What are your top three emojis? This is a question I’ve asked educators when diving into the silly but powerful visuals that have become a part of our everyday lives. If you follow me on social media, you know I love adding emojis to a post. I also send out a few dozen emojis over the course of the day to friends and family members via text.
Emojis have become a staple of digital communication across various platforms. They offer a modern twist on the classic concept of clipart and act as visual cues in our digital conversations. As an educator, you might have noticed emojis pop up in educational tools and on websites, too. There are lots of websites with emojis, making it easier than ever for teachers and students to add an emoji to their work.
Let’s look at a handful of EdTech tools and websites with emojis you can use this school year.
EdTech Tools and Websites with Emojis
In a classroom setting, when used strategically, emojis can enhance communication and learning. For instance, in science classes, you might use emojis to emphasize important information or outline steps in a lab procedure. Social studies teachers might use flag and cultural symbol emojis to support discussions about different countries. In a math classroom, emojis can represent variables or illustrate problem-solving steps. And if you’re teaching English Language Arts, you might use emojis to provide visual prompts for storytelling or to enrich vocabulary lessons.
Today on the blog, I have eight websites with emojis to share with you, including a few favorite EdTech tools!
Emoji Finder
This user-friendly web-based tool is ad-free and designed for easy emoji searches. It’s a favorite of mine, and I use it almost daily. Whether you need to find an emoji for a science lesson or a social studies presentation, Emoji Finder helps you quickly locate the perfect symbol. It’s great for teachers creating lesson materials and even for students looking to add some flair to their projects.
Book Creator
I’m a super fan of Book Creator, and you might remember this post on my blog from the spring highlighting their portfolio option for students. They also have a fantastic emoji integration, which I shared in a free resource I created for them. It’s all about using emojis in the classroom and gives a handful of lesson ideas along with the tips for accessing emojis on their platform.
Seesaw
This platform is perfect for interactive student engagement and is super popular in early elementary classrooms. Emojis can be used within Seesaw to enhance constructive feedback on student work. Students can also add emojis with their comments on their classmates’ work as part of their peer feedback routine.
Google Classroom
Do you use Google Classroom or a learning management system where you post assignments and resources for students? Whether it’s Google Classroom or another tool, you can use emojis in your posts and comments. They can serve as visual cues to draw attention to specific announcements or to help categorize different assignments and topics. This might make it easier for students to find information or assignments.
Padlet
I use Padlet all the time, and if you’ve joined me for a webinar or workshop this year, you may have seen this tool in action. The sections or column layout is perfect for organizing responses. When you add a title to a column, you can include an emoji to help your categories stand out. Emojis in Padlet can serve as visual tags that categorize and organize information on a Padlet board, making it easier for students to navigate and engage with the content.
Emojipedia
Emojipedia is just like it sounds. It’s a comprehensive emoji search engine and reference site that provides detailed explanations of what each emoji represents. If you want to double-check the perceived meaning of an emoji, this is a perfect place to bookmark. Emojipedia is particularly useful if you’re feeling a little hesitant to use an emoji because you’re not sure what it “means” or are curious if it has any additional pop culture references.
Emoji Keyboard by JoyPixels
If you use a Chrome browser, you might want to check out this emoji keyboard option from JoyPixels. It gives you easy access to emojis on your web browser and is a good option for anyone using a Chrome browser in their daily workflow.
EmojiCopy
EmojiCopy is a simple, user-friendly website that allows you to quickly copy and paste emojis into any text field. This is great for teachers who want to prepare lessons or communications that include emojis without having to remember codes or shortcuts. It does have ads, so you might prefer Emoji Finder, which I mentioned at the top of this post.
Three Bonus Emoji Recommendations
- Teachers using Google Docs might want to use the quick insert shortcuts. You can set this up so that anytime you enter a colon, you are prompted to add emojis to your document. This page has more details.
- I’ve featured lots of AI tools on the blog, and chatbots like ChatGPT give you quick access to emojis, too. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have already caught this tip from a Reel I shared featuring this tip.
- TextBlaze is a tool I shared on the blog that has become part of my daily workflow. I use it so much that I can’t imagine a time before starting to use it. You can use this tool to set up keyboard shortcuts. This might include a shortcut that pops your most used emojis into an email or document.
Emojis are more than just fun visuals to add to a text message. By incorporating these tools into your educational practices, you can enhance the way you communicate with students, making learning more interactive, expressive, and fun.
If you are interested in more emoji tips, check out this Easy EdTech Podcast episode from the archives (aka an oldie but goodie). It’s titled “13 Ways to Use Emojis That Might Surprise You” and includes more ideas for integrating emojis into your teaching strategy.