The pandemic turned the education system topsy-turvy, and the teachers were left to deal with ultra-modern ways of teaching students online. It may take a while for both teachers and students to get used to the virtual classroom.
However, you can make it easier for the students and yourself by implementing a few changes. This brief guide will get you started!
How To Teach Online: 4 Quick Ways To Make it Manageable
Here are some quick steps that you can implement immediately to manage your class better.
Record the lectures
Some schools and colleges require you to stream live lectures during regular hours. But some students might miss the lesson due to internet connectivity issues or miss some important parts due to buffering. It is smarter to keep a copy of the lecture and mail them to students in such cases.
Eliminate distractions
Teaching classes online may seem like a daunting task. Especially when you are home, and there is a lot of disturbance. If possible, try to reserve a silent room or a desk in an isolated corner. To gain better attention from students, you can keep your video on and encourage them to do the same.
Try to make everything visual
For students, online lectures are a lot to take in. Longer hours of screen time can cause stress, so there is little point in sending long books or texts. Instead, you can use short videos, slideshows, presentations, charts, and even infographics to make conceptual understanding easier.
Be open with your students
If you share your difficulties with the class, they might open up about their problems too. This can reduce the communication gap and improve coordination in the class.
Things to Avoid While Teaching Online
For a streamlined and effective online teaching-learning experience, you can avoid a few things.
Don’t assume that students are attentive.
Teachers often rush through their syllabus because they are under a lot of pressure to get the syllabus done in time. They forget that an online lecture is quite mundane for students. Don’t let your teaching go to waste. Engage your students for an interactive learning experience.
Don’t forget the breaks.
Staring at a screen for hours can be an exhausting task. Take a break and let your students relax too.
Don’t make tests and quizzes difficult.
The tests should be designed to assess the conceptual understanding of the students. The tests should be based on the references that you have provided.
Best 8 Effective Online Teaching Techniques
Keeping the lectures lively and making the subject engaging for the student becomes difficult due to limited interaction online. However, some of these simple yet effective techniques will ensure that your class.
Break the syllabus
Teaching an online course for the first time can be tricky when you have to cover several modules. Divide that vast syllabus into small, easy-to-understand pieces. A longer lecture will stress the students out. It is challenging to comprehend lengthy lessons, take down important notes, and study simultaneously. Breaking a module into smaller chapters and dividing those concepts
Collect and manage resources
Students are more stressed as they might not have access to all the materials that need to be referred. Not every student takes down notes during lectures. Hence, it will be smarter to gather all the reference material before you start teaching a chapter. You can then mail it to the students or upload it on platforms like Google classrooms.
Encourage interactive activities
Interaction with peers in the class constitutes an integral part of learning. The online teaching mode restricts this activity and makes the class passive. However, you can tackle this by hosting guest lectures, organizing competitions, encouraging discussions, or hosting debates. For a change, you can even combine your class with another class for some interdisciplinary activities.
Another way would be to allot marks for active class participation.
Incentivize attendance
Nobody likes attending online lectures. The old chalk-and-board lectures are way more exciting and interactive. So, you can expect the attendance to be low and students to be distracted. Here, you can incentivize attendance by merely saying – ‘your attendance will be a part of your final grades.’
Quiz them
It is quite challenging to motivate students to study, and online teaching has made it even more tricky. You must want to know if your students have their heads wrapped around whatever you have been teaching. You can organize small quizzes of about 5 to 10 questions after each chapter or concept.
Use different methods
Variety adds spice to life, and it can do wonders as you teach a class online. A good old monotonous lecture is not always the best way to explain concepts. Sometimes you have to make use of documentaries or any other videos to make it lively. For instance, you can explain a novel better by casting its movie.
Assign light homework
You can ask students to write a summary of the lecture or assign a topic for self-study. However, do not make it mandatory and allot high marks for it. Instead, you can assign short essays for minimal marks.
Speaking of essays and reports, you can get coupons at essaydiscounts that you can use on some top essay writing services. They offer discount coupons only on reputable sites, so you don’t have to worry about the authenticity of their work.
Conduct doubt-solving sessions
When you teach online classes from home, it isn’t easy to assess whether students are in sync with you or not. Many times, students hesitate to ask doubts. The best way to tackle this is to take a special doubt-solving session and clear all their doubts. You can even conduct multiple sessions regularly.