Skip to main content

Removing the Electronic or the e-Wall from Online Education

 

As many educators, particularly in developing countries, continue to navigate how to administer their lessons online, a lot of the strategies that were utilised in the physical classroom are either downplayed or eliminated. Additionally, students are seemingly more tech savvy than their facilitators and as a result, become disengaged after the first 10-15 minutes of the lessons with the absence of strategies that would peak their interests. This article aims to suggest a list of strategies, as well as, a few suggestions that can be used to ‘jazz up’ the lessons that educators administer virtually so that students who participate in online lessons are enticed to participate. Here goes:

1.       Online Debates:

Allow students to participate in online debates. This way they will have to collaborate with other students on their own time. Also, working together beyond the formal virtual walls helps to develop and maintain human relations and interactions which is particularly vital for new students who would be interacting for the first time. Having the students participate in online debates, puts them at the central focus of the teaching learning process, in such, the educator/facilitator would not be the only person talking and attempting to pull responses from students. 

These same debates can be used as means to also foster discussions in forum on discussion boards that could also enhance the asynchronous aspects of learning.

2.       Role play:

Students can get creative by role playing. It has been observed, time and time again that when this strategy is used in the classroom, students come alive and there is the opportunity for discussions after role play. Like debating, much of the students’ preparation will be external to the formal teaching/learning session. As such, this gives students the opportunity to be creative and to interact with each other.

 3.       Oral Presentations:

Have students do presentations as you would in the physical classroom. Remember that a student centred environment is what will allow students to receive the maximum benefits from the teaching learning process.

4.       Interactive PowerPoint Presentations and Quizzes

As it relates to engaging students asynchronously, interactive PowerPoint presentations are an excellent way to keep students engaged. Also, they have the opportunity of learning in a nonlinear way as they can choose the topics they want to study first. Interactive quizzes are also very good at keeping students interested as they are equipped to give students instant feedback. There are many videos on YouTube that demonstrate how to create interactive quizzes.

Certainly, there are many more strategies, such as games and so on, that educators are accustomed to using in the physical classroom; however, the ideas that have been presented are only but a few ways that facilitators can motivate students to participate online as we continue to move away from the chalk and talk or in this instance, talk-talk-talk.

Now, here are a few of my suggestions that could stir some excitement in the virtual classroom:

 Invite an Expert/Celebrity/Icon to your sessions

Invite a celebrity or a popular person or expert every now and then to visit the virtual classroom and talk with students. They will definitely enjoy that.

Collaborate with Other Educators

Technology has diminished the size of the global space; now more than ever, there are opportunities for teachers to co-teach with other teachers in other jurisdictions or even to arrange for their students to virtually meet students from other countries. Technology gives us the opportunity to be in more places than one at the same time.

As it relates to more practical subjects, such as science, food and nutrition, and so on, it may be difficult to organise ways in which those practical aspects can be accessed, but there are ways to work around these challenges if educators get creative. The current situation, posed by Covid-19 has provided endless opportunities, it is therefore just for teachers/educators to explore them.

Be mindful, that it is no longer about technology in the classroom, technology has become the classroom!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Facilitating Learning with the Use of Learning Management Systems

  The Education system has experienced a shift occasioned by the use and growing trend in technology and technology advancement. For many educators, though necessary, it has become overwhelmingly difficult to manage this shift as the changes in the system of education are occurring near lighting speeds. Technology is being developed at an alarmingly rapid rate and many educators while trying to navigate the virtual space are required at the same time to balance how they facilitate the teaching and learning process. The good thing about online learning is that once the foundational aspects have been set, the management of technology tools in education becomes easier. What is online education? Online Education is the facilitation of the process of teaching and learning via the internet using technological devices. Benefits of facilitating education online: 1.      Education facilitated online breaks the boundary of distance. Teachers and students can communicate f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Minimising the Negative Effects of Online Education

O nline School is here! The classroom has inevitably been forced to take on a new dimension - online. For many educators and students alike, this way of engaging, particularly for an entire day of learning, is absolutely new. Learning online comes with a lot of challenges that can impact the health of the learner, as such, educators and parents must find ways to limit these effects.  There are several solutions that can be employed to ensure the safety, and health of learners. In the case of parents: Install Comfortable Workstations Parents should as best as possible, install comfortable workstations for their children. Chairs should be comfortable, possibly with armrests, back support cushions, and provide allowance for the learner's foot to be able to touch the ground.  Devices such as laptops, tablets or phones should be placed at eye level to prevent the learner from hanging over their head for prolonged periods of time. Parents should provide wrist pads, to support the le...
Post a Comment
Read more

Breaking into the Content Economy

We are living in a content driven world!  Increasingly, there are more individuals attempting to break into the Content Economy hosted on the internet. Carving out a niche online, in the first instance, is absolutely time consuming as it requires a degree of consistency and in-depth and thorough research to ensure that whatever content you put online is credible and trustworthy. Doing your due diligence will not only ensure that you target the right audience, but it will also that they will return. Think about your online platform as a business: would you like for customers to return repetitively? Before you attempt to build your online presence, it is therefore important to: Brainstorm :     Brainstorm and do a rough draft of the information that you would like to communicate to your audience. Think of why it is important for your audience to know this information and what are the benefits that they will garner from your content. Consider and make note of: the audie...
Post a Comment
Read more