Ten Essential Distance Learning and Web Conference Tools for Teachers
1. Document Camera
• Drawing maths equations digitally and quickly is a challenge. Keep it analogue by pointing a camera at your notebook
• No need to scan every resource you have at home for sharing over Teams or Zoom. Simply place the book / object under the camera
• The LEDs ensure the page is well lit and is easy to see when shared
• INSWAN USB Document Camera
• Auto-Focus
• LED Supplemental Light
• Captures live images up to 3264 x 2448 pixels at 30 fps (High resolution)
2. 4K Widescreen monitor
• Hunching over your laptop is bad for you
• The difference between your current screen and a 4K screen is that small text is pin sharp. Remember your first smart phone screen versus the one you have now? Yes, that much of a difference.
• A widescreen monitor allows two A4 pages to be open at the same time. Very efficient for working
• Connect to your laptop via a single HDMI cable
4K Widescreen monitor
• Samsung 32 inch UJ59 4k monitor
• Samsung 32 inch
• 3840 x 2160p
• 60hz
3. Vertical Laptop Stand
Two choices:
• Yes - I have my schedule, messenger, and music on my laptop screen, with the monitor for work.
• It makes me feel really busy with two screens.
• Creates space on your desk / dining table
• OMOTON Aluminium Vertical Desktop Stand
4. Zippi Fan
• Your screen and all the other electronics on your desk give off heat
• Running your AC all day (if you have it) will get pricey
• Desktop fans are traditionally very noisy
• According to my hours of research, desktop fans are noisy mostly due to the sound created by wind being blown at speed through the protective grill
• This fan has no grill!
• Don't worry, the blades are made of fabric. I stuck my finger in there to test it for you. I still have all my fingers
Zippi Fan
• Quiet - soft nylon blades
• Great selection of colors
• Looks great
• Easy to adjust
• Zippi Fan
5. Coffee Machine
• duh
• You a need a coffee quickly
• You need a regulated amount / dose
• You don’t want to have to clean it
• The black and white model looks like a penguin. I have this
• It has LEDs. Everything is better with LEDs. In this case it indicates how much hot water / coffee will be put into your cup
• Customizable - determine just how much water you want with your coffee. Great for assignment marking or an early morning kick
• There is hot and cold water settings. Hot is drinkable without waiting for it to cool down
• Capsule coffee machine
• There is a clear water container on the back of the device. Take that to the tap and fill with cold water. The dolce gusto will beep at you if there is insufficient water
• I have yet to clean it. The drip tray may have some spilt-by-me coffee in it, but what a joy. Effectively zero maintenance
• Americano
• Cafe au laiti
• Latte Macchiato - Caramel
• Latte Macchiato - Vanilla
• Espresso Intenso
• Grande Intenso
• Cappuccino
• Mocha
• Medium Roast
• Starbucks
• All the drinks available
The product photo shows a tall glass coffee cup. A coffee mug for us regular folk fits in there just fine.
• Green Tea latte
• Chococino
• Milk Tea
• Iced cafe Au Laities
• Flat White
• and more
Coffee Cups
6. Indoor Fitness Spin Bike
• It was ok that first week of teaching from home to have the occasional cookie between classes, but now look at us
• The gyms are closed and tend to be full of fit people anyway
• You can sweat to your hearts content at home. I recommend an old towel on the floor for this
• Do an hour a day and eat less crap
• If you are used to cycling the wheel has sufficient resistance for you
• Adjustable seat and handle bar height
• You can watch YouTube / a movie / listen to music
• Is significantly cheaper than models with digital features
• No subscription to health videos. Use the free ones on YouTube
• Great brand
• It’s very easy to convince yourself you need a model with more features which can quickly become expensive. This more than adequately does the job
7. Teams & Zoom Camera Lighting
• Of course we all look our best in that 8:30 online class!
• Studio portrait photography looks great because of the lighting. A ring light evenly illuminates your face in a flattering light, smoothing out curves and imperfections
• You will need to set this light up so that your web camera sits in the centre of the light. This is straightforward with an external camera, a little challenging with a built in laptop camera. A tripod or flexible bracket will help
• It may take a little while to set up, but you can leave it in place once done
• Neewer Ring Light Kit:18"/48cm
• 3-color ring light. Use the white setting, not tungsten, as this looks like sunny day light
• The Neewer model has a mount for an iPhone bracket, and the thread will also work for a DLSR
• Adjustable brightness setting can be useful depending on the amount of natural light you have in the room
• Other models may suit your desk better and will be dependent on whether you use your laptop or external camera, have tripod on the floor or desk, or use a bracket
• If you wish to use a flexible light bracket that fixes out of the way on the desk then look at microphone suspension boom arms
• Recommended Brand - Visit the Neewer Store - Amazon. Great products and information
8. Drawing and Writing Tablet
• Anotating, drawing simple images and highlighting text with PowerPoint and Word can be done with a mouse, but for many is much more intuitive using a digital pen
• You’ve always been meaning to try your hand at drawing
• I have used a Wacom Tablet for all the artwork and content in this website
• Medium Tablet and pen
• A4 Sized. The larger size more useful and paper-like if you wish to explore and create digital art
• Over 150 Simple Step-by-Step Drawing Sequences for Every Kind of Creature
• I love this book!
• Typically it is just four steps to draw any one of the 150 animls
• My lockdown PD
• I bought a second copy for the school library
9. Speakers
• You used to be a clubber / raver
• Your school has provided you with a cheap ass pair of speakers
• You ask “where’s the bass?” when your students play you songs from YouTube
• You only have built in laptop / PC speakers
• Cool variety of colors
• Sounds great at a low volume on my desk, or when I want to blast it out across the classroom
• Excellent bass
• IPX7 Waterproof so you can drop it into a metre of water. I guess then I can spill my coffee / beer over it
• Connect to your laptop via a mini audio cable or wirelessly.
• Long battery life, charged via USB
• To move up to the next level of speaker you need an Audio Interface. This processes the digital audio signal from your computer and send it to speakers
• An Audio Interface allows you to connect a microphone, upping your Teams and Zoom audio quality significantly.
• If you are a musician, or wish to create podcasts this unit will be immensely useful
• Kick ass
• Look awesome
• Mackie is an established studio brand
• Powered speaker, so no external amplifie required
• I use these for prolonged periods of video editing of school concerts, with no ear fatigue. Sounds clear and crisp
• No grills so be cautious if you own cats
• My studio tour
• Go for it
• The neighbours will hear these at high volumes
• Incredible build and audio quality
• Profession audio
• Check out the Rocket range from KRK. They have entry level speakers too
10. Adobe Spark
Why do you need this?
• Fast. Very fast. I can make a poster in 30-seconds, which is frankly ridiculous
• Professional images - superb high quality and high resolution images
• Spark runs in the browser, so it does not matter if you or your students have PC, Mac, Chromebook etc.
• Intelligent Design - this is incredible. It has color and layout awareness, choosing arrangements and color schemes that will compliment and / or contrast with the images you choose or have uploaded. It understands and implements color theory
• Awesome mobile App
• 20% Discount ! (The Magic Crayons may receive a small commission if you purchase this, but it doesn’t cost you anything extra)
Adobe Spark
• Over 25K templates
• Free images and icons
• One-tap personalization - add your school logo in one-click
• Brandify
• Collaboration - Students can collaborate via the browser
• Share - across the web, iOS, Android, social media, website etc.
I’ll be honest, my early work with Adobe Illustrator took hours to make, and was at times very frustrating as it requires an in depth knowledge of all the menues to be able to work efficiently.
You may have noticed recently the new range of IB Posters. Each poster took barely minutes to make, something which, if you have tried, would take hours in Photoshop or Illustrator. The secret? Adobe Spark Post.
Adobe Spark Post is without doubt the most impressive piece of graphics software I have ever used. So much so that all staff and students now have access to Spark and I run frequent training session on how to use it.
• More accurately, it’s your students that need this
• Cloud based storage = no lost work
• Students record footage on phone, edit on class computers, continue editing at homeless.
• 20 % Discount (The Magic Crayons may receive a small commission if you purchase this, but it doesn’t cost you anything extra)
• For students and teachers
• How to convert a cupboard into a YouTube studio - and make great distance learning content. A video tour and equipment guide to The Magic Crayons studio.