3 tech tools to engage students beyond the physical classroom

There is no doubt that education-focused technology has taken the world by storm over the last year. As a matter of fact, new research suggests that the federal government, state governments, and local school districts combined spend somewhere between $26 billion and $41 billion per year on edtech. Some disagree on the finer nuances of these figures, but one thing is for sure—tech tools are becoming more and more intertwined within the fabric of our educational systems.

One factor contributing significantly to the recent surge in the deployment of tech tools has been the pandemic. However, as remote learning begins to ease and in-class sessions start back up, more and more of these technologies will fade into the background. The tech tools with staying power are those possessing utility beyond the classroom—those that can be adopted for things like remote afterschool programming and tutoring sessions. These include technologies that aren’t meant to replace physical learning, but instead enhance it.

Here are three new tech tools that educators should think of when looking to engage students beyond the physical classroom: 

Mote

Mote is a Google Chrome extension that enables educators to leave voice feedback on assignments via Google Docs, Gmail, Google Classroom, Google Forms, and more. Mote provides a transcription of the voice note so students get the benefit of both delivery methods. Motes don’t expire, either, so students have a permanent audio note and written transcript to which they can refer anytime.