Loom gifts Pro account access to help educators give lessons

The fallout from school closures as part of several countries’ social distancing policies is that many teachers may not have access to digital tools to continue delivering classes to their students. In some cases, limited broadband connectivity prevents live-streaming of classes with Zoom or Skype. Or perhaps there are schools lacking a contingency plan for such a scenario or lacking the budget for use of remote-learning technologies.

Whatever the case, Loom might be a lifeline: it has decided to give all educators free Pro subscriptions (I can confirm this works for third-level institutes in Ireland). Okay, so what is Loom? It’s an easy-to-use video recording tool that allows you to record through your camera, microphone and desktop at the same time.

Screencast slides

What this means is that educators can screencast their prepared lecture slides while talking through them. This recording can be password-protected or limited to certain email addresses. It is also possible to add to say Google Drive or embed on a school website or blog.

It can also be used via an iOS app that allows for instant video uploads and gives students the option to interact by adding comments and emojis (a bit like a live Instagram or Twitter session).