Top 5 Free eLearning Resources for K-12 Teachers
eLearning is a wonderful experience for everybody, especially for K-12 educators. Let’s explore how free eLearning resources can enlighten us.
Technological developments have opened newer and more innovative ways of digitization. This progress has encouraged many industries to adopt new techniques to make a far better life. A significant innovation in education was online learning (eLearning). It supplements the standard classroom system with its independent and active learning.
eLearning is a worldwide phenomenon. It provides learning materials via the internet from any location. Particularly, when the pandemic is rife, it becomes an alternative for everyone. Training centers and educators, especially K-12 teachers, can continue classes. Teaching online seems to be an optimal choice for them. This work, nevertheless, requires a variety of teaching materials. Today’s blog will suggest some free eLearning resources for K-12 teachers. After getting to know the K-12 definition, you will have an overview of:
What is K-12?
K-12 (“K to Twelve” or “K through Twelve”) is an American expression indicating education levels spread out from Kindergarten to 12th grade. The K-12 academic session is publicly-supported. It mainly applies in North America, Europe, Australia, Egypt, and several Asian countries. Within the US, the system has three stages: elementary school (Grades K–5), middle school (Grades 6–8), and high school (Grades 9–12). In general, K-12 grades in elementary and high schools are required. There are two kinds of K-12 schools in the United States: public and private. The laws on compulsory education vary from state to state. They mentioned the start and end ages and the level of participation.
That is what K12 is. Keep reading to see the top five free eLearning websites K12 educators should know.
Top 5 Free eLearning Resources for K-12 Teachers
Students in K-12 schools come from a wide range of ages. That means teachers should provide adequate programs for them. The following free eLearning resources may be what they need.
#1. Free eLearning Resources – Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a well-known American non-profit educational organization. Through its online videos, it offers free, high-quality education to learners worldwide. Its purpose is to use online videos for free teaching to enhance the knowledge of people of all ages. K-12 teachers can find curriculum-related instructional videos and tutorials. Resources like test preparation materials, Economics information, or even life skills tutorial for children are available here.
Despite being free, course lessons are still meticulously and reasonably formulated. They contain rich content and activities that teachers can use as references. Each course lesson is composed of two parts: Learn and Practice. The first one shares information and videos about the topic. It is easy for learners to follow since the content has closed captions in English. After that, they can navigate to the second part (if any). There are a couple of Fill in Text Entry or Multiple Choice Questions to grasp what they have learned. If the answers are correct, they can earn mastery points and level up. Those striking elements are worth exploring. They may inspire teachers to create their courses.
#2. Free eLearning Resources – HMH
Another one among free eLearning resources is HMH. Its goal is to bring learning to countless users. Also, they aim to make societies more open, fair, and inclusive. Though not 100% free, there are many free class activities and lesson plan ideas on this website. This resource may meet your needs when looking for brand new things for your classes. This website is appropriate for both students and teachers. K-12 students can access extra Reading, Math, Science, and Social Studies & History courses. Moreover, some Science experiments are straightforward that students themselves can conduct. HMH is also a reliable resource to comprehend lessons that will broaden their minds.
If you are a teacher, you have opportunities to try the suggested lesson plans for common subjects for K-12 students. They are handy to follow since they are well-detailed. Each eLearning course can contain worksheets, handouts, readings, or videos. They can be viewed and downloaded with ease. Using those files in any class, learners would find the lessons more engaging and lively. It also helps maximize learning and encourages your students to grow at the grade level. You can therefore offer your courses online, offline, or both. Note that some lesson plans have a Spanish version. Check it out if you are interested in both languages.
#3. Free eLearning Resources – ReadWorks
Are you searching for a way to boost students’ English reading skills? Are you hesitating whether to spend on reading apps? If so, ReadWorks is what you need. ReadWorks is one of the free eLearning resources for K-12 teachers as well. Using the latest literacy research, the program enhances reading comprehension. The resource shares content mainly about Science, Social Studies, and Art. It also includes pre-made worksheets, quizzes, and other printable materials to enhance the curriculum. Just log on to the website to access the eLearning course.
Selecting any desired content, activity type, grade, topic, or genre generates several choices. Click one then an article or a passage appears with a pre-recorded audio. Then users can enjoy the native speaker’s voice together with its thought-provoking content. You can adjust the speaking speed if needed. Furthermore, new words are highlighted for readers to keep track. Simply select and see their definition plus meaning in Spanish and Chinese. Together with the passage, each lesson offers a Vocabulary Activity and Question Set. They help comprehend learners’ skills with varied types of questions. Your students would be interested in these interactive eLearning courses.
#4. Free eLearning Resources – Annenberg Learner
With a mission to promote excellence in K-12 education, Annenberg Learner distributes K-12 educational video programs to teachers. Specifically, it has sponsored and organized more than 100 courses and multimedia seminars to help teachers further understand their lessons. This content covers a wide variety of subjects, including Natural Science, Social Studies, and artistically gifted subjects such as Arts. Through its coordinated online and printed materials, teachers can guide students in the classroom and viewers at home to many programs. This free eLearning website is exclusively available to K-12 educators, students, and lifelong learners via Learner.org.
The professional development resources on the website provide teachers with research on the most effective teaching strategies. Moreover, it shows how they relate to national education content standards and apply to actual classrooms. The course videos complement other materials, including online texts, course descriptions. The seminar and the rich background information are helpful to enhance the user’s learning experience. Teachers can consult and learn from experts, other teachers, and even students. They offer a unique interpretation of the content, which can be advantageous for lesson planning.
#5. Free eLearning Resources – CK-12
Apart from those mentioned, K-12 educators can also take advantage of CK-12. This resource is also one of the free eLearning resources for the K-12 public. Understanding that learning is a personal journey, the CK-12 Foundation aims to enable everyone to learn in their way. They pair high-quality content with the latest technologies to treat students as individuals and cater to their varied needs. Being an individual does not mean you are alone. A digital tutor called Flexi accompanies you along the way. Flexi assists students’ learning by guiding, answering questions, and checking their understanding. “He” can also help with assignments and self-reflection. No wonder it’s a creative idea for teachers to direct their students!
Besides, in this free eLearning website, instructors can learn how to make a breakthrough in training. Here they can experience a variety of lessons in almost all common K-12 subjects. It shares adequate information along with vivid pictures and dynamic videos. After that, users can have a comprehensive review through an overview, vocabulary, and a short test. If there is any question about the lessons, freely ask Flexi in the next section. Finally, teachers can consult the Related Content section. It primarily shows a description of interactive activity and then challenges users with some questions. Through those activities, learners can expand their knowledge. Apart from the regular content of the K-12 curriculum, this site is a place for advanced education. Additional content such as photography and countries is available too. Thus, teachers can better inspire their students by improving their knowledge.
Summary
Today’s blog introduced you to the top 5 free eLearning resources for K-12 teachers. Overall, their lessons are superb due to the combination of sufficient information and interactive activities. After approaching eye-catching content, are you ready to create your eLearning courses? Let ActivePresenter help you turn your ideas into creative e-courses, online tests, quizzes, educational games, videos, and more. Keep following our website to update the latest blogs.
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