Participants in my TESOL 2016 roundtable were interested in a comparison of the time-saving websites that I shared, such as Blendspace and Gooru, and in ways to evaluate the websites. Since then, I have registered an online account on each website listed in Table 1 in order to take a closer look. I examined the various types of digital materials that each site offers and how K–12 through higher education instructors can use these materials with their students.

During the session, educators consistently stated that they have had to create materials or adapt lessons to fill gaps and that it is challenging to find the time and resources to differentiate instruction. Educators can improve lesson planning time at little or no cost by reusing digital materials from the websites listed in Table 1. This is not an exhaustive list, but it includes a representative cross-section of websites that, to my knowledge, have quality content appropriate for ELLs. Because these materials are made by educators, they have generally been classroom tested as well.

Not all of the websites are identical, however. Here are some key differences: 

• Many resources link to third-party websites, which may cause unwelcome surprises if the content is moved or removed from such websites.
• Some websites are oriented toward providing content, from videos and lesson plans to interactive games for educator use, whereas others package these for students and a few can even collect data about individual learning progress.
• Those websites offering student logins enable individual use both in and out of the classroom, whereas those without student logins are best used with a projector or in print form.
• Editing capabilities are also important because they determine if and how you can customize the materials for your own needs. The websites provide varying features for editing teacher-made content. These features vary, allowing teachers to
• use the content as is (reuse),
• edit the text (revise), and/or
• reorder or add to sequences of activities, sometimes also providing tools that allow customization of online games and activities (remix).
  
  

Table 1 is based on my evaluation as of 16 May 2016, using information I was able to glean from each website. My purpose in creating the table was to help readers to narrow the search for English language teaching materials to those sites that are most relevant to their needs. Most of the websites offer teaching materials in virtually all subjects. Two other tools that can generally help you evaluate classroom technology are EdSurge.com and Graphite.org (not listed on the table).

Table 1. STEM refers to science, technology, engineering and math

Conclusion

There are many resource-rich websites available to the ESL/EFL instructor, but this very wealth of options can make it difficult to find relevant and useful material. Many educators are thus obliged to spend long hours scouring the web for English language teaching materials and adapting them to meet their unique needs. The chart displayed here can provide a starting point for your own evaluation (and use) of these free and low-cost digital resources. Happy hunting!

Ben Grimley founded Speak Agent, an online platform for finding, creating, and managing K–5 English language teaching materials, that is funded by a National Science Foundation award. Grimley, a former ESL teacher, previously founded PBS Kids Mobile at PBS in 2009. He has also served as a principal investigator for the U.S. Department of Education and as a producer of educational games for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.