Module 6: Educational technology tools for distance learning

In this module, we will show different examples of how to use different educational tools according to the context and the learning moment required in distance learning.

For this purpose, the authors of this resource have created the following Symbaloo (see also Figure 1), a collection of some of the most versatile and useful educational technology tools used in education. You can access to it here:

https://www.symbaloo.com/shared/AAAAB0HPC-EAA42ASImSXg==

Figure 1. Symbaloo created by the authors of this resource

As can be seen in the image, the Symbaloo is divided into different parts or blocks, these parts correspond to the thematization and categorization of the applications.

In the upper left corner, we can see all those tools that can be used for monitoring and evaluation of the students, as well as to increase the commitment of the students during the online sessions. For example: While the online session is taking place, we can create a quiz through the Socrative application, making the students should connect to it so that at the same time that the online class is taking place, we can see the results of the questions that have been asked in the quiz and discuss what the students have answered.

In the bottom left corner, we have set up those applications that can be used to do online work and documents. An example of this is the Google Docs app, where several students can work on the same document so that students can be organized in individual rooms to produce a document on the topic they want to work on in the same online document.

Continuing to the top center of the image, there are tools that can be used to encourage discussion in the online environment. An example of this is Nearpod, an application that allows us to make interactive presentations so that students can participate in them while they are on their devices. In this way, questions or activities can be generated so that students can interact.

In the lower central part of the board, different applications are shown to make presentations more interactive. An example of which is Genially, which not only allows presentations to be made but also a wide variety of infographics and gamification that can be used in both online and face-to-face contexts.

On the top right are different applications for online meetings, something that will be essential to carry out distance learning properly. This has already been discussed in the document, but one idea offered to increase student engagement is to hold several sessions (break-out rooms) parallel to the main class session where students can work in groups or pairs and teachers can stop by to answer questions and monitor learning.

Finally, at the bottom left, different applications are proposed that can be of great help to us in order to make the class more interactive. One notable example is Edpuzzle, which allows us to embed both closed and open questions into videos, such as those from YouTube, tailored to the content we wish to explore with our students.