HOW TO BE AN EFFECTIVE ONLINE TEACHER?
Cecile N. Velasco
Some schools have already started their classes while others in few weeks. Pupils are most affected by the quality of their teachers. Not only do they interact with teachers every day in the classroom, but the quality of that interaction maters for our pupils’ future. The digital classroom brings with it a range of unknown and unexplored territory, mostly in part to its relative newness when compared to traditional teaching methods. It has been creating a revolution in the educational sector. Embedded with modern day technologies, such interactive classrooms offer a friendly environmental to the pupils where they may clear all their concepts while having endless fun. 1.Stay updated on the new technology – Take an hour to familiarize yourself with the technology. Some of our pupils are teachy, so be prepared to trouble shoot and let your pupils know you are working on it. 2.Develop classroom presence – You might not be physically present in a classroom, but there are many ways to make yourself known in the digital realm. Send a message to all pupils, by video if possible, to welcome them to online learning and reassure them. Use video chat rather than basic instant message when interacting with pupils. 3.Set clear expectations – These expectations should include everything from what they expect from you as their teacher, as well as what will be required of them. Online learning is new to the pupils as well, expect the unexpected and be flexible. Make it clear to pupils how their grade in the lesson be determined now. Tell them that participation often makes up a much larger portion of the grade than in face to face classes. 4.Let your pupils do the talking – Ask questions that empower participants to questions each other, and elicit rich discussion. Give your pupils plenty of opportunity to engage with the content and each other you can ask them to find and discuss resources, grade their own assignments, and hold pupil-led discussion in the online forums. 5.Ask regular feedbacks – You should ask your pupils for direct and honest feedback on how things are going. From this you can encourage your pupils to become more interested and they will participate in whatever tasks or activities you set forth.