The Education sector has undergone something of a digital revolution in recent times and this has seen online lessons become more common. Whilst this might have started out mainly in higher education, online teaching is now common in primary and secondary schools. It goes without saying that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this process and online learning may well be something all teachers have to engage more with in future.
However, it can seem a little daunting if you do not have much experience in online teaching. Let's take a look at a few tips for delivering an awesome online lesson.
Make It Interactive
Teaching has come a long way from kids copying information from the blackboard in silence! Modern lessons need to have an interactive element to pique pupils’ interest - this is certainly true for online lessons.
A great tip for delivering the best online sessions is to make them interactive. This will help the pupils engage with what is being taught. Just make sure to tailor the interactive elements to the age group of the class; games are perfect for primary ages, whilst quizzes are better for secondary school kids.
Make Use of Animations and Short Videos
Another great tip is to include short videos and animations. This will go down well with kids of all ages, but it is key to tailor the content to the age range being taught. Animations that are too young in tone, for example, may fail to engage older secondary school children. Visual learning can be very effective for children and finding ways to include this in online lessons is a wise move. It not only gives a break from verbally passing on information but also offers a fun way to deliver content.
Set Ground Rules
Just like real-life lessons, your online sessions should have clear ground rules. Getting these in place from the start ensures pupils know what is expected of them and what is off-limits. It will also encourage them to take the session seriously and engage fully with it. It will also give all pupils an equal opportunity to participate.
From how and when they should ask questions to being on 'mute' while listening, setting rules for your online lessons is crucial.
Think About Micro-Learning
The simple truth is that any teacher can only maintain the attention span of students for a certain period of time. A good idea to combat this is to break up online lessons into shorter chunks. This enables content to be delivered in shorter bursts, which can be consumed more quickly. If you also use breaks to give students a chance to reset, you should find this principle works well.
Supply Teaching Opportunities With Coba Education
Of course, you need to find the right role first before you can put the above tips into action. Here at Coba Education, we help supply teachers across Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes and Yorkshire find the role of their dreams. Get in touch at sales@cobaeducation.com for more details or register with us to find work today.
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