How to stay energised & connected during online teaching?

Teachers often catch their students staring into space in the middle of a class. Just when they think they have devised a well-structured lesson plan, they may find their students distracted and out to lunch. For decades, teachers have been trying novel and interesting teaching strategies to keep their students on the toes and take the monotony out of their academic routine. While strategies have failed, some have worked wonders.

The biggest advantage of making a class interesting is that students retain more when they are attentive. How well a teacher enjoys her lecture session and how interesting a student finds his/her class remain a two-way street. If students are active and engaged, they participate which directly affects teachers and eventually they end up having fun too.

While the fun part seems to be dwindling with the existing education system, the excitement of being a teacher and the fun component for students can still be achieved. A slew of tweaks here and there in the teaching pattern can be devised to flip the entire experience of the classroom.

How to make a classroom effective?

Teachers mostly slurp down their fourth cup of coffee and still hit a wall while teaching. The foremost aspect that makes the entire teaching process engaging reactive students. Let’s look at some ways of grabbing the eyeballs of students and making ‘education’ work for good.

• Teachers can bring an element of engagement where they can aid their study methodology with technology. Various online platforms offer engaging and interesting ways to impart a particular concept or a subject to students.
• Delivering a traditional lecture, asking students towards the end if they have a question doesn’t always work. To encourage student participation, teachers should ask questions that stimulate response and discussion. Teachers can also use various modules that press for answers, and hold the student’s attention.
• Games, in any form, increase motivation through engagement. Irrespective of the class, teachers can gamify the educational process.  Students can practice math and language through the use of computer and video games.
• Using visuals in classrooms can help retain the attention of students. Blackboard knowledge often seems to make students lose interest quickly. Explaining a chapter or a subject with the help of various videos, pictures and visuals help in enhanced understanding of the subject.
• Using unconventional learning material in the form of newspapers, tabloids, stories, jokes, and riddles can also be included in the classroom for better attention of students.

How online teaching is proving to be more effective?

To maintain undisrupted learning amid lockdown, teachers use synchronous and asynchronous approaches for instruction with the help of multiple online learning software and tools. The digital landscape of education renders a comprehensive ecosystem where innovative tools and technologies for teaching online and learning enhance a child’s performance, help teachers and students connect better, and has given the existing education pattern a much-needed break!

But this has not been an easy sail for teachers. When teachers teach online, students lose interest since participation is minimal and it seems like a one-way road. To make things worse, in the absence of the conventional classroom walls, the ‘interactive’ factor has also disappeared.

This drastic move of teaching online from conventional classrooms can be overwhelming for many teachers but looking at the advantages, they most likely will make merry!

As the conventional boundaries of a school stay shut, various academic integrated platforms with their seamless technology and user-friendly interface have surfaced which are helping teachers stay connected with students in the most interesting ways.

These online/offline integrated learning platforms are changing the narrative of the country’s education system. Students are not feeling bored and teachers are no more distracted. They work as a team, almost always are on the same page, and have access to common resources to work in sync. These solutions also have a common platform where the tasks, curriculum plan, timetable, etc. are already fed. Students now aren’t waiting for teachers to begin to teach, they can get started and come to teachers with questions or further instruction.

Once the lockdown is behind us and schools resume, the blend of online and offline learning will continue and that’s why teachers should be open to the idea of hybrid learning.

What the current education pattern failed to do for many years, have been achieved by the academic online integrated management solutions in a short span.

The integrated system based teaching, comprehensive and novel curriculum, various games, quizzes, competitions, guaranteed results, etc. are some benefits that can be achieved via online management platforms.

Since there are big debates on the national level about making India a global superpower and aiding the country’s future generation with ample knowledge, the integrated management systems could be the nudge this sector needed.

Teachers with proper training who can easily hop between online and offline modules are going to be the educators the next generation will look up to!

Seamless technology is extremely useful in helping teachers create meaningful learning environments within an online setting. Integrated academic platforms are not just the present-day saviour but are here to stay.

Hybrid/blended learning remains essential for the reopening of schools since it creates a platform where teachers can pick up from where they have left without creating any lag.

How is LEAD School training the teachers of the future?

LEAD School has been one of the frontrunners in providing partner-schools with an excellent and comprehensive learning experience. LEAD School converts Afford Private Schools (APS) across India into institutions for excellent learning for every child, via its integrated systems solutions.

Digital Learning Content, Physical Reader & Workbooks, Learning activities, E-books, Regular assessments & Practices quizzes, Personalised revisions, Home practice, live classes from a LEAD School expert teacher, and National competitions are some unique features of the LEAD School. Further, The LEAD Certification Programme for teachers is devised to enable them and strengthen their abilities.

LEAD Schools is best placed to build a community of teachers, empower and upskill them for being successful in their core profession.