10 Ways to Embrace Mobile Teaching

By Becky Pincince

As a teacher, you rushed to get all of your material online, find a way to distribute necessary information to your students and their parents, and learn about platforms like Google Classroom and Zoom. It’s been a challenging time, but also a unique one, because many students are bearing far more responsibility for their education than they ever have before. For some students internet and technology access is a major hurdle, but even those with all the tools they could want are likely learning online for the first time.

As a teacher, your ability to empower your students to take ownership for their learning is a huge factor in how well they will navigate this crisis. They are already pretty comfortable online, but when you lead by example and embrace the opportunities mobile learning provides, you will encourage them to explore its full potential. This is also an important time to continue building relationships with your students, since now more than ever they need your steady, reassuring presence in their lives. Here are ten ways to embrace mobile teaching and build relationships with your students.

1. Be Open and Honest

This is a stressful time. You had a short period of time to transition to a remote format, your students are adjusting to learning without the structure of a school day, and their parents are trying to figure out how much support they need to — or are able to — provide. Based on their age level, be open and honest with your students and their parents about how the pandemic and going online has been difficult. At the same time, emphasize the importance of supporting one another and how this is an opportunity for growth and learning. Encourage them to care for their mental health and make sure they know how to ask for help from parents or professional counselors if they need it.

2. Communicate Frequently

Using a text messaging system puts your class front and center in your students’ lives. Remind is a popular option that lets you chat with students and their parents, but there are many to choose from. Here is a guide about using Remind for remote learning specifically. In addition to contacting your students frequently, make sure they know how to ask you for help, whether by email, phone, or mobile learning platform. Consider having virtual “after-school hours” where they can have a one-on-one video chat or phone call with you.

3. Use Fun Visuals

If you haven’t already embraced emoji in your communications with your students, now might be the time. They are colorful, eye-catching, and can add more personality to your messages and emails. You can also make a personalized Bitmoji avatar here, and here are some tips for using the stickers with your students. For video chat or recorded lectures, take the time to introduce your pets or use a fun background related to the lesson.

4. Lead a Conversation

Discussion boards help students connect from their own homes. Here are some tips for having informative discussion boards about the course content. But not all questions have to be related to class: think of the things your students would discuss during downtime. Maybe you can have a place to share current news related to your subject, talk about self-care strategies during quarantine, or post pet pictures.

5. Leverage Learning Styles

This is a great time for students to delve into their learning styles. They can complete the VARK questionnaire here, and afterwards it details the best ways for them to study based on their results. Encourage students to find online resources that best serve their needs — whether it is a puzzle, how-to video, flashcards, or podcast. Seeking out and finding their own materials to supplement the ones you provide will help your students become more active learners.

6. Support Personalization

Previously, many students relied on the structure of the school day and your supervision to keep them on track. Instead of a classroom, they will now be able to make their own learning space and design their own schedule. Depending on how involved their parents can be, they may need to learn how to motivate themselves in order to complete their schoolwork. Your students are likely curious about things outside of your curriculum, so offer extra credit to entice them to explore on their own.

7. Offer Frequent Check-Ins

Students will feel more empowered to learn and take control of their education if they know what is expected of them. Make your grading standards and schedule clear. Frequent quizzes, tests, assignments, and other assessments can be implemented with online systems, and they let your students see how they performed, often instantly. This also allows you to see which students need more challenging work and which students need extra help.

8. Record Lectures

One of the perks of online classes is that your students can always access their course materials. Recording your lectures can be very beneficial for them. Start the video by welcoming them back, and finish it by encouraging them to reach out to you if they have any questions, that way they feel connected to you even though you’re not speaking in person. Here are some general tools for recording your lecture, but you can also do it through PowerPoint.

9. Encourage Collaboration

Google Drive is a great way to have students work together on projects, and the version history of the document can give the group members and you a better idea of who has contributed what. Here are some tips to help your students collaborate remotely for a project. You can also teach them how to start a virtual study group (or host one yourself) and open a discussion board where your students can post questions and help their peers.

10. Use Interactive Lessons

The devices students will be using to learn — phones, laptops, and tablets — all provide a hands-on experience that makes it easier to incorporate lessons with swiping, scrolling, or quizzes. There are extensive online resources that can bring your lessons to the next level, as well as plenty of activities and templates to help make your lessons more interactive and keep your students engaged.