Useful Tech

When we opened our personalized learning lab school almost ten years ago now, we talked a lot about GREAT Learning. GREAT was an acronym that stood for: Growth, Relationships, Empowerment, Anytime/Anywhere, and Technology. Today the focus is on technology.

It seems ed tech is being criticized from every angle these days. Cell phones, social media, and artificial intelligence are met with skepticism in too many school districts, while some K-12 systems are attempting to ban technology opportunities all together.

Like anything, ed tech has to be part of a bigger picture when it comes to a young learner’s personalized learning plan. Balance between online and interactional learning (human to human) is the key.

It is in that spirit ABPTL presents what The 74 (12/30/26) considers the most useful tech tools available to adult learning leaders for 2026:

Pathwright

“Pathwright is one of the best-kept secrets among teaching tools. It’s a well-designed, simpler alternative to complicated learning management systems like Blackboard or D2L, and it’s more elegant and flexible than Google Classroom. Rather than giving students dozens of menus to choose from, Pathwright lets you create a simple learning path for students to follow one step at a time. You can create a simple learning path for students to follow one step at a time. You can create a path with a few steps for guided independent learning, or set up a full online course that’s easy to navigate. Any step you create can include a reading, video activity, assessment, embed or any other interaction. The learning paths provide an easy way to guide students toward learning objectives. It’s a visually delightful alternative to clunkier systems.”

Figjam

“When Google shut down Jamboard and Microsoft discontinued Flipgrid, teachers went searching for lively alternative tools. Figjam came to the rescue. Digital whiteboard enable the kind of open-ended visual thinking that’s invaluable whether you’re teaching about historical networks, systems thinking, scientific processes or anything requiring students to explore connections and relationships. The platform is free for educators. Figjam also has new AI capabilities, allowing it to categorize student comments or transform a scattered brainstorm into an organized handout. You can even use Figjam for presentations….”

Gamma

Replace PowerPoint or Google Slides with Gamma. You’ll save time preparing slides, and they’ll be more engaging for students. Create vertical, square or horizontal slides. You can import existing PDFs or PowerPoint slide decks. When you’re done creating, you can export to Google Slides or PowerPoint. You can use Gamma without any of its artificial intelligence features, if you’re an AI abstainer, or you can use Gamma’s AI to jumpstart a new presentation instantly from an outline, text prompt or document you upload….”

Genially

“Genially is terrific for creating interactive lessons. Add clickable hotspots to any image, timeline, map, or other image. Student clicks reveal informational pop-ups, links, or audio files. These hotspots transform static visuals – like simple maps or timelines – into engaging, exploratory learning elements….”

NotebookLM

“NotebookLM is a free tool from Google that lets you apply AI to any collection of documents. It’s super useful for searching through your teaching materials, but also for strengthening and repurposing them. You can have 100 notebooks in a free NotebookLM account, and each notebook can have 50 sources in it….”

Claude Projects

“Claude is a general purpose AI tool, like ChatGPT, Gemini or Microsoft Copilot. Where it excels for teachers, though, is in a feature called Claude Projects. You start by uploading your existing teaching materials – syllabi, lesson plans, handouts, slides, rubrics, notes or pictures you took of whiteboard diagrams – whatever you use for your teaching. You also provide a detailed set of instructions and context to guide your project. This might include the level of your students, your approach to project-based learning, how much time you typically have for lessons, what kinds of activities your students respond well to or any special learning needs they have….”

Kahoot

“No other teaching tool generates as much classroom buzz as Kahoot, which turns quizzes into playful games. You can design your own questions or pick from a huge library or quiz games designed by other teachers. And now that Kahoot has an AI assistant built in, you can convert text from your handout or lesson into editable quiz questions….”

Padlet

“Padlets are digital bulletin boards where students can post comments, links, voice recordings or short videos. You set up a board with a topic or a template. You can start with a map, timeline, discussion thread or an image gallery. Students can then participate from their own device, adding their own notes, documents, images or comments. Or they can use the built-in recorder to add audio or video….”

Craft

“Craft is a surprisingly useful, underrated tool for creating and organizing notes and documents. Use it to develop attractive lesson plans, student handouts, syllabi or collections of resources. You can organize materials into neat visual cards students can click to explore. Add text, images, links or table to your documents so they look more elegant than Google Docs, Apple Notes or Microsoft Word documents. It’s easy to share Craft docs with a link or export as PDF, and it’s easier to use than Notion or other pro tools….”

Tally

“Tally is the best free tool for making forms and surveys. Whether you’re gathering feedback from parents and students, or collecting information for trips, Tally forms are better-looking and more flexible and powerful than Google Forms….”

When I started teaching in the classroom in 1984, I possessed a chalkboard, an overhead projector, a slide/film projector, and copied handouts as my teaching tools. Today, I wonder how many classrooms contain similar technology to my 1984 teaching tools. How many of these tech resources described above are part of an adult learning leader’s toolbox and, more importantly, part of every young person’s learning plan?

A few nights ago some of my wife’s family came over for dinner. During table talk, most everyone lambasted artificial intelligence as a negative force in this country and the world. I was quiet while I was thinking about its unbelievable potential for learning and beyond.

Til tomorrow. SVB