This is one is for the teaching community – who are tirelessly working to learn new ways to teach so that the students continue their education.
For educators across the world, 2020 has come with a new challenge – of how to ensure safety of the students by keeping them at home, while continuing to facilitate their education. This has given birth to new learning spaces and innovative methods of teaching & learning. While every teacher-student community is unique and will have their own preferred methods, here are a few simple tips for using things available at home to make online teaching more seamless, interesting and to bond with students virtually!!
Learn how the platform works
For many of the teachers who are not computer savvy, using the internet to teach can seem daunting. Not only is the method new, you have the added pressure of an audience in the form of parents. In many cases you also have the challenge of converting a part of the home interior into a virtual classroom. The first thing is to do is master the method by understanding the platform or app that you are going to be using. Spend time to watch videos on how the platform works, run mock sessions where required to familiarise yourself with all the functions & presentations, and always be prepared to handle surprises!
Create a comfortable space
As mentioned in our earlier post in the WFH series, it is important to identify and create a space where you can work without disturbance. This is all the more important when you are teaching – if you are distracted then chances of you making an error or not communicating clearly is increased.
Choose a room like a study or a spare bedroom that offers you privacy and that can comparatively be shut out from the noise of the rest of the house. Others in your house who are not learning or working from home could want some amusement. An entertainment unit in the living room with a blaring TV or music in the background will obviously be distracting to your students. Hence, the need for relative quietness.
Create a comfortable work space with an ergonomic chair, a spacious desk to accommodate your books & notes and power sockets close-by. You could also put up a peel-off whiteboard sticker behind your desk if you prefer to write as you teach. Keep supplies that you may use to teach within reach like markers, reference books etc. Since you will be speaking continuously for some time, it is a good idea to also have cool glass of water or a water bottle handy. Ensure the room has good light and ventilation.
Set out basic rules
As you are starting your session, set ground rules. These could be standard ones for all your classes or for each session based on the activity that you have planned. Rules could include answering when questions are asked to gain attendance or taking breaks or level of overall participation. You could also insist on students being present on camera to gauge their receptiveness. In this case, don’t forget to have neutral décor as your backdrop and of course be presentable & professional.
Get creative with your teaching
While in a face-to-face session you could use the classroom décor itself to inspire or as a learning tool, this would prove to be a challenge in a virtual classroom session. So look for creative ways to capture the students’ attention. If you are teaching younger kids, use bright colours around you. You could use vinyl wall decals that are easily removable to make your virtual session more vibrant. For older kids, ensure engagement by asking them to take over small presentations or asking questions. If you are using audio-visuals on any particular day, you could temporarily move the virtual classroom in front of the TV Unit. You could also use a few videos to teach or make your presentations interactive and interesting.
Understand the shortcomings
Not everyone has a laptop for each member of the family. There are many of us who share a computer within the family and it may not always be viable to invest in another one for online sessions. Understand this as a reality for both you & your students and work around that. The solution that most of us turn to is smartphones. Keep this in mind and optimise for screen size while creating your teaching material.
If you yourself don’t have access to a laptop and use your phone for teaching, make the most of the available home décor – like creating a stand for the phone or projecting it to a TV for better readability. You could also speak to your students on a one-to-one basis and share these tips so that they are comfortable and hence more focused during class.
Many students will need handholding during virtual sessions as they may have problem relating to what you teach when they don’t have physical support of a teacher or classmates. Understand this and put in extra effort with such students. At the end of each topic, check if they have understood it. Ask questions to confirm their understanding. More importantly, be approachable so that the students can stop you and ask you to repeat if they have not understood anything. You could also assign a “buddy” classmate who can help them out.
Structure your sessions
Set a routine and try to structure your sessions in terms of standardizing how you present, what audio-visual aids you include, participation needed, assignments to be delivered etc. This will help both you and the students as you know what to expect and can be prepared accordingly.
Record
Most of the tools available for online teaching now allow sessions to be recorded. Make use of this feature, but don’t forget to inform your students that you are recording. On many days the internet connectivity is not very good and the students may not be able to log in or may get disconnected midway. Having a recording helps in these instances. Also, a student may need to revisit a lesson to understand if they are not comfortable with virtual sessions. You could set guidelines on how you share these recordings and with whom, to protect your own copyrights.
Did you find these tips helpful? Do you teach online too? Share some of your best practices, ideas and views with the Flapto community. We would love to hear from you.