How smart class teaching makes learning effective and interactive?

Countries, communities have relied on teachers since time immemorial. They have a special place in society because of the way they transform lives. But, as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on everyone’s life and schools declared indefinite closure, teachers found themselves in an uncharted scenario where they were left to fend for themselves without any guided aid. They conducted online learning without any formal training or support, which raised a few eyebrows.

The ongoing crisis could undermine decades of progress and aggravate deep-rooted inequalities. In addition, the pandemic has highlighted that teacher education and training require reforms to stay synced with new education delivery methods.

Teachers, like all professionals, require ongoing professional development opportunities to enhance their skillsets. As the health crisis unfolded, education systems worldwide took prompt measures to prevent learning disruptions. Governments responded quickly, and schools found a ‘smart’ way to ensure learning continuity. However, the gap in teachers’ expertise to conduct online classes dwindled the potential of online learning.

Need for expertise in smart class teaching

Smart class teaching is different from traditional teaching. In a traditional classroom setup, where a blackboard and chalk were considered primary tools, technology automates the essential functions and is the primary driver for student’s learning in a smart classroom setup. In addition, Digital learning is becoming an intrinsic part of modern classrooms, and hence, teachers need to stay up to date with digital literacy.

Teachers’ unpreparedness to switch to remote learning must be mitigated with relevant training and resources to prevent further learning damage.

What can Indian schools do?

Teachers are on the front lines extinguishing the fire, and they will need assistance to do so successfully. Indian schools have been struggling ever since the classes got remote. With ample resources to support virtual classrooms but no teacher training, the system will not reap maximum benefits. Teachers will require training and additional support to implement remedial education and social-emotional learning, which has become an essential aspect of virtual classes. They would also require building know-how around the hybrid learning approach, which would not have been part of their formal training.

Continuous Professional Development is an important aspect to stay updated on new teaching methods to ensure quality education. CPD equips the workforce with refined skills to give students a better learning experience that is result-oriented.

Often considered a threat, technology is perhaps the only means to enhance teaching. Hence, digital competence is critical to achieving the potential of smart class teaching. Quality education is equally proportional to quality teaching. Once the former is achieved, the latter follows.

How is LEAD helping teachers enhance their skills to keep up with the disrupted world?

Keeping in mind the modern-day challenges that a teacher faces, LEAD offers Teacher Development Workshops to enable and strengthen their abilities. Through this, their inbuilt talent is nurtured, and they are trained to conduct online classes effortlessly. In addition, they are given training on how to use LEAD resources effectively to carry out an effective class.

Teachers also get an excellence kit that contains high-quality lesson plans. The workshop also trains teachers on how to deploy a lesson to get the best results. Besides this, many webinars are conducted for LEAD teachers by the LEAD Excellence Team, where they are trained in specific subjects, like ELGA, Coding, etc.

At LEAD, we believe that a motivated teacher is a better teacher, and hence we keep striving to motivate them with our offerings. It is critical to re-engage children with effective remote learning until it gets safe to return to schools.