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I was running my very first virtual education program. A lot of new stuff to do and a lot of nervousness.
In-school teaching involves a lot of energy, too. Online, though, those familiar rhythms of answering spontaneous questions and keeping up with different student needs were snatched away by screens and the particular challenge of making authentic interaction happen remotely.
What I discovered very quickly is that virtual education isn’t just a digital mimic of what goes on in classrooms. The best online learning tools don’t just make up for lost in-person moments. They help you do things differently.
So tech was no longer a barrier for learning, but an enabler that allows educators to meet all learners’ needs.
I’ll share what I’ve learned about online learning from must-have platforms all the way up to the latest interactive tools that make virtual learning more effective vs the traditional classroom.
What are online learning tools?
Online learning tools are platforms made to help teachers organize educational activities using online sources.
These online learning management systems come in handy for delivering lessons, assigning tasks, recording progress, and promoting interaction. Teachers, instructors, and organizations can use this opportunity to break down geographical or time differences for an extended learning experience.
💡Keep learning: 16 best online learning platforms for businesses and course creators
Benefits of digital learning tools for course creators
Digital learning tools make your life as a teacher simpler. You can use them to focus more on designing engaging course content and helping learners, instead of worrying about how to structure your class or learning materials.
Benefits of online learning tools to course creators include the following:
Types of tools for online learning
Online learning should be like a playground. Every tool comes into help with a specific learning goal based on the student’s mood and your own style of teaching. Let’s sort your options by category so you can blend and match different tools for online learning.
Digital learning platforms (LMS and others)
Think of these as a digital campus where everything comes together. An all-in-one LMS such as LearnWorlds allows you to create AI-powered learning programs, organize class content, upload resources, assign modules, monitor progress, and even automate certifications. It’s like you’re running a complex virtual learning experience with dashboards, analytics, and student communities, all wrapped in one place.
Content creation and presentation tools
Spreadsheets? Yawn. With digital content creation tools, you can create interactive slides, video walkthroughs, animations, and infographics. Think drag-and-drop lesson builders, screen recorders, video narrations, and slick visual templates. So you won’t have to ever settle for plain text.
Interactive assessment and quiz tools
Time for the tests. Tools in this space allow you to create quizzes, timed challenges, polls, and checkpoints so you can deliver immediate feedback instead of having students wait for weeks to get their next steps. Auto-grading and fun question formats also make learning stick, so it’s more of a fun experience than a stressful burden they’d only be scared of.
Video conferencing and communication platforms
Bring all the people into one (virtual) room for face time. Live classes, question-and-answer sessions, and even guest speakers can all happen here. Such learning tools enable breakout rooms, screen sharing, polls, and chat so that no one’s left staring into the void.
Collaboration and brainstorming tools
Collaboration tools make brainstorming, whiteboarding, and group projects work just as well online. Consider shared digital sticky notes or having ideas flow around in a room where everybody gets to participate.
Gamification and engagement tools
Who says learning can’t be a game? Leaderboards, badges, points, and interactive mini-games make lessons addictive, in a good way. Sprinkle some healthy competition, and it’ll be motivation that starts to swell without anyone realizing that it‘s something they’re actually making sense of.
Content libraries and open educational resources
Stuck for inspiration or supplementary materials? Use piles of pre-existing lessons, alternatives to textbooks, video lectures, and educational resources without spending the extra hours.
Classroom and assignment management
Wrangling deadlines, distributing assignments, collecting submissions, and grading can all be optimized virtually. Assignment management tools allow you to automate reminders, organize class calendars, and make sure nothing falls through the cracks.
Anti-cheating and plagiarism detection
Anti-cheating and plagiarism programs also help maintain academic integrity. Use them to check for duplicated material, track conditions in examinations, and identify strange patterns.
20 premium tools for virtual learning
Below, we explore twenty premium tools for virtual learning that you can use to make your classes better. Find out what type of tools these are, what their key features are, pricing, and best use cases.
1. LearnWorlds
LearnWorlds is a flexible, all-in-one educational platform and LMS that is used to create very interactive online courses your students will actually enjoy. Strong features include interactive video creation that allows you to insert quizzes, pop-ups, or even clicks inside videos to keep learners connected with each other, an AI assistant, and a no-code website builder.
The platform also integrates mobile learning, gamification, advanced analytics, SCORM compliance, and ecommerce checkouts and payments, so it’s also perfect for course creators who aspire to make their academies interactive and monetize their own content.
2. Moodle
Moodle is a popular choice among academic institutions that need to quickly get started with a free plan. While the open-source version is definitely more difficult to maintain, users get the option to host Moodle themselves or choose cloud providers.
3. Canvas LMS
Canvas LMS is a strong option for mobile learning and integrates well with some of the other third-party apps I’ll cover in this list, such as Google Drive and Zoom. It also comes with plenty of features such as multimedia assignments, speed grading, and course analytics.
4. TalentLMS
TalentLMS benefits from a mix of a clear interface and core features such as multi-language courses, course branching, and SCORM compatibility. Its built-in assessments, certification tools, and reports for learners mean it’s suitable for businesses providing corporate training or workshops as part of their career development plans.
5. Blackboard
Blackboard is an enterprise-style LMS with resources for assessment, content, and accessibility. It’s compatible with many virtual classrooms, discussion boards, and plagiarism detection. However, it’s mostly ideal for big schools with complicated administrative processes.
6. Docebo
Docebo uses AI to offer tailored online learning tools with social learning hubs, automated content suggestions, and analytics capabilities. That’s why it’s commonly used for corporate training programs to speed up skill acquisition by tailoring content to learner behavior and preference.
7. iSpring Learn
iSpring Learn is preferred for speeding up course development as well as mobile-friendly implementation. It also relies on industry standards such as SCORM and xAPI to be able to import previously existing content.
8. Elucidat
Elucidat is mainly a cloud-based authoring system that focuses on responsive design and collaboration. Multiple team members can come in to co-produce the content with version control. This is why this digital learning tool works best for creating professional courses, tailored for beginners with added interactive elements such as branching scenarios and quizzes.
9. Tovuti LMS
Tovuti LMS works for course management, ecommerce, and social learning. Key features to engage students include gamification, interactive presentations, and a customizable learning portal to bring students into a branded environment for formative assessment.
10. 360Learning
360Learning focuses on peer review, discussion threads, and the power of collaborative learning. AI-powered formative assessment further helps track competencies and ensures content relevance.
11. Kajabi
Kajabi is one of the best online learning tools for entrepreneurs starting up courses and membership sites online. Like with LearnWorlds, marketers can use it to sell access to courses through the platform’s marketing automation, sales funnels, and payment controls.
12. Thinkific
Thinkific offers intuitive course creation tools to save time with custom themes and integrated ecommerce tools. This is helpful, especially for solo creators and small businesses who want to monetize educational products.
13. Teachable
Teachable provides dedicated drip content, checkout pages, personalization, and affiliate programs. These give creators the tools to better communicate with learners and sell more.
14. Zoom
Zoom is one of the most popular video conferencing tools, used also for live virtual classrooms, webinars, and office hours. Breakout rooms, polls, and whiteboarding encourage interaction and teamwork even when apart. Zoom also works well with many LMSs to schedule and track student visits.
15. Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams pairs video meetings with chat, file sharing, and lots of app integrations. For education, it allows teachers to host classes, share resources, and manage assignments within Office 365.
16. Google Meet
Google Meet is a simple, reliable video conferencing tool part of Google Workspace. Easy to use and embedded in Google Classroom, it’s become a must-have for schools and businesses that want to deliver live classes just as quickly and effectively.
17. Adobe Connect
Adobe Connect lets you create your own virtual training environment, with dedicated “rooms”, interactive polls, and rich multimedia sharing. This is a good online learning tool option if you want to host formal webinars, certification courses, and workshops that need lots of content control.
18. Webex
Webex can handle large-scale virtual instructor-led training, featuring things like breakout sessions, monitoring attendance, and even post-session analytics. It’s mostly designed for companies and educational institutions doing long, active lectures only.
19. Vyond
Vyond is an online animation video creation tool you can use if you want to rely on explainer videos, simulations, and storytelling content for teaching. Everything can be personalized, though, if you want to create educational videos that are on brand or those that speak to certain student requirements, likes, or challenges with this digital learning tool.
20. Loom
Loom is a convenient way to create and share screen recordings and video messages. These come in handy for tutorials, feedback, or asynchronous discussions that add to complex subjects you’d develop upon using some of the other tools above.
How to track student engagement with the right elearning tools
Tracking student engagement is perhaps one of the greatest benefits that come with virtual training. Forget guessing whether your learners are most active or if they’re just lurking in the background. With strong analytics dashboards, you can gather the hard data like actual logins, assignment submissions, time spent on a lesson, and even quiz attempts.
Some elearning tools, such as LearnWorlds, layer in engagement metrics visible at a glance. You can see who’s thriving and who’s fading, then come in with personalized feedback or help. When it comes to activities, real-time activity heatmaps, automated progress reports, and interactive polls help you stay ahead of disengagement.
Just bring in the right tracking tools, and your student engagement levels might just go from looking like a little black box to an actionable roadmap for improvement.
💡Read also: How to enhance videos with AI to improve student engagement
How to choose the best online learning tools
Sure, a great online learning tool does help with organizing course materials. But it’s also what gives you and your students more energy to stick with them via an intuitive design, a robust set of features, and even reliable support.
Next are some of the top things you need to consider when selecting the best online learning tools:
💡Read also: LMS pricing: Choose your best model before signing on
Emerging learning technology tools
Machine learning improves course customization. Virtual reality simulations make for a more immersive learning experience. And detailed insights can help you offer courses that are smarter.
In other words, the following new learning technology tools change the way we learn and teach, turning passive learning into active experiences.
AI-powered personalization tools
AI-powered personalization tools look at learner behavior, performance, and preferences to automatically tailor content, learning pace, and assessments. I’d mainly use them to provide personalized learning paths, recommend better resources, and share real-time feedback. This is my go-to hack for delivering unique learning.
Augmented and virtual reality in online learning
Bring experiential education online with virtual-world simulations. Augmented and virtual realities take the most abstract of concepts and make them vivid experiences that your students can actually live. This is perfect for running virtual labs, historical explorations, or even complex technical training.
Analytics and data visualization tools
Teachers can now track student engagement levels, discover knowledge gaps, and assess how well the entire course really works at one glance. This all assists in honing teaching techniques, customizing content delivery strategies, and knowing when to jump in with feedback at just the right time.
💡Learn how to choose the best learning management system for RTOs in Australia.
Get the best interactive learning tools with LearnWorlds’ LMS
LearnWorlds’s interactive learning tools let you deliver content in a unique format and spark engagement while at it.
The platform offers more than just the tools to make digital learning happen. You’ll create a fun, learning playground, complete with quizzes that pop, videos you can click through, and immediate feedback.
LearnWorlds gives you the ability to create online courses that promote involvement, not passivity. It’s easy to use and full of features and online learning tools that will make your content stand out and keep your users focused. If you’re selling courses or training a global team, LearnWorlds takes care of all the difficult parts to help you succeed.
Take a first pass on LearnWorlds to build, launch, and engage like a pro, without a single line of code.
Alexandra Cote
Alexandra Cote is a SaaS growth marketer and online instructor who's worked with dozens of brands in the MarTech, HR tech, and productivity space. She's also a strong supporter of staying happy at work and choosing a healthy career path.
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