Digital platforms were supposed to make communication easier, faster, and better. When the COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented challenge for the education sector, it led to the initiation of a virtual schooling environment. The classes are now being conducted online, but success in the virtual classroom is directly related to how presentable and engaged the instructor and the students were.
What is student engagement?
Student engagement refers to meaningful student involvement throughout the learning environment. It involves three dimensions!
When students are engaged in all three components, they can learn at their highest capability.
Behavioral engagement is ‘on-task behavior’ focusing on participation in academic, social, and co-curricular activities.
Emotional engagement – nature of positive and negative reactions to teachers and classmates.
Cognitive engagement is ‘the integration and utilization of student’s motivation in the course of their learning’ – which focuses on the student’s level of investment in the learning.
For many students, taking a class online is a new learning experience. When they are engaged in the class, they need to perform better. But, the challenges of getting students to contribute in virtual classrooms have intensified. They have to make an extra effort to engage themselves amid distractions at home.
Virtual learning does not involve face-to-face instruction. There are many challenges, such as accessibility to technology, reduced socialization, and also student engagement. How to get students more involved in the absence of traditional classroom environments? A range of many strategies offered by teachers to keep the students engaged, alert, and willing to interact:
Train instructors to teach online:
Virtual online classes face unique challenges compared to the traditional, in-person classroom environment. Distance learning presents a challenge because instructors and students are no longer present in the same classroom to address misconceptions. Instructors are an integral part of teaching and learning, but they have not trained in adult education or online learning. They must understand how to leverage technology to help learners take in and retain information.
Tip to do it right: Listen to students at the start of class in a more targeted way and better assist them by clarifying concepts.
Promote Student Voice:
Are you worried about the challenges of online classroom management? Do your students are highly motivated?
As a teacher, it is more essential to provide feedback positively that enables students to make good choices during learning. If we give them as much freedom as possible to experiment, research, and pursue interests within our content area, then they inevitably have a lot more to say.
Tip to do it right: Students are more motivated and engaged when they speak about their actions and interests. Provide them some space even to admit their difficulties at the end of your session.
Plan for a new way of teaching:
New approaches to teaching and learning should be undertaken to overcome the real challenges faced by both the instructors and learners. When student engagement is going downhill, use a mix of content delivery methods.
Tip to do it right: Use video, text, audio, and presentations to engage students.
Be a storyteller:
Storytelling has always been central to human experience – we love reading or hearing stories that we can relate to in some ways. It is a powerful tool to help online students remember concepts and feel more engaged.
Tip to do it right: Start storytelling and engage the students better.
Update your Course:
Be alert about what they need! To remain updated and relevant, online courses need to be continually revised and improved i.e, the course you deliver in 2021 should not be the course you delivered in 2019. You must improvise the standard of your course which you deliver. That should be engaging, interactive, well-supported, and responsive to the times.
Tip to do it right: Regularly update the course content with the latest emerging trends and practices.
Hold your online students accountable:
In this virtual schooling environment, it is more essential to make students accountable for their success. Without class schedules and teacher supervision, they can unwittingly lose accountability for their role in the learning process. So reach out personally to students to guide their regular activities and motivate them.
Tip to do it right: Leverage the email notification feature on your learning management system and remind students that they are not alone.
Intrinsic motivation in online training:
In the virtual learning environment, a major concern is the lack of intrinsic motivation for students to remain interested in the material.
Tip to do it right: Enable students to experience accomplishments and build their feeling of competence.
Hello Instructors – Are you ready to go?
Remote learning and teaching in a pandemic is harder and requires high levels of motivation and focus. But challenging times can bring great opportunities. Virtual classrooms offer numerous benefits to students, instructors, and schools.
Educators interact naturally with the students when they are in the classroom together. But during virtual online classes, it became a rare thing to interact with students personally. So keeping students engaged, motivated, and interested in their lessons is one of the biggest challenges that teachers face in virtual online classes.
Teaching online requires you to use completely different skillsets compared to those used to teach in-person! And you play a pivotal role in supporting the student’s emotional engagement. Engaging students in your online learning program is one of the keys to ensuring they learn effectively and get the most out of what they are doing.
Master your classroom management skills effectively, set clear expectations about the class start and end time, and if you have multiple topics to cover, make sure that you provide a clear link between them. It is very important to realize that the learning experience is changed by how learners feel about it. This may help increase student engagement behaviorally, emotionally, and cognitively. Give them some choice in assignments and get them involved in active learning.
By providing a realistic action plan, students will feel more engaged with the class and more empowered from their virtual setting. I hope these tips gave you a great foundation for building better online classrooms.
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