Tools for education
Go directly to:
See also faculty specific toolwheels:
Voting tools
Voting tools are interactive tools that allow students to vote on certain topics or questions posed by the teacher. This can be done via mobile devices, laptios, but also via special voting devices (votingboxes). The use of voting in the classroom is a great way of adding an active element in your class, it allows students to test their knowledge, and allows you as teacher to figure out any discrepancies in knowledge. TLC-FNWI supports multiple voting tools at the moment.
 |
 |
 |
||
Presenters wall |
Turning Technologies |
Sendsteps |
||
| Just like Shakespeak, Presenterswall is also an online voting tool. However, this tool does not use PowerPoint as hosting software – it is operated via an internet browser (both MAC and Windows-based), making it a flexible and easy-to-use tool. | By using voting devices during the lecture, students can answer anonymously on multiple choice questions. This stimulates active involvement. At the Faculty of Science, we have TurningPoint voting devices without a display. | Sendsteps (named Shakespeak in the past) is an online voting system that enables students to vote with their own device such as mobile phone, tablet or laptop. This makes Sendsteps highly suitable for use in large-scale lectures. Sendstepes can be used for asking open questions and multiple choice questions. Students can also give a short explanation for their answer. | ||
|
Available for: FNWI |
Available for: FNWI |
Available for: ACTA | EB | FdR | FdG | FGw | FMG | FNWI
|
 |
 |
|||
Mentimeter |
Wooclap |
|||
| Mentimeter is a online voting tool. Use live polls, quizzes, word clouds, Q&As and more to get real-time input – regardless if you’re remote, hybrid or face-to-face. | Wooclap is an ‘Audience Response Tool’. While teaching/presenting, you can use this tool to present questions or statements to your audience. Attendees can respond to these using their smartphone or laptop. The results can be displayed directly on the screen of the presenter. | |||
|
Available for: FdG |
Available for: ACTA | EB | FdR | FdG | FGw | FMG | FNWI |
Video tools
 |
 |
 |
||
Kaltura |
Videostudio FNWI |
VideoSribe |
||
FeedbackFruits offers a range of (peer)feedback tools that are available in Canvas. The most common cases where lecturers at the Faculty of Science use this tool are:
|
The Faculty of Science has its own video studio (B1.48b) where you can create high quality educational videos, such as knowledge clips (kennisclips), or interviews with experts. You can use available hardware such as an iPad to present your Powerpoint or PDF presentation, in combination with video and/or voice-recordings. The studio is built to be flexible, so you can also bring your own laptop and create, for example, a software tutorial with a voice-over. | VideoScribe is software that allows you to easily create whiteboard animations, for instance to explain difficult to grasp concepts. It comes with a full library of graphics and other tools, allowing one to quickly put a decent whiteboard video animation together. The end result – a video animation – allows for an immersive way of telling a story, concept, or topic, especially useful in combination with other didactic formats put together in an e-learning module. | ||
|
Available for: ACTA | EB | FdR | FdG | FGw | FMG | FNWI |
Available for: FNWI |
Available for: FNWI | FdG |
 |
||||
Adobe Premiere Pro |
Web lectures |
|||
| For educators at Economics & Business, when you want to try to edit your videos yourself, you can contact ICTO-FEB for access. Generally, we recommend using Kaltura. instead for editing knowledge clips, as it is easier to use. | The large UvA lecture rooms are equipped with recording facilities for the purpose of web lectures. You can record your lectures on video and combine these images with synchronised presentation slides and share them on the Internet (e.g. via Canvas). | |||
|
Available for: EB |
Available for: ACTA | EB | FdR | FdG | FGw | FMG | FNWI |
More about video in education (Dutch staff website)
Blended learning
Blended learning tools allow the teacher to ‘mix-and-match’ a variety of didactive formats. For instance, you can let your students work together on an assignment or a project, let them prepare for class by practicing online assessments, or study particular methods and skills, for instance for lab environments. Some of these tools are stand-alone, and some are integrated within Canvas.
 |
 |
 |
||
FeedbackFruits |
Perusall |
Articulate |
||
FeedbackFruits offers a range of (peer)feedback tools that are available in Canvas. The most common cases where lecturers at the Faculty of Science use this tool are:
|
Perusall is a social learning platform and interactive reading tool that helps students to prepare for class. The platform incorporates a novel e-book reader with collaborative annotation tools to ensure students learn more, come to class prepared, and become more engaged in the learning experience. | Articulate Storyline is an online environment that allows you to create your own online e-learning courses. It allows you to create highly interactive online and mobile courses, with templates, storyboarding, animation, multimedia support, character templates, & advanced editing features. You can add videos, quizzes and other interactive content. | ||
|
Available for: ACTA | EB | FdR | FdG | FGw | FMG | FNWI |
Available for: ACTA | EB | FdR | FdG | FGw | FMG | FNWI |
Available for: EB | FdR | FNWI | FdG For staff of the Faculty of Medicine: the build an e-learning in Articulate can be facilitated by the faculty ICTO team. |
 |
 |
 |
||
Code Grade |
eJournal |
Labbuddy |
||
| BCodeGrade is a stand-alone learning environment designed to suit the needs of modern programming education and that can also be used as a module in Canvas. It makes grading and handing in programming exercises more insightful and effective for students and more efficient for teachers, by providing a variety of tools to enhance the handing in and grading processes in an intuitive environment. | eJournal is an online application that provides an easy to manage graded journal system focused on education. It allows teachers to track long-term development, such as multiple deadlines over a longer time span, requiring multiple submissions and where each submission is independently graded, for example. eJournal links with Canvas for an easy exchange of data. | Labbuddy is an online tool that allows students to learn the proper protocols for preparing and conducting experiments in laboratory environments by allowing them to virtually (and theoretically) conduct a lab experiment. Labbuddy offers a variety of didactic tools, such as automatic feedback, the option to keep a lab journal and record comments, and the option to export the lab journal to Word for handing in to the teacher. | ||
|
Available for: FNWI |
Available for: FNWI |
Available for: FNWI |
 |
 |
|||
Academic Writing Assistant |
Explain Everything |
Readers in Canvas |
||
| Online tool to improve academic writing skills. It automatically creates feedback on language issues, cohesion and coherence, and style. | Explain Everything is a collaborative and interactive whiteboard application that can be downloaded for Windows, iOS, Android and Chrome OS. Using a tablet or computer, you can write text and draw on a digital whiteboard (a slide) and import photos, videos and other files. | Canvas makes it possible for lecturers to compile a reading list for each course. Adding PDF files of publications gives students of this course the option to print all PDF files in a single volume (a reader). Such a printed reader can be ordered in the web shop of the repro supplier Canon. | ||
|
Available for: FNWI |
Available for: EB |
Available for:
ACTA | EB | FdR | FdG | FGw | FMG | FNWI |
Digital assessment
These tools can be used for digital assessment.
 |
 |
 |
||
TestVision |
ANS Delft |
Proctorio |
||
| TestVision is a digital (online) asessment tool used by the the University of Amsterdam. It is suitable for most courses and examination types. The software allows you to create a variety of test (formative and summative), and provides multiple ways of analysing the test-resulst – automatically for closed questions – and giving subsequent feedback. | ANS is an application in which assessments on paper are online checked and graded. With ANS, you can grade a variety of things, such as tests written on paper, digital documents, coding scripts, and online quizzes. The tool also allows you to provide feedback to students. As data is (safely) stored in the cloud, you can grade whenever, and wherever you like, even together with colleagues. | Proctorio is a browser-based solution created for students to take tests remotely, using their own equipment, and with minimum prerequisites while ensuring the integrity of the exam. For supervisors, it monitors the students during and exam and automatically flagging suspicious behavior based on a set of rules determined by the lecturer. Flags are evaluated by a team of observers and those that remain suspicious at inspection are reported to the lecturer. | ||
|
Available for: ACTA | EB | FdR | FdG | FGw | FMG | FNWI |
Available for: ACTA | EB | FdR | FdG | FGw | FMG | FNWI |
Available for: ACTA | EB | FdR | FdG | FGw | FMG | FNWI |
 |
 |
|||
SOWISO |
Möbius |
Register attendance |
||
| SOWISO is a stand-alone personalised learning environment for Math & Science but can also be used as a module in Canvas. You can provide your students with immediate personalized feedback while they are solving exercises. You can use SOWISO for:
|
Möbius, formally known as Maple TA, is a web-based testing and assessment tool specialized in scientific formulas and mathematical notation. It allows you to ask complex questions and allows students to respond in free text format using these formulas. It is possible to evaluate questions using formulas automatically. | Hardware that allows automatic registration of attendance to datanose using a student card scanner. | ||
|
Available for: ACTA | EB | FdR | FdG | FGw | FMG | FNWI |
Available for: EB |
Available for: FNWI |
Communication and remote teaching
These tools are used for communication and remote teaching.
 |
 |
 |
||
Microsoft Teams |
Zoom |
OneDrive |
||
| Microsoft 365’s Teams program enables safe online meetings, chats and collaboration with colleagues, lecturers as well as students within and beyond the UvA. It is a good platform for online work-groups and can additionally be used by students to work together on projects or practice outside classes. | Zoom is a videocoferencing service that allows to easily connect to your students during online-workgroups or lectures. With its integrated breakout rooms it enables easy splitting of participant into smaller groups to work on a task. The integrated whitboard can be used as a digital alternative to a classic black/whiteboard. The option to use a powerpoint as a virtual background and record yourself make it a handy tool to record video clips as well. | Personal 1 TB cloud storage that can be used to securely share data with students and other lecturers. | ||
|
Available for: ACTA | EB | FdR | FdG | FGw | FMG | FNWI
For staff of the Faculty of Medicine: |
Available for: ACTA | EB | FdR | FdG | FGw | FMG | FNWI
For staff of the Faculty of Medicine: |
Available for: ACTA | EB | FdR | FGw | FMG | FNWI |
 |
 |
|||
SURFdrive |
Meeting Owls |
De Logitech BRIO |
||
| SURFdrive is a tool from SURF, that allows you to safely save and share files up to 1 terabyte and allows end-to-end encryption for files up to 2 gigabyte. The tool is free to use for UvA employees, and you can login using your UvA login credentials via SurfConext. | A smart video conferencing 360°-camera integrated into a speaker and microphone that automatically focusses on one or more speakers. It allows students at home to be part of a class on campus. | Voor het geven van een werkcollege waarbij maar een klein deel van de studenten aanwezig kan zijn en de overige studenten inloggen in Zoom is er de Logitech BRIO. Dit is een webcam met een goede kwaliteit lens en microfoon die de docent duidelijk in beeld brengt tijdens het college. De aanwezige studenten zijn niet in beeld.
Je kunt de Logitech BRIO reserveren via de servicedesk van Facility Services. |
||
|
Available for: ACTA | EB | FdR | FdG | FGw | FMG | FNWI
For staff of the Faculty of Medicine: |
Available for: FNWI | FdR | FGw | FMG |
Available for: FGw |
Graphic Tablets |
||||
| Tablets can be used to help lecturers draw on a digital whiteboard or to efficiently grade and feedback students’ work by adding handwritten notes in a digital fashion. There are different types of tablets available: iPads with pencil, Wacom Intuos/Ones and Wacom Bamboos. | ||||
|
Available for: EB | FNWI |
Plagiarism
These tools are used to counter plagiarism.
 |
 |
|||
Ouriginal |
iThenticate |
|||
| Ouriginal (formerly Urkund) is software that detects plagiarism in students’ work by comparing it to a database containing scientific literature, internet sources and other students work. It can be used integrated in the assignments in canvas but can be used stand-alone as well. | iThenticate is a standalone plagiarism checking tool, which allows you to check research, grant proposals, assignments, or other documents for missed citations and other mistakes that could count as plagiarism. The tool is available both for teachers/staff and students. | |||
|
Available for: ACTA | EB | FdR | FdG | FGw | FMG | FNWI |
Available for: FNWI |