In light of the recent surge in the spread of Covid-19, the Federal Government has expanded its measures of curbing the virus by ordering a school shut down across the country.
This decision came after 9 new cases of infection were confirmed in the last 48 hours. The Lagos and Kwara state governments had earlier ordered the shutdown of schools in their states. However, with the presidential directive, all schools in all the states of the federation will have to join the school shut down.
The closure of schools by the FG comes as a measure to mitigate the gathering of large people and reduce the exposure of the younger generation to the virus.
However, a school shut down doesn’t have to pause the education of over 25 million students in the country. There are technologies that can help students learn remotely from their home.
Here are some great educational apps and websites that can help.
Gradely, Discovery Education, Amplify and other online educational websites
There are a lot of online educational websites that can help students keep learning even while at home. These websites have a wide range of articles and learning activities for students to learn from and keep themselves busy.
For example, Gradely, a Nigerian personalised learning platform provides tools and content that can support the learning process of students even while at home.
In response to school shut down due to COVID-19 situation in Nigeria, Gradely is offering 1000 parents the opportunity to help their children experience live tutoring with highly experienced Mathematics tutors.
Gradely is offering 1-month free access to weekly live tutoring for secondary school students
Also, Gradely is offering schools lifetime free access to its digital homework resources to set weekly homework and support students in learning while they are at home.
Access to more than 5 million educators
Similar to the Gradely there are other platforms like Discovery Education which has digital content for students from preschool to basic 12. The platform has over 5 million educators and 51 million students and can easily provide quality content for students to keep learning from home.
Here are some other notable websites to checkout for quality content.
- Amplify – provides high-quality content that is especially colourful and captivating for young students.
- Epic – helps develop the love of reading and learning
- Zearn – helps kids develop a love of maths
- GreatMinds – helps students learn Maths, English and Science
- BrainPop – Uses animated movies to teach Maths, English, and others
- CuriosityStream – helps kids learn by streaming enlightening content
- Tynker – helps kids to code
- Outschool – helps kids learn Arts, Coding, English and others
- iReady – helps teachers grade students proficiency
- Beast Academy – helps kids learn maths
- Khan Academy – provides teaching resources for students ages 4-18
- Creative Bug – helps teach Arts and Craft
uLesson, Todo Maths, Science360, and other educational apps
There are some apps that help to teach preschoolers and primary school children even when they are not in the classroom. For example, Todo Maths is a maths app for early learners that uses visuals and auditory prompts to make maths interesting to kids. It has over 600 maths activities that help keep kids engaged and learning while they are home.
Similarly, Science360 is a great app for teaching kids about science. It has 360 compelling science images as well as videos that can keep kids entertained while learning. Some other apps are;
- Spelling Stage – teaches kids how to spell
- ClassDojo – helps connect teachers and students
- uLessons – helps high school student learn Math, Physics and others
Suggested reads: The New uLesson App is a Portable Classroom for Every Student, We Checked it Out and Here is How it Works
Educational Social Networks – Youtube’s Crash Course Kids and National Geographic Kids channels
Youtube channels are not only for entertainment like watching your favourite movies. There are some youtube channels that focus mainly on homeschooling students.
For instance, Youtube’s Crash Course Kids channel has different kinds of animation videos that will be entertaining as well as educative to children. Similarly, the National Geographic Kids channel educates students about the different geographic discoveries in the world. Some other educative channels include
- Science Channel – teaches kids how things work
- SciShow Kids – teaches kids about things they are curious about
- Free School – teaches with different types of educational documentaries
- Geography Focus – teaches kids facts about different countries
- Kids Learning Tube – educates and entertains kids using animations
- Geek Gurl Dairies – teaches kids how to code
- Mike Like Science – teaches kids about coding and sciences
Flow free, Lightbot and other critical thinking games
Apart from books, games can also help kids learn. Games like Flow Free which demand critical thinking can help kids develop the habit of thinking deeply and mapping out plans. There are also games like Lightbot which teaches kids about the intricacy of coding. Other learning games kids could try out include;
- DragonBox
- Home Base – Scholastic
Udemy, edX
Udemy and edX websites are more for older students. The websites have loads of great content that can help students learn new skills. Surfing through the website you can choose a career and start learning even while at home.
So there you have a comprehensive list of websites and apps that can help students keep learning while at home. However, you can also freely search the internet to find content that will aid their learning.
Contribution by Mary Itanola
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