Strategies for Effective Online Teaching- ‘Behind the Scenes’ of a Live Class Delivery
“Effective online teaching ensures student retention.”
Unlike tuitions/private classes, enrolling in online classes creates a scheduled yet far more relaxed and flexible environment, beneficial for both students and parents. But it might get challenging for educators themselves, as online classes are a paradigm shift from traditional classroom teaching. So, how can you ace being an online educator? Here are some tips we at RUBEX follow before, during, and after taking an online class to make your online pedagogy more effective.
A. Before a Live Class
Most of the hard work in taking a live class happens backstage. Effective pedagogy requires prior preparation and foresight about what’s expected during class. Here are a few critical points to note before starting a live class:
- Time management
Breaking down the content (the concepts you are planning to teach) and assigning a specific duration for each chunk avoids loss of time. It includes:
- Time duration for introduction
- Introducing the topic
- Outline of the lesson
- The concepts to be taught
- Activity-based on the class
- Takeaways from the particular session
- Final questions from student
2. Know student’s pain points
While researching students’ pain points, stress on concepts most difficult for students to understand in class which leads to student retention.
3. Clear outline
Clear outline by writing a brief script for a live class or making modifications for reuse in future classes on similar topics is done for a better structure for our session. Highlights in the script can be used as a guide to keep the lecture on track.
4. Activities
Teachers should engage students, get creative with at least one activity based on the concept they taught (could be simple questions, a puzzle, anything!) at the end of the session.
5. Compile takeaways
Make a list of the takeaways for every class like points for the students to take.
6. Keeping material ready
Keep the material ready with us and share at the end of the lesson to save time, especially using visual aids like concept maps and flowcharts with minimal information.
B. During a Live Class
Taking a live class is no less than a performance! It requires confidence, the right temperament, and a pleasant attitude. Following are the guidelines that make teaching more effective:
- Make the student feel comfortable
Making the student comfortable builds his trust in our abilities. It can be done by introducing ourselves to the student and knowing about him before the session. Maintaining eye contact during the session also helps.
2. Understanding the Why?
Understand the why of students for taking the class — to understand a concept, to score higher in exams(school or competitive), to be an advanced learner…?
3. Using a fun, conversational tone
It is necessary to sound fun, without the use of slang or trying to be funny, by maintaining an energetic tone in our voice and using intonation.
4. Use relatable examples
For every concept, use examples and analogies relatable in daily life. The disconnect happens when a concept is made easy to understand but without an approachable blueprint.
5. Put yourself in students’ shoes
When teaching a student, it is important to put yourself in his shoes without assuming the background of his knowledge of the lesson. By recreating his state of mind, we will know what and how to teach through the use of mnemonics and other devices to help students learn and memorize concepts.
6. ‘Give and Take’ of feedbacks
Providing constructive feedback by telling him if he is good at something, encouraging him to speak up or whether he knows a concept to a great extent or lacks in something is mandatory. Also, feedback by students is compulsory, not by asking direct questions like ‘please give me your feedback’ but questions like, ‘did this class address all your doubts?’, ‘are you willing to come back for more classes?’, etc.
C. After a Live Class
Jotting down personal notes after a live class like making a list of mistakes that we think we made, instances where we think we could have given a better example for improving our pedagogy is helpful.
At RUBEX students can learn live from expert teachers through a unique pedagogy focussed on the needs of individual students!
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