We have outlined some Suggestions to Improve Online Teaching Learning Process in this article and it is important you read carefully in order not to miss out on points.
eLearning has become essential as the whole world is going digital and opportunities to work from home also prove the need for eLearning.
Although the importance of physical learning can not be overlooked, people are rather going for the option of online learning. More and more courses are being made available online.
During the Covid-19 era, people sought a way to continue their daily activities and life without being inhibited by the global lockdown.
A solution was sought and that paved way for more online interactions and learning. Teachers had to find a way to keep their students learning, so online teaching became necessary.
The fact that you can learn at your own pace makes it more enticing to students.
For the teachers, having control over their schedules and still being able to teach their students made it better. As this method of teaching and learning is adopted, there are however the chances of not being able to drive home the learning message.
The fear is that the student might find this approach more tedious and actually not be able to learn.
The world is still adjusting to this new method of engaging with people. The students still find it difficult to substitute the classroom for a virtual learning process.
While this challenge is present, effort must be made to see that the online learning process is improved. So, this brings us down to the question: how can the online teaching-learning process be improved? Here’s how.
9 Suggestions to Improve Online Teaching Learning Process
- Prepare Ahead of Class:
- Set up your Environment/Video Space
- Have a Set Time for Class
- Have an Interactive Session
- Tips for Pre-recorded Class
- Request Feedbacks
- Go Live Often
- Responsiveness for e-classrooms
- End-point Discussions
Prepare Ahead of Class:
The first on our list of suggestions to Improve online teaching learning process is early preparation.
To have a successful learning session online, you need to prepare yourself and your resources.
This is not a physical classroom and therefore will require more work on the part of the instructor/teacher.
You need to be disposed to teach your students. You need to prepare your teaching materials or illustrators.
Make sure you have enough battery (battery is everything) to avoid stories like your battery ran out.
If possible, you need to have an extra energy source available or connect your device to light during the class. Also, make sure your internet connection is strong.
Make relevant research and have keynotes available. If it is possible to have a slide prepared for your points and references, that should be highly beneficial to avoid straying off-topic.
Making these preparations are necessary because they will help you avoid unnecessary distractions during class.
Set up your Environment/Video Space:
This is very vital in every virtual interaction. Your background should not be in any way distracting or stuffy. Look for a clean space that is well ventilated and has enough light coming in.
Feel free to use ring lights for maximum brightness, position the ring lights opposite you and that should give you enough source of life.
In as much as you should eliminate everything distracting in your video space or background, having a plain background is totally discouraged too.
You should make sure that your video or live class is not boring to your students, hence the need to avoid plain background.
Fill your video space with color and life. Make it vibrant enough and radiate classroom warmth.
Add visuals reflecting your topic of discussion for your class. Ready your study materials and objects to make them feel like a physical interaction.
Then you need to set up the device you need for the online session. Using a tripod stand for mobile is really recommended because it will help you hold your device steadily in one place.
Make sure you set it to capture as much space as needed from the background.
Have a Set Time for Class:
You do not need to be readily available for your students to learn. Making yourself constantly available for your students might make them feel reluctant and lazy to start learning.
Their procrastination level is sure to rise when they know they can connect with you at any time.
That you shouldn’t make yourself readily available doesn’t mean that you should not be contacted by your students.
That you should not be readily available means that you need to have a set time for every class.
Let them know that they can contact you but that there is a limit to how frequently they contact you and this is best achieved through scheduling.
Have an Interactive Session:
Make every live session as interactive as possible. Don’t just do all the talking and have them listen, throw random questions at intervals, and allow them to unmute their mic, and contribute.
Make your classes as conversational as needed. Encourage them to make suggestions on a point or topic during live sessions as this will make the class very interactive.
When it comes to these live sessions, make sure your mic is audible enough.
Do not rely on your device mic, you can get an external mic and connect it to your device. Make sure to eliminate any chances of inaudibility.
While teaching, do not stand like a statue or glue yourself to one place, be demonstrative.
Demonstrate what you say through body movements and gestures and do not forget to add attitude to what you say.
Throw in a few good jokes (not bad jokes) where necessary as this will help your class to be very interactive and fun.
Tips for Pre-recorded Class:
If you want to make a pre-recorded class for your students, follow the following tips.
- Make sure the recording does not exceed 1 hour:
When you record a class, try to make it as short as possible. Bear in mind that all they would do is listen to you talk on and on.
Even you would not like to listen to a 3-hour-long recording. Also, the fact that they would be probably pausing the video at intervals to jot down points makes it necessary that the video be shortened.
- Be audible enough
- Make sure your screen is large enough if at some point you share your screen
Request Feedbacks:
The best way to request feedback is by assigning tasks to your students that would create room for them to explore more.
Give them challenging tasks that will prompt them to ask questions. Doing this lets you access the extent your students understand the class.
You can also ask them to fill out a form requesting feedback on how the class was and how you can make it better.
Go Live Often:
Try to make the majority of your class sessions live and the best tool for live sessions is the zoom app. The app has many features that will allow you enough flexibility with your class.
While you encourage your students to attend class with notebooks, make your teaching guide/ references available to your students after classes.
When you do this, students would probably spend less time pausing the class to jot down important details.
Responsiveness for e-classrooms:
One thing you should not forget to do is make sure your videos look good on all devices.
The reason you should do this is that your students might use any device to join the learning process and it is important that they have a smooth video experience.
End-point Discussions
Creating private groups for your students to meet, discuss and interact with each other is vital. They can share ideas and keep up with the learning process.
This is a time to re-visit online teaching techniques because of the high acceptance it is getting worldwide.
While eLearning solves the needs of people and limits distance barriers in learning, it should also enhance the learning process.
Going through the suggestions above will help you work and improve on certain areas in your teaching process.
If you have read so far and you have other suggestions to Improve online teaching learning process , please share those beautiful ideas in the comment section.