With this post, I’m beginning to publish my end-of-year “The Best….” lists. There are over 2,100 regularly updated lists now.  You can see them all here.  You can also find many of them organized a bit differently here. You might also want to check out ALL MID-YEAR “BEST OF 2019” LISTS IN ONE PLACE!

As usual, in order to make this list, a site had to be:

* accessible to English Language Learners and non-tech savvy users.

* free-of-charge.

* appropriate for classroom use.

* completely browser-based with no download required (however, I’ve begun to make exceptions for special mobile apps).

Some sites I’m including this year are primarily geared towards teachers creating content for classroom use, but could also easily be used by students.

It’s possible that a few of these sites began earlier than this year, but, if so, I’m including them in this list because they were “new to me” in 2019.

You might want to visit previous editions of this list, as well as other Web 2.0 resources, here.

Feel free to let me know if you think I’m leaving any tools out.

Instead of ranking each of the tools on this list in order, I have them organized into three general groups: Useful, Good, and Excellent. The “Excellent” tools are added to the “All-Time” list mentioned previously.

I’ve also created one Web 2.0 – related Best list this year:

THE BEST TOOLS FOR STUDENTS TO CREATE TUTORIALS ONLINE

Here are my  choices for The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education In 2019. They are divided into three categories – Useful, Good, Excellent:

 

USEFUL

Speek is a new website that lets you record audio of a message and then share a link or embed it. I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Practice Speaking English.

WeBoard is a collaborative whiteboard.  I’m adding it to The Best Online Tools For Real-Time Collaboration.

REKK records your calls AND provides a transcript of them.

Share.link is a bookmarking tool that lets you share url addresses and lets you leave notes about them.  I use these kinds of tools for Internet scavenger hunts, so I’m adding it to The Best Places To Create (And Find) Internet Scavenger Hunts & Webquests.

SurveyHero lets you create online surveys for free.  I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Creating Online Polls & Surveys.

LiveGap Charts lets you create online…charts.  I’m adding it to The Best Tools To Make Simple Graphs & Charts Online. 

Moose lets you create your own stock photos.  I’m adding it to The Best Online Sources For Images.

Sending Bee lets you create and send email newsletters.  I’m adding it to The Best Applications For Creating Free Email Newsletters.

Brancher is an iPhone app that can be used to create “Choose Your Own Adventure” stories.  I’m adding it to The Best Places To Read & Write “Choose Your Own Adventure” Stories.

Whimsical Mind Maps is a new…mind-mapping tool. I’m adding it to Not “The Best,” But “A List” Of Mindmapping, Flow Chart Tools, & Graphic Organizers.

Web Satchel is like a bookmarking tool. However, you actually save the entire page, not just the link to the site.

Plectica lets you create flow charts and mindmaps.  I’m adding it to Not “The Best,” But “A List” Of Mindmapping, Flow Chart Tools, & Graphic Organizers.

Bloomy lets you use Artificial Intelligence to create your own original music that you can use for free.  I’m adding it to The Best Places To Get Royalty-Free Music & Sound Effects.

Contexted is a free note-taking tool that converts your notes into a Mind-Map. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On Effective Note-Taking Strategies – Help Me Find More.

Proficonf is a new video conferencing tool. I’m adding it to The Best Online Tools For Real-Time Collaboration.

Mixed.io is another tool for collaborating with online whiteboards.  I’m adding it to The Best Online Tools For Real-Time Collaboration.

Notepad lets you create webpages online with no registration required.  Online similar tools, you can also copy and paste images on the site.  I’m adding it to A Few Simple Ways To Introduce Reluctant Colleagues To Technology.

Flip To Mind is a new tool for creating online flash cards and using them to study. I’m adding it to The Best Tools To Make Online Flashcards.

Quillionz uses Artificial Intelligence to automatically create test questions from a text.  You can learn more about it at CristinaSkyBox.  I was pleasantly surprised at its quality, and liked that it was easy to edit what it came up with.  You can print out the final test, though it would be even better if you were able to have students take it online.  I’m adding it to The Best Ways To Create Online Tests.

 

GOOD 

I’ve previously shared some of the neat NY Times “You Draw It” charts. Flowing Data shares those links, and they also share a new tool that lets anyone make their own. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Creating Infographics.

Now Comment is a free tool that “turns documents into conversations.” I’m adding it to The Best Applications For Annotating Websites.

Record Screen is a new tool that lets you…record what’s on your computer screen. I’m adding it to The Best Tools For Making Screencasts.

Charte makes it very easy to create…charts.  I’m adding it to  The Best Tools To Make Simple Graphs Online.

Milanote is a new online “bulletin board” like Padlet.  You can post and then move around images and text. I’m adding it to The Best Online Virtual “Corkboards” (or “Bulletin Boards”).

You can make free charts at Charts Factory.  I’m adding it to Not “The Best,” But “A List” Of Mindmapping, Flow Chart Tools, & Graphic Organizers.

Photo Creator has a new take on finding images you can use for free – make your own!  Here’s a video about it:

 

Seterra has long been a “go-to” Geography site, with zillions of engaging games and quizzes. They’ve recently added a new fabulous feature to their interactives – now, anyone – without registering – can turn any of their games/quizzes into custom ones and share its unique url address. All you have to do is click on the “Create Custom Quiz” link at the top of each of their interactives. What a great assignment for students to do! There are other tools that let you create custom Geography quizzes (you can find them at The Best Online Geography Games), but none are as easy to use as this new Seterra tool. I’m adding this info to:

The Best Geography Sites For Beginning & Intermediate English Language Learners

The Best Websites For Learning & Teaching Geography

 

EXCELLENT

EduCandy is a new site where you can create online learning games.  I’m adding it to The Best Websites For Creating Online Learning Games.

 

I learned about Wordwall from ELT Planning, which has a great post about it In fact, I think the post provides a better explanation of Wordwall than the actual site does! There are a many different templates you can use for creating games, and you can assign them to students (you’re given an url address to share) and get their results. There are also a zillion other games created by teachers that you can search for and use. I’m adding it to:

The Best Websites For Creating Online Learning Games

The Best Sites Where Students Can Work Independently & Let Teachers Check On Progress

The Best Online Homework Sites For English Language Learners – Please Offer Your Own Suggestions

 

Fluent Key is a free tool that lets you choose any video from just about anywhere and turn it into an interactive quiz with many different types of questions. There are also lots of already-created video quizzes. You can use it like Kahoot or Quizizz, too, by choosing a video and giving students a code so they can play it together on their own devices. Plus, you can also create your own virtual class and assign videos for students to watch. At this point, I’d say Fluent Key and the iSL Collective (see iSLCollective’s Video Lessons Are A Huge Asset For Any ELL Teacher) as the best video-based tools out there for ELL teachers. I’m adding it to:

The Best Websites For Creating Online Learning Games

The Best Sites Where Students Can Work Independently & Let Teachers Check On Progress

A POTPOURRI OF THE BEST & MOST USEFUL VIDEO SITES

 

Genial.ly made it on The Fifty Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education In 2016 as a new tool for creating infographics. Now,  the site – which is FREE to use – lets you create an amazing array of interactive tools, including games, quizzes, annotated photos, and presentations – just to name a few. In addition to it being on The Best Resources For Creating Infographics list, I’m now also adding it to:

The Best Websites For Creating Online Learning Games

The Best Ways To Create Online Tests

The Best Online Tools For Using Photos In Lessons

The Best Ways To Create Online Slideshows

 

I’ve often shared in the past about how I have English Language Learners go to sites that have short and often silly movie clips available for users to create funny closed-captions about what the characters might be saying. You can see links to all those free and easy tools at The Best Places To Create Funny Subtitles For Silent Movies. Reader Tommy shared a new one called Memr.tv. Like the others on that list, it has some strange clips, and it’s easy to add closed-captions.  Check mine out here. It took all of two minutes to make….

 

Ana Cristina Pratas has a nice blog called CristinaSkyBox, and she blogged about a new-to-me tool called Boardthing. It’s free, let’s you create notes on an online bulletin board, and you can also easily add images. It doesn’t have all of Padlet’s bells-and-whistles but, as I said, it is free. I’m adding it to The Best Online Virtual “Corkboards” (or “Bulletin Boards”).

 

FlexClip is a free video-editing tool that is super-simple to use.You can use content they already have on their site and add text and your own audio narration, along with music. Or, you can use your own videos or photos. Once you create the video, you then export it. I’m not sure if there is an easier video-editing tool out there – certainly not for free. My creation, that took less than one-minute to make, is embedded below – and much more sophisticated-looking ones can be made in just a few minutes more.   ELLs of all levels, as well as everybody else, would find this new tool useful. I’m adding it to:

The Best Ways For Students To Create Online Videos (Using Someone Else’s Content)

Not The “Best,” But A List… Of Online Video Editors

The Best Sites To Practice Speaking English

 

 

Apparently, Google unveiled their Data GIF Maker in 2017, but I only learned about it recently when they added some new templates. It’s super-easy to use – just choose a template, label and add your values, and it’s done! The one I created right below this paragraph took me less than a minute (by the way, my frustration is not directed at John Hull, our fabulous tech person – it’s directed towards antiquated equipment). I’m adding it to:

The Best Resources On GIFs — Please Contribute More

The Best Tools To Make Simple Graphs Online