Lesson 4 of 7 · 6 min · 8-card deck

Choosing the right digital tools

Polls, quizzes, collaboration boards — fewer tools used well beats many used poorly.

There are hundreds of edtech tools available, and most teachers waste enormous time chasing the next shiny one. The teachers with the highest engagement typically use just three or four tools — but use them every lesson, so pupils know exactly how each one works.

Start with the essentials: a video conferencing platform (Teams, Zoom, Google Meet), a quiz tool (Mentimeter, Kahoot, Microsoft Forms, Google Forms), a collaborative space (Jamboard, Padlet, OneNote, Google Docs), and a learning management system (Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams Education, Moodle).

Active recall flashcards

Work through every card. Try to answer in your head before flipping — the act of retrieving is what builds durable memory.

Card 1 of 80 understood

View every card to unlock the next lesson.

Practice scenario

Rather than using a different tool each lesson, a department standardises on Teams + Microsoft Forms + a class OneNote. Pupils take a few weeks to become fluent; after that, lesson setup time drops from 8 minutes to under 2.

Try this in your classroom

Pick 3–4 tools and use them consistently across lessons.
Test every tool on a phone before relying on it.
Front-load a 30-minute 'tech onboarding' session.
Have a low-tech backup for every key activity in case tools fail.