Virtual Classroom Tactics for Encouraging Students to Reach Their Full Potential
Online classes have been a blessing for most students during the pandemic. Not because they appreciate or enjoy it, but because they do not have to go through the ordeal of getting up to go to school, being involved in the class activities, or paying much attention to what is being taught in the class. Sure, online learning has been around for a while. But it was not integrated with classroom learning to a greater extent. However, things have changed a lot in the last two years, and virtual learning has been conducted more actively than ever.
Online learning has many perks. It is convenient, it saves time, and it is not bound by geography. But, are these perks effective if students are not enthusiastic about learning in virtual classrooms? Online and classroom teaching differ excessively. In classrooms, you can see your students, and you can gauge their level of interest. But in virtual classrooms, the first quarter of the class goes into insisting students put on their cameras. If your students are even willing to learn, there’s a minimum to zero chance of understanding that without seeing their faces. But don’t back down.The virtual classroom can be successful too if you start using these tactics to encourage students to learn online.
1. Interact with your students
You, being the tutor, have a bigger responsibility to serve. You have to make sure you do your duties while also making sure that your students learn from your class. Creating an interactive learning experience can help you achieve that. You should keep having conversations with your students, ask them questions, and encourage them to ask you too. Besides, you should engage them in AI-based interactive learning. Don't be afraid to go beyond the curriculum and present some interesting anecdotes and facts to your students.
2. Hold class presentations
There are two main benefits to holding virtual class presentations. You get to actively involve each student in the classroom. Plus, this helps build their research, presentation, and communication skills. Some other benefits of online class presentations also include the fact that when students are engaged in such activities, you get to hear their opinions and process of learning. You get to understand how much of what you teach is learnt by them. They get to explore online resources and software to build their presentation, which helps them explore their creative elements.
3. Assign small group projects
To keep encouraging your students to learn in virtual classrooms, you must not just be concerned about your interaction with them. You should also build an environment where they get a chance to get to know their classmates. The best way to do that is to assign small group projects. You can make this a weekly or a monthly thing and create different groups each time so everybody in the classroom gets a chance to work with each other. Encouraging students to learn from each other can be a really good virtual teaching tactic.
4. Use quizzes
Kudos to digital development today that we have multiple learning sources. There are many online sites for learning programmes that give you access to interactive learning methods like holding quizzes and questionnaires. You can do that manually in your virtual class or use a third-party site to do so. These sites let you create impactful and fun learning methods. You can customize it according to your needs.
5. Form discussion groups
Discussion groups can be really helpful in learning through communication. You never know what information your students have and what skills they possess unless you try to explore them. You can form these discussion groups on Whatsapp or by using social media sites like Discord. Engaging with your students by using social media can be a fun twist to add to your teaching methods.
6. Ask for their opinions
Teaching should be communicative. And if you are not encouraging your students to give their opinions, the scope of learning decreases multifold. You should ask for their opinions with respect to education, their future decisions, their interests, etc. Plus, you should ask them what kind of learning methods they would like to explore. You do not have to ask them this individually. You can create polls or questionnaires using Google forms and just have the students fill them up. Getting an insight into the interests of your students can help you mould your teaching methods to align with their likings.
Virtual learning can be achieved independently by students themselves. All they need is the right resource. Pearson’s MyLab Mastering can be the perfect companion for students to indulge in virtual learning. It has online homework, assessment, and tutoring products that students can access at their leisure. Plus, the list of courses is diverse enough to help students find something of their interest to learn. This is the platform students need to explore the best of virtual learning.