Super Useful Teaching Techniques for Online Lessons
Being an aspiring online teacher, I have done some extensive research on how to properly teach online to ensure that my students are learning to the nest of their ability. One of the subjects I was most interested in learning about was what different types of techniques can I utilize while teaching online? While going through the courses and different units, as well as, some online research I have come across five different techniques that I believe online must know.
This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Danielle C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Flipped Classroom
One technique that I would recommend online teachers to try is initializing a flipped classroom, this will depend on the level of the students but has been said to be very effective. A flipped classroom advocates dedicating to going through the topics of the lesson in-depth to develop the student's understanding of the concepts. To make this happen the introductory material should be viewed at home by the students before the class so that the teacher may begin the class indulging in the lesson content. Essentially this model is treated as doing the classwork at home and the homework in class.
Also Read: What are the start up costs for teaching English abroad?
Mind Maps
For visual learners, I would recommend mind mapping. This is a diagram constructed by the students or the teachers and there are multiple ways to implement this into a lesson. The mind map can be used to relate ideas and concepts and can help the students with studying, organizing information, or even to help generate ideas to complete an assignment. It can also be used by the teachers to help better portray the information that is being taught and, in some cases, it can make the more complex concepts less complicated. It has many benefits associated with it the main one being how quick and easy they are to start creating.
Self-Learning
Depending on the level of the student's English, the teacher could implement a self-learning technique. Self-learning takes place in a controlled environment where the teacher encourages the students to explore certain subjects and decide what they deem as important or interesting regarding their interests. Self-learning helps the learners invest themselves in the subject because they can apply it to real-life situations, and they get to explore what they find most interesting. In an online class, the teacher can have the student explore different areas of a generalized concept. From there, the student can create a report on their findings and present them to the class or the teacher. This would help the students with the development and would tell the teacher if the student has a good grasp of the content.
Also Read: How English can Influence a Student's Future Career
Instructional Design
A concept that is being more prominent in the online classroom is instructional design. This concept starts with the teacher getting to learn more about their students and their unique backgrounds. The idea is centralized around designing the classroom around the students' goals and learning backgrounds. This can easily be done with a survey before the start of the first class. The survey should be able to tell the teacher about the student's current understanding of the subjects and what their different learning styles are that are most helpful to them. From there, the teacher can develop a course tailored towards the students and ultimately achieving the goals of the course. This helps ensure that each student feels like they are being taught directly and there is no “one-size-fits-all” learning environment.
Adaptive Learning
Lastly, the utilization of adaptive learning should be implemented throughout the online course. This method involves having the students use computers and assorted technologies as a teaching device to help further their education. As an online teacher, this method is not easily avoidable, so the advice is to take complete advantage of exposing your students to new learning methods. Each student is different when it comes to their style of learning however, technology is great in that aspect because all subjects and materials can be manipulated using technology. Students may learn better through online discussions and some may learn better by watching videos, both of which can be done through different technologies.
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There are so many ways that students can learn and there can be various techniques implemented throughout the classroom. Online teaching techniques are most effective when the teacher takes their time to learn about the students and experiment with different techniques. Gradually, the student will start learning better and the teacher will have a better idea of what works.
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