The online classroom provides a unique opportunity to teach
anywhere, anytime. However, it can be challenging to learn the best strategies
for teaching in this environment without being led by an expert. In this
blog post, we will give you some tips on becoming an effective online
teacher so that you can provide your students with all the information they
need and still have time for yourself.
1. Be Accessible and Use Your Time Wisely
If you want to engage students in online coursework, ensure you are accessible and use your time wisely. This will help keep students from dropping out of the course. It's also important to be prepared with assignments and activities for students when they login to class. This establishes trust and will reassure them that you are taking the time to see what they're doing.
If you're not available for a specific amount of time, make sure to put that out there,e as well as your hours/availability. This will let your students know when to contact you and what to expect during those times. While it's okay to live in a digital world where we're available 24/7, we all need breaks now and then to recharge our batteries.
2. Utilize Student Feedback
To know what is working and what isn't, it's a great idea to let
students provide feedback on their experience with the coursework. They'll
voice frustrations you could have avoided or suggest a new app
that can make your life a little easier.
After each session/assignment, ask your students for their thoughts
on the course. Use your students' suggestions to adjust future classes or individual sessions. You can also use this to give personalized feedback and build rapport with your students.
3. Make Things Interesting
To keep your online students engaged, you must make the course
enjoyable. This may mean using various delivery methods
or going outside the box with assignments and activities.
Find ways to make your course more interactive and engaging.
Include links, videos, images, audio, or other multimedia that will engage your students and help them remember what you want them to
learn.
4. Know the Technology and Utilize It
One of the most essential strategies for effective online teaching
is knowing what tools and technologies to leverage to create a course that
students will enjoy. It's critical to find new ways to keep
students engaged so they keep interested and going. Some forms of
doing this areare making the course enjoyable, using technology, and asking
for student feedback. Prepare yourself to make the most of your system by understanding current technologies and how they can be used for
instruction.
Technology should be a key component in any online teaching lesson
plan. With technology, you'll know critical features that will
engage students and help them learn.
Technology can be a sticky wicket for instructors. As more and more
tools become available, instructors are finding themselves with fewer reasons
to avoid online courses if they're worried about whether or not their platform
will work.
There is software out there that you can use to host your courses,
so check the options in your area and find out what works best for your needs.
You may also choose to use Google Drive or other similar options to deliver
course materials.
5. Create and Maintain a Strong Presence
The most important thing to remember when teaching online is that
there are no excuses for not following up with your students. Being just as
consistent in the virtual classroom as in a traditional classroom
setting is essential to keep students engaged.
If you want your students to progress in your course, they
need to know what they should expect each time they participate. This includes clarifying at the beginning of their course what they should do and how
long it will take.
6. Have a Good Balance of Active Leader and Active Observer
One good way of making an online teaching assignment effective is
to have a good balance of active leaders and active observers. As the leader, you
must set the topic and give feedback on the process. The
observers will then be responsible for completing their learning activity to
assess themselves.
Another way to make your online teaching assignment
more effective is setting deadlines and criteria up-front. This will lead to
better communication with the students in your class, as they will know what is
expected from them.
Conclusion — Writer's Input
This article is written to assist instructors in effectively
delivering their courses online. It will address various strategies that
teachers can utilize, as well as how to maximize their effectiveness. These
include asking for feedback, making things interesting, using technology,
and maintaining a solid presence. The article also addresses ways of preparing
oneself before teaching an online course.
This article is written by Adeela Iffat Javaid, one of the
contributors at the School of Literature.
