This article is published in Getting Smart and written by By Rachelle Dene Poth
Here are some of the findings
Key Findings
The findings in this special edition were based on 1.7 million learners and the averages were compared between pre- and post-COVID use. The tools are categorized into four groups:
- Assessment includes tools designed for creating formative quizzes or testing online.
- Curriculum is specific to online textbooks and supplementary course materials and ways of providing instruction to students.
- Reference is focused on research and anything related to an online database or a news site.
- Operational is focused on resources used by educators and administrators such as creation tools, parent communication tools and platforms, LMSs, online gradebooks, and other school and district wide communication tools and systems.
Looking at all four categories collectively, there was an average of 1,055 different edtech products being used every month during the 2019-2020 school year, which was an increase of 50% from the 2018-2019 school year, when the average was 703.
When schools closed and all instruction shifted to remote, the average number of tools used each month rose from 952 to 1,327, which represents an 89% increase compared to that of the prior year.
Operational tools comprised the largest portion, occupying 50% of the top 40. Curriculum tools comprised 37%, reference tools accounted for 8%, and the remaining 5% was for assessment tools.
In the top ten, Google tools comprised 8 of the 10, with the other two in the top ten being Zoom and Clever. Additional Google tools that made the list were Google Calendar and Google Drawings. Both Google Hangouts and Zoom were new to the top 40 list in this post-COVID edition, taking the 6th and 7th position on the list, which shows the increase in need for communication tools during the school closures.
For learning platforms, Google Classroom stayed near the top of the list and other platforms used were Canvas and Seesaw.
New tools to the list included ClassLink, Edpuzzle, Flipgrid, Google Drawings, IXL Math, Padlet, and Seesaw. These tools were not in the 2018-2019 Top 40 list. All 7 were new into the Top 40 post-COVID. Educators looking to create videos and also provide students with a space to record their own, likely account for the ranking of tools like Edpuzzle and Flipgrid.
Tools like Kahoot!, Nearpod, Quizizz, and Quizlet, which are commonly used by educators, stayed in the top 40 although they moved down the rankings after school closures.
in deciding how to take what I was doing in the physical classrspace and make that happen in the virtual learning space. What many of us have learned is that it is important to find the right balance for , and ourselves when surrounded by so many options in technology. It was definitely a learning experience and one that will help to inform us as we face the upcoming school year and the unknowns when it comes to what learning and schools might look like in a few months. It was interesting to review this report from LearnPlatform to see what other educators have been using and the type of tools being used