Teaching tips

131 Tools for Distance Learning & Strategies for Student Engagement

105 tools for distance learning and strategies for student engagement

If we missed any helpful resources along the way, please let us know and we’d be happy to add it to our list. 

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131+ Tools for Distance Learning 

We’ve scoured the web for helpful apps, tools, and platforms to help you as you set up your distance learning environments during your school closures.

If we’ve found the organization has announced something confirming COVID-19 supports, we include the link within the description of the tool. 

Full Curriculum Coverage Distance Learning Tools

  1. Albert: Thousands of standards-aligned practice questions for grades 6-12. Curriculum coverage of ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, AP, SAT®, ACT®, Regents, STAAR, and Common Core needs. Click here to evaluate Albert for free.
  2. ABCmouse: Reading, math, science, art & colors curriculum for ages 2-8. They offer a 30-day trial after you watch their video on their homepage.
  3. BrainPOP: Over a 1,000 short animated movies for grades K-12 in all subjects, with quizzes and related materials. You can request free unlimited use of the BrainPOP suite for the duration of your school closure here.
  4. CK-12: Free and customizable K-12 open educational resources that are aligned to state curriculum standards. 
  5. EducationCity: Targeted at grades PreK-6 providing lesson plans, resources and activities. 21-day free trial here
  6. Edulastic: Library of standards-aligned practice questions to create assessments in minutes. They’re offering Premium and Enterprise features for free until July 1, 2020. Learn more here.
  7. IXL: K-12 curriculum supports for math, language arts, science, stocial studies, spanish, and Common Core. Teachers can start a 30-day trial account here.
  8. Khan Academy: 100% free covering a wide range of subjects. Particularly strong in STEM subjects. 
  9. MobyMax: Targeted towards K-8 teachers providing CCSS-aligned content, assessments, and activities. Free COVID-19 support announcement here.
  10. Nearpod: Thousands of customizable lessons with student activities. Request support here.
  11. PBS: Free K-12 classroom resources ranging from media galleries, videos, and lesson plans. Create a free account for full features.

Reading or English Language Arts Distance Learning Tools

  1. Albert: Thousands of standards-aligned practice questions for grades 6-12. ELA content is high-interest, evidence-driven, with built-in differentiation. Click here to evaluate Albert for free.
  2. Accelerated Reader: Reading quizzes on a variety of books. Requires subscription.
  3. ActivelyLearn: Standards-aligned ELA, Science, and Social Studies for promoting students to stop and ask questions. COVID-19 offer here.
  4. Book Creator: Lets you create digital books online. Fosters creativity in the classroom for telling stories and more. They’re offering 90-days of free access you can start using here.
  5. BoomWriter: For grades 2-8. Somewhat similar to Book Creator in that it allows students to create original stories that can be published into softcover books. But also allows teachers to send students engaging fiction and non-fiction and vocabulary exercises.
  6. CommonLit: 100% free site that provides a digital lesson library, formative insights, and interim assessments. Features some Spanish materials as well. 
  7. Epic: Digital library for K-5. There are learning videos and quizzes within as well.
  8. Learning Ally: Equitable access to a large library of “human-read” audiobooks, including, curriculum-aligned literature, fiction and nonfiction, and STEM textbooks.
  9. MyOn: Digital library of 6,000 titles sorted by grade and Lexile reading level. Requires subscription. 
  10. Newsela: Leveled readings to build literacy skills. Most require a subscription
  11. ReadWorks: Free content, curriculum, and tools for grades K-12 targeted at building reading comprehension. You can read about their recommendations regarding using the site remotely here.
  12. Starfall Reading: Targeted at K-3 for teaching basic English reading and writing skills. Lots of games and phonics. Some features require a subscription.
  13. StoryKit: Simple free storybook creation app that allows students to add pictures and recordings with their own voices. Targeted at K-5.
  14. ReadTheory: This is an online reading comprehension platform that is completely free for teachers.

Writing Distance Learning Tools

  1. Albert: 100% free grammar course with over 3,300 original practice questions and explanations. Includes contemporary, informative and engaging texts and aligns to Common Core, Regents, and TEKS standards.
  2. Draftin: Simple site that allows you to have students share drafts with easy version controls. Good for those who may not want to use Google Docs and wants to emphasize focus in writing. Has a free version.
  3. Grammarly: Free browser extension or desktop tool that detects tone, typos, and helps build cleaner writing skills. 
  4. Hemingway: Similar to Grammarly, provides annotations to help make student writing bolder and more clear. Free.
  5. Quill: Free writing and grammar activities for K-12. Includes lessons for teachers to lead writing instruction as well as diagnostics.
  6. Scholastic Story Starters: Tool focused for K-6 to help students brainstorm ideas for writing a fictional story. Prompts for adventure, fantasy, and sci-fi are included.

Math Distance Learning Tools

  1. Albert: Hundreds of free questions and explanations in Foundations of Algebra and Algebra 1. Aligned to Common Core, Regents, and TEKS standards. Albert is providing supports for impacted schools you can learn more about here.
  2. Dad’s Worksheets: This site provides printable worksheets, online calculators, games and puzzles for free. Targeted for K-6.
  3. DeltaMath: Interactive math practice for middle and high school students. Accounts are free for teachers and students. 
  4. Desmos: Free online graphing calculator that includes digital activities for students from 6th to 12th grade. Teachers can create accounts to assign student activities. 
  5. Free Math App: A platform where teachers can assign, review, and leave feedback on student work. 
  6. FunexpectedApps: Targeted for kids 3-7 to develop mathematical thinking. They are offering a pack of free activities and a free desktop version of their app.
  7. Geogebra: Online tools for graphing and geometry. Classroom resources and activities are free. 
  8. Illustrative Mathematics: Free math curriculum and resources for grades K-12 with a focus on creative word problems. 
  9. LegendsofLearning: 2,000 3rd through 8th-grade math and science games and simulations correlated to state standards. They are offering free access to all premium features for schools closed due to the outbreak for the duration of their closure.
  10. Mathigon: An interactive math textbook where students can learn and practice new concepts. Targeted towards high school students. 
  11. Mathletics: An adaptive, interactive math platform centered on math challenges and quizzes that allow students to “compete” with one another. Schools and home users can try a 30-day free trial
  12. Mathsonline: A collection of math tutorial videos, questions, and summaries. Accounts are required, but students, teachers, and parents can get a free trial
  13. Mathspace: An adaptive mathematics platform including practice questions and interactive textbooks. 
  14. Myimaths: Math lessons and homework assignments for students ages 11 to 18. Schools can sign up for a 30-day free trial
  15. National Association for the Education of Young Children: Activities that parents and guardians can do with young children (elementary and below) at home. 
  16. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: Resources and activities for student exploration of mathematics. 
  17. SplashLearn: Game-based math learning program for grades K-5 available on iOS, Android, or Web. They’re COVID-19 support announcement can be found here.
  18. The Math Learning Center: Free games and activities for students in Pre-K through 6th grade. 
  19. VirtualNerd: Math video support in middle school, Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Geometry.
  20. Youcubed: Inspirational math tasks, films, and textbooks to help students develop a growth mindset.  
  21. Zearn: Digital lessons and printable activities aligned to EngageNY and Eureka Math. Resources are free and targeted towards grades K-5. 
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Language Learning Distance Learning Tools

  1. Duolingo: 100% free language learning. Personalized with immediate grading and gamification. Optional paid subscription to remove ads and get offline access.
  2. Fabulingua: Teaches Spanish through magical interactive stories on phones and tablets specifically for kids ages 2-10. FabuLingua is suspending their subscription services and providing their entire platform for free to those impacted.
  3. FluentU: Language immersion through real-world videos. 14-day trial is available to sign up for.
  4. Fluency Matters: Provides e-courses that include e-books, audiobooks, quizzes, and activities. Typically $3.50/student. They’re offering extended 21-day trials. More information here.
  5. justlearn: Here you can find a native tutor and online teacher to help you with language learning.
  6. TeachVid: Allows you to create language learning content with interactive text reconstruction activities and quizzes
  7. English Tools: Over 25 free tools for learning English language learners, including grammar tools, worksheet creation tools, and more.

Science Distance Learning Tools

  1. Albert: Thousands of standards-aligned practice questions for grades 6-12. Science content is high-interest, evidence-driven, with built-in differentiation. Click here to evaluate Albert for free.
  2. Discovery Education: Arguably best known for their science textbooks, but also support other STEM subjects. They are providing free access to their materials for the remainder of the school year. Learn more here.
  3. Mystery Science: Interactive lessons targeted at K-5 science curriculum that are NGSS-aligned and Common Core aligned. They’ve made their most popular lessons free here.
  4. STEMScopes: K-12 STEM curriculum with digital resources, print materials, and exploration kits. General information of how their online platform can support during this time can be found here.

Computer Science Distance Learning Tools

  1. Codecademy: Free basic courses in computer science. Paid subscription optional; subscription unlocks members only content, study-plans, real-world projects and community support. 
  2. Minecraft Education Edition: Perfect for students to learn problem-solving — free lessons through June 30 with more details here.
  3. Penjee: Free site that provides a supportive way to learn your first text-based programming language.
  4. Tynker: Coding site targeted for ages 5+. Includes a complete coding curriculum, automatic assessments, and classroom management tools. Google form for COVID-19 supports can be submitted here.

Social Studies Distance Learning Tools

  1. Library of Congress: Classroom materials and digital collections for teachers that align to CCSS as well as state standards. Sortable by Common Core, State Content, and Organizations.
  2. National Constitution Center: Free online civics learning including the Interactive Constitution and Scholar Exchanges, live virtual interactive conversations about the Constitution.
  3. Seterra: Geography games for students. Targeted primarily at grades K-5. Learn more about their free access announcement here.
  4. Smithsonian Education: Features a Learning Lab that allows you to build collections and educational experiences for students. Also has a Game Center for younger STEM learners and an extensive library on AMerican history. 
  5. Stanford’s Civic Online Reasoning Curriculum: Provides free lessons and assessments for students to evaluate online information. The Stanford History Education Group provides other history lessons for free here as well.
  6. Teaching Tolerance: Site dedicated to providing free resources K-12 for creating civil and inclusive school communities. You can build a learning plan following their guide here.
  7. Zinn Education Project: Targeted towards grades 6-12 built off Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. Free downloadable lessons and articles you can use based on theme, time period and reading level.

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Music Learning Distance Learning Tools

  1. Cyber Fret: Video based guitar lessons. 
  2. Metronome: Online metronome. 
  3. Moosiko: Online practice tool for guitar teachers to help their students learn chords, play songs, and track skills.
  4. Ultimate Guitar: World’s largest source of guitar tabs.
  5. Online Guitar Tuner: Tune your guitar online. 

Interested in a school license?​

Bring Albert to your school and empower all teachers with the world's best question bank for:

➜ SAT® & ACT®
➜ AP®
➜ ELA, Math, Science, & Social Studies
➜ State assessments

Options for teachers, schools, and districts.

3 thoughts on “131 Tools for Distance Learning & Strategies for Student Engagement”

  1. Thanks for the great list! Thank you also for including Justlearn! I just want to add aside from finding native tutor and online teacher to help you with language learning, you can also find lessons or topics in a form of posts and videos about different languages on our site.

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Interested in a school license?

Bring Albert to your school and empower all teachers with the world's best question bank for:

➜ SAT® & ACT®
➜ AP®
➜ ELA, Math, Science, & Social Studies aligned to state standards
➜ State assessments

Options for teachers, schools, and districts.