Remote learning is by definition a virtual way to replace in-person learning. Due to social distancing caused by COVID-19, most educational institutions have shifted their learning method to remote learning. Generally speaking, this method has been proven to be effective in terms of time, cost, and energy. The students no longer need to go the school and all they need are just a gadget and internet connection.
Statistics show that online courses in public and private universities have reported a significant increase over the past few years. Conducting a virtual class is no different than conducting a virtual event. In this case, your attendees are students, instead of the regular audience. Here are some tips to conduct convenient remote learning that you should know:
-
Contents show
Encourage your students to move into virtual platforms
In the New York Times, it is said that the number of students who participate in an online class is less than those in a traditional class. Moving into virtual platforms might be difficult for both the teachers and the students, especially those who are not familiar with this technology. If you’re new to remote learning, below are some of the preferred platforms that are easy to use:
This mobile-friendly app with over 50 million downloads in Playstore has the features that an online class would need. Teachers only need to share code so that the students can join the class. Assignments can be viewed through the assignment page and the materials are also stored in Google Drive automatically. This app is ads-free, so you can run the class without any interruption.
Having almost similar features to Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams is also preferred by many teachers to hold their online classes. Facilitated with chatting room and video calls, this app allows you to communicate seamlessly. You can also arrange your class schedule and join any discussion with your students.
Reaching its peak during the current global pandemic, Zoom offers great features that can support your remote learning. Besides video calls and instant messaging, this free app also enables teachers to do screen sharing which can make it easier for the students to understand the lesson.
This learning management system (LMS) is available for teachers, students, and also parents. It lets the students view their schedule, join discussions, and access their courses with its features. The parents can also monitor their child’s grades and progress.
-
Create an interactive class
Have you ever found your students doing something other than paying attention to your lecture? Why so? One of the reasons is because students experience lapses or the failure of concentrating which can be up to five minutes. The longer the duration of your class is, the more chances the students will feel distracted because somehow they find it boring to just listen to the teacher’s presentation without doing anything in particular.
If you’re having a one-hour class or even more than that, getting your students to actively participate during the learning process can be the perfect solution. All you need to do is encourage your students to talk and let their creativity speaks by simply asking questions or giving a case study. After all, it would be less awkward for the students to communicate in virtual class since they don’t need to raise their hands and get everyone’s attention while asking or answering a question.
-
Create a routine schedule
While having an online type of class, whether you are students or teachers, many distractions are coming your way, such as constantly scrolling social media timelines, watching tv series, playing video games, and other errands. Organizing schedules in a calendar may prevent you from procrastinating. Try using a reminder app to fix your schedule, such as Google Calendar. Set the alarm for every academic activity and never miss them out. It takes time for our body to adapt to a certain routine, so it will definitely help if you begin to keep everything organized.
-
Facilitate your students using teaching tools
In a face-to-face class, teachers tend to use whiteboards in explaining the material. But what if you switch to remote learning? When a whiteboard isn’t in your option, you can rely on digital platforms that have a virtual whiteboard feature, such as Sketchboard, InVision, and Explain Everything.
Another tool you can use to create an engaging atmosphere for your students is by using videos. Put some videos related to your lesson in the middle of the lecture and ask your student’s opinion after watching it. Consider this as a small break so that your students can relax and let their mind rest for a while. Sometimes you need to put some visualization to your lesson so that the remote learning will be less boring.
-
Consider breaking the lesson into sessions
Some lessons are designed to have a longer duration, depending on the difficulty of the material. The problem is, sometimes students find it hard to cope with this kind of lesson, as they easily experience a lack of concentration. In response to this, it would be a great idea to have the lessons separated into several segments. Each segment should be no longer than 15 minutes to ensure that the students can maintain their concentration throughout the entire lesson. Keep your student interested by giving an explanation as concise as possible. You may also give them a case study to solve, in order to improve their critical thinking skill.
-
Have a quiz session
Just like any other event, you may conduct a game-like quiz during the learning process. After all, learning can be done in many ways including fun ways such as games. This way, your students will be challenged to answer the quizzes and will probably focus on your lesson. In online learning, there are many websites and apps available to hold game-like quizzes, for instance, Kahoot. Here, you can create a game room and design your own quizzes. To let the students participate, simply share a link to everyone, and then the name of the participants who already join can be seen on the screen, as well as the current rank at the moment. Isn’t that interesting?
So, are you ready to move into the virtual way of learning?
