Success trainer Claudia Grajek wanted to know from trainers and coaches: Which creative tools do you use for interactive online learning? Subsequently, Claudia tested these tools in blink.it and discussed them in detail during one of her success webinars. The result: Four tools are perfectly suited to integrate training interactively into an online course – making blended learning completely successful in the digital realm.

Note: This article directly follows the previous article: 19 Creative Tools for Your Digital Learning Content – There you will find a list of tools that allow you to edit videos or pictures, for example. In THIS article here, you will instead find tools that are suitable for interactive live training.

Whiteboard, bulletin board, survey: Digital tools for traditional tools

If you want to offer training and coaching online, you have probably already searched for substitute tools for traditional aids like whiteboards or bulletin boards. As with many digital tools, the selection is gigantic. Besides your own user experience, there are other factors important for the selection:

• Which tools are GDPR-compliant so that your customers can actually permit their use?

• Which tools do your participants handle well?

• And with which tools can you provide them with the most simple access possible?

E-learning expert Claudia Grajek has been heavily involved with digital tools for further education both as a self-employed coach and as a success trainer. In one of her regular topic webinars, Claudia worked with other trainers to identify four tools that integrate well into a blink.it course.

🚀 Free topic webinars for blink.it customers 🚀

Make it easy for everyone: Embed live content in the online course

The great advantage of being able to embed interactive tools directly in the blink.it course: In blended learning, you can ask your participants questions in the online course and give them smaller tasks for preparation. For a subsequent live online training, you can easily provide them with a digital whiteboard or other tools – integrated with a click in the online course.

Example: Use Conceptboard in blink.it:

Another criterion: Interactive work directly in the online course

Some digital tools can not only be embedded in your blink.it course – you can even work directly in them or let your participants work! This means your participants can do everything directly in a learning environment. A real plus when it comes to easy access to learning tools.

Example: Use Mentimeter in blink.it:

Our test winners: 4 tools for interactive learning in the online course

Conceptboard, miro, padlet, and Mentimeter: These are the four tools that trainers and coaches liked the most in Claudia Grajek's topic webinar. We examined these together with Claudia regarding the following 5 criteria:

• Country of origin (potentially important regarding data protection)

• Tool type

• Embedding in blink.it

• Working in blink.it

• Costs / Prices

Here is the result summarized in a clear table:

The 4 interactive learning tools in detail

Interactive whiteboard from Germany: Conceptboard

• Interactive presentation

• Develop something together with the participants

• Video recording for embedding in the course possible

• Advantage: German servers, important for some customers

• Share via link or QR code

Pro Tip: Sharing via QR code is especially suitable if your participants should access something via smartphone or tablet. This is usually the second device – while the webinar takes place on the computer.

Screenshot: Work and learn interactively with Conceptboard

Interactive whiteboard (USA): miro

• Similar to Conceptboard, but from the USA and with more options

• Advantage: complete work in blink.it is possible

  
  

  

• Screenshot: Work and learn interactively with Conceptboard

Interactive bulletin board: Padlet

• A kind of digital bulletin board

• For introductions, SWOT analyses, voting phases

• Advantage: Also wonderfully usable directly in blink.it

  
  
  

  

  Screenshot: Work and learn interactively with Padlet

Interactive polling tool: Mentimeter

• Live polling, very easy to implement

• Like Conceptboard, embedding via link or QR code is possible

  
  
  

  

  Screenshot: Work and learn interactively with Mentimeter

Extra tip as a live online tool for blended learning: Gathertown – Working in the Metaverse

Besides the mentioned tools, Claudia Grajek recommends the tool gather.town for live online trainings: With it, you can create a virtual environment where your participants can move freely and exchange ideas. A nice example of live online training with gathertown can be found at www.confidos-virtuell.de.

With tools like gathertown, you can truly achieve a complete digital evolution: Let your participants 'wander around' and interact with each other as they approach. Almost like in real life, flexible from their own desk. You can also easily embed gathertown in your blink.it course and thus consolidate all measures in one place.

The crowning achievement: Create a digital home in the online course

You can easily embed all the mentioned tools in your blink.it course: The course is, so to speak, the digital home of your learners. Here they find all information about your training or coaching, can answer quiz questions, watch videos, or download PDFs. And when the self-learning phase is complete, they will also find access to live online tools there. This way, you consolidate all your digital learning offerings in one place and make access easier for all participants.