A number of online education support companies are offering free access to their platforms to help with distance learning during the coronavirus outbreak.
In an effort to help ANY school that is closing during the outbreak we wanted to share some links to potentially useful services that are offering free access for the rest of the school year. As the situation with the coronavirus is constantly changing, you can see a more basic but frequently updated list of resources here.
We have broken the options down into four sections:
- Services that can help with curriculum development
- Services that provide basic online learning resources
- Services that help create the infrastructure needed for remote learning and classroom management
- Other, miscellaneous services
Just click on the section you would like to access below, click on the link for the service you want to access, and follow the instructions to get your school up and running with these resources.
- BookCreator – Book Creator is a simple tool for creating awesome digital books. Create your own teaching resources or have your students take the reins. Combine text, images, audio and video to create: Interactive stories. Digital portfolios.
- BreakoutEDU – Breakout EDU is a physical game kit and platform where students work together to solve various puzzles to open a locked box, similar to an escape room. You can use Breakout kits in every subject area and grade level. … The online format allows teachers to track progress and set time limits for students.
- ClassroomSecrets – Classroom Secrets is an online educational publisher producing lesson materials with high quality differentiation based in Halifax, West Yorkshire.
- ClassHook – ClassHook is the best place to find educational clips. from popular TV shows and movies. TV shows and movies often contain scenes that discuss topics such as Science, Math, Art, Music, and more.
- CMU CS Academy – CMU CS Academy is a project in Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science that has the goal of developing a novel, world-class, online, interactive high school computer science curriculum that is entirely free.
- CommonLit – CommonLit is a free digital tool that helps students in grades 5-12 make measurable gains in reading and writing. Teachers can go to CommonLit.org, create a free account, and access our free library of high-interest, standards-aligned lessons.
- Epic – Epic! has grown into an award-winning subscription service, which gives millions of families and classrooms instant, unlimited access to thousands of books, videos and quizzes from leading publishers to help kids everywhere read, learn and grow.
- Gamilab -Gamilab is a web-powered gaming tool that provides fresh and motivating learning experience for both children and adults, and in the classroom and the meeting room. With a game editor that even grandma can handle, and games that will even engage that neighbor that still swears by the manual lawnmower.
- Inthinking – InThinking is an innovative educational consultancy service that provides high-quality training and web-based resources for IB World Schools.
- K-12 – K-12, one of the country’s leading virtual education providers, is offering schools and districts complimentary access for at least 30 days to its K-12 digital course catalog, professional development, and educational services. They are also complimentary access for at least 30 days to K12’s content and hosting platform, which includes K-8 and core middle school and high school courses, to help any school in standing up content, systems, and teaching staff
- Kognity – Kognity has adapted the traditional textbook to digitally consumable text with video examples, 3D models and practice tests to make the content more interactive and engaging. The best part is that all our textbooks are curriculum-aligned and are designed to enhance deeper learning.
- LearningApps – LearningApps.org is a Web 2.0 application, to support learning and teaching processes with small interactive modules. Those modules can be used directly in learning materials, but also for self studying. The aim is to collect reusable building blocks and make them available to everyone. Blocks (called Apps) include no specific framework or a specific learning scenario. The blocks are therefore not suitable as complete lessons or tasks, instead, they must be embedded in an appropriate teaching scenario.
- MobyMax – MobyMax is an online suite of learning solutions designed to provide K-8 teachers with CCSS-aligned content, assessments, and activities for all topics and subject areas. Currently, MobyMax covers 27 subject areas, including science, social studies, math, phonics, spelling, and more.
- Nearpod – Nearpod is a student engagement platform that can be used to amazing effect in the classroom. The concept is simple. A teacher can create presentations that can contain Quiz’s, Polls, Videos, Images, Drawing-Boards, Web Content and so on. They can also access over 7K k-12 standards-aligned lessons.
- Newsela – Newsela takes authentic content from the world’s most trusted providers and turns it into learning materials that are classroom-ready. Newsela empowers teachers to select the best content for their students, while giving administrators the assurance that all content is vetted and aligned to standards.
- Twinkl – Twinkl Educational Publishing is an online educational publishing house, producing teaching and educational materials.
- Vidcode – Vidcode collaborates with school districts, non-profits, grant providers and 3rd party researchers to test and build a powerful and easy to use coding tool for any teacher to leverage.
- Voces Digital – Voces offers complete, digital curricula for Spanish, French, and ESL teachers using traditional and comprehensible teaching methods.
- ABCmouse – ABCmouse is a comprehensive, research-validated curriculum for preschool through second grade, available on all major digital platforms and used by tens of millions of children to date.
- Adventure Academy – Adventure Academy is the first-of-its-kind educational massive multiplayer online game (MMO), serving elementary and middle-school-aged children with thousands of learning activities in a fun and safe virtual world.
- alchemie – Alchemie offers online chemistry education support and is offering a free “Mechanisms” app that allows students to learn and practice reaction mechanisms by moving and manipulating individual bonds and electrons.
- Brainpop – BrainPOP invites students to discover, play, and create, enriching and deepening their understanding of topics across the curriculum by creating videos, maps and coding.
- ReadingIQ – ReadingIQ is a digital library and literacy platform for children 12 and under designed by reading experts to improve literacy skills, with many thousands of expert-curated books from leading publishers.
- CK-12 – The CK-12 Foundation is a California-based non-profit organization which aims to increase access to low-cost K-12 education in the United States and abroad. CK-12 provides free and customizable K-12 open educational resources aligned to state curriculum standards.
- Conjugemos – Conjuguemos makes learning verb conjugations in Spanish, French (+ 7 other languages) easy with drill practices and fun multi-player games.
- Curriki – Curriki is a global community, composed of educators, teachers, parents and students. It is a community that recognizes the value of having a large repository of vetted K-12 learning materials that are not only free, but available for sharing, mixing and matching, and repurposing to particular needs for classrooms around the world. Curriki hosts more than 53,000 resources that range from simple lessons to full courses.
- Discovery Education – Discovery Education Experience is a simple-to-use K-12 learning platform that combines dynamic curated curriculum resources with on-demand teaching strategies, personalized for your needs as an educator.
- Elementari -Elementari is a simple tool for all ages that combines writing and coding. Students can begin with simple picture books and then ‘code’ their stories to play music, voiceovers, animations, and more.
- Emile – Emile started life as a collaboration between game developers and academics from Manchester Metropolitan University under a Knowledge Transfer Partnership funded by Innovate UK. Emile has quickly expanded into a range of numeracy and literacy resources in response to demand from teachers and schools.
- Fiveable – Compete against other AP students from other schools and win prizes while preparing for your AP exams.
- HippoCampus – HippoCampus.org is a free, core academic web site that delivers rich multimedia content–videos, animations, and simulations–on general education subjects to middle-school and high-school teachers and college professors, and their students, free of charge.
- Idea – The Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award, known as iDEA is an international program that helps you develop digital, enterprise and employability skills for free. Through a series of online challenges, you can win career-enhancing badges, unlock new opportunities and, ultimately, gain industry-recognized Awards that help you stand out from the crowd.
- Izzit – Izzit offers free, high-quality educational materials to educators: teachers, homeschoolers, parents, grandparents, scout troop leaders – to anyone interested in learning/teaching!
- Kahoot – Kahoot! delivers engaging learning to billions. Teachers, students, businesses and parents all use Kahoot! for group learning, e-learning, distance learning, and self-study everywhere!
- Khan Academy – Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. They tackle math, science, computer programming, history, art history, economics, and more.
- Kids Discover Online – Kids Discover Online (KDO) gives teachers and students the opportunity to browse Kids Discover’s vast library of science and social studies content, photographs, activities, and interactive simulations in an individualized, organized platform.
- Manga High – Mangahigh.com is one of the world’s first Game-Based Learning sites, where students learn Mathematics via purpose-built casual games that balance fun and learning.
- Mystery Science – Mystery Science is collecting every question children ask and creating video explanations for all of them—not just Why questions, but also How questions—step-by-step guides for anything they want to do.
- Pebble Go – PebbleGo is a curricular content hub specifically designed for K-3 students. Packed with informational articles, ready-made activities, and literacy supports for students of all abilities, it boosts engagement and fosters independent learning in core subject areas.
- Prodigy – Loved by more than 800,000 teachers and 30 million students, Prodigy is the world’s most engaging math game and platform. And it’s free for everyone.
- Seterra – Seterra will challenge you with quizzes about countries, capitals, flags, oceans, lakes and more! Introduced in 1997 and available in 36 different languages, Seterra has helped thousands of people study geography and learn about their world.
- Scholastic – Scholastic has created a learning hub that provides 20 days of learning experiences for students in grades PreK-9+ across the content areas. The company is also providing free access to other digital learning programs.
- Typing Club – TypingClub is the most effective way to learn how to type. It is web based, and highly effective. TypingClub is (and will always be) free for both individuals and schools.
- AdmitHub – AdmitHub developed the first student communication platform powered by artificial intelligence, specifically designed for higher education. Today, our AI’s vast knowledge base incorporates insights from over 4 million real questions covering 6,000+ topics. AdmitHub’s chatbots answer over 80% of all student questions immediately, using advanced Natural Language Processing.
- Bouncee – With Buncee’s assortment of media options, creating a virtual lesson is quick and easy. Teachers can include text, video, audio, or even links to additional resources. Record your lesson using the video feature, or create an activity template for your student to complete at home. The classroom dashboard can then be utilized to share and track assignments. Teachers could also create a Buncee Board, so students can access materials, share their work, interact with their classmates, and participate in class discussions no matter where they are.
- Century – Century is an intelligent intervention tool that’s able to understand each student’s individual strengths, weaknesses, and behaviors and tailor learning contents and assessments to them accordingly. It also supports teachers by giving them data and resources to stretch and challenge every student in the most effective way.
- CiscoWebex – Cisco WebEx™ online training and meeting solutions can help primary and secondary schools adapt to a changing educational landscape. Many K–12 schools are already using WebEx® to provide dynamic e-learning opportunities, enrich classes, and improve interaction among parents, teachers, students, and administrators.
- ClassDojo – ClassDojo is an educational technology communication app and website. It connects primary school teachers, students and families through communication features, such as a feed for photos and videos from the school day, and messaging that can be translated into more than 35 languages and has been used in 180 countries.
- Ecoballot – Ecoballot was designed from the ground up to handle the specific voting needs of schools and nonprofit organizations. You get a wide range of ballot options and election types. The ballots can have photos, brief descriptions of the candidates, and attachments.
- Edmodo – Edmodo is an educational technology company offering a communication, collaboration, and coaching platform to K-12 schools and teachers. The Edmodo network enables teachers to share content, distribute quizzes, assignments, and manage communication with students, colleagues, and parents.
- EP for learning – ‘EP for Classroom’ gives teachers and school administrators detailed insights to help you make informed decisions in real time and retrospectively.
- Edulastic – Online assessment tools with technology-enhanced items like SBAC, AIR and PARCC give you a complete, instant view of student learning and growth.
- Explain Everything – Explain Everything is an easy-to-use design, screencasting, and interactive whiteboard tool that lets you annotate, animate, narrate, import, and export almost anything to and from almost anywhere.
- Flipgrid – Flipgrid is a social learning platform that allows educators to ask a question, then the students respond in a video. Students are then able to respond to one another, creating a “web” of discussion.
- GoogleClassroom – Google Classroom is a free web service, developed by Google for schools, that aims to simplify creating, distributing, and grading assignments in a paperless way. The primary purpose of Google Classroom is to streamline the process of sharing files between teachers and students.
- Hawkes Learning – Hawkes Learning is an innovative, educational courseware platform providing instructional content and mastery-based learning to enhance student success in college courses.
- Gynzy – Gynzy is the all-in-one educational software that combines standards-aligned lessons, bite-sized games & activities, and class management tools to unlock the potential of your Interactive Whiteboard.
- Genially – The tool for creating interactive content that makes your audience fall in love. Communicate, educate, and attract by bringing your content to life.
- K-12 – K-12, one of the country’s leading virtual education providers, is offering free training for teachers from brick-and-mortar schools as they transition to the online education environment as well as free webinars for administrators, mentors, and teachers to answer questions and share best practices regarding K12’s curriculum and tools, and provide the basics of getting started with delivering online education.
- Kami – Kami’s toolbar offers interactive tools, like text, voice, and video comment. Whether you’re an English teacher looking for markup tools to analyze text, or a math teacher looking for a tool to solve simple equations, draw lines and insert shapes—Kami has something for all teachers and learners!
- LabsLand – -One of the most common problems in online education, especially in STEM and engineering, is the lack of access to real laboratories for learning and experimenting. Typically, options are limited: either simulations or kits that are shipped to students in their homes, which might not even be possible in this context. LabsLand solves the lack of access to real laboratories by providing remote access to real laboratories (not simulations) in many different fields, for high schools or universities: Physics, Electronics, Arduino, FPGA’s, and starting to have Chemistry and Biology.
- ListenWise – The Listenwise platform supports distance learning by allowing you to roster your students, make online customized written assignments, and assign multiple-choice autos-cored listening quizzes.
- Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Teams for Education provides an online classroom so students and teachers can find new ways to continue to focus on learning. Free for schools and universities, Teams provides an online classroom that brings together virtual face-to-face connections, assignments, files and conversations into a single place accessible on either mobile, tablet, PC or browser.
- Music First – MusicFirst Classroom is the only comprehensive learning management system (LMS) for K-12 music education. It combines learning management software with engaging content and powerful integrated software to help educators monitor student progress, make lesson plans, and create assignments.
- Parlay – Parlay is a comprehensive discussion platform that allows students to interact with each other and their teacher, both virtually and in person. To begin using the platform, teachers select a RoundTable topic from the Parlay Universe to assign to students.
- Penpal Schools – Now that more schools around the world have access to the internet, teachers are eager to connect their students globally. Global connections not only increase engagement for students and improve social & emotional skills like empathy, but they also require students to improve communication skills like reading, writing, and digital literacy. Global connections can take your project-based learning unit to the next level! According to Andrew Miller, “PBL naturally connects to global readiness as it focuses on complex issues, problem solving, and taking action.”
- Pronto – Use Pronto to connect with students, faculty, advisors, and administration in real time, anytime. Pronto provides a sleek, modern design that enables users to connect from their mobile devices or directly inside Blackboard’s LMS platforms.
- Seneca – Seneca helps 2,500,000+ students to learn faster and memorise better. Our homework & revision platform applies cognitive neuroscience to make learning more efficient and enjoyable. We offer 250+ free courses covering all subjects and exam boards.
- Storyboard That – Storyboard That is a web service that helps you to create such storyboards for whatever purpose you like. It is an innovative tool designed to be easy to use with a simple drag and drop interface and hundreds of carefully chosen pieces of clipart for clear expression.
- Tailor-Ed – Easily create and personalize lesson plans to your students’ needs using flexible grouping and differentiated activities.
- TechSmith – TechSmith Corporation is a software company developing screenshooting, screencasting and video editing software, for Windows and macOS, and licensing them to corporations, educational institutions, government agencies and small businesses.
- School Meal Finder – During this unprecedented time of disruption, software company Hoonuit has developed SchoolMealFinder.com, an online meal locator to support education agencies, families, and students during COVID-19 school closures. The website will enable students who rely on schools for meal benefits to find their nearest pickup program. The meal locator is available to any education agency in the United States at no cost.
- From our friends at the PIE Network: Charter school eligibility for financial assistance: Charter schools are now eligible to borrow up to $2 million for up to 30 years at low-interest rates through the Small Business Administration (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. These loans are designed to help organizations meet financial obligations and operating expenses that could have been met had the COVID-19 crisis not occurred. Governors must request assistance from the SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance to allow organizations within the State to become eligible. If you have questions about this opportunity please reach out to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools here.