AASL announces Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning

CHICAGO – The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has released its annual list of Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning. The recognition honors electronic resources that provide enhanced learning and curriculum development for school librarians and their educator collaborators. The list can be found at www.ala.org/aasl/best.

“Like everything else this year, the committee's work was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mary Morgan Ryan, committee chair. “The digital tools honored in 2021 demonstrate how education has stepped up to support remote and blended learning environments. They provide high-quality resources for many content areas and engaging learning activities. In developing the list, the committee also focused on equity and access.”

The digital tools recognized in 2021 are:

• Bites Media
• Britannica ImageQuest
• Britannica LaunchPacks: Science
• Britannica LaunchPacks: Social Studies
• Britannica School
• Checkology
• Copyright & Creativity
• Diverse BookFinder
• New American History
• The News Literacy Project
• Pixton EDU
• Scratch
• Sora
• Typing.com
• Untold
• Wakelet
• WWF Wild Classroom

These user-friendly tools are recognized for fostering the qualities of innovation/creativity, active participation, collaboration, exploration, and information/reference. The technology resources are also evaluated for their application of AASL’s “National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries.”

“This year’s list of Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning is a fabulous addition to the school librarian’s tool chest,” said AASL President Kathy Carroll. “Even before COVID and the pivot to remote learning, school librarians used digital resources to enhance their instruction. Keeping a pulse on what is new and extraordinary is made so much easier with this annual list from AASL. I look forward to exploring the 2021 list and recommending them to my colleagues.”

The American Association of School Librarians, www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), empowers leaders to transform teaching and learning.