The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a number of challenges. The educational scenery has been drastically affected due to the shutting down of schools, colleges, and universities. These institutions have now asked their educators and teachers to execute their classes online. This process is easier said than done. It requires acquiring a new set of skills and adopting a fresh approach. We are here to help you with the same!
Transitioning from the traditional methodology of teaching to virtual teaching calls for an effective engagement plan. At the end of the day, if your students are not giving attention while you are delivering your lecture, they will not be in a position to learn or comprehend anything. Only an engaged audience is an active recipient. This leads to a vivacious classroom aura and reinforces favorable results and behavior. With an engagement-oriented online teaching plan, all of this is probable. The active interaction soon turns into enthusiasm and enthusiasm soon turns into a customer. Keeping this in mind, we present to you 5 tips on how you can make your otherwise dull and non-engaging online class, fun and active!
1. Choose an Apt Platform
Before you start conducting classes on your online live classes app, you will need to find an appropriate and suitable platform that would contain all the necessary tools. You definitely have a variety of applications and websites available to you, but it is important to choose the best one. Teachmint is one of the best online teaching applications available today.
2. Send Clear Commands
Once you set up your classroom event, you are required to give out invites to your students, so that they can join your session easily. This is characteristically done inside of your video conferencing app. Your invite should consist of a rough outline, important instructions, and a list of pre-requisites that your students should along. Secondly, you should give out a reminder, roughly 15 minutes prior to the session. By doing this, your students will always remember to be ready 15 minutes before the class, and not make a fuss right when the class starts. You need to specify each and every command explicitly, no matter how big or small. His will diminish the chances of any type of miscommunication. You are also advised to double-check whether each and every student has received the instruction clearly or not.
3. Reveal your Face
An incorporeal voice is not at all worthy of engagement as seeing one in person or even on screen. You are advised to turn your camera on and command your students to do so as well. This leads to an active engagement. To keep up with their attention, you should make sure that you are talking while facing the camera, and not disturbing the eye contact. This will aid you in stimulating a personal association with your students.
4. Set Fundamental Rules
Flourishing online sessions need a well-planned strategy. This implies you need an understandable arrangement and arrangements are led by some fundamental rules and regulations. This encourages your students to take the classroom session acutely. These fundamental guidelines should assist in limiting the pointless disruptions, interruptions, and distractions, by ensuring a secure learning milieu by providing equivalent opportunities to the students. These fundamental guidelines or rules must include classroom etiquette and expectations. It is advised to prepare a list of rules or codes of conduct and circulate it prior to the beginning of the session.
5. Execute Interactive Activities
Your students will learn best when they are participating actively in the online experience. You should thrive towards banishing inactiveness by incorporating various fun activities for students into your online lecture. These activities could be icebreaker games, puzzle games, peer reviews, quizzes, brainstorm activities, games, etc. Look out for methods to absorb students who are less sociable as compared to others. You will also be able to execute a variety of these activities unswervingly with your video conferencing tool, irrespective of the internet connectivity.
To Conclude
Acceptance of the digital age of education and can be overwhelming. Making these online sessions appealing is even more difficult. There is a lot to learn and there are numerous hurdles in the path of executing a hassle-free online class. While online classrooms are restricted in some degrees, they also introduce you and your students to a virtual entryway towards new educational experiences that are more reachable, more fun, and more engaging than traditional classroom scenarios. All it takes is a digital mindset, the right tools, and a focused approach. Fundamentally, the secret ingredient is engagement. If you are not able to capture your online students’ attention, you will fail to deliver an effective teaching experience. It is not going to be easy, but if used smartly, the technology can be your biggest assistance. Best of luck, and happy teaching!
