Online classrooms have become the new normal in every corner of the world. The virtual classrooms necessitate the teachers to have exceptional teaching tact to ensure that the students remain attentive and deliver classes effectively. Without this, the classes may turn ineffective. Moreover, the parents may complain that the classes haven’t been proper and their child couldn’t follow the topics.
Because the teacher and student are in two different spaces, it is difficult for the teacher to keep the student engaged. Skill and experience will matter a lot to make them remain attentive. In addition, teachers can implement certain strategies to enhance the students’ participation in a virtual classroom.
Best Practices For Online Student Engagement
Successful implementation of these strategies would be useful to keep virtual classrooms alive. In addition, it would increase the acceptance of the teacher among the students.
Classroom Activities
The teacher can prepare online activities in advance, based on the portions planned. The students could be asked to form small groups. The group tasks would then be distributed. It may be a brainstorming session to derive a solution. Or an internal discussion task to come up with a summary of a particular topic.
One-to-One Interaction
The one-to-one interaction need not be strict, serious, or focus only on the syllabus. The teacher can break the ice with funny interactions, or entertaining talks. It would be better to get into the topic only after hooking the student and gaining his or her attention. This will be effective to avoid boredom.
Think-Write Acts
One of the main things a teacher must bear in mind is that the student is sitting at another place, at the comfort of his or her home. S/he can make up any excuse to bunk the class if they want to. Therefore, the teacher must motivate, and encourage them to continue in the class attentively. The think-write act could be assigned to the students. That is, the students could be given a common topic and asked to write their concept or understanding on the same. They can subsequently be asked to share an image of the answer.
Interesting Discussions
The teachers don’t have to focus continuously on the topic. Occasional diversions to interesting topics including movie or animation characters may be useful for hooking their interest. Small talks on such subjects would be beneficial to increase participation in the virtual classroom.
Offer Incentives
Small benefits or incentives are a good idea to enhance participation. Fix a day in a week, offer them an incentive on that day if they complete all the activities by then. The incentive doesn’t mean a costly gift or something. It could be an opportunity to talk about their pets or show off their talent or display of the artwork they created. Children would be happy to display their “achievements” and the opportunity to show them to their friends will keep them motivated for the entire week.
Flexible Syllabus
Virtual classes don’t have to be strict as in a physical classroom. The syllabus could be flexible depending on the overall mood of the class. The teacher can narrate a story (a moral story, to be precise) if they want, on a particular day. The story should be helpful to elevate their spirits and an optimistic attitude.
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All these points would require well-qualified teachers, who understand child psychology. One can never push knowledge into a student’s brain. It needs his or her cooperation and complete attention to make sure that they imbibe the concepts and theories. Inattentive students are a common concern of any teacher. It has become a common issue with the classrooms turned virtual.
The International School of Thrissur
The International School of Thrissur (TIST) remains one the top schools in Kerala, by relentlessly pursuing the vision, “to ignite and empower through education.” We have been providing exceptional education by following global pedagogical standards. We understand the fact that children are the assets for tomorrow, who would help the country in its stride forward.
Your kids can enjoy a complete digital campus with tab-based learning and smart classrooms. We have a team of handpicked teachers with extensive experience and brilliant qualifications. They understand student psychology and institute the right teaching methodologies to keep them engaged and attentive. You can consider enrolling your kids in TIST, to ensure that they have a brighter tomorrow.
To enroll your kid in TIST, contact us now.