Educator Toolkit

Using Educational Technology — 

21st Century Supports for 

English Learners 
ii

This toolkit was produced under U.S. Department of Education Contract No. ED-PEP-11-O-0088/TO27. 

Contracting officer’s representatives were Julie Warner, Lena Shi, Ivan Metzger, and Erica Lee, with 

additional contribution from Victoria Hammer, all of the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy 

Development, Policy and Program Studies Service. The views expressed herein do not necessarily 

represent the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education. No official endorsement by the 

U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, service, or enterprise mentioned in this 

publication is intended or should be inferred. For the reader’s convenience, this publication contains 

information about and from outside organizations, including hyperlinks and URLs. Inclusion of such 

information does not constitute an endorsement by the Department. 

U.S. Department of Education

Betsy DeVos

Secretary

Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development

James Blew

Assistant Secretary

Policy and Program Studies Service

Gregory Fortelny

Director

October 2018 

This toolkit is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in whole or in part is granted. While 

permission to reprint this publication is not necessary, the citation should be: U.S. Department of 

Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service, 

National Study of English Learners and Digital Learning Resources, Educator Toolkit: Using Educational 

Technology—21st Century Supports for English Learners, Washington, D.C., 2018. 

This toolkit is available on the Department’s website at: 

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/opepd/ppss/reports.html. 

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Content Contact: 

Erica Lee 

Phone: 202-260-1463 

Email: erica.lee@ed.gov
iii

Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 

Guiding Principles for Educators ............................................................................ 2 

Principle 1. Understand what educational technology offers for 

instructing English learners ................................................................ 3 

Principle 2. Discover the types of educational technology available .................. 7 

Principle 3. Maximize the supports that educational technology 

offers English learners ...................................................................... 12 

Principle 4. Seek out hands-on, instruction-focused professional 

development ...................................................................................... 16 

Principle 5. Learn more about English learners and educational technology .. 19

Learn About the Study .......................................................................................... 22 

Disclaimer .............................................................................................................. 23 

Matrix 1: Digital Learning Resources ................................................................... 24 

Matrix 2: Digital Support Features ....................................................................... 25 

1 

Introduction 

U.S. Department of Education data show that English learners in grades K–12 in U.S. 

public schools in the 2015–16 school year numbered over five million students—

about 10 percent of all enrolled students—and that roughly three-fourths of public 

school districts included students who are English learners. Many teachers, including 

those in small and rural districts, have one or more English learners in their 

classrooms—or soon will—and these teachers often use technology when instructing 

their English learners.

This toolkit is for all educators—including teachers and administrators—who want to 

use technology to help their English learners gain proficiency in English and meet 

academic goals. In choosing to use technology, educators should recognize the 

supports offered and the constraints of any technology in the context of their own 

students and their needs. The toolkit offers five guiding principles for educators to 

apply in exploring new ways of working with and supporting their English learners 

through technology, starting with recognizing their students’ unique needs and 

thinking through to the best technologies to help meet those needs. 

This toolkit and a companion Developer’s Toolkit are based on insights from the 

findings of the National Study of English Learners and Digital Learning Resources 

conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, Policy and Program Studies Service, 

on behalf of the Office of English Language Acquisition and the Office of Educational 

Technology. Both toolkits focus on use of technology that is software or “digital 

learning resources,” that is, the apps, programs, or websites that engage students in 

learning activities and support students’ learning goals. The toolkits do not focus on 

the use of hardware (such as laptops, computers, tablets, or other devices).

The study provides the first national data on how districts and teachers of English 

learners (including general education teachers and English learner specialists) use 

educational technology in instructing English learners. The study conducted surveys, 

case studies, and meetings with experts in the field, including educational technology 

publishers, researchers, and educators. To learn more about the study and the 

toolkits, you can read a brief description on page 22.

The study’s final report describes how districts and teachers identify and use 

technology in instructing English learners as well as related supports and barriers. 

This toolkit builds awareness of the role technology can play and notes areas where 

educators can improve the use of technology and related supports for their English 

learners, based on needs suggested by the study.
2 

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR EDUCATORS 

1. Understand what educational technology offers 

for instructing English learners 

2. Discover the types of educational technology 

available

3. Maximize the supports that educational 

technology offers English learners 

4. Seek out hands-on, instruction-focused 

professional development 

5. Learn more about English learners and 

educational technology 
3 

PRINCIPLE 1

Understand what educational 

technology offers for instructing 

English learners

As we’ve entered the 21st century, the landscape for students in 

kindergarten through grade 12 (K–12) has changed, and 

developments in the world of instruction and instructional 

resources continue. Key changes for educators in many schools 

and classrooms include enrollments of new English learners

and rapid increases in educational technology use. The 

technology offers important new ways for English learners to

access learning academic content and language. 

What to know

English learners bring significant assets of language and culture to enrich their 

classrooms and schools, and their backgrounds and experiences will inform 

different instructional needs. For example, English learners who will use 

educational technology may: 

o Have had very different experiences before coming into their K–12 

classrooms. Many will have been born in the United States, but others will 

have just entered the United States for the first time, perhaps after difficult

experiences as refugees; 

o Have grade-level skills and knowledge based on a high-quality education in 

their country of origin but not yet have proficiency in English;

o Have had little or no formal education, or some years of interrupted 

education, prior to entering schools in the United States;

o Appear proficient in English based on their fluency in everyday 

conversations but not yet have the level of academic English proficiency 

they will need to succeed in learning academic content;
4 

o Differ in their level of acquisition and use of their home language, and 

some may not be literate in that language. This has implications for their 

path to English literacy;

o Have had little or no experience using technology, and may not understand 

many of the basics about using computers or navigating in a website or 

software program;

o Come from cultures with very different norms and expectations around 

education. For example, some may expect collaboration to be the norm, 

while others may expect that students work alone; and

o Have disabilities, and some may require the use of assistive technology, 

including software to support their accessibility needs. 

Educational technology opens up a new breadth and depth of resources for 

instruction and learning. These resources can be particularly valuable for 

supporting English learners’ engagement in instruction and access to content

in many ways. For example, technology resources can: 

o Offer multi-modal means of presenting information. Visual images, short 

videos, and interactive features can expand English learners’ ability to 

understand academic content. 

o Present examples and images of events, daily life, and other cultural 

information from many countries and population groups. These can help 

students share languages, cultures, and experiences to understand one 

another’s backgrounds. 

o Offer important supports to assist students to more fully participate in 

learning activities. Embedded support features, such as short videos or 

images used to define new vocabulary, can assist English learner (and 

other) students in understanding content. In addition to these supports, 

there are audio recordings and translation functions that can help English 

learners in communicating content as they collaborate with their peers. 

When such embedded support features comply with accessibility 

requirements, English learners with disabilities also may be able to benefit 

from these supports in addition to, or in conjunction with, any assistive 

technologies, including accessible software, that they may use. 

o Offer instruction that is differentiated to the English learner’s level of 

proficiency and academic learning needs.
5 

Many educators are using educational technology in their classrooms, but they 

are really just beginning to understand how best to use these new resources 

effectively with English learners. 

What to do

□ Consider the needs of your English learners. What are the instructional 

goals necessary to meet each student’s needs? You’ll want your choices of 

technology to always be based on these.

□ Learn about the range of English learners, their acquisition of a second 

language, and what we know about promising and effective instructional 

practices for English learners. A recent summary developed by a 

committee of experts can guide you to understanding what we know thus 

far: Promoting the Educational Success of Children and Youth Learning 

English: Promising Futures

(https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24677/promoting-the-educationalsuccess-of-children-and-youth-learning-english). The summary includes an 

overview of what the field knows about promising and effective 

instructional practices for English learners in grades Pre-K to 12. Note that 

you don’t need to purchase the book: You can read the whole book online 

or download a free pdf. Also, scroll down to the list of “Resources at a 

Glance,” which includes blogposts and webinars on several key topics. 

□ Explore visions for the future of educational technology in instruction, such 

as through the National Educational Technology Plan. See: Reimagining 

the Role of Technology in Education: National Educational Technology Plan

(https://tech.ed.gov/netp/). The plan includes discussions on several 

aspects of technology use that educators will find of interest and applicable 

to instructing all students, including English learners. Note that pages 21-

23 focus on ways in which technology can support all learners, addressing 

their different needs, through a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) 

approach to designing new resources. While UDL initially focused on 

designing for accessibility for students with disabilities, it applies to 

resources for all students and their needs (e.g., see the box on page 23). 

This includes English learners, for whom multiple modes of understanding 

and communicating offer important supports. 
6 

What to ask

GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND ENGLISH LEARNER SPECIALISTS

How can educational technology:

o Help me engage and support English learners in learning grade-level 

academic content and academic language skills? In what ways does it 

assist in scaffolding language learning?

o Assist English learners to collaborate and work with their peers, including 

English-proficient peers?

o Help differentiate instruction to better meet English learners’ needs?

ADMINISTRATORS

o How can our selection of educational technology resources best support 

English learners in learning academic content and making gains in English 

language proficiency?

o What will best support our teachers in planning for and using educational 

technology in instructing English learners? 

Resources

o Online Toolkit - Promoting the Educational Success of Children and Youth 

Learning English. In this resource, the National Academies of Sciences, 

Engineering, and Medicine site provide additional information related to the 

committee’s report, including short videos from experts and a number of 

webinars on the findings:

http://sites.nationalacademies.org/dbasse/bcyf/educational-success-of-childrenand-youth-learning-english/index.htm.
7 

PRINCIPLE 2

Discover the types of educational 

technology available 

There are thousands of educational technology options. As an 

educator, you will want to know where to begin in determining

which resources best fit your English learners’ needs and your 

instructional goals for students. 

What to know

Whether a teacher or an administrator, the challenge is the same: How do you 

begin to choose the right educational technology for your English learners from 

among the thousands available? To help you make those choices, it may help 

to first think about the following broad categories of technology resources 

available and to explore the different types within each. 

o Digital Academic Content Tools offer academic content resources or 

engage students in activities to learn academic content or skills including, 

but not limited to, language and literacy content or skills. Examples are a 

tutorial on a new math skill, a simulation of a physics concept, or visual 

resources such as a short video that describes a geographic formation. 

o Digital Productivity Tools offer resources to help students plan, document, 

organize, and analyze content. These tools don’t contain academic content; 

examples include a slide presentation tool, a timeline tool, or a conceptmapping tool. 

o Digital Communication Tools offer resources students can use to 

communicate, collaborate, network, or share information. These tools don’t 

contain academic content; examples include document-sharing tools to 

support joint work, or a journal or blog tool. 

What to do

□ Explore the different types of educational technology within each of the 

three categories of resources. These are outlined in the Digital Learning 

Resources Matrix (page 24), a summary matrix showing three categories 
8 

and types of technology resources that was developed for the study. Are

you aware of the wide range of resources available?

□ Consider new types of resources to try with your English learners to meet 

their language and content goals. Reflect on how you might use them in 

the future as part of your lesson plans to help English learners—as well as 

other students—meet their learning goals. 

□ Share the Digital Learning Resources Matrix in discussions with other 

teachers. Can the categories and types be useful as a common reference 

for talking about the technology resources you use? 

□ Explore a wide range of educational technology. Look online to sites that 

offer collections of educational technology and examine the reviews many 

offer, talk with other teachers, and look at publishers’ websites.

□ Find examples of educational technology that will help your individual 

English learners to gain English proficiency, learn grade-level academic 

content, and collaborate with peers on academic tasks. Consider whether 

these tools provide content and images that reflect your English learners’ 

languages, backgrounds, and experiences. 

□ Be alert to protecting student information, especially when you are 

selecting tools that help you tailor instruction to individual students. Be 

aware of the individual student information that the resource gathers and 

ensure that it adequately protects students’ personally identifiable 

information. You can learn more at: https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/Apps

and at: https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/ptac/pdf/idea-ferpa.pdf.

What to ask

GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHERS

As you explore the types of educational resources in the Digital Learning 

Resources Matrix, ask yourself the following questions: 

o Are English learners able to fully participate when the class uses 

educational technology during academic instruction? 

o Are there digital resources that will help my English learners gain English 

proficiency while working on academic content with their English learner 

and English-proficient peers? 
9 

 ENGLISH LEARNER SPECIALISTS

o Are there types of educational technology that my English learners don’t 

use but I should explore? What might these offer for them?

o When I discuss educational technology with general education teachers, do 

we discuss ways we can use technology to support English learners in 

learning content and in using language to communicate about grade-level 

content?

ADMINISTRATORS 

o Do our English learners use and benefit from the educational technology 

provided by the district? In what ways? How do we know? 

o Are there other types of educational technology that our district doesn’t 

provide but could consider using to better support our English learners? 

PRINCIPLE IN ACTION

1 

Mr. Ruiz, a high school math teacher, wants to be sure that 

all of his students, including his four English learners, 

understand 2D and 3D geometry concepts. To find the right 

resource for his lesson plan, he talks with other math 

teachers, who suggest various digital academic content 

tools. Mr. Ruiz goes online to check out the fit of the 

suggestions with his plan and searches technology sites he 

knows. He looks at what several tools offer and reads online 

reviews. He wants his students to understand the 

relationship between the 2D planes that result from different 

cuts through 3D objects. Realizing that his students will “get 

it” better if they can actively engage with a number of 

examples, he selects an open source dynamic modeling

geometry app (e.g., GeoGebra, Geometer’s Sketchpad). 

The day of the lesson, Mr. Ruiz begins non-digitally, showing 

a shoebox, first whole, and then cut through at an angle, 

showing the resulting 2D shapes. Next, he uses the app to 

show cuts through a cylinder, using different angles, and 

does the same with other 3D shapes, such as rectangular 

and triangular pyramids. Later, as they work in groups, all of 

the students, including the English learners, look fully 
10

engaged as they predict and confirm the resulting 2D 

shapes. 

2 

Ms. Shore’s kindergarten class includes English learners 

from many different language backgrounds. She wants to 

plan a lesson where they talk about and retell a story they 

are reading. Her local English learner specialist helps with 

the lesson plan, suggesting that using digital productivity 

tools such as slides or videos could give the students 

chances to practice and improve their English. As they 

discuss, Ms. Shore also notes that students can use digital 

communication tools such as shared portfolios or 

workspaces to let one another know what they created. 

In circle time, students make predictions as the teacher 

reads the story and they talk together about it. They are 

excited as they break into groups to draw pictures of the 

story: each group draws the first, middle, or last part. When 

they finish, Ms. Shore creates new groups of three to include 

students from all three story parts. The groups create digital 

videos, with each student in the group telling his or her part 

of the story, holding a drawing to illustrate. The groups view 

and redo their videos. They save the videos in digital 

portfolios (e.g., Seesaw, FreshGrade) and share with each 

other. Ms. Shore shares the videos with the students’ 

families. 
11

Resources

o The Digital Learning Resources Matrix (page 24) describes three categories of 

resources and lists several types of educational technology within each. You may 

find it useful as a tool for thinking about different types of technology or for 

organizing your thinking about technology you might use in instructing your 

English learners.

o There are online sites that offer links to many different technology resources, and 

many offer the ability to filter for resources, for example, in specific subject areas 

or for English learners or other students. Two examples of sites that offer 

collections of educational technology are:

Common Sense Education (https://www.commonsense.org/education/), where 

you can navigate to the “EdTech Reviews and Resources” page and search for 

resources; and

The EdSurge Product Index (https://www.edsurge.com/), where you can scroll 

down to “Opportunities” and their EdTech Product Index.

o For further information on protecting student privacy, you can access several 

webinars at: https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/content/recorded-webinars.
12

PRINCIPLE 3

Maximize the supports that 

educational technology offers English 

learners 

In the digital world, teachers and students have access to a

range and number of supports that can mean important new 

opportunities for English learners in engaging with academic 

content. 

What to know

Digital Support Features are specific embedded features in educational 

technology that assist students in understanding or communicating the 

content and/or activities presented in a resource. There are many types of 

Digital Supports, and you can see examples listed in the Digital Support 

Features Matrix at the end of this document (page 25). It includes four 

categories of support features that can be important for English learners in 

particular. 

o Visual Support Features provide visual images or other visual support to 

assist a student in understanding and/or communicating a concept or idea. 

The visual content replaces or lessens the language proficiency that would 

otherwise be required. Examples are images, graphics, or short videos to 

explain a concept to students. 

o Auditory Support Features provide speech and/or other use of sound to 

assist a student in understanding or communicating a concept or idea. 

Examples are a text-to-speech or “read-aloud” function and a record and 

playback function. These features allow students to hear text or hear their 

own speech played back to them for review before sharing the recording. 

o Translation Support Features provide embedded functions to translate 

from one language to provide a word, phrase, or longer text in another 

language, either spoken or in print. For example, an embedded translation 

function could let a student hear the Spanish version of a sentence in 

English. 
13

o Collaboration Support Features provide functions to help students 

communicate, collaborate, work, or share information about academic 

content. For example, collaboration support features might offer students

functions that assist them in sharing and jointly working on a document or 

presentation. 

What to do

□ Look for embedded support features in resources. Determine if resources 

include supports to assist your English learners when you review any 

educational technology for possible use or purchase. 

□ Ask vendors to provide information on the types of digital support features 

a resource includes that may be particularly helpful for English learners.

For example, does the resource include auditory supports such as text-tospeech (“read aloud”) functions? Does it offer visual tutorials to help 

explain concepts? 

□ Assess how easily students can access and use specific support features.

Keep in mind, some English learners may be just learning to use 

computers. For example, observe whether they have difficulty in following 

the navigational steps needed to access the features. 

□ Plan how you will guide your students in using support features. Plan ways 

to facilitate students’ use of the support features so that they can use them 

productively—especially if they are working on their own. 

What to ask

GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND ENGLISH LEARNER SPECIALISTS

o What support features are there in the resources I already use? Are there 

any that I was not aware of but that may help my English learners to more 

fully participate in and benefit from instruction? 

o What languages do the resources I use offer? How well do these match 

with the languages of my English learners? 

o Are the supports such as those that provide images, content, or other 

examples appropriate to my English learners’ backgrounds and 

experiences? 

o Can my English learners easily access and make use of the support 

features in the educational technology we use in class? Do they use the 

features productively and appropriately? 
14

ADMINISTRATORS

o What support features does our district (or school) look for when we make 

educational technology purchase decisions? Do we consider our English 

learners, including those with disabilities, when we review the support 

features available? 

o Do we consider the languages, backgrounds, and experiences of our 

English learners as we review the supports provided? 

o Are the teachers in our district (or school) familiar with the support features 

in the resources they are using, and are they comfortable in using them in 

instructing English learners? Do we provide professional development to 

assist teachers in using and facilitating students’ use of support features?

Does the resource provide implementation support for teachers—perhaps 

as embedded modules on how to access and use the supports in 

instruction? 

PRINCIPLE IN ACTION 

1 

Ms. Sayed’s seventh-grade earth science class is studying 

geologic processes and learning about plate tectonics, 

earthquakes, and volcanoes. She assigns groups of students 

to research an earthquake or volcanic eruption that has 

occurred in the past 30 years, and to provide their 

explanation of factors leading to the event they have chosen. 

One group includes Monica, an English learner from a 

Spanish language background, who is a high beginner 

English learner. Ms. Sayed encourages Monica to make use 

of the support features in the research resource they use, 

which she introduced to Monica earlier. 

As the students do their research, Monica does her part, too, 

working with her English-proficient peers to search within an 

online science curriculum resource their class uses. She joins 

them in identifying information about the earthquake they

have selected. She finds and clicks on an embedded video 

tutorial that accompanies the text they are reading to 

understand the event overall. The text about the earthquake 

is still a bit difficult for her, and so when she returns to 

reading it, she sometimes accesses the translation feature
15

that shows her the Spanish word or definition of an English 

term she doesn’t recognize. As the group works, they use an 

embedded document-sharing function, and she and the 

other students edit and mark up the group product.

2 

Mr. Sato is eager to give his third-grade English learners 

more independence in reading about their social studies 

topics. He finds an academic content resource that includes 

digital texts on several topics aligned with the curriculum. He

is glad to see several support features that his English 

learners can use. There are definitions of key terms that are 

both visual and in text, so that the students can understand 

visually and connect with the new terms. There is an 

auditory, text-to-speech feature that lets them hear the new 

vocabulary so they can connect the sounds with the written 

words and phrases. This will help them to build their reading 

skills. When he introduces the resource, he shows students 

how the features can work and gives guidelines for using 

them. 

In the lesson, the English learners read in pairs and look 

engaged as they access the supports. But Mr. Sato also 

notices that some who are new to working with computers 

are having trouble with the multi-step navigation needed to 

use the support features. The students keep losing their 

place. Mr. Sato plans to work more individually to guide them 

in using the supports. He makes a mental note to look for 

resources with more direct interfaces for his students. 

Resources

o The Digital Support Features Matrix (page 25) describes the four categories of 

supports: visual, auditory, translation, and collaboration supports. It also lists and 

describes examples of the different types of supports within each category. 
16

PRINCIPLE 4

Seek out hands-on, instructionfocused professional development

You’ll want to be sure that professional development leads to 

appropriate choices of educational technology and that it helps 

to build capacity to use technology in instructing English 

learners as well as other students. 

What to know

o Many teachers—English learner specialists in particular—receive very little 

professional development (PD) related to educational technology. 

o Teachers request PD that shows them examples of instructional practice 

with English learners and not just the descriptions of the “nuts and bolts” 

of a resource. 

o Teachers often turn to local technology leaders—that is, other teachers 

whom they view as experts in technology and who are willing to share what 

they know. Teachers value these technology leaders because they are 

embedded in the local context and so they give very practical suggestions

that fit the teachers’ goals and their students’ needs.

o Both formal and informal collaboration are important to teachers in 

learning how to use educational technology. Collaboration gives ongoing 

support in trying new resources and practices. 

What to do

GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND ENGLISH LEARNER SPECIALISTS

□ Request PD sessions on educational technology that are hands-on and 

relevant to your classroom instruction. 

□ Let administrators know that you want to receive information on all PD on 

educational technology that the district offers. This may be especially 

important if you are an English learner specialist. 
17

□ Ask about embedded supports for English learners and how to use them 

effectively whenever you participate in PD on a specific resource. For 

example, ask what visual or auditory supports are located within the 

resource that will assist English learners. Are these appropriate to the 

languages, cultures, and experiences of your students? Ask whether it 

includes translation supports in the languages of your students and/or if 

there are other functions that will help English learners to collaborate in 

their work. 

□ Reach out to other teachers. Work as a pair with another teacher and/or 

work with a group of teachers. Meet face to face with others in your school, 

or collaborate remotely with teachers in other schools or districts. Share 

with one another examples of how you are using educational technology 

with your English learners. 

□ Join online communities of practice that can connect you with a wide 

range of other teachers of English learners. Use social media to find other 

teachers who are using technology outside of your local community. Share 

your approach to identifying and using technology and learn from their 

experiences. Online communities of practice can bring you in contact with 

many teachers and opportunities that will align with your interests and 

challenges. 

□ Be sure to connect with other teachers who work with your same English 

learners. It is particularly important for general education teachers and 

English learner specialists of the same English learners to collaborate on 

instruction and the use of technology. 

ADMINISTRATORS

□ Provide support for all teachers of English learners to collaborate in 

discussing their planning, selection, and use of educational technology in 

instructional activities with their students. 

□ When providing PD on specific technology resources, ensure that it goes 

beyond the “nuts and bolts.” Teachers want guidance on instructional use

and best practices for English learners, as well as opportunities for ongoing 

support for using the technology with their English learners. 

□ Be aware of the local technology leaders to whom teachers turn for 

guidance. However, recognize that these technology leaders—-whether 

formally designated technology specialists or teachers recognized by their 

peers as having technology expertise—may not be aware of English 
18

learners’ needs. It will be important to ensure that they receive ongoing PD 

on promising and effective practices for English learners. 

What to ask

GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND ENGLISH LEARNER SPECIALISTS

o Do I talk with other teachers to share what we’ve learned in using 

technology with our English learners? 

o Have I explored connecting with teachers in online communities of practice

to draw upon the experiences of participants from other regions and with 

similar challenges and goals?

o When I participate in PD on a specific technology resource, do I ask about 

how it can contribute to supporting my English learners? 

ADMINISTRATORS

o Are teachers receiving PD that will guide them in using technology so that 

their English learners participate in and benefit from instruction? 

o Do I ensure that English learner specialists, including those who are 

itinerant across schools, receive information about and participate in PD on 

using educational technology? 

Resources

o You can find information on online communities of practice on the U.S. 

Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology (OET) website: 

https://tech.ed.gov/futureready/professional-learning/future-ready-district/.
19

PRINCIPLE 5

Learn more about English learners 

and educational technology

Educators can visit a number of online resource sites to learn 

more about English learners and the use of educational 

technology in instruction—and to find educational technology for 

instructing their English learners. Explore these sites to learn 

more. 

What to know

o The National Clearinghouse on English Language Acquisition (NCELA) 

disseminates information on education of English learner students. NCELA 

disseminates data on the numbers and language backgrounds of English 

learners nationally and by state. It also provides links to information and 

publications on English learners published through the U.S. Department of 

Education, Office of English Language Acquisition, and maintains a 

resource library of over 20,000 items on English learners. For example, 

searching on the term “digital” will pull up documents that describe use of 

digital technology relevant to English learners. 

o There are several online sites that offer collections of educational 

technology. Many include descriptions and reviews of resources by 

teachers and/or site reviewers. In several of these sites, there is a filtering 

function that allows users to search by keywords, including terms such as 

English learner and English language learner. (However, note that the sites 

may vary in how the site defines and manages criteria for search keywords

and for English learner-related keywords.) You may also be able to search 

by content area and/or grade levels, depending on the site. 

What to do

□ Explore online sites that offer descriptions of educational technology 

products and resources, and try out searches for those that will meet your 

English learners’ needs. Be aware, however, that these resources may vary 

in their value for your English learners. 
20

□ Read reviews of specific educational technology products and look for 

discussions of actual instructional practice using these with English 

learners.

What to ask

o Am I keeping the needs of English learners in mind as I seek out and 

explore educational technology, including searches focused on resources 

for general education instruction? For example, do I ask whether the 

resource will support the specific languages of my English learners or their 

levels of English language proficiency? Are the resources culturally 

appropriate?

Resources for Searches of Educational Technology 

There are a number of educational technology collection sites to explore. The list 

below includes the two sites presented earlier and some additional sites. All provide 

access to many different resources. Several include Open Educational Resources 

(OER), which are free, openly licensed resources that you can use, reuse, adapt, and 

share. Some offer user and/or expert reviews. The lists provide collections of 

available resources and are not lists of research-based resources. Also, they offer a 

wide range of resources that are not specific to English learners. 

The sites vary in how users are able to search. Some allow several different filters; 

others have less functionality. As you use the filters to search, be aware that the 

criteria for meeting the definition of a resource that is for English learners will vary. 

o Common Sense Education 

https://www.commonsense.org/education/

The Common Sense Education product review site allows browsing of educational 

technology products, using filters to sort by grade level, subject, platform, and 

more. In-depth editorial reviews by educators provide detailed information on 

educational apps and teaching tips to help educators decide what is best for their 

students.

o My Digital Chalkboard 

https://www.mydigitalchalkboard.org/

My Digital Chalkboard is an interactive online environment that allows educators 

to search for teaching resources and participate in an online community of 

teaching professionals. 
21

o OER Commons

https://www.oercommons.org/

OER Commons is a public digital library of open educational resources. It is a site 

where educators from around the world explore, create, and collaborate. The site 

provides curated collections of technology, and users can search by keywords 

and refine the search results with filters. 

o The EdSurge Product Index (by EdSurge)

https://www.edsurge.com/

EdSurge is “an independent information resource and community for everyone 

involved in education technology.” The EdSurge Product Index site lists and 

organizes a number of educational technology products from various sources, 

and provides users with a means of searching for needed educational technology. 

Educators can select subcategories and browse through the options currently 

listed, filtering by age and learner, curriculum type, tech and requirements, cost, 

and usage. 

Resources for General Information

o The National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA) website 

(https://ncela.ed.gov) provides a range of resources, including current 

demographic data on English learners, and information on federal grant programs 

and policy. NCELA also publishes NCELA Nexus (https://ncela.ed.gov/ncelanexus), a semimonthly e-newsletter. It shares new resources, upcoming events, 

and other announcements, and provides links to opportunities for jobs, 

education, and funding related to the education of English learners. Nexus 

subscribers may also receive occasional, time-sensitive announcements from 

OELA and NCELA.

o The Office of Educational Technology (OET) website (https://tech.ed.gov/)

provides links to recent reports on professional development and instructional 

practices using educational technology, among other resources. Explore the 

website for additional information that, while not specific to English learners, can 

inform your thinking about technology use. 
22

Learn About the Study 

The National Study of English Learners and Digital Learning Resources is a national 

descriptive study conducted in the 2016–17 school year by the U.S. Department of 

Education, Policy and Program Studies Service, on behalf of the Office of English 

Language Acquisition and the Office of Educational Technology under contract number 

ED-PEP-11-O-0088/TO27. The study included a nationally representative survey of 

districts, a survey of teachers, and six case studies, and meetings with experts to 

examine what digital learning resources are used in instructing English learners and 

how they are used. The study provided findings that describe the use of digital 

learning resources in instructing English learners in grades K–12 in U.S. public 

schools. 

The study provided descriptive data to identify current uses of digital learning 

resources, needs for additional information and/or supports in their uses, professional 

development on use of technology in instructing English learners, and areas in which 

educators wished to see improvements in the digital learning resources available to 

them for instructing English learners. 

The full study report will be posted to the Department’s website at: 

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/opepd/ppss/reports.html.
23

Disclaimer

Examples Are Not Endorsements 

This document contains examples and resource materials that are provided for the 

user’s convenience. The inclusion of any material is not intended to reflect its 

importance, nor is it intended to endorse any views expressed, or products or services 

offered. These materials may contain the views and recommendations of various 

subject matter experts as well as hypertext links, contact addresses, and websites to 

information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. The 

opinions expressed in any of these materials do not necessarily reflect the positions or 

policies of the U.S. Department of Education. The U.S. Department of Education does 

not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any 

outside information included in these materials. Mentions of specific programs or 

products in these examples are designed to provide clearer understanding and are 

not meant as endorsements.
24

MATRIX 1: Digital Learning Resources 

The term Digital Learning Resources (DLRs) refers to digital resources such as applications (apps), software, programs, or websites that engage students in learning activities and 

support students’ learning goals. There are three categories of DLRs: digital academic content tools, digital productivity tools, and digital communication tools. DLRs as defined 

here do not include the hardware or infrastructure needed to use the digital resources.

DLR Category Definition Category Types and Examples

Digital

Academic

Content

Tools

Software, applications 

(apps), programs, or 

websites that offer 

academic content 

resources and/or engage 

students in activities to 

learn academic content or 

skills, including, but not 

limited to, language and 

literacy content or skills.

Designed 

learning activities

•Interactive tutorials or lessons (adaptive and other) that guide students in learning and demonstrating new content or skills,

such as an interactive lesson on the life cycle of a butterfly or a math tutorial on fractions. 

•Practice and assessment tools that provide activities to review concepts and skills, such as a math app that provides multiple 

opportunities to practice addition skills.

•Dynamic modeling or simulation tools, such as a physics simulation that lets students manipulate virtual equipment, change 

parameters, and see the results.

•Virtual worlds that immerse a student in a fully interactive environment, such as one that allows a student to roam in a period of 

past history or explore a desert environment.

References/

resources

•Dictionaries, encyclopedias, e-books, topic blogs, and/or topic-focused websites that serve as information resources, such as an 

online encyclopedia that offers students pictures, facts, and videos about mammals or a digital dictionary. 

•Visual and auditory topic-related resources such as a YouTube video on earthquakes and plate tectonics. 

Language resource 

tools

•Translation tools that assist students by providing a translation to another language. 

•Articulation tools that assist a student to accurate production of a language, such as by showing images of how a sound should 

be produced and/or by letting a student record and listen to his/her own voice to compare with the model. 

Digital

Productivity

Tools

Software, applications 

(apps), programs, or 

websites that students use 

to plan, document, 

organize, and analyze 

content. They do not 

contain academic content. 

Presentation tools •Presentation and publication tools that allow students to demonstrate what they have learned about a topic or to publish a 

digital story about a memorable day. These may include music, images, and/or video.

Word processing tools •Word or text processing tools that enable students to create, edit, and print documents such as in creating a newspaper based 

on topics from history class or reporting on a field trip.

Information 

analysis tools

•Spreadsheet and data analysis tools that allow students to organize and analyze information, such as tracking local rainfall over 

time or analyzing and summarizing factors that led to the migration from the American Dust Bowl to the West in the 1930s.

Information 

organization tools

•Concept-mapping tools that let students visually represent relationships among sets of information, such as creating a mindmap 

of the American Revolution or a concept map for the causes of the Civil War. 

•Story templates that assist students to communicate a narrative using text and/or images, as in retelling a story they have heard.

Digital 

Communication 

Tools

Software, applications 

(apps), programs, or 

websites that students use 

to communicate, 

collaborate, network, or

present information. They 

do not contain academic 

content.

Asynchronous/ 

synchronous

text communications

•Discussion boards or forums that provide platforms for students to post reactions and/or comments and share perspectives, 

such as in providing analyses of a novel they have read and sharing feedback on their peers’ analyses.

•Emails, text messaging, chats, for example, using a chat function to share peer feedback on a report.

Reflection 

tools

•Blogs or student journals that allow students opportunities to share and/or reflect on their learning experiences, such as a 

student who uses a journal entry to reflect on her understanding of particular math concepts.

Videoconferencing/ 

meeting tools

•Videoconferencing or meeting tools that provide a remote means of seeing and speaking with others in real time, such as in 

enabling a science class to see and talk with NASA experts, or allowing students in a Spanish dual-language class to see and share 

a geography game with Spanish-speaking peers in Mexico.

Project collaboration 

tools

•Document or project-sharing tools that provide an online platform where students can work on products together, as in jointly 

editing a shared book report.

Multiple individual DLRs can be combined in an Integrated DLR Set

Integrated

DLR 

Sets

A structured combination of individual 

DLRs to provide a complete core or 

supplemental curriculum. Often, DLR 

sets are licensed as a package by a 

school district.

Core Curriculum Integrated DLR Set For example, a math program for grades 6–8 that combines visual lessons with embedded 

assessments, productivity tools, and flexible class management tools into one package. 

Supplemental Integrated DLR Set For example, a math intervention for at-risk students in grades 6–12 that provides tutorials, 

practice activities, and progress monitoring tools to inform instruction. 

Note: This summary matrix was adapted from Zehler, Annette M., Yilmazel-Sahin, Yesim, Massoud, Lindsey, Moore, Sarah C., Yin, Chengbin, and Kramer, Kat. (2012, April). Technology-based resources in instruction of 

English learner students. Poster presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, British Columbia. 

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service. (2018). National Study of English Learners and Digital Learning Resources. Washington, DC: 

Author.
25

MATRIX 2: Digital Support Features 

Digital Support Features are specific embedded features in digital learning resources (DLRs) that assist students in understanding or communicating the content and/or activities 

provided in the DLR. This is a preliminary list to prompt further discussion among developers and educators.

Support Feature 

Category Definition Category Examples

Visual

Support 

Features 

Provide visual images or other 

visual supports to assist a 

student in understanding 

and/or communicating a 

concept or idea.

Visual definition Links to a video or image(s) providing a visual definition of a concept or word.

Interactive visual features Manipulable visual representation of a concept, such as a graphing calculator feature integrated into a DLR, providing 

representations of concepts based upon information that a student enters.

Closed captioning Text shown on the video screen provides print as well as audio that is useful for English learners still developing their 

ability to understand spoken English.

Auditory 

Support 

Features 

Provide speech or other use of 

sound to assist a student in 

understanding and/or 

communicating a concept or 

idea. 

Auditory definition Allows students to click on a word to hear a definition of a concept or word.

Text-to-speech for text

selection

Reads aloud text such as a selection on academic content, a story, directions for a lab experiment, or math questions; 

might include options to play, pause, adjust the volume, and/or control the speed at which the text is read. The language 

used may be English or another language, depending on the materials used.

Text-to-speech for

highlighted word Allows readers to hear an individual word or phrase.

Record and replay voice 

Enables students to record their voice; replay it so that they can hear their own voice, perhaps make adjustments to 

and/or practice pronunciation, practice their part in a presentation, or save for sharing with others.

Translation 

Support 

Features

Provide embedded functions to 

translate from one language to 

the other, in either speech or 

print, and for either a word or 

limited text. 

Spoken word translation Enables a student to hear a spoken translation in his/her home language of an unfamiliar English word.

Printed word translation Enables a student to view a written translation in his/her home language of an unfamiliar English word.

Spoken text translation Enables a student to hear spoken statements in one language as spoken in another language. 

Printed text translation Enables a student to view a section of text in one language as written in another language. 

Collaboration 

Support 

Features

Embedded functions that 

students use to communicate, 

collaborate, work, or share 

information about academic 

content. 

Document sharing Allows multiple students to share a digital document and use annotation tools to add notes or comments.

Collaboration based on 

proficiency level 

Allows students to collaborate with peers according to their proficiency levels (e.g., peers at the same Lexile reading 

comprehension level).

Note: This matrix is a preliminary summary of supports created for the toolkits based on insights gained through the NSELD research.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service. (2018). National Study of English Learners and Digital Learning Resources. Washington, DC: 

Author.