with guardrails, analytics, and structured activities that aim to keep teachers in control.

This is about extending teaching by giving each student something closer to one-to-one support, while still aligning with curriculum goals. Offering AI tutoring, assignment creation, and classroom analytics, this is built to make life easier all round.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about how Flint could work in your class.

What is Flint?

Flint is an AI-powered learning platform built specifically for K–12 schools, designed to support personalized instruction across subjects including math, science, English, and languages.

Two key parts are available here: one in the AI teaching assistant, to help create lessons, activities, and feedback. But there is also the AI tutor part, called Sparky, which helps students by adapting explanations and supporting individual needs.

Centered around class workflows, these tools help teachers make AI-driven assignments, upload curriculum materials, and define how much help the AI is allowed to give, ranging from gentle guidance to more direct support.

Usefully, this can be deployed across schools, with admin oversight and LMS integrations, as well as helpful analytics and engagement tracking, all as part of the package.

How does Flint work?

Flint lets teachers create or upload content using items such as worksheets, rubrics, lessons, or external resources as needed. Using that as a foundation, the AI is then able to generate interactive learning activities to be completed.

Students can then interact through the sessions, asking questions, working through problems, or getting writing feedback as they go. This is great for projects, in which structured support can help them work at scale without the need for lots of teacher-based scaffolding along the way -- potentially helping build confidence, too.

The system uses large language models with tools such as web search, code-based calculations, and translation to improve accuracy and flexibility.

Teachers keep control throughout, since they can design and implement guardrails. This includes preventing the AI from giving direct answers or requiring it to guide students through reasoning instead, for example.

Admins and teachers can also view interaction histories, allowing for transparency and safeguarding, with automatic flagging of inappropriate content.

What are the best Flint features?

Flint is all about that AI tutoring for students to feel supported and engaged with at their level -- helping high achievers progress at their pace while anyone struggling can be supported to grow comfortably.

The ability to implement guardrails is a huge positive for educators. They can define how the AI behaves, ensuring it supports learning without simply giving answers.

The use of content already available, such as teacher materials currently in use, is a really powerful way that this extends teaching and learning without going from scratch. It can also help sticking to current lesson plans and standards easily.

Feedback is powerful here with real-time looks at student performance and engagement. This is individual but also with a general overview across the class.

When it comes to assignments, this AI can help with deadlines, time limits, and follow-up activities. At the same time it supports multimodal learning tools with text-to-speech, speech-to-text, image processing, and even graphing and code support for STEM subjects.

All that, plus it integrates with LMS and SIS, such as Google Classroom, to make integration and deployment an easy part of the process also.

How much does Flint cost?

Flint offers a free tier for up to 80 users, making it accessible for individual teachers or small pilots.

Paid plans are structured by school size, starting at around: $3,000/year for smaller deployments. This scales to custom pricing for larger institutions.

Paid tiers add features including LMS/SIS integration, advanced analytics, and dedicated support.

Flint best tips and tricks

Start with one class
Pilot the platform with a single group to refine how you want the AI to behave before scaling.

Set clear guardrails early
Define whether the AI should guide, hint, or explain, to shape student learning habits from the start.

Upload your own materials
Ground the AI in your curriculum to improve relevance and reduces generic responses.

Repetitio est mater studiorum.

Or to say it another way, repetition is the mother of learning.

And while repetition sometimes gets a bad rap (as in “drill and kill”), properly utilized, repetition can help cement foundational concepts and allow students to advance to more deeper and nuanced forms of learning.

The learning platform I Know It provides a wide range of activities and exercises for K-5 math and English language arts practice, as well as progress reports for educators and parents and gamified feedback for students.

What is I Know It?

I Know It is a math and English language arts practice site that provides extensive, individualized exercises for students in grades K-5.

The platform includes some of the most engaging features of gamification, such as congratulatory graphics and animations, sound effects, awards, and badges. I think it strikes an excellent balance between fully gamified interactives on one hand and dry data-driven instruction on the other.

I Know It goes beyond simple practice modules by aligning the majority of its exercises with Common Core Standards or selected state standards. Plus, its student-friendly features will encourage timely assignment completion as well as exploration of additional, unassigned problem sets.

How Does I Know It Work?

I Know It makes it easy for educators to sign up for its generous free trial. Simply provide your name, school name, phone number, and email and you’re ready to explore the site. Once signed in, teachers can set options for the following parameters:

• Standards (Common Core, Texas or Florida)
• Hints (none, three or unlimited)
• Animations (on/off)
• Students may explore on their own (yes/no)
• Questions may be read aloud (on/off)
• Progress report to parents via email (yes/no)

Given the level of control and optimization provided, I Know It has a remarkably clean interface with intuitive navigation. It’s also very easy to edit any of these parameters at any time later.

CREATING A CLASS

Create and name your class from the My Students tab. The easiest way to populate your online classes is to use the Rapid Roster feature, which accepts text input, or copy-and-pasted names from a text file, spreadsheet, or email. The system will then create the user names and passwords for you. These can be edited later if you wish. You can also print out a PDF with all student names and passwords.

GETTING TO KNOW THE EXERCISES

I Know It offers two categories of practice: math and English language arts. To start exploring practice sets, select a category and grade from the top menu or from the teacher dashboard. Now you’ll see the entire range of problems for that grade, with large bold print headings so you can easily find your preferred activities.

To get a quick view of a problem type, mouse over the description and an example will pop up. To try it yourself, click to open the problem. Your view will be identical to the student’s view, so you can see what happens following a correct answer or an incorrect answer.

Note the animation option toggle in the lower right corner. Students who prefer not to have graphic or animated feedback can adjust their own settings.

If you’d like to experience and test the platform exactly as a student would, sign in as a student in a separate browser. First add a student; e.g.; Test Student. Open a new browser (for example, use Edge if your teacher account is open in Chrome) and sign in as Test Student, logging in with user name, the class code and the password. A separate student email is not required.

ASSIGNING EXERCISES

To assign activities from the teacher dashboard, select grade and subject (math or ELA), then select the desired exercise. The Assign Lesson window gives you multiple options for the assignment, including number of questions (1-80), which students to assign, display options, auto reassign, and several others.

What Are the Best I Know It Features?

LESSON DIFFERENTIATION

One of most useful features built into the I Know It platform is the ease with which teachers can differentiate lessons. This can be accomplished in two ways:

1. Assigning a lesson of a lower or higher grade level to individual students.
   Instead of assigning fourth grade math sets to Jane Doe, you can assign second grade problem sets, since she's currently working at that level. You can then quickly assign grade-level work to the rest of the students if desired. Importantly, there will not be a grade level displayed on assignments.
   
2. Setting the "ability level" to a lower or higher grade.
   The "ability level" is an optional feature that, if set, will guide the level of exploration exercises offered to a student. These are the optional activities displayed underneath the student's assigned work.

PROGRESS TRACKING AND REPORTING

Student progress tracking allows teachers to see overviews of a class or student, or drill down into details if desired. "Recent Activity" lists students, lessons worked on, and scores, with a link to a detailed view for each student. Here teachers can view all of a student's questions and answers as well as time spent on tasks.

Teachers may also export a printable PDF progress report for selected intervals, or view awards won by students for completing lessons. Weekly progress reports will be emailed to parents if enabled in Settings.

BUILT-IN ACCESSIBILITY TOOLS

Each activity window sports a sound icon in the top left corner, allowing questions to be read aloud. Incorrect answers yield explanations clarifying the correct answer and offering the chance to view the question and answer again.

Does The Robot Have A Name And Why Is It So Much Fun?

Maybe it's just the fifth grader in me, but I love the animated robot character that responds to answers (if animations are permitted in settings). The variety of playful animations for correct answers—all with apt and amusing sound effects—include: blowing bubbles; barking dogs; flying birds; rain; rainbows; rocket ship taking off, circling the moon, parachuting back to Earth; juggling; a flower garden springing from the head; eating an apple that turns into a pie; and more.

My guess is that most kids will enjoy these animated rewards and hopefully, be more motivated to complete their work. Sadly, the riveting (and no doubt, riveted) robot is nameless.

How Much Does I Know It Cost?

I Know It offers three account types: Family, Single Teacher and School/District, with varying pricing and features. A 30-day free trial, with no credit card required, makes it straightforward to discover if the platform is right for your class.

The Family membership allows one parent and up to four children, using a single login, for $45 annually.

The Single Teacher account includes one teacher and 25 students (each of whom has an individual login) for $150 annually and the option to add additional student licenses at $7.50 each.

The District/School account provides additional benefits, such as a unlimited teacher accounts, a dedicated account manager, teacher training, phone tech support and others. The cost is per student and varies depending on the size of the school or district.

Buzzmath is, as the name suggests, creating a real buzz around the subject of math for young students. The idea is to bridge that gap between students who thrive on problem-solving, naturally, and those that struggle to grasp the sometimes abstract ideas.

By offering live feedback and gamified math interactions, Buzzmath works to help bring all students into a fun and engaging digital environment for learning.

Aimed at students from ages 6 to 16, this inclusive learning platform offers curriculum-aligned content that's made fun through the gamified process. They are allowed to explore at their pace, crucially, so they can feel in control while also giving teachers useful insights into their learning.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about how Buzzmath could work for your class.

What is Buzzmath?

Buzzmath is a digital math practice platform that offers gamified tasks as a way to help students gain mastery in math.

The platform offers more than 14,000 math-based questions for students to tackle. This is very much useful as a tool to complement teaching, rather than to teach directly. Educators can assign activities, for example, as a way to reinforce learning after something new has been taught.

While teachers can tailor learning to individuals or groups, in either case there is storytelling and gamification involved with missions, rewards, and challenges to keep students motivated.

Teachers can use this to have students practice curriculum-aligned skills and see progress to then better tailor future sessions as needed.

Since Buzzmath is web-based, it should be easy to access across devices and internet connections -- both in school and at home.

How does Buzzmath work?

Buzzmath can be used freely, by students exploring the activities at their own pace. Or it can be utilized to assign tasks to students or groups specifically.

Students answer questions and are immediately given feedback with answers marked as correct or incorrect. In the latter case, guidance can be triggered to help them grow through productive failure.

Students can retry questions as needed and access hints or examples to help them progress. Teachers are then able to monitor progress using a detailed reporting dashboard. This can help to spot learning gaps from data such as time spent on task, attempts made, and overall accuracy.

Accessibility features include audio narration and visual glossaries to help students with varied learning needs get the most out of this service.

What are the best Buzzmath features?

While there are a huge selection of questions on the platform, thanks to dynamic variables, students are able to practice without the problem of repetition fatigue holding them back.

The real-time feedback and ability to retry allows students to feel supported while working at their own pace. This also equates to direct support that allows for independent working without teacher time being required. That should also lead to deeper levels of learning rather than surface-level answering.

Since teachers are able to personalize learning to suit individuals or groups, this can work as a very specific tailored learning support system.

Educators have access to a powerful dashboard that allows them to monitor student progress. Data such as time spent on tasks, attempts made, completion rates, and concept-level performance, can all help teachers define future learning requirements.

The gamification of everything -- with stars, badges, and missions -- can really help to keep students engaged and come back for more practice, naturally.

How much does Buzzmath cost?

Buzzmath varies in pricing based on usage. A limited 30-day free trial is available for teachers who want to give this a go before committing to any particular plan. The plans break down like this:

Schools and districts: Typically licensed per student, with pricing starting around $1 per student annually (minimum spend applies).

Families: Around $20 per month or $120 per year for home use.

Custom quotes are often required for institutional use, particularly outside the US.

Buzzmath best tips and tricks

Start with diagnostic assignments
Use early tasks to identify gaps before tailoring future work.

Use retries as learning moments
Encourage students to reflect on mistakes rather than rush through answers.

Assign differentiated pathways
Target individuals or groups with specific activities to support mixed-ability classes.

NASA Space Place is a digital resource that's built to help educators bring space and earth science into the classroom in an exciting way.

Also, crucially, it combines the rich resources of NASA is a way that offers depth but simple access for teachers. The fact this has been up and running since 1998 is clearly reflected in how well it has been refined and tailored to suit children over the years. The result: a powerful tool for the upper-elementary-aged students.

This free resource blends scientific accuracy with playful, engaging layouts, making complex concepts feel intuitive rather than intimidating.

The curriculum-friendly resources cover science topics from climate and the solar system to space tech and more. For a STEM-focused offering that comes from a credible source, this is a really wonderful option to have.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about how NASA Space Place could work for your class.

What is NASA Space Place?

NASA Space Place is an education platform that offers a free way to teach upper-elementary students through inspiration and engagement -- all provided by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Science-specific areas covered include the solar system, Earth sciences, the Sun, and the universe, plus broader science and technology topics. Topics vary in depth and complexity to suit different student abilities, going from black holes to climate change.

Usefully, this is all set up as an engaging exploratory environment, rather than just a static set of tools. That means there is reading, there is watching, but there is also doing. Students can read about a topic, then play a game on what's been learned, followed by a hands-on activity in class or at home.

Educators have a dedicated section with materials such as printables, resources, and guidance across English and Spanish.

How does NASA Space Place work?

NASA Space Place is browser-based, so it can be accessed from most devices and internet connections. Everything is arranged into helpful categories that allow teachers and students to navigate by topic or activity type, for example.

So a student might browse a subject such as Earth then filter into articles, games, and hands-on activities -- ideal as it can be suited to how that particular student prefers to learn.

Articles break down scientific concepts into simple, digestible explanations, often supported by visuals or animations. Games reinforce learning through interaction. While DIY activities encourage practical application, such as building simple models or conducting experiments at home or in class.

Teachers have a few ways to take advantage of the platform. They can use it as a lesson starter, a supplementary resource, or even a flipped learning tool through which students explore topics independently before class discussion.

The material is aligned with real NASA missions and scientific research, so it also offers a level of authenticity that can deepen student engagement.

Plus, it can all be scaled. It's aimed at younger learners but the clarity can be helpful to older students who need to work on foundations.

What are the best NASA Space Place features?

NASA Space Place takes often complex scientific ideas and makes each one easily accessible and digestible -- but, crucially, without oversimplifying anything. This is thanks to those different formats available that can suit varying learner styles.

The games, which offer an interactive way to learn, are a powerful feature. Students can explore satellite tracking or planetary motion in a hands-on way, turning abstract ideas into something tangible. Then, the short videos and animations help visual learners grasp topics such as eclipses or space weather.

For teachers, the hands-on activities can be very useful with crafts and experiments offering experiential learning that can reinforce theoretical knowledge.

A wide range of subjects are covered here, from climate change and Earth systems to deep space exploration. The platform connects classroom learning to real-world science and ongoing NASA missions.

Educators can access the resources, such as printables and guidance, as a way to enhance teaching and make using this platform even more valuable and time-rich.

It's also worth mentioning that the bright visuals, simple language, and general sense of curiosity-driven exploration can all help to maintain student engagement.

How much does NASA Space Place cost?

NASA Space Place is completely free to use. No subscriptions, paywalls, or premium tiers to navigate. Everything on the platform is openly accessible to students, teachers, and parents.

In addition, there are no hidden requirements in terms of hardware or software. Because the platform runs in a web browser, it works across most devices, including desktops, laptops, and tablets. This flexibility makes it suitable for classroom use, remote learning, and homework alike.

NASA Space Place best tips and tricks

Hook with play
Start lessons with a quick game or animation to spark curiosity and ease students into complex space concepts.

Guide exploration
Set focused tasks that have students navigate specific sections of the site to build independent research skills.

Make it hands-on
Use the DIY activities as the core of lessons to turn abstract science into practical, memorable learning experiences.

The most affordable printers for schools means giving printable resource access to all, while keeping down costs.

Sure, that refers to the upfront cost of these print machines, but it also includes ongoing running expenses, ranging from ink and paper right through to parts replacements and regular maintenance.

This is mentioned right upfront here, as sometimes what can look like a good deal on the surface can hold some hidden costs down the line. In fact, printers that are cheaper to buy up front can often have higher ink costs ongoing, for example.

Printers in schools need to be simple enough to be used by teachers, admins, and students alike. But they also need to have enough complexity to work across wired and wireless networks and for a variety of tasks.

From laser to inkjet, auto feed to copying and scanning, printer speeds and features should be taken into account before embarking on buying a single printer, let alone for an entire school or district. Finding the best printers is a task worth taking time over.

This guide aims to lay out the most affordable printers for schools right now, to help you make the right choice.

Most Affordable Printers For Schools

1. HP Smart Tank 7001: Best overall for low running costs

The HP Smart Tank 7001 is a standout for schools that print frequently and need to keep ongoing costs under control. Unlike traditional cartridge printers, this uses refillable ink tanks, dramatically lowering cost per page -- critical for classrooms producing worksheets daily.

It also includes automatic duplex printing and strong wireless connectivity, making it easy for multiple teachers or students to use from different devices. Importantly, it ships with a large amount of ink in the box, enough to last potentially years in a moderate-use classroom.

Standout:
High print volumes, minimal ink costs, long-term savings.

2. Epson EcoTank ET-2850: Best for reliability and ease of use

Epson’s EcoTank line is widely regarded as one of the most cost-efficient printer ecosystems available. The ET-2850 is a particularly strong entry-level option for schools, offering cartridge-free printing, solid reliability, and simple operation.

It includes auto-duplex printing and wireless support, making it well-suited to shared environments such as staff rooms or small departments. Its refillable ink system keeps per-page costs extremely low compared to traditional inkjets.

Standout:
Low maintenance, predictable costs, and easy setup.

3. Brother HL-L2400DW: Best for high-volume black-and-white printing

For many schools, most printing is still text-based with worksheets, exams, handouts, and so forth. That’s where a monochrome laser printer such as the Brother HL-L2400DW excels.

Laser printers use toner instead of ink, resulting in far higher page yields and faster print speeds. This model also includes automatic duplex printing and wireless connectivity, ideal for busy departments or admin offices.

User feedback consistently highlights laser printers such as Brother’s as the most cost-effective option for heavy document printing.

Standout:
Fast, durable, and extremely economical for text-heavy workloads.

4. Canon PIXMA G3270: Best for affordable color printing

If your school needs vibrant color printing for posters, displays, or learning materials, the Canon PIXMA G3270 offers a strong balance of affordability and performance.

It uses a MegaTank system, delivering very low cost per page while maintaining good color quality. It also includes wireless connectivity and mobile app support, making it easy for teachers to print from laptops or tablets.

Standout:
Budget-friendly color output without high ink costs.

5. HP DeskJet 2922: Best for ultra-low upfront cost

For schools that need a simple, low-cost entry point -- perhaps for a single classroom or occasional use -- the HP DeskJet 2922 is one of the cheapest all-in-one options available.

It offers print, scan, and copy functionality, along with wireless connectivity, making it suitable for light-duty use. While ink costs are higher than tank systems, the low initial price makes it accessible for tight budgets or temporary setups.

Standout:
Minimal upfront spend for basic classroom needs.

6. HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e: Best affordable printer with ADF for schools

If your school needs to scan multiple pages regularly -- for student work, admin forms, or safeguarding documents -- this is where stepping up to an automatic document feeder (ADF) becomes essential.

The HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e is one of the most affordable all-in-one printers that includes a proper ADF plus fast performance, ideal for busy school offices or staff rooms.

It also adds duplex scanning, strong wireless features, and app-based workflows, so teachers can digitize and distribute materials quickly without manual handling.

Standout:
Massively improves workflow when scanning and copying are frequent.

Pathwright was created as a modern learning management system, LMS, that could work in education on all levels.

Spawned from an idea back in 2010, this was what co-creators Paul and Mark came up with as a far more usable solution. The space then was cluttered, wordy, and chaotic. Their design-focused solution birthed the far more user-friendly Pathwright.

Built over a decade alongside creative educators, the goal was to offer a personal learning experience for others. At time of publishing, this system has helped more than 2 million learners who have completed 80+ million steps on these learning paths.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about how Pathwright could work for your class.

What is Pathwright?

Pathwright is an online learning platform that's design-led -- it offers a way to make instruction easy for teachers and engaging for students.

This course-building platform lets educators create what the company calls learning paths, which guide students through lessons, activities, and discussions.

Teachers can design courses as needed with details such as deadlines, milestones, peer interaction, mentorship, and more, all included.

As such, this can work for schools delivering courses as well as individual educators selling online courses, for example. Not only can educators create courses but this also allows them to take advantage of student management features, monetization options, and more.

This digital classroom, professional development hub, and school learning platform is a versatile tool built for a wide array of uses.

How does Pathwright work?

Pathwright is primarily an online course creation and learning management platform. Teachers can be guided through the process of creating their own pathways, using video content, written lessons, assignments or projects, discussion prompts, plus quizzes and assessments.

This works with self-paced learning but also with cohort based programs. The latter sees students move as groups though the courses, which can be run with defined start and end dates, releasing lessons over time and encouraging students to progress together.

This model allows teachers to lead discussions, provide feedback, and create a more classroom-like experience online. Teachers can then track progress to see completion rates, areas of struggle, and discussion activity.

What are the best Pathwright features?

Pathwright offers a broad selection of tools that can be tailored to work across subject and topic ranges, inside and outside of school.

The way this works is that by using paths, it allows students to stay focused with a clarity from seeing what's coming next across the sequence of the course ahead.

The cohort-based learning is a helpful way to release lessons over time, allowing students to work through the tasks together, interacting with one another along the way.

That interaction moves into the community with an ability to post comments on lessons, join in discussions, and ask questions -- much like being in a physical world lesson.

The system allows for mentors. This can work with teaching assistants or other students, as a way to oversee groups of learners with support throughout.

For those selling in courses, this also offers a built-in payment system and the ability to integrate other apps, such as Stripe, as needed.

How much does Pathwright cost?

Pathwright uses a tiered pricing model designed for educators, small teams, and larger organizations. A free trial or free account option is available that allows educators to start building courses before committing to a paid plan.

Starter Plan: Around $99 per month for up to 1,000 members and one administrator.

Essentials Plan: Around $199 per month with more staff accounts, custom domains, and additional course features.

Complete Plan: Around $499 per month with unlimited cohorts and advanced capabilities.

Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing starting around $1,499 per month for large organizations requiring integrations, APIs, and advanced management tools.

Pathwright best tips and tricks

Start with a clear learning path
Outline the sequence of lessons and learning objectives so students move logically through the material.

Use cohorts for engagement
Run courses with start and end dates rather than leaving it fully self-paced. Cohorts encourage discussion, accountability, and higher completion rates.

Mix content types
Combine videos, text, and assignments to keep lessons engaging. Short interactive activities can help reinforce learning better than long lectures.

Knoword is a gamified platform that's built to help students progress in building vocabulary. The idea here is to make things so fun that students want to come back for more.

This learning-while-playing setup is designed to work across age and ability levels so that it's widely accessible to help all students, and educators, when it comes to vocabulary building.

The platform is already widely used and can be applied across subjects to allow for an uptake, which works school-wide, rather than specifically for English learning, for example.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about Knoword to see how this could work for your class.

What is Knoword?

Knoword is a web-based game so it's easily accessible across a wide range of devices and internet connections. It uses game-based learning to help develop vocabulary expansion. This is done with immersive word games and customizable activities.

The most basic offering here is vocabulary practice being turned into interactive challenges. This blends learning with gameplay to keep students engaged, and even eager for more.

Thousands of community-made packs to pick from are available. These range from academic-specific vocabulary to trivia packs. You also have the option to build custom packs, or edit pre-existing ones, to get the perfectly tuned result for a certain subject or unit, for example.

That all makes this useful both for self-guided learning as well as in-classroom use and even remote assignments.

How does Knoword work?

Knoword comprises thousands of word packs that are interactive sets of definitions and answers. These are broken down into several play modes to allow students and educators to pick the format, which includes multiple choice, typing mode, or pairs/recognition matching.

Educators can pick from a selection of pre-created packs in subject-specific areas, make their own from scratch, or duplicate and edit packs as needed. Helpful parameters are available, including setting time limits, answer strictness and more, to help teachers build ideally suited sessions. Then, once completed, educators can track student progress using detailed analytics.

The system also uses AI as a way to help generate text clues from lists to help automate pack creations -- saving time for teachers.

Students can get playing right away without the need to create individual accounts, making it an easy option to introduce into the class.

What are the best Knoword features?

Knoword offers a great selection of packs that can be aligned to subjects or topics. Crucially, these are adaptive and allow students to go at their pace so as to grow but at a rate that feels fun, comfortable, and engaging.

The immediate feedback and multiple play modes make this a stand-alone tool for students to work with on their time, but also with teacher assistance and interaction as wanted.

The AI-powered Magic Import feature is a helpful way to generate clues with ease. This allows educators to convert lists of terms into engaging gameplay in minutes.

Assignments offer a way to provide structured options to guide learners through material, while giving educators insights such as trends in accuracy and areas needing reinforcement.

Offline materials are also available, including printable worksheets. Any pack can be turned into customizable worksheets or physical flashcards, ideal for off-screen practice or differentiated learning.

The various game modes help to make this varied and fun while staying engaging over longer period of use. The different gameplay formats -- typing, multiple choice, match pairs -- appeal to varied learning styles, from visual to recall practice.

How much does Knoword cost?

Knoword operates on a freemium model. But there are tiers for more.

Basic (Free): Create up to five packs, generate content with AI, assign activities, track basic student progress, integrate with Google Classroom, and download worksheets.

Pro ($9.99/month): Allows unlimited packs and assignments, creates image and audio clues, and removes branded watermarks on cards.

Team Plan (~$80/year): Designed for schools or departments to manage multiple educator accounts.

Knoword best tips and tricks

Kick off with curated packs
Before creating your own, explore the community library. Thousands of packs across subjects are already available -- and bookmarking makes future reuse easy.

Use assignments strategically
Assignments let you control the learning environment: time limits, modes, and even answer strictness (capitalization, punctuation). Tailor these to your learners’ proficiency.

Blend digital and printable exercises
Export packs as worksheets for class use or homework -- great for reinforcing vocabulary with written practice.

Groovelit is a classroom platform created to help encourage writing through gamified guidance that works alongside teachers.

The idea here is to tap into the creativity in every student that might otherwise go underused in the face of literacy challenges. By gamifying the writing experience, and adding direct feedback, this can help to draw every student into the world of writing.

Creative prompts are used to help get started while a scoring system can work to progress students along toward mastery. This can be used to improve writing skills and fluency in a way that allows this to benefit students across a range of subjects, from ELA and social studies to science.

This guide aims to explain all you need to know about how Groovelit could work in your class.

What is Groovelit?

Groovelit is a gamified creative writing platform aimed at use by students from fourth to tenth grade. Through guidance and gamification, this works to ignite the creative spark in all students while empowering them by helping to learn how to use that effectively as a writer.

Groovelit prompts a student to produce written response -- be it narrative, persuasive, or vocabulary-rich -- within a short, structured time frame.

The system uses AI to evaluate submissions against criteria such as grammar, relevance, vocabulary usage, and adherence to the prompt. Points are awarded in ways that feel immediate and game-like rather than punitive.

This idea should help writing to feel less like work and more like play. Competition and natural reinforcement also help to shift student perspectives toward writing to be sought more readily, by choice.

How does Groovelit work?

Groovelit works a little like a quiz game, yet students don't select answers, instead they write answers. A teacher can pick a genre such as narrative or argumentative, for example, before setting prompts and aligning to curricular goals. Then they can send a link to students to begin.

Students work with a countdown timer, responding directly from within a browser window. They are assessed, live, by the AI, which uses criteria such as vocabulary, grammar, and engagement levels to provide feedback to students as they go.

Once the timed round is complete, the results are shown right away with scores. Teachers can later assess aggregated data, or spotlight certain areas to celebrate success.

This cycle continues with quick writing, instant feedback, and visible achievement, motivating students to progress further and faster toward mastery.

What are the best Groovelit features?

Groovelit gamifies learning but in a way that stays fresh thanks to a selection of game modes. These include narrative storytelling, argumentative responses, vocabulary connections, and root-based word games.

Teachers can also tailor the experience to suit needs, including adapting pacing, content focus, and student readiness.

The AI scoring works well as a way to offer immediate feedback and guidance that's tailored to suit the student where they are in their learning. This can help sustain focus and reinforce teaching moments.

For teachers, the formative data analysis options help offer actionable insights. The system offers growth areas, word-choice creativity, and standout sentences that exemplify strong writing.

The platform supports English language learners (ELLs), with customizable prompts and difficulty adjustment that should make this helpful for a wide range of language abilities.

How much does Groovelit cost?

Groovelit is free to sign up for and to use. Teachers can sign up from a school account, or it's possible to sign in with third-parties such as Google, for example.

This has no ads or tracking, and remains free to use for as long as needed.

Groovelit best tips and tricks

Alignment
Align prompts directly to your current unit of study so students see the activity as meaningful reinforcement rather than a standalone game.

Learnings
Review the formative data after each session to identify patterns in grammar, vocabulary, or comprehension that may need reteaching.

Wins
Spotlight strong student responses (anonymously if preferred) to model effective writing and build classroom confidence.

I recently wrote an article about the gamified STEM teaching and learning platform Brilliant. While Brilliant is indeed a top performer, it's not the only math "game" in town. I decided to round up a selection of similar online math platforms to help teachers find the perfect match for their students.

For this review, I focused on math or STEM platforms that provide a robust set of online practice tools and manipulatives. Platforms that relied primarily on printed materials were excluded, as I wanted to focus on the learning and engagement benefits of digital manipulatives.

These exceptional math learning tools are fully free or modestly priced, and aimed at engaging learners of all levels with their interactive tools, gamified features, graphics and sound effects. Simply put, they make learning and doing math fun. And because teachers have the ability to individually assign lessons, each platform serves as a personalized learning tool for every student.

Best Online Math Platforms for Education

BEST FOR K-8 MATH CURRICULA

ZEARN

Zearn, a nonprofit platform designed by teachers, provides more than 1,000 research-backed K-8 digital math lessons, and has earned the highest designation (Strong) rating from Evidence for ESSA. Individual teachers can sign up for a full suite of content at no charge, while schools and districts can pay for premium features. A teacher's account includes all Zearn math instructional materials, for up to 35 students and one teacher.

Unique among the platforms featured, Zearn provides brief video introductions that demonstrate how to solve problems in upcoming lessons. In addition to the interactive video lessons, it also provides fluency practice activities and mastery-based quizzes.

Zearn is also distinguished by its level of reporting. Using the four types of reports— Pace, Progress, Tower Alerts, and Sprint Alerts—teachers can easily monitor student progress and pace of lesson completion. Importantly, the two "Alerts" allow teachers to identify students who are struggling with content and fluency.

BEST FOR TARGETED SKILLS PRACTICE

Struggly

Struggly is a preK-8 gamified math supplement that emphasizes the value of persisting through mistakes. Instead of a sad buzzer sound with an error message, kids are congratulated for their mistakes. By acknowledging that mistakes are foundational to learning and brain growth, Struggly takes some of the pressure off both high-achieving and low-achieving students.

Consistent with Struggly's teaching philosophy, no instructions are provided for its engaging exercises. Instead, high-quality animations, pop-ups, and sound effects guide students on where to click on each page. Users can click on "hints" to get help if needed.

Struggly makes it easy for teachers to try its interactive tasks before assigning any. Currently, there are 68 separate tasks available, searchable by Common Core State Standards or topic. Although 68 is relatively few, each task includes a number of levels, so a single task can serve as deep practice across multiple grades. Struggly aims to release one to three new tasks per month.

Although Struggly is a modestly-priced paid platform, it offers a generous 60-day free trial—with no credit card required—to determine if it will be a fit for your classroom.

I Know It

I Know It shines as an easy-to-use K-5 interactive math practice site. Its clean, uncluttered interface offers intuitive navigation for teachers and students alike.

To find lessons, simply select Math from the top menu, then click on your desired grade from K-5, also on the top menu. Teachers can easily try each lesson simply by clicking on it, and also directly assign any lesson from within it. Creating classes and adding students is similarly frictionless.

While it's a fully interactive platform, I Know It's lessons aren't gamified at the same level as other platforms featured here. However, its amusing robot mascot does provide encouragement via sound effects and comic reactions to answers, right or wrong. Hints and encouragement are offered along the way as kids work through their problem sets.

Annual memberships, costing a modest $150, include up to 25 students, while the 30-day free trial (no credit cared required) will allow educators to fully experience the platform's tools and benefits.

BEST DYNAMIC TOOLS AND VIRTUAL MANIPULATIVES

GeoGebra

A fully free interactive math platform for grades 4-12, GeoGebra focuses on dynamic tools that help students visualize and understand concepts in algebra, geometry, numeracy, statistics, and more.

GeoGebra boasts an impressive library of more than one million math learning resources, including lessons, exercises, digital books, and interactives, contributed by the GeoGebra Content Team, as well as GeoGebra’s global community. Users can create and upload their own resources incorporating applets, text, video, images, PDFs, notes, questions, and more.

GeoGebra's intuitive website is easy to navigate and use. It's ideal for exploration, demonstration and formative assessments. Given the platform's extensive scope, educators should familiarize themselves with the interactives and curate relevant resources prior to classroom implementation. Fortunately, GeoGebra offers strong guidance via its Help pages and YouTube channel.

Although an account is not required for either students or teachers, teachers will need to create one in order to fully utilize this versatile and engaging platform.

Polypad

The fully free award-winning Polypad is a digital math playground that uses multimedia interactive tools, sound, and music to teach geometry, algebra, probability, and statistics to middle and high school students. Requiring no login or installation, Polypad runs on all devices and browsers, and provides an extensive set of pre-designed puzzles, activities, and lesson plans.

Available in English and Spanish, Polypad allows users to add co-teachers to their classes and offers detailed student progress reports. The recently added Snapshot Tool makes it easy for educators to select and sequence student work for class discussion.

Polypad also distinguishes itself with logic-based games, such as chess and dominoes, as well as interactive music tools that let users explore and compose music digitally. Open to teachers and students, the Polypad Art and Music Contest is an excellent opportunity to showcase creativity and skill in using the Polypad tools. These unique features of Polypad qualify it as not only a top-notch STEM tool, but also a first-rate STEAM tool.

BEST FOR ENRICHMENT

Brilliant

Brilliant features super snappy graphics and sound effects that mimic those of your students' favorite video games.

But Brilliant is much more than amusing characters, badges, points, and sound effects. In fact, it offers a huge variety of grade 3-12 STEM lessons in math, computer science, science, and data. Each lesson contains multiple levels, progressing from simpler to more complex, allowing students to build mastery and confidence as they work.

Ideal for highly motivated and advanced students, Brilliant allows users to jump ahead in lessons, preventing boredom for quick learners and encouraging them to explore STEM topics on their own.

Premium Brilliant is 100% free for qualified educators and their students.

Although women make up more than 50% of humanity, only since the 20th century have they achieved full legal rights and privileges in the U.S.—and in some countries, they are still second-class citizens. Consequently, women’s role in history and contributions to culture have been woefully overlooked.

Designated as Women’s History Month, March is a great time to dive deeply into women’s struggle for equal rights and triumphs in every arena. The lessons, activities and resources here are an excellent way to investigate and understand women as changemakers, activists, and heroines—worthy of becoming an integral part of the curriculum all year long.

Best Women's History Month Lessons and Activities

Bill of Rights Institute Women’s History Playlist: 1844-1860
Eight outstanding standards-aligned multimedia lessons explore the lives of notable mid-19th century women, both famous (Sojourner Truth, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Tubman) and little-known ( Louise Smith Clappe). Each downloadable lesson includes a detailed narrative, primary sources, review questions, and suggestions for pairing with other lessons. Bonus: Download a single interactive PDF with all eight lessons included. Free account required to download.

American Experience: She Resisted
A highly creative, interactive audio/visual experience that delves into the wide range of strategies employed by suffragists in their quest for the right to vote. The opening sequence, featuring thrilling music and compelling film, will draw students into investigating the nine featured strategies. A riveting production that brings history and historical characters to life.

National Women’s Hall of Fame
A showcase for women’s achievement in every arena. Discover the Women of the Hall, then check out the online solitaire game, which combines the fun of solitaire with cards featuring fascinating women of achievement.

National Women’s History Alliance: This Month in Women’s History
Learn all about important dates of women's history throughout the year with this easy-to-use calendar, featuring birthdays of female trailblazers and important historical events from civil rights, politics, and culture.

Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote
Seven online exhibitions from the National Archives investigate topics such as “Who decides who votes?” and “What voting rights struggles persist?” Digitized original documents and photos featured.

Singing for Women’s Suffrage: A New Digital Collection from the Library of Congress
Add a musical note to your history lessons through the women’s suffrage songbook. Included are prompts and ideas for classroom and elearning lessons.

Women athletes who changed sports history
With female athletes starring in tennis, track and field, basketball, soccer, golf and other sports, students today may not realize how women of the past struggled to compete in the athletic realm. This round-up of notable female athletes includes many famous ones, like Serena Williams—and some little-known, like Toni Stone, the "female Jackie Robinson."

iCivics Women’s History Month Resources
A wealth of resources for teaching women’s history, including downloadable planners, videos spotlighting pioneering women, and standards-aligned lessons.

PBS Teaching Women's Suffrage
Women’s right to vote, and the struggle to achieve it, form the foundation for all successive rights. This extensive collection of multimedia lessons and activities is grouped according to topics such as the 19th Amendment, advocates and organizers, primary sources, and modern-day legacies. Each standards-based lesson includes downloadable support materials for teachers.

Unsung Women Who Changed America
26 short films and a one-hour documentary examine the lives of trailblazing women from the turn of the 20th century. Although most of these women are not widely known, their accomplishments call for recognition. Available in Spanish.

HMH: 10 National Women's History Month Activities for Students
A diverse collection of activities using research, writing, critical thinking, and art to analyze women’s history and the changing social mores about women’s role in society.

65 Famous Women in History Everyone Should Know
From astronauts to politicians to athletes to writers, these 65 women—some famous, others less so— have made their mark on the world. Read the brief biographies, then explore the links provided to learn more about Sally Ride, Shirley Chisholm, Soraya Jiménez, Empress Dowager Cixi, and many more.

Clio Visualizing History: Click! in the Classroom Lesson Plans
Organized by grade level, these lesson plans examine women's history through the lens of feminism, politics, careers, sports, and civil rights.

Scholastic Action: From Out of This World. . . To Under the Sea
What do the depths of Earth’s oceans have in common with outer space? Both are otherworldly realms, inhospitable to human life while captivating our imaginations. Meet a woman who has traveled to each place and find out why. A video and quiz round out the article. Integrated with Google drive.

Women's History Month: Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote
An online version of the Library of Congress exhibition "Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote" looks at the history of the struggle for suffrage via handwritten letters, speeches, photographs, and scrapbooks created by American suffragists.

National Women's History Museum Digital Classroom Resources
A wealth of digital resources for women's history featuring lesson plans, quizzes, primary source documents, videos, and more. Searchable by type, topic, and grade.

Alice Ball and 7 Female Scientists Whose Discoveries Were Credited to Men
Learn about women who broke barriers in science but who were, until recently, not credited properly for their achievements. Compare this to the list of women recognized with the Nobel Prize.

DocsTeach: Primary sources and Teaching Activities for Women's Rights
Explore a wealth of primary sources covering topics ranging across women's suffrage, political cartoons, the Equal Rights Amendment, and many others. Teaching activities include online interactives investigating all aspects of the fight for women's suffrage and the passage of the 19th Amendment.

Learning for Justice: Women's Suffrage Lesson
This Common Core-aligned lesson guides students in learning how women achieved voting rights and in evaluating the role of the federal government in the fight for suffrage.

National Museum of Women in the Arts Curriculum & Resources
On the website of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, find free resources to support teaching about women artists, including a complete curriculum, "Art, Books, and Creativity," and pre-K12 educator guides. Be sure to explore the extensive online exhibitions.

National Women's History Alliance: Women's History Quizzes
Seven quizzes on women's history cover topics including women in STEM, peace activists, Black women's history, and more.

Nobel Prizes Awarded to Women
Note how the rate of female Nobel laureates has changed dramatically in the 21st century.

Smithsonian Learning Lab Women's History
Sixty-three collections of digitized objects related to women's history add a rich context to the written word. The Learning Lab is a free, interactive platform allowing educators and other users to find digital resources and create content with online tools.

In 1870, Henrietta Wood Sued for Reparations—and Won
Ever heard of Henrietta Wood? Formerly enslaved, Wood successfully sued her enslaver for reparations in 1870. This Smithsonian magazine article details her amazing story, forgotten until very recently.

The best tools to teach storytelling can also be some of the most ideal ways to engage students, both creatively and more generally with education. From sparking their imaginations to helping structure a creative toolset, these digital assistants can be powerful in the classroom and beyond.

Giving a student the ability to structure and tell a compelling story can help to empower them in terms of literacy, empathy, and critical thinking.

Students can be given the opportunity to explore historical perspectives, dive into personal narratives, build fictional worlds, and present research in a story form. All of which helps strengthen communication skills while learning at the same time.

This guide aims to lay out some of the best tools to teach storytelling in the class and beyond.

Best tools to teach storytelling

Best to teach storytelling overall

Story Xperiential

Story Xperiential is a structured storytelling platform designed to teach narrative creation from the very start. Developed with input from professional storytellers, it focuses on helping students understand how to write a story and why stories work. Rather than functioning as a simple writing app, it delivers a curriculum-driven approach that breaks storytelling into clear, teachable components.

Students can move through the guided stages from idea development and character creation to plot structure, visual storytelling, drafting, and revision. Teachers can assign projects, monitor progress, and facilitate critique sessions -- essential in developing narrative strength. The emphasis on feedback and editing makes it especially strong for longer term development rather than one-off assignments.

Stand-out features include structured storytelling frameworks, scaffolded learning pathways, and cross-curricular flexibility.

This can be well used as part of a longer storytelling system while building in peer critiques to deepen understanding of structure and character development.

Best for interactive stories

SceneCraft

SceneCraft is an AI-powered storytelling tool that allows educators to create interactive, branching narratives through which students make decisions that shape outcomes. This is designed for classroom use by blending writing with decision-based learning, making it ideal for exploring cause and effect, character motivation, and ethical dilemmas.

Teachers can build or edit scenarios while students navigate storylines by selecting different paths. The interactive format often increases engagement, particularly for students who respond well to game-like experiences.

Standout features include AI-assisted scenario generation, branching pathways, and opportunities for social-emotional learning discussions.

Educators can pair digital storytelling with pre-writing story maps -- plus post-activity discussions -- to analyze how different narrative choices alter outcomes.

Best for visual inspiration

Storybird

Storybird is a visual storytelling platform that combines student writing with curated professional artwork. Students select images and build stories or poems around these, using visuals as prompts to inspire story ideas. This makes it effective for younger learners and reluctant writers, who can benefit from visual scaffolding.

The interface uses a book-style layout, encouraging students to construct stories page by page. This format reinforces pacing, sequencing, and concise writing.

Teachers can create assignments, review student drafts, and provide feedback directly within the platform.

Strong artwork libraries, support for both poetry and short fiction, and accessible publishing tools are key features.

Teachers can find it effective to use artwork for character development exercises or to set word limits per page to strengthen clarity and narrative precision.

Best for collaborative storytelling

BoomWriter

BoomWriter turns storytelling into a collaborative classroom experience. Students contribute chapters to a shared story, and classmates vote anonymously on submissions to determine which version becomes part of the final narrative. The completed work can then be published as a professionally printed book.

Teachers begin by setting a prompt and writing the opening chapter. Students submit their versions of the next installment, and peer voting selects the continuation. This structured cycle repeats until the story is complete, reinforcing narrative continuity, audience awareness, and revision skills.

The anonymous voting system promotes thoughtful critique while maintaining engagement.

Teachers can use this to establish clear evaluation criteria focused on storytelling craft rather than popularity. This can lead to discussions about why certain chapters effectively advanced the narrative and others did not.

Best for gamification

Imagine Forest

Imagine Forest combines creative writing tools with gamified elements to encourage ongoing storytelling skills. Students can respond to prompts, draft original stories, and publish their work. Badges and achievements help motivate consistent participation.

The structured editor supports story creation while offering built-in prompts to spark ideas. This makes it very useful for daily warm-ups, creative writing clubs, or independent literacy work. Students can develop stories over time, building confidence and fluency.

Pair prompt-based writing with mini-lessons focused on dialogue, pacing, or descriptive language. Also, encourage revision before publication to reinforce storytelling basics.

In today’s world, social media gas-lighting and primal cynics deceptively pull power from others, making us wonder how students can wade through the weeds and come out successful on the other end.

This challenge can and should matter to educators and parents. Here’s how to change the dynamic of the people who try to take others down, especially children . . . .

Remember in middle school the looks, the whispers, and the low expectations that hung over you like a fog? As a kid, this makes us feel vulnerable.

One approach we can teach kids enables them to transform those low expectations into a great advantage. The Pygmalion effect study demonstrates evidence that when educators maintain high expectations, students internalize that belief and rise to meet it.

Consider how doubters and shouters play: they link an external locus of control, blaming outside forces. We see this online everywhere–they shout at others and feel empowered by blaming everything, and everyone else.

We can help children exposed to this with time-tested evidence of how to take back control, and more importantly, to thrive. It is a philosophy that when properly taught can shift self-fulfilling prophecy and silence the doubters.

The Power of Proximity

I wrote about this in a post recently when second guessing reminded me of what works for learners:

“When a doubter is in the room, I sit close by. When they make a frown, I smile. And when they try to intimidate me, I sit even closer.”

It is human nature when faced with a critic or bully, our primal instincts are to fight, flight or freeze. We want to put as much distance as possible between us and the person who makes us feel small. This is also the exact opposite way to thrive as a learner.

The message we can teach children must be that when they shy away from a doubter, they validate the doubter's power over us. We signal that their opinion matters enough to influence us. But when you pull up a chair and sit right next to them, you start to disrupt the dynamic. You show them that you are comfortable in your own skin, regardless of what they think, and more importantly what you think.

An example of how I teach children this is like when my own daughters asked me, “In a room with two difficult people, who do you sit next to?” My answer: “Whoever is most difficult.”

This isn’t about confrontation. It’s about presence, and occupying space in which the doubter thinks you don’t belong. When they frown and you smile back, you aren’t just modeling ethical behavior, you are refusing to let their negative energy dictate your right to be present and be you. Students who learn this skill are maintaining their zone of indifference to toxicity while preserving their dignity and well-being.

The Element of Surprise

I was a special educator. When I got to teach children that there is an advantage to being underestimated, I would demonstrate to them how they have a surprising advantage. Doubters think they are better. This is the nexus where the element of surprise thrives: when I outwork them and don’t blame setbacks on something else, I catch them completely off guard. You can imagine how deeply satisfying this is.

When others expect a child to be inferior, they aren’t prepared for the hard-working underdog. What perpetuates this advantage is when they refuse to blame external sources, such as we see so often happens on social media today. Instead, they accept the hand of cards they were dealt, and work hard within their incredible potential–and every child, every underdog has incredible potential.

David vs Goliath

When students learn to develop compensation strategies—such as unconventional problem-solving or sheer persistence—a competitive edge over those with traditional advantages is often overlooked. It offers a wonderful, unseen opportunity for the underdog, and feels tremendously empowering..

Students with learning challenges navigate their gaps, showing how they use specific compensatory supports to succeed. These strategies include meta-cognition, self-advocacy, and individualized planning to overcome low institutional expectations.

Struggles faced by students, such as David against Goliath, provide for resilience and unconventional strengths that serve as a hidden advantage against challenges. So a weakness becomes a strength.

When the doubter assumes they are better, they get complacent. Meanwhile, the student who harnesses internal locus of control is in the trenches, grinding. They are stacking up micro-wins—small, consistent victories that are subtle, until they compound into something undeniable. When students become so good they can’t ignore you, they feel a deep sense of appreciation and the victories keep piling up. This is a perpetual cycle we want children to be situated in, not all the time, but enough to want more.

Students discover that while doubters are busy looking down on them, they are busy outworking them. The student who embraces their internal locus of control isn’t wasting energy complaining about the unfairness of the situation or blaming a lack of resources. They are simply doing the work.

A Message to the Kids

To the students, the kids, and anyone currently feeling the weight of someone else’s doubt: Lean hard into that advantage.

Don’t try to argue them out of their opinion. Don't waste your time (and remember it is YOUR time) defending yourself. Let them doubt. Let them think you’re out of your league. It only makes it easier for you to blindside them with your success later.

While doubters run their race, students who learn this are running their own race based on outworking them. They are looking at you; you are looking at the finish line. Students transform their doubters into the ultimate fuel and prove that the greatest victory comes from turning that negative energy into positive motivation.

Smile at them. Sit close. And get back to work.

Artsonia is the solution to the problem of storing and showcasing artwork in a digital age. This free do-it-all platform was created as a place for students to store and display their artwork in a digital portfolio.

This is one of the world's largest online galleries for student artwork, built to operate as part of the school ecosystem. At time of publishing, this is used by tens of thousands of students with more than 100 million pieces of artwork being hosted.

So while this allows students to collate their work, it's also a place for teachers to manage and showcase class work with easy uploading and sharing options. They can even make money from it to fund future art classes, too.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about Artsonia and how it could work for your class.

What is Artsonia?

Artsonia is a digital art storage and sharing space that is designed specifically for K-12 environments with a focus on safety, privacy and compliance -- with support for both COPPA and FERPA requirements.

This free online-based platform is a permanent and searchable archive of student work. Students can choose to share with approved viewers and are able to collate their efforts right through their school lives.

While this is primarily created for use by students and teachers, it's also possible for parents and family members to create accounts and follow students' progress -- as well as leave supportive comments.

A class portal makes submitting work for teachers to moderate a simple process that should help reduce administrative workload. Many more features are available, including social and lesson supportive, but more on those below.

How does Artsonia work?

Artsonia is easy to setup for a teacher account, which can be done by registering the school. Class rosters are then established and artwork can be published immediately using the website or dedicated apps.

Students or teachers can use a smartphone camera to photograph the artwork for direct upload to the platform. Students are then able to submit their work using a class portal. Teachers can then moderate before publishing.

Approved work appears in the student personal online gallery, which family can access through secured logins. Parents get notifications when new artwork is published so they can comment and encourage student progress.

Artsonia is COPPA and FERPA compliant, includes moderation tools, and allows teachers to manage permissions and visibility, so it's suitable for a wide range of school contexts and age groups.

What are the best Artsonia features?

Artsonia is for teachers, students, and family. Features such as the ability for families to order keepsakes of the work -- mugs, prints, magnets, jewelry, etc. -- help add to the richness of this platform. Schools can even earn 20% on the sales of these offerings.

But on a more class-practical level, this is a really helpful way for students to collate all their work, across the years, for future self-reflection and assessments.

The class portal lets students submit artwork independently, significantly reducing teacher workload while encouraging learner autonomy and reflective thinking.

Teachers approve all submissions before publishing, maintaining quality and safeguarding standards. Parents can then view the gallery, strengthening school-home relationships and student motivation.

COPPA and FERPA compliance, along with moderation workflows, mean that student data and imagery are handled responsibly. This makes Artsonia suitable for large-scale use in schools.

How much does Artsonia cost?

Artsonia is free for teachers, students, and families to use. No subscription fees are required to create student portfolios, upload artwork, manage classrooms, or invite parents to engage.

Revenue is generated through the optional sale of custom keepsake products featuring student artwork. When families buy items such as mugs, prints, magnets, or jewelry, Artsonia returns 20% of the purchase price directly to the school’s art program.

Artsonia best tips and tricks

Use student uploading early
Introduce the class portal from the outset to empower students to take ownership of documenting their work and reduce teacher admin time.

Create consistent photography stations
A simple backdrop or light box setup can significantly improve image quality and presentation, making digital galleries more visually impactful.

Encourage reflective writing
Ask students to add titles and short artist statements to help develop metacognition, creative thinking, and literacy skills alongside visual art.

Most Likely Machine is the teaching solution to a very real and modern gap in learning, around how algorithms work and the ethical ramifications.

As algorithms become more prevalent in more areas of our lives, it becomes ever more important to understand these key decision-making automations.

Critical to the learning here is how these systems can lead to bias and the importance of ethical design when writing algorithms. This is especially so in the age of AI when the complexities coming from a single coding decision can reach very far indeed.

Artefact, the design firm behind Most Likely Machine, has built this free multi award-winning learning service as a fun and gamified way to help 10-14-year-olds understand just how algorithms work. This should help them see more clearly in an age of automated feeds and decision-making search results.

This guide aims to explain all you need to know about Most Likely Machine in your class.

What is Most Likely Machine?

Most Likely Machine is a free teaching tool designed to help educate 10-14 year-olds about algorithms. This is not only about how these are made and used, but also the effects that these can have in our daily lives. That should help empower young people to make more balanced decisions in the future.

Using a game-style environment, students are able to build their own algorithms to observe consequences and reflect on the social impact of automated decision-making.

So while some tools focus on algorithm-writing specifically, this is more about conceptual understanding -- how data is weighted, how choices shape outcomes, and why no algorithm is ever truly neutral.

The Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Award and the Core77 Interaction Award have both been given to this tool. The project has been piloted in real classrooms with strong engagement from both teachers and students.

How does Most Likely Machine work?

Most Likely Machine is browser-based, so it's super easy to access from nearly any device -- allowing you to work on this as a class or individually.

Initially, you're introduced to the idea of a class designing awards using algorithms, what these are, and why these exist. Then it's down to the students to work on creating algorithm-based choices and seeing how outcomes are affected.

Students meet a host of characters based on famous historical figures, including Albert Einstein and Rosa Parks. These are presented as classmates competing for awards such as “Most Likely to Go to a Top University,” “Most Likely to Go Viral,” and “Biggest Troublemaker.” By choosing which traits matter most and weighting those characteristics, students construct algorithms that automatically select winners.

Students select traits such as intelligence, popularity, creativity, or leadership, and assign weightings that determine how much influence each factor holds.

As a result, students can see directly how personal assumptions, social stereotypes, and data selection choices influence outcomes.

The setup aligns well with computing, digital citizenship, and PSHE curricula, while also linking naturally to discussions around ethics, media literacy, and social responsibility.

What are the best Most Likely Machine features?

Most Likely Machine is very fun and friendly in its story-led design. That makes it engaging for students while still teaching how algorithms are built, tested, and refined. Only in the context of a reality, which helps them understand outcomes.

Otherwise abstract computational ideas suddenly become a tangible and fun experience.

The bias reflection section is particularly helpful as this focuses on social assumptions influencing technical decisions.

Real-world case studies are also used as a way to offer examples that students can critique, covering areas they may feel passionate about, including unfair grading systems, harmful social media, and racial bias in law enforcement tech.

How much does Most Likely Machine cost?

Most Likely Machine is totally free to use and is widely accessible via a browser. As such, this can be used across schools, subjects, and by teachers of varying technical abilities, with ease.

No subscriptions, licensing fees, or premium upgrades are required for classroom use.

Most Likely Machine best tips and tricks

Use it as a discussion starter
Run the activity first, then allocate dedicated time for group discussion. The richest learning often emerges from debating why certain results appeared and what that reveals about bias.

Connect it to real-world technologies
Link student reflections to everyday systems they encounter, TikTok recommendations, YouTube feeds, Spotify playlists, or school assessment software, to deepen relevance.

Pair it with ethics-based writing tasks
Ask students to write short reflections or debates on whether algorithms should be trusted in sensitive decisions like policing, hiring, or university admissions.

KQED Teach is a free media literacy platform that's designed to help empower students, via teacher training, in an age of media overload.

The idea is to help prepare young people for a world of misinformation, generative AI, and student voices. While students can learn on the fly, this tool aims to help educators guide students to be more confident in the media world.

This is a free professional development platform from KQED, the public media organization behind PBS and NPR. The idea is to teach educators by doing -- creating their own media -- before using those skills to help teach students similarly.

Thanks to a blend of pedagogical frameworks and applied creativity, this is a really unique and powerful offering to help bring media literacy into classrooms more effectively.

What is KQED Teach?

KQED Teach is primarily a free professional development platform, aimed at teachers. The idea is that by teaching them how to be more media literate, they will pass on that learning, understanding, and mastery to students.

KQED Teach works across K-12 subjects and grade levels. The point is to help teachers to integrate digital media creation, analysis, and civic dialogue into classroom learning. This is done using a library of ever-growing self-paced online courses and live workshops. The courses include topics such as video storytelling, audio production, fact-checking, misinformation, infographic design, and the ethical use of generative AI.

A focus is on both reading and writing media across the courses. Thus, educators can learn critical analysis including examining bias, credibility, and persuasive techniques. They can also develop media creation skills across the likes of podcasts, graphics, and interactive content, too.

Teachers can attain certificates for professional recognition having completed these courses. Many courses allow participants to earn graduate-level credits through university partnerships.

How does KQED Teach work?

KQED Teach is a very practical platform built on creating, sharing, reflecting, and applying. All that should mean teachers are creating in a way that allows them to experience the challenges that their students could be facing.

The courses themselves usually offer a combination of short instructional videos, guided activities, peer discussion, and classroom-ready planning tasks. The courses should leave teachers with tangible skills, not just knowledge.

Teachers might analyze real-world news examples, design media-based lesson plans, produce short videos or podcasts, or experiment with AI-powered tools under structured guidance.

KQED Teach also uses collaborative learning via community sharing. Participants can exchange ideas, showcase their projects, and discuss classroom strategies with other educators, fostering professional dialogue around best practices.

This peer-based approach is highly valuable in emerging areas such as generative AI literacy, in which classroom norms and ethical frameworks are quickly evolving.

KQED provides structured district and school-wide training programs.

What are the best KQED Teach features?

KQED Teach comprises several tools that include hands-on media creation, misinformation and media literacy, generative AI professional development, youth media challenges, and certification.

For media creation, teachers are guided through producing videos, podcasts, infographics, and interactive graphics, allowing teachers to build genuine creative confidence before implementing similar projects with students.

For misinformation and media literacy, courses explore how students can evaluate sources, detect misinformation, and understand algorithmic influence. All of which are deal right now as generative AI tools increase the scale and sophistication of synthetic content online.

On that subject, there is a section focused on AI bias, ethical AI use, and teaching students how to critically analyze AI-generated media.

Plenty of classroom ready content is also available, including lesson plans, student media challenges, and youth publishing platforms that allow learners to share work with authentic audiences.

Finally, there are those certificates, through which educators can gain graduate-level credits, supporting both career development and institutional professional learning requirements.

How much does KQED Teach cost?

KQED Teach is totally free. That makes this ideal for schools and districts looking to expand in this area while keeping budgets safe.

That also applies to educators who want to earn credits and certifications without spending money for the privilege.

KQED Teach best tips and tricks

Start with a single media project
Begin with a short, contained media task such as a short video explanation or podcast reflection to build confidence and classroom routines.

Integrate media across subjects
Science teachers can use infographics for data storytelling, while humanities teachers can explore audio documentaries or student journalism.

Use AI modules as discussion starters
Generative AI courses are especially effective when framed as ethical and critical thinking discussions, helping students understand bias, reliability, and responsible use.

Brilliant is a gamified online and app-based STEM teaching and learning platform that offers highly interactive lessons with step-by-step problem solving, dynamic visualizations, and brief explanations designed to keep learners engaged.

Brilliant’s slogan, “Everyone is a Math Person,” suggests its appeal to learners of every aptitude, and conveys its aim to reduce math anxiety and foster students' self-motivation.

The platform not only appeals strongly to students, but also to educators, as full premium memberships are available free to qualified educators.

What is Brilliant?

Founded in 2012, Brilliant comprises a STEM learning website plus Android and iOS apps. It partners with the nonprofit Mathcounts Foundation to support math education for middle school students and is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges as supplementary education in math, science and technology.

Brilliant’s STEM games and puzzles are highly visual, interactive and engaging, while providing immediate feedback as students progress through problem sets and lessons. Its gamified interface uses clever sound effects and top-notch animations to reward and encourage persistence and concept mastery.

Aimed at students in grades 3-12, Brilliant offers thousands of lessons in the topics of math, computer science, science and data.

How Does Brilliant Work?

To apply for a free premium education account and start teaching with Brilliant, sign up at educator.brillaint.org. You will then be prompted to create two accounts - an educator account and a student account. The student account is required in order to explore and test the interactive courses and lessons, and view the site from a student perspective.

The next step is to create classes and invite students. This can be done easily via an invitation link or by syncing with Google Classroom. In this way, student accounts will automatically be created as premium accounts, free of charge. Note that educators log in at educator.brilliant.org, while students log in at brilliant.org.

Finding and Assigning lessons
Brilliant’s well-designed lessons dashboard makes it easy to find lessons for your students. First select the desired subject tab, then search by topic, grade, or standard. From the results page, teachers can copy the lesson link, post directly to Google Classroom, or preview the lesson before assigning. To complete the lesson as a student would, you’ll need to use your Brilliant student login that you created earlier. The platform will prompt you to do so.

Student Progress
While Brilliant is not an assessment platform, it does provide progress notes on students by reporting on the number of lessons each student completes and time spent on each lesson. The Highlights dashboard offers an overview of the class performance, including the total number of lessons completed and time spent, as well as listing students ranked by lessons completed. These reports, while not granular, do provide a general sense of the progress gained by individual students and the class as a whole.

What Are The Best Brilliant Features?

Brilliant’s clean interface, sophisticated graphics, and sound effects yield a fun and fluid interactive experience, allowing students to learn by doing. Gamified features such as streaks, points, and battery charges boost engagement and provide small rewards on the way to topic mastery.

Lesson Abundance and Variety
The sheer variety and abundance of STEM lessons in math, computer science, science, and data is remarkable. Within each lesson, levels progress from simpler to more complex, offering multiple exercises to reinforce learning in different ways. Suggested grade levels give teachers the ability to carefully curate lessons based on student grade and achievement. Since lessons can be separately assigned, teachers are able to individualize instruction according to student skill level.

Self-directed learning
Brilliant is an excellent platform for self-directed learning, as it allows students to follow their STEM curiosity without worrying about grades. The ability to jump ahead in lessons will be especially appreciated by advanced students who need less practice time to gain mastery.

Enrichment
Brilliant is ideal for highly motivated and advanced students. Instead of feeling bored and restless when they finish their lessons ahead of their classmates, they can move ahead to the next related lesson or simply "jump ahead" to a topic that intrigues them. At the same time, with its scaffolded lessons and the opportunity to repeatedly practice a single concept, it's also a great tool for struggling students.

Is Brilliant Safe for Kids?

Brilliant does not share, sell, or disclose any personal information of students, nor does it use student information for marketing or other non-educational purposes.

Additionally, the website states that Brilliant for Educators is designed in compliance with global privacy laws, including COPPA, FERPA, and GDPR.

How Much Does Brilliant Cost?

Thanks to a grant-funded program, Brilliant Premium is 100% free for qualified educators. Just as important, students of qualified educators are also qualified for a free premium account.

Eligible educators include the following:

• Elementary, middle, and high school teachers at accredited K-12 schools.
• Principals, superintendents, and other administrators at accredited K-12 schools or districts.
• Camp instructors, club leaders, or nonprofit employees working directly with children for educational purposes.

For general users, Brilliant operates on a freemium model, with basic features such as daily lessons available to free users. Premium users can take advantage of unlimited learning in an ad-free environment, personalized practice, and the ability to jump ahead in courses.

DocsTeach goes beyond teaching history and helps students to learn how to become discerning scholars with genuinely useful analytical skills.

The idea here is to offer a host of primary sources so that students can learn how to search and analyze that material in real-time. In that process students get to become historians, carrying out research to feel immersed in the excitement of uncovering the past.

This online platform is hosted by the National Archives Foundation to give educators these original materials. It is backed by tools to help get the most out of that, including a slew of learning activities.

This guides aims to lay out all you need to know about how DocsTeach could work for your class.

What is DocsTeach?

DocsTeach is an online primary sources teaching platform developed by the U.S. National Archives to bring archival documents into classrooms in interactive ways.

The original materials consist of letters, speeches, photographs, maps, posters, and videos. A suite of tools and activities are also available, designed to help teachers guide students to get the most out of all those sources.

The platform offers more than 13,000 primary source documents and hundreds of activities ready to use, plus a host of customizable teaching tools. From George Washington's draft of the Constitution to Richard Nixon's resignation letter, this is crammed full of excitingly powerful documents.

Everything is freely and globally accessible to help teachers explore as well as create and customize document-based activities for student needs.

How does DocsTeach work?

DocsTeach is both a resource library with original documents as well as a teaching creation suite with pre-made and customizable tools.

Teachers can create a free account to log in so that it's possible to explore, save, and organize documents and activities.

Start out by browsing the archives to find primary sources that are relevant to what's being taught. Helpfully, search is filtered by era, skill, or topic, as needed.

Then you can use the interactive tools to create personalized lessons comprising selected documents, activities, and instructions.

Finally, teachers can assign or share these activities with students using common tools such as Google Classroom or dedicated LMS systems.

Students can access everything directly using the website so it can be worked on using a mobile device, tablet, or laptop, as is available.

What are the best DocsTeach features?

DocsTeach has some great pre-made activities that can make turning a primary source into a lesson a simple process. These include Compare & Contrast, Mapping History, Weighing the Evidence, and Interpreting Data, to name a few.

Crucially, teachers can customize these to suit their specific needs for a lesson. Or start an entirely new one from scratch and save it for later -- editable if that is needed for another type of subject, for example.

The documents themselves are something to get excited about as there are not only thousands available but some rarely seen originals.

Since everything is free and openly accessible, it all can be easily accessed, reused, modified, and shared without copyright limitations.

The fact everything can be distributed using classroom codes or URLs makes it very easy for teachers to share and for students to complete and submit responses.

How much does DocsTeach cost?

DocsTeach is totally free. It has no ads or tracking. While you can use it without giving any details, by signing up for an account you can access more features.

A login allows teachers to save custom activities, organize primary sources for reuse, and share assignments with students.

DocsTeach best tips and tricks

Start with ready-made activities
Explore the existing library in which hundreds of activities are already aligned with historical thinking skills and curriculum topics.

Customize for context
Take advantage of the creative tools to tailor instructions or groupings to your students’ reading levels and interests.

Sequence activities
Use Finding a Sequence or Making Connections tools to build multi-lesson units that scaffold understanding and deepen inquiry skills.

The best of BETT 2026 is all here. Well, technically it was all laid out at London's ExCel Centre, as it has been every year since it started in 1985. But the best of that show is right here in this article, which has been created after walking the show floor, meeting the exhibitors, and exploring the less well-known brands and tools that give us a glimpse at the future of tech in education.

The event featured appearances from the usual big names such as Google, Microsoft, and Asus, but this year stand-out new names include WhimsyLabs, Routine Roo, and Faheem, among others.

Here are my very best picks from what I saw on the BETT 2026 show floor, featuring the technology to propel education forward in a way that makes teaching better than ever.

While this is our best bits from the show floor, be sure to check out the Bett Awards for the final decisions on the very best to come out of BETT 2026.

Best of BETT 2026: WhimsyLabs

WhimsyLabs stood out at BETT 2026, despite being hidden away, as the passion of its creators, and excitement of anyone giving it a try, made this a show gem. Having been secretly under production for sometime, the VR science teaching software finally made its BETT debut.

This platform scales to fit devices -- so a classroom with ChromeOS could access this on a relatively low-powered computer and will still get a fully interactive VR experience. And that's the point here as this is a near like-for-like physical world experiment platform, only purely digital.

This scales from schools to college with simple pre-made experiments right up to complex original creations. Educators can tweak details to a super fine level, even adding in impurities in the case of chemistry, for example. The end result is a chance for students to carry out experiments, with real hand movements and object interactions, as if in the physical world.

This has been used in universities as a helpful way to teach lab process to students so, when they get access to the physical labs, they're experienced and prepared to get the most out of the time they have. It's like a digital practice space for chemistry, biology, and physics experiments.

Best of BETT 2026: Routine Roo

Routine Roo is a charming and hugely exciting tool designed specifically to help parents, or teachers, and young ones. The idea for this app, due to launch in March, is to help empower young children to perform their routines with more enjoyment and -- for parents and teachers -- with far less resistance.

So, at home that can mean working on bedtimes that otherwise take hours and can be draining, by agreeing with the little ones on the process, so they can be awarded as they complete each stage. From setting up teddies and reading a certain number of stories, to brushing teeth -- it can all be included. This uses a visualized cartoon version of the child to make it even more inclusive and engaging for the children.

Routine Roo is digital, with an app, but also offers physical boards that are magnetized to help children see and lay out their routines as part of the empowering planning process.

Best of BETT 2026: Faheem

Faheem is one of the more interesting AI education tools appearing at BETT 2026 because it moves beyond static AI tutor chatbots into something closer to an agentic learning companion.

Rather than simply responding to prompts, Faheem is designed to proactively guide learners, adapt explanations based on mastery, and shift approach depending on a student’s intent or difficulty level.

Faheem stands out because it learns rather than having the usual novelty AI features. The platform positions itself as inquiry-led, encouraging students to explore concepts through questioning and adaptive pathways rather than linear instruction. For teachers, this suggests potential use as a differentiated support tool rather than a replacement for instruction.

This is Egypt-backed and -based right now but can easily scale internationally, with plans to do just that. Keep your eye on this one.

Best of BETT 2026: Agibot

Agibot was a stand-out at BETT 2026 thanks to its free moving robots that could be spotted wandering the halls of the show -- and getting lots of attention. This should also be the case in a classroom where these robot have huge potential for engaging students.

Agibot offers schools a tactile way to explore AI, automation, and human-machine interaction. Its robots are designed to move, see, and respond in human-like ways, making abstract concepts around robotics and AI far more concrete for students.

The robots can be used to support STEM teaching, coding, problem-solving, and discussion around how AI systems work in the real world. For teachers, this opens up new opportunities for hands-on demonstrations and cross-curricular learning, particularly in computing and engineering.

Best of BETT 2026: Intel AI PCs for Education

Intel AI PCs for Education are being shouted about this year at BETT 2026 as these have really come into the mainstream, bringing real-world AI use to the class.

AI in education often relies on cloud-based tools, but Intel’s presence at BETT 2026 highlights a growing shift toward on-device AI processing. Intel is showcasing AI-capable PCs designed for classroom use, focusing on performance, security, and responsible AI deployment.

For teachers, the key takeaway isn’t raw processing power, but what it enables -- faster AI tools, reduced latency, better data privacy, and offline or limited-connectivity use cases. Intel’s Skills for Innovation program also ties hardware directly into teacher training and curriculum development. From Asus and Lenovo to HP, lots of big brand PC manufacturers are getting on-board in this shift to onboard AI.

The ASUS Chromebook CL14 CL15 series stood out as a way to get that level of AI support while keeping prices reasonable without sacrificing on features.

Best of BETT 2026: BBC Bitesize Learning Hub

BBC Bitesize Learning Hub is the BBC’s classroom-friendly extension of its long-running Bitesize brand, designed to support teachers with high-quality, curriculum-aligned resources. It’s built to make lesson planning easier and learning more engaging, with a focus on accessible content that feels familiar and trustworthy.

The hub brings together videos, interactive activities, and teaching materials across a range of subjects. The idea is to help teachers add depth to lessons without having to build everything from scratch. It’s especially useful for quick explanations, revision support, and reinforcement of key concepts in a way to which students actually respond.

For educators, the real value is the BBC’s editorial rigor with content that is well-produced, clear and classroom-ready.

Best of BETT 2026: Muud

Muud (pronounced "mood") is a wellbeing platform designed for children, but also for schools, as a way to monitor moods. It provides teachers with tools to check in on student mood, track wellbeing trends, and respond with appropriate support.

The platform is built around simple, regular check-ins that help educators spot patterns early, and gives students a safe space to reflect on how they’re feeling.

For teachers, Muud offers a way to build wellbeing into the day without adding extra workload. It is especially suited for schools that want to add a more proactive, whole-school approach to mental health.

Best of BETT 2026: Promethean

Promethean is one of the most recognizable names in classroom technology, best known for its interactive whiteboards and touch displays. Here at BETT it stands out thanks to a focus on teacher-led learning.

That means fewer features than some but to the advantage of educators that get a reliable platform that supports their teaching style.

Teachers can build activities, annotate live, and involve the whole class without needing a tech specialist to run the show. It’s the kind of setup that keeps lessons moving and students engaged -- especially in busy, mixed-ability classrooms.

Best of BETT 2026: FocusSpring

FocusSpring is a South Korean-based software solution that's used in schools widely as a way to help inform educators on student mental and educational wellbeing. Started by a concerned father, due to high suicide rates in the youth of Korea, this is about preventing problems by offering useful data on how students are doing.

Crucially, this gets all that by collecting what students are doing, live, rather than them having to do anything. A combination of eye tracking, keystroke detection, voice sensing, stylus use, and more -- all from current hardware -- allow for key metrics to be monitored by educators and parents.

The outputs include learning behaviors such as attention and emotional engagement, self-regulation, stress, and more. While this is used to monitor students supportively, it's also being used as a way to help teachers train, seeing what works and what doesn't -- live -- using the data to help. Plans to launch this in the U.S. are already underway.

Best of BETT 2026: Pasco

Pasco is a hands-on science and engineering offering that brings real-world experimentation into classrooms. Rather than relying on simulations, Pasco’s equipment, from sensors to lab kits, lets students collect real data, test hypotheses, and see science in action.

What makes it particularly useful for teachers is how easily it fits into existing lessons. The tools are designed to be durable, straightforward, and curriculum-friendly, so teachers can run practical experiments without needing a specialist lab. Data is captured cleanly and instantly, to help students move from observation to analysis simply.

When STEM learning is increasingly becoming digital, Pasco stands out by keeping experiments tactile and authentic. It’s the kind of tech that supports deeper scientific thinking and real investigation. At BETT it’s a reminder that technology can enhance learning just as much through physical, hands-on tools, as through screens.

Check out the full list of USA EdTech tools at BETT 2026 here.

USA EdTech has landed at BETT 2026 where it is showing off all the best education tech that the U.S. has to offer.

I met up with the team's head honcho, Jim McVety, who explained that this group of U.S representatives has grown again. This increasing cohort is here with USA Ed Tech which has come to this event for the last four years. Since the government doesn't back a stand for the U.S., as is the not case for many countries at the event, McVety and his team created USA EdTech to serve that need.

The result is a perfect point for U.S.-based education technology companies to safely explore and make the move into Europe and beyond. And the flip of that is true, for other countries and companies looking to make a connection with U.S.-based edtech professionals. As such this year's selection of providers is more varied and pioneering than ever.

Below are some of the best that the USA EdTech stand has to offer at BETT 2026.

Want to check out more? Head over to the USA EdTech site for full details of everyone involved and your chance to join the community.

Some of the members at BETT this year include: Amplify, Trimble, ClassLink, ImagineLearning, EdLink, Walkabouts, Jupiter and more.

Here is some more on a few that were able to share time with us this year.

Amplify

Amplify is a long-established education technology company with a clear focus on supporting teachers in the classroom. You may know it for its work in literacy, maths and science over the years. Amplify blends research-driven curriculum design with digital tools that are genuinely practical to use day to day.

What stands out is how teacher-led the experience feels. Whether it’s formative assessment, intervention support, or full curriculum delivery, Amplify’s designed to help educators quickly understand where students are, adjust instruction, and keep lessons fresh. Data is laid out clearly, without being too much, which helps to make it easier to turn insight into action.

Amplify is also the home of the well-known math platform Desmos Classroom, bringing interactive, discussion-rich maths into the digital and classroom. Amplify is all about engagement, clarity and evidence-based practice. As such this fits well with schools looking for technology that strengthens teaching without complexity -- a theme that appears to resonate across BETT 2026 this year.

Walkabouts Platform

Walkabouts Platform is a learning system that focuses on bringing movement into the classroom. Built from research that shows movement is directly linked to greater neuronal activity in the brain, and therefore better performance, this is science derived.

The tool links movements, like squats or jumps, to different words that are the answer to questions. In this way students use their bodies to make movements which answer the questions on screen. This leads to a measurable increase in focus as well as academic performance, while also helping to decrease hyperactivity.

From Pre-K to 5th grade, this is tailored to help educators bring more movement into the classroom while keeping students engaged and learning. Lessons are correlated to national and states standards for easy integration across math, ELA, reading, science, social studies, financial literacy, and test preparation.

Jupiter

Jupiter is a learning management system, a gradebook, and a student information system for K-12 and higher education. Jupiter is used in all 50 states across four million students. Crucially, this is a minimal solution designed to make the lives of teachers easier rather than over-complicating it with more tools.

The layout, as such, is super simple and designed for clicks and taps rather than keyboard input. For example, students can be seen laid out on screen as they sit in the class, and all a teacher need do is tap each one to mark them as absent, present and so on. It just works and helps support teachers efficiently.

Trimble SketchUp

Trimble has taken to the show floor to give us a look at its SketchUp platform, acquired by Google in 2006 before Trimble nabbed it in 2012, used by designed professionals and now available as a free education specific tool.

SketchUp is a full 3D modelling system that allows educators to help teach students to work in this environment. It operates through a web browser, making it highly accessible across devices and easy to use for students and teachers alike.

The system works within Google and Microsoft LMS options and is standards aligned to help make integration a simple process for teachers. From creating buildings to modelling a solar system, there is a broad range of possibilities available for use here. And it's all totally free to use.

Imagine Learning

Imagine Learning is an education technology company focused on making learning more accessible, inclusive and effective for every student, particularly those who need extra support. Its tools are designed to fit effortlessly into classes as a way to help teachers differentiate instruction without more workload.

The platform focuses on language development, literacy, and maths, with support for multilingual learners and students working at different paces. Teachers get clear insights into progress, alongside resources that help adapt lessons simply.

Imagine Learning offers flexibility and responsiveness, so that educators can meet learners where they are. It’s a good fit for schools looking for technology that supports equity, personalization and real classroom impact -- some key themes at BETT 2026.

ClassLink

ClassLink is all about making life easier for teachers and students by simplifying access to digital learning tools. Best known for its single sign-on platform, ClassLink lets users get to all their apps and resources through one secure login. The idea is that this cuts down on lost lesson time and login problems.

Rostering, analytics and usage insights help schools understand which tools are being used and where support might be needed. With a strong focus on security, accessibility and ease of use, ClassLink works to remove friction from everyday digital learning.

Edlink

Edlink is a platform built to make school technology ecosystems feel less messy. Its core strength is connecting different apps and tools so they work together smoothly, without teachers having to be tech pros.

For teachers, that means less time wrestling with logins, spreadsheets, and manual rostering, and more time teaching. Edlink also helps school leaders keep systems secure and compliant, via third-party support, while giving a clearer picture of how tools are being used across the school.

Edlink’s focus on integration and simplicity is powerful and can make a big difference in day-to-day school life. This is the kind of offering that matters more than people realize -- until it’s missing.

Boclips is the world's largest library of education-specific video content, according to the company. This is essentially a school-safe version of YouTube, designed specifically for teaching.

At a time when video learning is becoming more powerful, more useful, and more in-demand than ever, Boclips is the natural answer to the question of how to make sure videos are school-friendly.

The result is a single place with a huge range of videos that are made from more than 650 trusted content creators. It features ad-free, safe, and non-distracting video alternatives to YouTube.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about Boclips and how it could serve your class needs.

What is Boclips?

Boclips is a curated, education-specific, video platform. Hosting around 1.8 million educational videos, this aggregated collection is ideal for schools.

The 650+ trusted content providers include SciShow, PBS, CrashCourse, Bloomberg, TED, and others. The key here is that this content is available without the adverts or distracting linked video suggestions that may cause students to go off topic, such as when using other systems.

Teachers can quickly find and share videos that students are able to access and view, distraction free. These are all curated and aligned for class use, making it a safe and risk-free video teaching tool that's ideal for schools.

How does Boclips work?

Boclips is a stand-alone library of video clips that can be accessed by teachers and shared easily.

Crucially, all these videos are organized with educators in mind. Consequently, it's possible to search using categories such as age, subject, pedagogy, and even standards such as Common Core or Next Generation Science Standards.

Using filters and tags, it's possible to find the relevant videos fast that are educationally relevant.

Teachers are then able to share using links, embedding in an LMS such as Google Classroom, or by curating playlists for units or projects.

Students then only see the video that was sent to them by the teacher, so no linking distractions or ads getting in the way.

What are the best Boclips features?

Boclips has around 1.8 million curated videos available to be used and viewed by teachers and students. Since all the content creators are vetted, everything in the library is education appropriate.

The fact everything is ad-free and there are no other linked videos means that students can use videos while staying focused solely on the task at hand. That makes this ideal for a wide range of ages and abilities.

Teachers can filter results not just by topic but by curriculum standards, pedagogical use case, age level, and language proficiency level. All that results in an efficient process for educators and the end result should be the most relevant materials, quickly.

Playlists are a helpful way to build materials around a subject area. These can work collaboratively allowing teachers to work together but also for students to do so, perhaps as part of a group project.

Integrations with tools such as WeVideo and BenQ Boards make this even more accessible, and the company is continuing to expand and integrate in this way, making it easier to access.

How much does Boclips cost?

Boclips offers free trials to educators but then there are fees.

Since this uses institutional licensing, pricing is offered on a bespoke basis to suit use cases.

This generally includes unlimited teacher access, admin dashboards, usage analytics, professional development and support, plus integration assistance and custom solutions.

Boclips best tips and tricks

Start with subject collections
Use Boclips’ curated subject collections when short on planning time. These pre-built collections make it quick to find relevant videos for common topics.

Map videos to curriculum standards
Filter and search by specific curriculum standards so video content aligns directly with learning objectives, rather than just being engaging.

Clip segments for focused learning
Use the segmenting tools to share only the key portions of a video that match your lesson aim. This keeps students focused and saves instructional time.

Flat for Education is a cloud-based solution to music teaching in a digital world. As such, this combines all you could need to teach music in a way that transcends the page and even any one device.

The idea here is to offer a teaching system that works for educators and students across and range of instruments and musical styles, while remaining accessible from any device.

This music theory and composition space serves to let students and teachers create, edit, share feedback, and engage on musical work all in one place.

Designed for classroom use, this makes for easy class management, music assignment generation, progress tracking, and more. This guide lays it all out so you can see how Flat could be of note in your class.

What is Flat for Education?

Flat for Education is beyond your basic notation editor as this goes way further to encompass music education support across a range of systems.

This offers notation, composition, collaboration, and assessment tools all in one place. That allows students and teachers to create, edit, and share musical scores, complete assignments, receive feedback, and engage with classmates in real time.

Beyond that, this also allows for schools and districts to manage classes, generate music assignments, track progress, and integrate with popular learning management systems such as Google Classroom, Canvas, and Microsoft Teams.

So while this is a music theory and composition workspace, it's also a lot more.

How does Flat for Education work?

Flat for Education is web-based so it can be used across devices without the need to install any software. Everything runs within the browser so it can be accessed from a laptop, tablet, or phone with ease.

Students can start working on making music using a notation editor, which supports more than 100 instruments. This offers instant playback, and tools to customize notational symbols and layouts.

Students immediately hear what they write, to deepen their understanding of pitch, rhythm, harmony, and musical structure.

Teachers can set assignments, with auto-grading worksheets and collaborative shared writing project options. After students have worked on an assignment, or co-edited in real-time, it can be easily shared and assessed easily thanks to LMS integration options.

What are the best Flat for Education features?

Flat for Education works across a wide range of users, from beginners to more advanced musicians, from writing melodies to creating full scores. Notes, rests, articulations, and dynamics are all easy to place and edit.

The ability to collaborate is a big part of the appeal here. Student groups can co-compose in real time, with teachers observing live edits and offering feedback. This can help to foster teamwork and mimic real-world creative workflows.

Integration with LMS options allow teachers to sync student rosters and share assignments directly within Google Classroom, Canvas, Microsoft Teams, and more.

Tasks are varied with options that include composition tasks and performance assignments with video and audio uploads, plus auto-graded theory worksheets that are ideal for assessing fundamentals.

Real-time feedback is helpful as teachers can comment on scores and rate submissions, and provide formative feedback live.

How much does Flat for Education cost?

Flat for Education offers a 30-day free trial, after which a paid plan is required.

Quotes are generally on a per institution basis so the price per user per year will vary depending on the needs. But there is a minimum of 50 users required for one of these plans.

Flat for Education best tips and tricks

Embed music theory
Use auto-graded worksheets to reinforce fundamentals such as intervals, key signatures, and rhythms. These can quickly check comprehension and free up class time for deeper discussion.

Use shared writing
Assign students into small groups to co-compose original pieces. Shared writing turns composition into an interactive teamwork experience.

Blend performance and notation
Have students not only compose but also perform their pieces by uploading audio or video recordings of themselves playing the scores.

TeenToks is named similarly to that very famous social media app for a reason -- this is aimed at teens and tweens. Only in this instance, the main focus is on supporting mental health.

This iOS-specific app is designed as a mental wellness app that works in the form of a video platform. Thus, young people can engage socially, using pre-vetted videos, as a way to learn about mental health.

From topics such as anxiety and body image to confidence and friendships, there is lots to learn on this platform. Launched by edtech company GoZen!, this is a purpose-built app with young people's safety and health in mind.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about TeenToks.

What is TeenToks?

TeenToks is an iOS app that uses videos in a social media style to help educate and support teens and tweens with their mental health.

The idea is that peers can be highly influential, which can be especially useful when applied positively. Everything is research-based in mental health science and uses authentic teen-created content.

However, in this case, that content is vetted first, so everything is safe and can be viewed and shared in a healthy and helpful way.

The app is filled with free and premium content, with more than 40 free videos and meditations, plus hundreds of premium videos and challenges.

How does TeenToks work?

TeenToks is a video-sharing and -viewing platform at its core. This works using bite-sized and relatable video content created by and for teens.

These teens, called "Tokkers," are trained and supported by GoZen! to create short lessons that break down research-backed mental health strategies into real-world scenarios and practical tips.

Guided meditations are also available, along with wellness challenges and social features, all baked into the system.

Parents can create multiple profiles under one account, allowing them to apply age filters for shared use across the family.

Teens can search by category, if they want, allowing them to explore a range of topics that include:

• Anxiety and stress
• Body image
• Confidence and self worth
• Friendships and belonging
• Motivation and goal setting
• School and grades
• Sleep
• Social anxiety
• Thoughts and feelings

What are the best TeenToks features?

TeenToks offers only peer-created and teen-focused content, making it not only safe but also highly relevant and engaging.

Each video and challenge is grounded in well-being science, helping teens learn coping strategies for areas ranging from school stress to self-esteem.

Usefully, the inclusion of guided meditations and wellness streaks encourages regular engagement and positive habit formation. This can be a key component for long-term emotional wellness, says the company.

Unlike most social media, TeenToks restricts posts with a focus on curated educational videos. This decreases exposure to harmful content but also limits interactivity.

How much does TeenToks cost?

TeenToks is free to download and use with a selection of free videos, meditations, and introductory content included.

Premium access unlocks the full library of more than 450 videos, extended wellness challenges, and weekly content updates. This requires a paid subscription with a 7-day free trial option.

Monthly subscriptions start at $9.99 per month and go up to $12.99 per month, based on location and plan.

TeenToks best tips and tricks

Supplement SEL
Integrate TeenToks videos into SEL lessons, using specific clips as discussion prompts on challenging issues.

Assign reflective activities
Pair a TeenToks video with reflective journaling or group discussions. Ask students to apply takeaways to their own lives.

Try peer-led projects
Have students create their own TeenToks-style videos as class projects.

Equatio is an arguably revolutionary technological tool that brings math and science into the digital age.

For years there has been a lag as the typing of equations has been awkward and graph sharing inconsistent, leaving the jump to digital less well-covered for science over arts.

Equatio changes that by offering a more inclusive and optimal way of working with math and science equations digitally.

Developed by TextHelp, this tool lets users type naturally, handwrite on a touchscreen, or even speak equations aloud, in order to enter these digitally.

For teachers this is a great way to lessen the workload for assessments, worksheets, and more. And it offers consistency across devices.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about how Equatio could work in your class.

What is Equatio?

Equatio is an equation editor that allows math and science work to be created, edited, and shared digitally with ease.

One of the main selling points of this tool is that it offers a level playing field for all students by providing the tools they need to access equations though different methods.

These access points include handwriting math, speaking it, or visualizing it by converting from existing worksheets.

From students with special educational needs to EAL students, this platform aims to give independence to everyone who wants to engage with STEM learning. It even works in exam situations to ensure everyone can get access as they need.

This tools helps students and teachers communicate digitally through the use of formulas, graphs, equations, and visual explanations.

That works across a host of platforms and devices including Windows, macOS, Chrome, iOS, and online environments.

How does Equatio work?

Equatio works both as a stand alone app and a toolbar that can run overlaying other tools such as Google Docs, Word, Chrome browsers, and more.

This allows you to input in various ways that include typing, handwriting, speech, screenshot import, LaTeX input, or selection from symbol palettes.

Usefully, there is a predictive math engine that allows you to type naturally and it will help complete the rest to save time, if possible. For example, typing “sqrt” produces a radical symbol, and typing “2^3” automatically converts into an exponent.

This reduces the need for multistep formatting and allows students to focus on mathematical thinking rather than notation mechanics.

This applies to handwriting and speech inputs as well, as the system does the conversion for the user to make it as easy and quick as possible.

Teachers can setup multi-step problems, interactive tasks, or diagrams within the Mathspace digital STEM workspace environment. This lets students annotate, draw, rearrange, and show working clearly.

What are the best Equatio features?

Equatio features a really helpful Screenshot Reader tool that acts as a way to bridge the physical and digital worlds.

This allows teachers to capture images of printed worksheets, textbook pages, exam questions, or online graphics to have these converted into a digital example. The system will extract the mathematical notation and leave that available in an editable form.

The Mathspace, a virtual whiteboard of sorts, is ideal for problem-solving, modeling, or showing work. Teachers can create interactive worksheets, scaffold steps, or build manipulatives that students can rearrange.

Desmos graphing is fully supported so functions can be plotted, manipulated, and embedded into assignments. Students can quickly test ideas, explore behavior, and analyze relationships.

Equatio goes beyond algebra for math. Chemistry formulas, atomic structures, physics notation, and scientific operators are all supported, making it a full STEM tool.

The tool has a host of accessibility functions. Equatio supports learners with dysgraphia, processing difficulties, motor impairments, and more. It also integrates exam-access features for approved candidates.

How much does Equatio cost?

Equatio is available through a combination of individual subscriptions, institutional licenses, and pilots. While pricing can vary by region and deployment, the broad structure is:

A 30-day free trial for individuals, or a 90-day pilot for schools and districts wanting to test the tool with multiple users, is available.

The Individual license options, starting at $170/year, offer paid annual plans for single users.

The School or district licensing options off site-wide deployments with volume-based pricing, central management tools, and broad access for staff and students.

Pricing for a K-12 Group is $17/student/year, or for a K-12 District is $2.05/student/year.

Equatio best tips and tricks

Use Mathspace for modelling
Build worked examples in which each layer appears gradually. This helps students follow reasoning rather than just seeing final answers.

Create reusable templates
Set up equation frameworks, graphing tasks, unit-conversion grids, or chemistry balancing worksheets once, then duplicate each year.

Combine handwriting and typing
Encourage students to start by handwriting intuitively, then convert to typed notation to check for accuracy. It builds muscle memory and symbolic fluency together.

Wayfinder is a tool that is designed for use in schools but with a focus on the world outside of that space. The idea being to offer some guidance to young people on how to manage themselves and how to live -- preparing them for the future.

The goal here is to give students durable skills that help them thrive well after graduation time. From self-awareness and adaptability to collaboration and empathy, all the skills learned here can be truly valuable.

This is a useful option for teachers looking to go beyond conventional SEL offerings. This is more like a bridge between academic programs and real-world experience. Everything is research-grounded, designed for education, and made to work across grade levels.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about Wayfinder to see if it could work in your class.

What is Wayfinder?

Wayfinder is an offering that aims to build foundational skills for young people, to help them achieve lifelong success.

This is a research-backed and educator-designed curriculum that is made to fit into a teacher's setup already. As such, this offers a selection of tools that can be used from primary school to college, in class or alongside counseling, as needed.

Aimed primarily at K-12, this tries to help build confidence, adaptability, and a sense of purpose -- essentially ensuring students don't lose their way in life.

This means helping kids think about decision-making, interpersonal communication, self-awareness, purposeful leadership, and social-emotional development.

Wayfinder can be used across a range of platforms including advisory classes, electives, academic integration, extracurriculars, and even in support and intervention contexts, such as counseling or multi‑tier support systems (MTSS).

How does Wayfinder work?

Wayfinder is built for flexibility with an ability to slot into a variety of school structures. But it also uses structured assessments, called Waypoints, as a way to measure student growth and monitor core skill competencies over time.

Schools and districts can use this during advisory periods, electives or specialist classes, regular academic classes, or even extracurricular and morning‑meeting time. That should make it a good fit within a wide range of school constraints and approaches.

Wayfinder does offer specific targeted interventions, focusing on areas such as chronic absenteeism, bullying prevention, executive functioning, digital citizenship, and restorative practices.

Specific assessment options are available to track growth in core competencies over time -- skills such as self‑awareness, agency, collaboration, empathy, adaptability, and purpose. All with real-time data analysis to help educators identify strengths and areas that need more support.

Modules extend to career and college focus, plus professional learning and staff support.

What are the best Wayfinder features?

Wayfinder is a dedicated way to focus on learning beyond the academic core content, in a manner that actively helps students prepare not only for the future but specifically their future.

The fact that this is super flexible and embeddable makes for a far easier choice for educators and institutions, when it comes to adding this to the list of tools that can fit into the system as it currently works. The ability to use this across grade levels and class types also helps with uptake ease.

The data-driven focus helps measure progress over time -- something that can be hard to find in traditional SEL programs. This can really help with effective targeted interventions.

By using a focused and measurable approach, Wayfinder can be utilized as a way to help with ongoing issues for schools such as absenteeism, behavior, and disengagement. Something that can be applied on a class, school, or district-wide scale.

For older students, the modules on career preparation, financial skills, and life pathways directly address the gap many schools struggle to fill. This can bridge academic learning with real-world preparedness.

How much does Wayfinder cost?

Wayfinder does not share its pricing publicly. Instead it simply says that pricing follows a "contact us" style approach in which you schedule a demo and work it out from there.

While that's not very transparent, it does also mean there could be a level of adaptability to suit the needs of the buyer. The cost likely depends on a variety of factors including number of students, which grade levels are covered, extent of use, and support or training requirements.

Wayfinder best tips and tricks

Alignment
Use Wayfinder in advisory periods, morning meetings or elective slots to avoid overburdening timetables. Because it's designed to slot into multiple formats you can tailor its deployment to your school schedule.

Tracking
Deliver Waypoints assessments at regular intervals to monitor class‑level or school‑level trends. Use formative assessments in between to catch dips or emerging issues, and adapt your interventions accordingly.

Target
If you have students struggling with attendance, behavior, social or emotional issues or disengagement -- the MTSS or counseling use‑case of Wayfinder may help. Use the platform’s flexibility to tailor interventions rather than applying a one size fits all approach.

What happened to the Hour of Code?

Since 2013, Hour of Code activities have been helping educators worldwide to teach coding and computer science principles to K-12 students during Computer Science Education Week every December (this year December 8-14).

Now, with the rapid penetration of artificial intelligence into technology, communications, industry, and education, it’s time to build on the success of Hour of Code. The Hour of AI is upon us.

The Hour of AI follows the principles of the Hour of Code -- that any educator can teach about artificial intelligence with the right guidance. Students will learn to understand and create with AI instead of simply being passive consumers of it.

Fortunately, it’s not an either-or choice. While the Hour of AI has claimed its place in Computer Science Education Week, there are still many fine Hour of Code lessons and activities to choose from.

Whether Hour of AI or Hour of Code, the purpose is the same: To get kids excited about computer science via brief, enjoyable lessons, typically based on digital games and apps. However, you can also teach AI, coding, STEM, and computer logic with “unplugged” analog lessons, some of which are listed here.

Most of the following free Hour of AI/Hour of Code lessons and activities do not require an account or login. All are easy to access and can enrich your classroom’s computer science curriculum all year round.

Hour of AI Lessons and Activities

CS For All Hour of AI
Everything educators need to know about the Hour of AI, including a wealth of print and digital resources, activities, and a how-to guide for hosting an Hour of AI event.

Digital Schoolhouse Computer Science Workshops
The UK-based non profit Digital Schoolhouse provides a robust set of free workshops for teaching computer science topics from Big Data to Ultimate Games Careers. Each workshop includes a teacher’s guide, PowerPoint class presentation, exercises, and additional digital materials.

Digital Schoolhouse Playful Computer Activities
Computer activities don’t always require a computer. Use this terrific assortment of creative lessons to teach computer-related concepts such as computational thinking, binary language, game design, and more, all packaged with amusing characters, puzzles, and logic problems. The carefully designed materials include everything teachers need to bring the lesson to the classroom—except the Playdough, of course!

Digital Schoolhouse Hour of AI: AI unplugged
How does generative AI work? This excellent unplugged AI lesson answers this question and explains the basics of generative AI -- no digital technology required! Included are a teacher guide, worksheets, and an editable PowerPoint presentation. For students nine years and older.

Raspberry Pi Experience CS Curriculum
A free computer science curriculum that’s designed to be incorporated into core content, such as math, science, social studies, and language arts. Ten standards-aligned units cover subjects including weather, art, music, and ecology, and provide lesson plans, slide decks, assessments, and other teaching resources. Grades 4-8. Free account required.

ISTE Artificial Intelligence Lessons
Available in English, Spanish, and Arabic, these hands-on AI project guides help teachers implement a variety of AI lessons in the classroom, from unplugged to chatbots and video games. Education email required for lesson download.

Mix & Move with AI
From the innovative nonprofit Code.org, this lesson brings dance, music, and AI together to teach kids 8-18 years old how to combine creativity, coding, and AI. Includes educator’s guide, lesson plan, classroom slide deck, and prep video.

Coding with AI
Is it possible to use AI for learning a subject rather than cheating? Code.org says yes. Its Coding With AI program is a five-lesson course exploring how kids can tap into AI as a learning support and resource. Each standards-based lesson includes a teacher’s guide, agenda, activities, and assessments. Integrated with Google and Microsoft for easy login and digital sharing.

Hour of Code Lessons and Activities

Blockly: Educational Games that Teach Programming
Simple and elegant game-based coding site that allows novice users to quickly jump in and start learning to code, first with blocks, then with text. Each of the eight game categories introduces an important coding concept, from loops and conditionals to functions. Shareable links promote collaboration. No account required.

Code with Anna and Elsa
From code.org, this step-by-step guide allows students to code a fun animation featuring the popular characters from Frozen. Explanatory videos and tooltips help users navigate and complete each step, while the “run” command shows them if they got it right. A free account is not required, but creating an account allows teachers to assign and track work.

Tinkercad Codeblocks
Block-based coding is a great start for aspiring coders of any age. First create a free account, then explore tutorials on shapes, 3D movement, templates, and much more. Once students have gained some experience, they can try remixing template code, or even create their own.

Khan Academy: Hour of Code
Khan Academy’s interactive videos, challenges, and projects make it easy to dive into STEM teaching and learning coding. The clean, easy-to-navigate interface provides step-by-step guidance and resources for coding drawings, webpages, databases, and more. Create a free account to save resources and document your progress. Not sure where to begin? Consult the teachers’ guides, which cover programming with JavaScript, HTML, CSS, SQL, and more. Integrates with Google Classroom.

The Tech Interactive: Computational Thinking
Computational thinking is not just for coding. Learn how the four elements of computational thinking—decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithms—can be applied not only to coding, but also to problem-solving across the curriculum. Then check out the CT K12 lessons and activities here.

Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Coding Lessons
Twenty coding lessons of increasing difficulty feature the Grinch and scenes from the beloved book.

Hour of Code: Simple Encryption
Previously the domain of militaries and spies, encryption is now an important part of modern life for anyone who uses a digital device. This simple encryption puzzle starts at the lowest level and builds in complexity. Fun and educational.

Intro to App Lab
Create your own apps with App Lab’s tools and guidance.

Girls Who Code
Free JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Python, Scratch, and other programming lessons that students, parents, and educators can complete at home.

MIT App Inventor
Users create their own mobile app with a blocks-based programming language. Need help? Check out the coding tutorials here.

Microsoft Make Code: Hands-on computing education
Fun projects utilizing both block and text editors for students of all ages. No account needed.

Scratch: Get Creative with Coding
No account needed to start coding new worlds, cartoons, or flying animals.

Scratch Jr
Nine activities introduce kids to coding with the programming language Scratch Jr., which lets children aged 5-7 create interactive stories and games.

The most affordable Chromebooks for schools can help create a digital environment for growth and learning, without a steep cost.

A Chromebook represents a way to provide an array of digital tools to educators and students while remaining accessible and easy to use.

This guide aims to lay out some of the best options from the most affordable Chromebooks out there -- specifically designed to help you find the right model to suit your exact needs.

Since Chromebooks do most of the data crunching and storage in the cloud, the devices are light and can last a full day on a charge. That also means the prices can be kept low without scrimping on performance.

Chromebooks began as a Google push and, as such, are ideal for use with Google Classroom. For a more general overview of everything on the software platform you may want to check out our Google Classroom guide.

Chromebooks run on Chrome OS, so students and teachers can access work from other devices such as phones, tablets, and laptops -- all from any location with an internet connection.

From always-connected LTE Chromebooks to WiFi-powered devices, these can all run the many Google apps out there and offer a lot of bang for you buck. Read on to find the best option to suit your needs.

Most Affordable Chromebooks for Schools

1. Acer Chromebook Plus 514: Best Chromebook Overall

The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 has a fantastic balance of features that make it top of this list while staying affordable. The performance, portability, and price are all just right to make this an ideal choice for classes nationwide.

Powered by Intel’s 8-core i3-N305 processor with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and a 128GB SSD, it handles heavy tab loads, Google Workspace apps, and long video calls with ease.

The 14-inch Full HD IPS touchscreen offers sharp clarity for research, lesson planning, or classroom presentations, while its compact and lightweight form keep it genuinely portable. With around 10 hours of battery life, it comfortably gets through a full school day.

Teachers should enjoy the smooth multitasking and reliable WiFi 6E connection during live lessons, and students could benefit from the extra local storage and Plus-series AI tools for writing and productivity.

Durable, well-priced, and strong across categories, this is the Chromebook that fits almost every need without blowing the budget.

2. Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus: Best Budget Convertible

Lenovo’s Flex 5i Chromebook Plus is one of the best-value convertibles available in the U.S. today, giving schools a versatile device for both creative and academic use.

Its 14-inch 2K touchscreen rotates into tablet, tent, or stand modes, making it ideal for note-taking, demonstrating concepts, or running touch-based educational apps. An impressive display resolution and quality for the price.

With an Intel i3-1315U processor, 8GB RAM, and 128GB storage, it handles demanding browser-based work smoothly, and its AI-enhanced Plus features help with writing support and media tasks.

It's flexible yet stays robust, weighing in at 3.48 lbs., which suits daily classroom movement. Battery life typically exceeds 10 hours, supporting full-day use without charging.

Teachers may appreciate its adaptability for interactive lessons, while students get a capable, comfortable device for multimedia assignments, reading, or working in creative modes. All that and it still has one of the most attainable prices for a modern 2-in-1.

3. Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Best for Power Tasks (and Gaming)

The Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE offers performance levels rarely seen in the affordable Chromebook space, making it the top pick for power users and cloud-gaming classrooms.

Its standout 16-inch 2560×1600 display with a 120Hz refresh rate is capable of offering exceptionally smooth visuals. That makes this ideal for graphics-heavy tasks, STEM simulations, or GeForce NOW cloud gaming sessions.

This is all backed by the Intel Core 5-120U, 8GB RAM, and 256GB SSD for enough power to run large workloads, Linux applications, and multitasking without slowdown. Despite the bigger screen, it remains manageable in size and weight at 3.8 lbs. Battery life approaches 10 hours in real-world testing, which is impressive for such a large and bright panel.

Students drawn to creative work such as coding, editing or designing, will find plenty of support here. Teachers can benefit from the expansive display for planning and presenting. It’s the closest thing to a premium workstation Chromebook without the premium price tag.

4. Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514: Best for Portability & Battery Life

Acer’s Chromebook Plus Spin 514 is the model to choose when portability and all-day stamina matter most, while still delivering responsive performance.

Built around the efficient MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910 and paired with 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, it should be smooth for multitasking and can quickly handle AI-powered Plus features.

The 14-inch 120Hz touchscreen brings excellent responsiveness, great for sketching, annotating documents, or navigating coursework. Its convertible design adds real classroom flexibility, and Gorilla Glass protection on the hinge and display help it endure daily wear.

The Spin 514 feels light at 3.31 lbs., with compact dimensions, making it ideal for moving between rooms or carrying in a student backpack. Long battery life supports full-day learning without needing a charger. Teachers should appreciate the versatility for instruction, while students gain a fast, durable device optimized for mobility and continuous study.

5. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i Chromebook Plus: Best Budget Workhorse

The IdeaPad Slim 3i Chromebook Plus is an great choice for schools seeking strong performance at a very accessible price point.

The Intel i3-N305 processor, 8GB RAM, and a generous 256GB of storage mean it comfortably handles the everyday demands of student workloads and browser-based teaching environments.

The 14-inch Full HD display offers clear, comfortable viewing for reading, video learning, and productivity. It’s lightweight enough for daily student carrying but still feels sturdy and well-built. Battery life reaches around 11 hours, helping both teachers and students get through full timetables without worrying about sockets.

It’s also capable of running Steam Beta and Linux apps, giving technically curious students more room to explore. Consistently discounted in the U.S. and offering higher-spec internals than older budget Chromebooks, this model is a practical, reliable all-rounder for large deployments.

From AI-powered smart reading assistants to huge libraries of smart texts, there are a lot of tools aimed at helping students improve their reading skills. Simply reading stories, making annotations, and even embedding questions to be answered -- there are many helpful additions to the reading itself to help cement learning.

And with new AI additions, these resources are getting better than ever. The idea is to offer a way to help both educators and students work together to improve literacy skills in the most efficient and engaging way.

Many of these even come in web app forms so they can be easily accessed across a range of devices.

This guide aims to lay out the very best tools to teach reading so you can find the top contenders for a place in your class.

Best tools to teach reading

Best to teach reading skills overall

Actively Learn

Actively Learn is a digital reading platform that helps teachers turn texts into interactive, engaging learning experiences. The tool provides a large library of articles, stories, and curriculum-aligned passages, but teachers can also upload their own materials.

What makes Actively Learn stand out is its embedded questioning and annotation features. Students encounter prompts, notes, polls, and scaffolds -- such as hints, translations, and text-to-speech -- right inside the reading flow, which supports comprehension and encourages deeper thinking.

Teachers can track progress through a detailed dashboard showing how long students read, how they annotated, and with which questions they struggled. These insights help with differentiation and targeted instruction.

Actively Learn works across subjects, making it useful for ELA, science, social studies, and more. The free tier includes strong core features, while paid plans unlock expanded libraries and analytics. It’s a versatile platform for bringing structure and accountability to digital and classroom reading.

READ: Actively Learn guide

Best for social reading

Glose

Glose is a digital reading platform designed to make reading more social, interactive, and accessible across devices. The tool provides thousands of ebooks and audiobooks, and its interface encourages students to engage with texts actively rather than passively. Students can highlight, annotate, leave comments, and respond to each other’s insights in a secure, teacher-managed environment. This shared reading experience helps build comprehension and confidence, especially for reluctant readers.

Teachers can curate reading lists, create assignments, and monitor student progress through built-in analytics showing reading time, engagement, and completion. Glose also syncs across phones, tablets, and laptops, making it practical for homework or hybrid learning. Its flexible library model allows schools to mix free titles with purchased ebooks. With a focus on collaboration and ease of use, Glose is a good option for classrooms looking to build community around reading.

READ: Glose guide

Best for real-time guidance

Amira Learning

Amira Learning is an AI-powered reading tutor designed to support early readers with real-time, one-on-one guidance. Using advanced speech recognition, Amira listens as students read aloud and identifies errors such as mispronunciations, omissions, or hesitations. The system then provides immediate, gentle feedback and prompts students to try words again, offering decoding support, or modelling correct pronunciation. This creates a personalized tutoring experience that aligns closely with the science of reading.

Teachers gain access to detailed fluency and accuracy data, including error types, reading rate, and progression over time. This helps identify students who need targeted intervention and helps with small-group instruction.

Amira fits easily into literacy blocks as a supplemental activity, allowing teachers to work with one group while others receive structured practice. District-level licensing provides access to the full platform. For schools looking to strengthen early literacy and provide consistent, adaptive support, Amira offers a powerful, research-backed solution.

READ: Amira Learning guide

Best for phonics

Lalilo

Lalilo is an adaptive, phonics-focused reading program aimed at supporting early learners as they develop foundational literacy skills. It offers a playful, illustrated environment in which students work through phonemic awareness, letter–sound relationships, decoding, and early comprehension tasks. The program adjusts difficulty automatically, ensuring each child works at an appropriate level that builds confidence without causing frustration.

Teachers can track progress through clear dashboards that highlight strengths, gaps, and emerging skills. This makes it easier to form targeted small groups or identify students who may benefit from additional intervention. Lalilo is especially useful in kindergarten through second-grade classrooms, where consistent phonics practice is essential. The activities are short, engaging, and well-suited to independent rotation work. With its focus on early reading science and its ability to adapt to individual learners, Lalilo provides a helpful layer of structured practice within a broader literacy curriculum.

READ: Lalilo guide

Best for independence

LightSail

LightSail is a literacy platform designed to support independent reading while giving teachers the data they need to guide instruction. The system offers a large library of levelled texts, allowing students to choose books that match both their reading ability and personal interests. As students read, LightSail embeds brief comprehension checks and vocabulary activities to keep them engaged and assess understanding in real time.

Teachers have access to detailed analytics showing reading time, progress, quiz performance, and overall growth. This makes it easier to monitor independent reading and ensure students are selecting appropriate texts.

LightSail also supports goal setting and personalized reading pathways, helping students build motivation and ownership over their progress. Suitable for classroom, after-school, or home use, LightSail provides a structured framework for developing reading stamina and comprehension skills, with a strong emphasis on student choice and visibility into learning.

READ: LightSail guide

Movavi Academic is not just a screen recorder and not just a video editor -- it's both in one, and it's tailored for education specifically.

That makes this an ideal option for teachers who want to use screen recording as part of their teaching. That can be for in-class use or for flipped learning styles that leverage useful guidance with video. Thanks to the editing part of this tool's feature list, it offers a lot of freedom for specific video output and creative license to educators.

Movavi Academic is actually marketed to teacher, admins, and students, all of whom can use this as a way to communicate about what's happening on-screen, for viewing on demand as needed.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about Movavi Academic at your institution.

What is Movavi Academic?

Movavi Academic is a video recording and editing platform that's designed for use in education. Specifically this is all about screen recording in which teachers, admins, and students can not only record what is on-screen, and add their own commentary, but also edit freely.

The end result offers a lot of freedom to get creative with guidance on pretty much anything that can be shown and explored on a display. Since this works as a video recorder, with editing, the output can be saved and manipulated to get the best possible unique result.

Any video can easily be saved and shared so it can be accessed on demand by anyone who might need it later. So from teachers creating lessons, to students working collaboratively on projects, to admins creating useful software guidance videos -- there is a huge range of possibilities created with Movavi.

How does Movavi Academic work?

Movavi Academic can be downloaded to work on a device in order to record what is on-screen as well as using other source inputs, including webcams for video and microphones for audio.

After recording, there is an option to edit videos, making precise frame cuts, correcting colors, adding visual effects, and even editing the audio to include music or multiple layers of sound.

For educators, there are specific tools that are also available to use including stickers, background transitions, and titles, all suited to schooling. These all help to make the end result look class-friendly and engaging.

Advanced AI tools can be used to automate tasks such as attaching stickers, text, or graphics to moving objects, or usefully remove distractions from the background.

For admins, there is a bulk installer setup for Windows, plus license management that allows for activation and deactivation across multiple devices across schools.

What are the best Movavi Academic features?

Movavi Academic is feature rich yet also manages to be relatively straight forward to use. The company is proud of its ability to offer pro-level video editing tools that are easy to use.

The main feature is the ability to easily screen and webcam record, which makes it great for lessons, the flipped classroom, and remote instruction.

The templates on offer -- along with stickers, graphics, and more -- all make for a fun way to theme videos and give an engaging and professional finish.

Throw in the AI powers and this becomes a really effective way to create useful videos. The ability to remove objects or distractions is a particularly helpful feature -- ideal if you spot something after just recording a whole video you don't want to waste.

The fact this is built to work for teachers, administrators, and students makes it even more flexible. And the ability to control how that's installed across the school's machines, with dedicated admin controls, makes it even more appealing.

How much does Movavi Academic cost?

Movavi Academic offers a few tiers of pricing that make it suitable for varying school levels.

For the Individual plan, you pay $59.95/year, for access to the software on one device.

Go for the Academic level, at $10/machine/year, and you get access to the software across more device school-wide. A minimum 100 licenses per school at this tier is available.

Movavi Academic best tips and tricks

Flipped-classroom videos
Use the screen and webcam recording to create short instructional videos students watch before class. Then use class time for discussion.

Distance learning content
With remote learners, record a lecture or tutorial once and reuse it. The built-in assets can help make it visually engaging.

Student video-projects
Encourage students to tell stories via video. Give them access, use titles, stickers, and backgrounds to make it fun and professional.

• Best Tools for Teachers
• New Teacher Starter Kit

The late Dave Pasquini, my friend and a history teacher at Glenbrook South High School near Chicago, always said “A day without handouts is like a day without sunshine!” I think that is still true.

In providing support in technology-integrated classrooms, the value of well-developed instructional support materials cannot be overstated. Whether teaching middle school learners or graduate students in instructional technology, educators must provide clear, engaging, and accessible resources that guide students through complex concepts and foster deeper understanding.

Today, we often rely on vendor developed materials that are exhaustive and complex. These are often beyond the skill sets of early learners, and due to the customization of systems, do not always look the same as the interface end users see.

Therefore, to support learning, each instructional session that provides technology should provide a short and useful handout. When I was a district IT leader, that was a requirement for all our staff developers to develop handouts that included the following key points:

1. Provide the objectives to be covered in the lesson
2. Provide step-by-step instructions, including screenshots, diagrams, or other images where possible
3. Provide follow on (or enrichment) activities for those looking to expand their skills
4. Provide contact information to access help

1. Lesson objectives are essential. This can help participants identify the sessions they may want to attend. A clear articulation of what students are expected to learn will help orient learners and help instructors maintain focus and measure outcomes.

2. Step-by-step instructions are important and need to be customized to the version of the software that the learners will see. It is easy for instructors and other technologically literate people to chunk information (combining steps) or make assumptions. However, some users are tentative to make those types of leaps. It is easy to assume that everyone who touches a computer in today’s digitally rich world is facile with technology. However, like many assumptions, it is not accurate.

In my most recent beginning of course survey, 57% of my graduate students acknowledged that “sometimes I struggle with technology.” Instructors should not assume that learners are all, or even the majority, strong technology users.

3. Follow up the directions with a section providing enrichment or follow on activities for those learners who are eager or able to go further than the lesson was intended. This might encourage learners to extend their skills, come back for more training, or simply be able to take the instruction directly into their classrooms. If some learners are ahead of the group, it could effectively provide opportunities for guided practice while they are in the training session. This section might include a short bibliography for further reading or a list of related courses or workshops.

4. Lastly, make sure handouts include the contact information. Provide email, phone, or video link for users who need support. In a perfect world, provide all of these! Some learners might just need to ask a simple question by email. However, some might need to discuss a problem over the phone as they don’t have the vocabulary to summarize their concerns in writing. Others may want to share their screen and be walked through a process.

Making Materials Usable and Inviting

The structure and design of instructional materials play a critical role in effectiveness. A clear layout, with headings, bullet points, and logical flow, makes content easier to navigate. Learners should be able to scan the handout and quickly locate key information. Generally, handouts should be no more than a single sheet of paper, potentially using both sides for more 30-50 minute training sessions.

Visual appeal matters, too. Thoughtful use of color, icons, and images can make materials more engaging and reduce cognitive load. While aesthetics should never overshadow substance, it can enhance motivation and retention. Plain black text on a white page is rarely engaging.

If possible, provide space for notes. Whether through margins, blank sections, or guided prompts, allowing users to jot down thoughts encourages active learning and personal reflection.

Strong instructional materials contribute to broader educational goals. These promote equity by ensuring all students have access to the same high-quality resources and support accessibility by accommodating diverse needs, such as visual impairments or language barriers.

Well-designed and enticing materials reflect professionalism and respect for learners’ time and effort. These demonstrate that the instructor has thoughtfully prepared and values the learning process. If the situation does not allow printing the handouts ahead of time, provide the learners with a link so they can access and print handouts themselves. Many people still like paper copies even though we live in a digitally rich world.

Either watch above or listen below.

Discovery Education recently released its second annual Education Insights report, this time focusing on student engagement—a theme I keep hearing increasingly in edtech circles. While the findings reveal universal agreement that engagement is a top predictor of student success—90% of educators, superintendents, and principals recognize its importance—there appears to be significant disconnects on what “engagement” even means.

I had the chance to dig into the details of the report with Brian Shaw, CEO of Discovery Education. He cites several critical gaps: Teachers point to thoughtful questioning as a key engagement indicator, while administrators focus on assessment performance.

Perhaps most striking is the measurement divide: overwhelming majorities of superintendents and principals believe they have the right tools to measure engagement, while only about half of teachers agree.

Some more statistics from the report:

• Engagement is broadly recognized as a key driver of learning and success. 93% of educators surveyed agreed that student engagement is a critical metric for understanding overall achievement, and 99% of superintendents polled believe student engagement is one of the top predictors of success at school. Finally, 92% of students said that engaging lessons make school more enjoyable.
• Educators disagree on the top indicators of engagement. 72% of teachers rated asking thoughtful questions as the strongest indicator of student engagement. However, 54% of superintendents identified performing well on assessments as a top engagement indicator. This is nearly twice as high as teachers, who rank assessments among the lowest indicators of engagement.
• School leaders and teachers disagree on if their schools have systems for measuring engagement. While 99% of superintendents and 88% of principals said their district has an intentional approach for measuring engagement, only 60% of teachers agreed. Further, nearly 1/3 of teachers said that a lack of clear, shared definitions of student engagement is a top challenge to measuring engagement effectively.
• Educators and students differ on their perceptions of engagement levels. While 63% of students agreed with the statement “Students are highly engaged in school,” only 45% of teachers and 51% of principals surveyed agreed with the same statement.
• Students rate their own engagement much higher than their peers. 70% of elementary students perceived themselves as engaged, but only 42% perceived their peers as engaged. 59% of middle school students perceived themselves engaged in learning, but only 36% perceived their peers as engaged. Finally, 61% of high school students perceived themselves as engaged, but only 39% described their peers as engaged.
• Proximity to learning changes impressions of AI. Two-thirds of students believe AI could help them learn faster, yet fewer than half of teachers report using AI themselves to complete tasks. Only 57% of teachers agreed with the statement “I frequently learn about positive ways students are using AI,” while 87% of principals and 98% of superintendents agree. Likewise, only 53% of teachers agreed with the statement “I am excited about the potential for AI to support teaching and learning,” while 83% of principals and 94% of superintendents agreed.

A copy of Education Insights 2025–2026: Fueling Learning Through Engagement can be downloaded here.

Achievement in math doesn't happen without motivation—and the most successful districts know how to combine the two.

During this recent webinar, hosted by Christine Weiser, Tech & Learning Content Director, and featuring Cassandra Haines-Riiska, Educator Success Specialist for Prodigy Education and Edward Courtney, an elementary teacher for Long Beach Public Schools in New York, as well as content from Lisa Marceau, Director of Curriculum and Instruction for North Adams Schools in Massachusetts (who could not attend), attendees heard real-world examples of how creating fun, engaging math experiences drives student persistence, improves outcomes, and helps close achievement gaps.

Whether your district is looking to accelerate learning, improve equity, or simply help students enjoy math again, the discussion provided practical, research-informed approaches to explore how math plus motivation adds up to lasting achievement for every student.

As Marceau shared by proxy, “The struggle IS the learning.”

WATCH ON DEMAND HERE

The Indispensable Link: Motivation Fuels Achievement

A central theme of the webinar was that math achievement is inextricably tied to student motivation. The most successful districts understand this connection and actively work to combine the two.

“Motivation comes in so many different shapes and colors,” said Courtney, emphasizing the importance of finding joy in learning, meeting students where they are, and celebrating every success, no matter how small. He noted that shifting negative feelings into positive ones can instantly change a student's day and motivate them to persist.

When students are curious, challenged, or seeking recognition, they are more likely to push through difficulties. Intrinsic motivation, the desire to learn for learning's sake, leads to deeper engagement, long-term achievement, and eventually mastery. Motivated learners view mistakes as opportunities for growth rather than failures, fostering a resilient mindset.

Engagement, particularly through interactive and game-based platforms such as Prodigy, builds momentum by making learning feel like progress and enjoyment. This leads to more frequent practice, greater focus, and boosts both academic and social skills. Ultimately, motivation leads to measurable performance gains, with research consistently showing that motivated students often outperform or catch up to their peers, even those with different starting proficiencies.

Cultivating Math Motivation: Strategies from the Field

Lisa Marceau's experience further illustrated the power of motivation. Faced with students lacking the drive to tackle challenging math problems, her mission was to reframe math as a "superpower" fueled by curiosity and motivation. Her district aimed to instill ownership over learning, observing that motivated students put more effort into difficult problems, engaged in math discourse, and collaborated more with classmates. Incorporating digital games was key to fostering deeper, interactive learning and demonstrating that math can be fun, leading to improved achievement and scores.

Key tips for fueling persistence include:

• Encouraging a Growth Mindset: Teaching students to believe in their ability to grow builds confidence and persistence.
• Embracing Productive Struggle: Helping students understand that struggle is an integral part of learning deepens conceptual understanding.
• Providing Support: Teachers and coaches must provide clear guidance on where and how students can seek help, building a supportive culture.
• Connecting Math to Real Life: Demonstrating the real-world relevance of math helps students see its necessity for achieving their goals.

Success Stories: From Individuals to Districts

“There's no victory that's too small of a victory,” said Courtney. “Even just one problem correct will really make a difference and it will really stand out with the student. It could make or break their entire day." He shared how a second-grader struggling with basic math facts who, through daily engagement with Prodigy and targeted assignments, improved her fluency by 20% in six weeks. This demonstrated the impact of consistent practice and the platform's built-in rewards.

At the classroom level, Courtney observed improved peer collaboration and increased attendance across grades K-5 when motivation-based learning tools were integrated. Teachers reported increased engagement and participation, with one fourth-grade class seeing participation jump from 60% to 100%. Courtney's personal journey from a "terrible math student" to someone who now loves teaching it underscores the transformative power of making math fun, engaging, and accessible.

On a school and district level, Edward's school in Long Beach, New York, implemented Prodigy during a period of budget constraints and potential closure. The students' motivation to keep their school open, fueled by the Prodigy State Challenge, led them to become state champions multiple times over. This collective goal fostered a strong sense of community and celebrated learning milestones, creating a positive school culture that continues to thrive.

Lisa Marceau's district also saw remarkable success, with 95% of their K-6 staff attending Prodigy training, including non-math teachers. This "top-down" approach ensured a common language and district-wide support for the initiative. Her school became the Massachusetts champion for the heroic tier, answering nearly 30,000 questions in a single month.

Scaling Proven Practices

Scaling these practices involves:

• Building a Culture of Growth: Encouraging a growth mindset and celebrating progress school-wide.
• Integrating into Curriculum: Embedding math games and competitions directly into lessons, rather than treating them as "extras."
• Monitoring and Sharing Data: Tracking student engagement alongside achievement and sharing results with students to foster motivation.
• Quality Professional Development: Providing hands-on workshops, peer collaboration opportunities, and tech training for staff, with continuous support.
• High Expectations and Useful Resources: Setting high expectations for all students and staff, and providing the resources they need to succeed.

By prioritizing motivation, celebrating effort, providing targeted support, and leveraging engaging tools such as Prodigy, educators can transform math learning into a joyful and achievable experience for every student.

There is no better place to apply the proverb “It takes a village” than in education, yet many school districts often work in silos, missing out on the wealth of knowledge in their communities.

Springfield Public Schools, the largest school district in Missouri, is changing that mindset with two innovative programs—the "Unity Tea" and "Principal for a Day"—to build lasting relationships with their community.

Under the passionate leadership of Superintendent Dr. Grenita Lathan, these initiatives have not only garnered local praise but have also earned national recognition. The district serves 24,000 students across 55 sites in the state.

Lathan and Jessica Blake, Coordinator of Community Relations at Springfield Public Schools, presented these initiatives at the recent LeaderHERship Network Summit.

The Unity Tea: Mentoring the Next Generation of Female Leaders

The "Unity Tea," now in its third year, is an annual event designed to foster mentorship for young women in the district. It was the brainchild of Lathan, who had a similar program in a previous district. The event connects successful women leaders from the community with 100 high school students for an afternoon of conversations and connections.

“Dr. Lathan is passionate about engagement with our community and empowering students to be their best,” said Blake. “She wanted to create an event that fosters mentorship for young ladies throughout the district.”

The selection process for both students and mentors is meticulous. Students are identified by school champions based on their potential to benefit from such an experience. As Blake explained, the goal is to reach young women who have "never been able to experience something like this before and who could use additional connections to strong leaders in our community."

On the other side, community leaders are carefully chosen to ensure a diverse representation of industries, including banking, law, non-profit, and civic engagement.

“The district curates a list of strong business leaders who are active in the community and are interested in becoming mentors for students,” Blake said.

The invitation comes directly from Lathan, a "dynamo" who Blake says makes people "jump on the opportunity really quickly" because they are excited to "build up our next generation of female leaders."

The district partners with local organizations to support the Unity Tea. One of their community partners, Care to Learn–an organization that supports our district with health, hunger, and hygiene–donates a $100 gift card to each student to purchase new clothes for the event. “We want them to feel confident and comfortable when coming into a room with business leaders and their peers,” said Blake.

The success stories are a testament to the program's impact. One standout example involves a young entrepreneur who makes cake pops and chocolate-covered strawberries. She was seated with the CEO of a credit union who was so impressed by the student's confidence and business acumen that she hired her to cater the credit union's annual banquet. The student's business cards were displayed, and her work was praised for its "amazing" presentation and professionalism. This story, Blake noted, is a perfect example of “the power of just building women up and letting them showcase the work that they're doing."

For other districts hoping to replicate this success, Blake advised starting with an internal committee of women leaders who can brainstorm and tailor a program to their specific community's needs. She also highlighted the importance of collaboration, noting that sponsors such as Care to Learn and Launch Virtual Learning, who supplies journals for attendees, create a special experience for the participants.

Principal for a Day: A Look Inside the School System

The "Principal for a Day" program is another cornerstone of SPS's community engagement strategy. Its purpose is to open the doors of schools to local business and civic leaders, allowing them to experience a day in the life of a school principal.

“Dr. Lathan really believes in engaging the community and giving people the opportunity to see the great work that we're doing and see the amazing things that are happening across our school district,” said Blake.

The program is structured to be accessible to busy professionals. Participants commit to just a half-day, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The experience includes a two-hour shadowing session at a school, followed by a luncheon and debriefing with a panel discussion.

“We work closely with the local Chamber of Commerce to recruit a diverse group of participants,” Blake noted. “Dr. Lathan sends out personal invitations that provide all the details. Interested participants fill out a registration form”

The program has drawn high-profile participants, including both the outgoing and new mayors, a county commissioner, and several city council members. Blake shared a story about a councilwoman who formed such a strong bond with a student that she now volunteers as a mentor at that school.

Since its pilot in 2023, the program has grown exponentially. It's now held twice a year, and there is already a waitlist for the next event, which is set for February 2026. Part of the program's success can be attributed to the enthusiastic social media engagement from participants. As Blake explained, they often post live updates or post-event reflections, bragging about the "amazing things" they witnessed. This organic promotion has led to a ripple effect, with others in the community reaching out to inquire about how they can participate.

For other districts interested in starting a similar program, Blake stressed the importance of over-communication with principals and staff. While some administrators may be hesitant to have an outsider in their building, clear guidelines and the flexibility to personalize the day's agenda make the process smoother. The district provides a suggested agenda, including a tour and highlighting a specific program, but allows principals to "make it their own," Blake said.

The program also received national recognition by the National School Public Relations Association, who awarded it with their prestigious Gold Medallion Award.

The Future of Community Engagement

Both the Unity Tea and Principal for a Day are funded through SPS's community relations fund, which supports engagement events. The success of these programs, however, goes far beyond financial metrics. They have created tangible, meaningful connections that benefit students and strengthen the community as a whole.

“We’re really proud of the work that we've done around this and it's been a neat way for us to open our doors for our community to see our leadership teams doing good things,” Blake said.

These initiatives are a clear example of how schools can be active, visible hubs of their communities. By intentionally building relationships with local leaders and empowering students, Springfield Public Schools is not just educating the next generation—it's building a stronger, more connected community for everyone.

Goblin Tools is designed to offer a compact and simple solution to big problems. The idea is to use intuitive tools to tackle tasks that otherwise take up valuable teacher time.

The website is minimal and offers a selection of AI-powered tools that can be used there and then, via the browser for ease of access. As such, this is easy to start experimenting with right away to find out how it could serve to save on lesson prep time and more.

Since these tools are all individually built, it offers a way to dip in and out as needed, without having to commit to any one system. That should mean this can work well across subjects, topics, learning modalities, teachers, departments, and more.

This guide aims to explain all you need to know about Goblin Tools to see if this platform could work for you.

What is Goblin Tools?

Goblin Tools is a website and app that offers a collection of simple-to-use tools that are designed to help teachers with their admin tasks and more.

These tools are AI-powered and offer a way to assist with lots, from organizing thoughts and planning tasks to managing tone and providing explanations.

All these tools are driven by OpenAI -- the system behind ChatGPT -- allowing for simplicity and intuition at the front end and plenty of smart processing power behind the scenes.

Everything is freely available to use and doesn't require a sign-up or login to get started. These ideals follow the ethos of the website that wants to offer clarity, calm, and accessibility.

The idea is to help those who find planning, prioritizing, or tone-judging mentally draining. By doing so, it should leave plenty more energy to focus on teaching. But it's a powerful option for students too.

How does Goblin Tools work?

Goblin Tools has all its features laid out front and center, ready to use, on the homepage of its website. It can also be accessed using its apps that come in iOS and Android forms.

The complete list of tools are:

• Magic ToDo – Breaks a big task into smaller, manageable steps.
• Estimator – Suggests roughly how long a task might take.
• Formalizer – Changes tone -- more formal, polite, or casual.
• Judge – Analyzes how your message might come across emotionally.
• Compiler – Turns a messy brain dump into a clear list.
• Professor / Consultant – Explains topics or helps weigh decisions.
• Chef – Generates recipes from whatever ingredients you have.

What are the best Goblin Tools features?

Goblin Tools is a really helpful way for teachers to save time on tasks but it can also be used, in class, by students.

The Magic ToDo, for example, is a useful way to get started with creating a presentation or writing an essay, which might otherwise seem like a daunting task. It also allows students to see how AI tackles the task versus how they might -- as a useful lesson in managing AI tools, too.

The Estimator tool can be a helpful way for students, and teachers, to break down tasks in a way that allow for planning. Useful to learn time management but also a helpful tool for actively doing that in future.

Working on formal tone is a great way for students to practice communicating with colleges, employers, and others. Using the Formalizer and Judge tools allow them to see how these tones can be adjusted to suit the situation and people with whom they are communicating. It can also help teachers if they want to make an otherwise chatty message appear more formal for a different audience.

The Professor tool can be a great pre-reading tool, used to adjust difficulty of an explanation to help ease students of varying abilities onto a similar level of understanding around a topic, for example. It can also be helpful to ease teachers into new areas of research.

How much does Goblin Tools cost?

Goblin Tools is totally free to use both online, via the website, as well as through its apps. It has no requirement to sign-up or give any personal details to use the tools.

Goblin Tools best tips and tricks

Task Scaffolding
Start by modelling how you’d use Magic ToDo on one of your own projects, showing students that even teachers break big goals into smaller steps normalizes the process.

Tone Awareness
Use Judge and Formalizer side-by-side so students can see how language shifts meaning and emotion -- perfect for digital citizenship or English lessons.

Time Reflection
Have students predict how long something will take before using Estimator, then discuss the gap between expectation and reality as a self-management exercise.

• Best Tools for Teachers
• New Teacher Starter Kit

Major tech companies are betting quantum computers will be the next big technological breakthrough. Quantum computers take advantage of the famously strange laws of quantum mechanics, which explain the universe at the smallest levels.

If quantum computing is perfected, it could boost current computing capabilities in profound ways. Google, IBM, Microsoft, Nvidia, and other major tech companies are investing heavily in the emerging field, and if the technology proves even partially as powerful as some believe it will be, quantum computers will have profound impacts on AI, medicine, industry, and, of course, education.

For teachers looking to keep themselves and their students up-to-date on the latest and greatest tech news, learning about quantum computing is an engaging idea. Be warned, however: Quantum computers are dizzyingly complex and rely on difficult-to-understand equations and far-out concepts from physics.

I’ve recently become fascinated by quantum computers on a personal level because of what these potentially tells us about the nature of our reality. Here are some resources I’ve found that have helped me better understand the technology, and could also help fellow educators and their students.

1. A Quantum Computer Primer From Tech & Learning

Early this year, I interviewed Lance Key about quantum computers. Key is a technology guru, educator, and support specialist at the Putnam County School System in Cookeville, Tennessee. Key discussed the basics of what educators should know about this exciting new technology. Reading this short article will give you a quick idea on many basic aspects, including the difference between qubits—quantum bits—that quantum computers run on, and the traditional bits that power classical computers.

2. A Chance To Try Quantum Computing For Free

More advanced coding students might be interested in working with existing quantum computers directly. IBM’s quantum platform allows free access to quantum computers through the cloud as well as tutorials in quantum computing programming. Exploring these resources could be a wonderful opportunity for serious computer science students to start learning the basics behind what could be next computer revolution.

3. A Helpful YouTube Series

If the previous option sounded a little too intimidating, IBM also has a helpful series on YouTube that covers everything from the basics of quantum computing to more advanced quantum concepts. Many videos are led by physicist and IBM scientist Olivia Lanes, who has a gift for breaking down complex concepts into easy-to-understand examples.

For educators in the greater New York area, IBM also sometimes offers class tours of the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., which is home to some of IBM’s most advanced quantum computers. I’ve had the opportunity to take a tour of the facility and it’s a fascinating window into what may be the future of computing.

4. A Free Quantum Computing Course

Google is another tech giant going all in on the quantum computing revolution. They also offer many resources for learning more, including Hands-on Quantum Error Correction with Google Quantum AI, a free Coursera course. The one-module course is designed to take about three weeks to complete, at 10 hours per week, and is aimed at an undergraduate student or researcher looking to learn the basics of how some of the challenges in the emerging field of quantum computing are being solved.

5. David Deutsch’s Writing

For educators and students more interested in the scientific theories behind quantum computers than the nuts and bolts of actually running one, there is arguably no better source than David Deutsch’s The Fabric of Reality. Often referred to as "the father of quantum computing," Deutsch is an Oxford physicist who developed one of the founding equations of quantum computing. While the book only focuses briefly on quantum computing, it gives a detailed overview of why he believes the multiverse is real and how it can explain why quantum computing works. While not everyone agrees with Deutsch, his ideas are not dismissed out of hand in the scientific community, and he’s a fascinating and influential figure in both physics and quantum computing

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