Online teaching is fun. Yes, if you have the necessary tools and expertise to successfully engage learners online.
Suppose you are in the middle of a class discussion when someone inadvertently activates the presenting menu. Moreover, the learners’ attention will be diverted away from you.
Then, a minute or two will be lost as you attend to the issue at hand and provide the much-needed reminder that no one should be tampering with their laptop, desktop, or whatever in order to prevent a recurrence.
Well, it was a hint that perhaps your students are becoming bored, and they desired a more bombastic manner, especially if the hour is not conducive to keeping them wide-awake and attention to everything stated and presented to them.
How can we make our online engagement truly engaging, devoid of all boredom? Read on to learn a couple of things.
1. Spend no more than 30 percent of your time in the spotlight. Yes, give learners a 70 percent involvement slot instead of you, the teacher, talking and discussing, etc., unless you are employing a Socratic approach in which lessons are addressed through probing questions.
2. Variety is essential. Use presentation slides with a balance of text, photographs, colors, and other elements to avoid a boring presentation. Surprise them with moving things, diverse techniques, and large actions if necessary, such as when young children require large movements, animated voices, and bright colors, etc.
3. Maintain composure. You do not know who of your students are bad enough to take screenshots of you and may make fun of you instead of acquiring the lesson’s lessons. Parents or guardians are present during online classes to ensure that everything is in order and no one is engaging in inappropriate behavior.
4.Have students keep their cameras open until the end of the lesson. Not only does this allow you to monitor how they respond to your thought-provoking questions, but it also ensures that everyone is actively engaged in the activities, such as responding exercises, and is not disengaged due to external distractions.
5. Give each student a chance to talk, discuss and conduct activities so as to build, either their listening, speaking, turn-taking, empathy and what-not abilities necessary to obtaining knowledge, good values and all.
That’s all there is to it. To ensure that online participation is enjoyable and meaningful for all participants, instructors should not hog the spotlight, but rather give each student an opportunity to shine. Yes, with minimal effort they may recognize their value, talent, and zeal for achieving their goals.