Teach from home resources, software, and hardware
Teach from home resources last updated 3/23/2020.
Teach from home is pretty big right now. I’m sure there is probably a better list out there, and if you find it, let know. I’ll add it to this list to make my list even ultimater!
Teach from home
Online Learning Resources – The list of resources I’ve put together at Kenton City Schools. This includes a link to a Google Sheet of Internet Resources that teachers can use. Those two cover everything I’ve found, because as I find resources, I add them to the Google Sheet.
That’s not going to stop me from listing some of my favorite resources anyway!
Websites and online companies
- E-Learning Resources from Screencastify – A collection of resources by the company that creates Screencastify. Contact them and see what kind of deal they can give you for the rest of the year. Screencasts and screenshots are a great way for students to show their work.
- Canva for Education – Free Graphic Design Tool for Schools – They always offer a free pro version for K-12 schools. Canva has grown to be one of my favorite tools, beating out Adobe Spark.
- Audible Stories – Amazon has released hundreds of audible books for PreK to 12 students, and you can listen without an account.
- Amazon Free Family Video – Hours of free video for the whole family. This requires an Amazon account, but those are also free.
- Free Access to News-O-Matic for Schools and Students – News-O-Matic – Daily news written at levels for students in grades 1-6. Newsela is another one.
- Math Learning Platform | Prodigy – Math activities, this is always free.
- www.amazingeducationalresources.com – An ever growing Google Sheet of companies offering their services for free. Unfortunately, there is no link to reviews for the services, so it is pretty overwhelming.
There are way too many to list, but this list here is a good way to start.
Software
- iOS Notes, Google Photoscan (iOS, Android) – These two apps allow you to scan documents.
- Brave Browser – Stay safe online while blocking ads and other junk.
- OBS Studio (Mac/Windows/Linux) – Stream your desktop, your webcam, both, neither, with OBS to Youtube Live, Twitch, or other streaming services. OBS Studio can also be used to create screencasts, with or without streaming. With some elbow grease you can also set OBS Studio as a camera for video conferencing software.
Work from home niceties
A lot of us are working from home for the first time, so our home equipment may not have everything that we need. Here is a list of some of the hardware I’m using at home.
- G430 7.1 Gaming Headset with Mic – If you are videoconferencing, please use headphones! Even if they don’t have a microphone, the videoconferencing experience will be a lot better for you and others with a pair of headphones. Gaming headsets are nice because a lot of them allow you to mute yourself by swinging the microphone up and out of the way.
- Logitech C930e (currently unavailable on Amazon, but I did find it on Adorama.com) – It’s amazing the quality of this camera, along with the wider field of view.
- Gaming Chair – You’re going to be spending a lot of time in your computer chair, might as well feel good and look good!
- LG HDR 4K 27″ Monitor – A very nice monitor
- Redragon K556 Keyboard – Keyboard clicks makes the world go ’round. Don’t buy a clicky keyboard if you share a workspace, you will drive your coworker nuts!
- Redragon M602 – My favorite feature of this mouse (and a lot of the gaming mice) is that your right thumb has easy access to one of the extra button. And what is the default feature of the extra button? It goes back a page when browsing.
What about you?
What are some of your must haves when working from home? Leave them in the discussions below.
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