Esha Patnaik explores the most effective strategies to deliver a valuable and engaging online teaching experience for students.
When digital learning platforms were first launched, even the creators may not have anticipated how central to the learning experience they will become, thanks to the pandemic. Teachers across the world had to literally overnight move their entire courses online, master the technology, deliver enriching classroom sessions and maintain high academic rigour.
While hybrid teaching models have their uses, designing and delivering a cohort-based course entirely online has its own unique set of advantages and challenges. Here are a few tips for teachers starting out on their online teaching journey:
"Set up deadlines for lessons and assessment and convey this to the class at the outset. This is especially important if you and your students are spread across multiple time zones."
Keep it simple: As tempting as it might be to go for snazzy learning platforms and multimedia tools, these are just that … tools. Many teachers and students will be working with limited internet bandwidth on shared computers. Minimise the use of any tool that is not likely to directly contribute to the learning experience, especially apps that require high internet bandwidth to run.
Don’t just replicate the classroom experience: Instead of focusing on how close to or different from in-person teaching the virtual teaching experience is, concentrate on making the learning space work to your advantage. Are students learning more because they can replay recordings of your synchronous sessions and fill in details they might have missed in class? Do the discussion forums make it easy for the quieter students to voice their opinion without having to “speak up” in class? Look for potential and capitalise on it. Plan interactive lessons, use a variety of resources that will cater to different learning skills.
Time management: Have office hours and set up clear timelines for different tasks. Online tasks can get pushed to the background when there are multiple other commitments and distractions. Set up deadlines for lessons and assessment and convey this to the class at the outset. This is especially important if you and your students are spread across multiple time zones. Make sure to stick to this schedule yourself.
Simultaneously, logging out and switching off mentally is very important. Have specific times during the day when you will be answering mails/calls, grading assignments.
Know your students: People online are often reduced to an avatar or a name on a screen. Identify unique characteristics in your students that will help you ‘see’ them as persons. Have regular meetings with them. Acknowledge effort and learning skills, rather than just performance in tasks.
Students struggle with technology as well: The popular notion is that young people are digital natives so they can navigate a learning platform smoothly within minutes of being introduced to it. This is far from the truth. Students can struggle to grasp the layout of a course site but might also hesitate to reach out to you for help. Then there are students who repeatedly ask for the same information even after you have explained everything several times. To get around both these problems, create a bank of screenshots and video tutorials. It will save you the effort of having to answer the same question repeatedly, and students can go back to these videos on their own whenever they need to.
Maintain records: The advantage of online teaching is that nearly all communication and teaching practices can be documented, recorded, or saved in some format for later reference. This is particularly useful when there is some misunderstanding and you need to go back to an email thread or lesson recording to clarify things. Spreadsheets can be a lifesaver; any other acceptable record keeping practice can help.
Maintain personal contact with colleagues: Online teaching (and learning) can feel lonely at times. Reach out to colleagues within and outside the department/institution, to share experiences. Use social networking platforms to pool resources, know about best practices, and generally swap stories.
Breathe: Give yourself space and time to experiment, be accepting of mistakes. Technology is constantly evolving, subject resources are now available to students faster than you are even aware of their existence. Keep updating yourself regularly to stay ahead of the curve.
"Education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the world"
Nelson Mandela said, Education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the world. Online teaching expands the scope of change we can bring about as educators. As the world becomes increasingly technology-dependent, it is for us to embrace this shift while maintaining the core values of the teaching profession.
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