How to Choose Tools to Use in an Online Course

As an online instructor, it is sometimes difficult to know which tools to chose/use to best enhance online instruction. There are so many to choose from and it is difficult to know which ones will actually do what you expect them to do. How do you choose? I set about trying to find an answer. Of course there are so many "answers" to this question that I found myself spending a lot of time trying to figure it out.

The LMS you use may have some great tools--like discussion boards/forums, journals, a way to submit assignments directly online, chat features, video and audio options. But what if it doesn't have the exact tool you need to enhance/enrich the online experience for your content and your students? There are some things you need to consider when trying to select the best ed-tech tool for your course.

A blog post called "How to choose the best Ed-Tech tools for Online Instruction" by Debbie Morrison, 2012, has some examples, reasons to use ed-tech tools, and a 5-step Ed-Tech integration strategy that is well worth reading and digesting. 

"The ultimate goal of the 5 step Ed-Tech Strategy is to act as a guide for educators in order that their courses are kept current and relevant by using emerging technology, yet at the same time ensuring that the instruction continues to be effective so that students are learning the content."

Education Week also has some great resources for finding tools to use with students online.

Five Tools and Tips for Working with Students Online

When is an Educational App Classroom Worthy?

The following resource has a listing of 10 free to use technology tools. You may be already using some of them. The author, Lara EnglishHIll, has divided them into two groups--Teacher Tools and Student Tools.

My Holiday Gift to Teachers: My Top 10 List of Free Educational Technology Tools

What is your favorite ed-tech tool to use in an online environment?


Peggy Steinbronn, Ed.D.

Teach or Test?

This is a very busy time. For some schools it is the end of the semester and students are taking finals. While testing to see what students know is a good thing, it is also very stressful for all--students, teachers, and parents.

For students who are not "good" test takers, it can be daunting. The students may know the material, but not test well. So relying solely on a summative assessment is not a reliable measuring stick for what a student knows and is able to do. Formative assessment happens during teaching--while students are learning. And it doesn't take huge chunks of time out of the teaching day to perform.

Check out what one teacher, Vicki Davis, The CoolCatTeacher,  reports about her experience with formative assessment here: 5 Fantastic, Fast, Formative Assessment Tools.

She also lists several useful formative assessment tools that you can use with students. You may like some better than others, but each may have a specific purpose that may work for you. Become familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of each in order to pick the best one(s) to use.

Have you used any of these?

• Socrative
• Kahoot
• Zaption
• Backchannel Chat Tools: Chatzy, Today's Meet, Ning, Google Docs
•  Plickers
• QuickKey
  ZipGrade
• Grade Cam

The more tools you have, the better you can create assessments that really help students show what they know and actually learn.

Peggy Steinbronn, Ed.D.