How To Make Your Lesson More Engaging For Students While Teaching Remotely
The U.S. has closed schools in 40 states in response to COVID-19 and that number is expected to rise. While some schools have closed altogether, many are trying out remote teaching.
There is certainly a learning curve to the process and you may have to adjust your teaching style to better engage a remote classroom. Stinson Design has a great article featuring, “5 Characteristics Of A Great Presenter” which would be a good resource to get yourself familiar with.
If this is your first time teaching remotely, here are a few suggestions to make your lessons more engaging.
Table of Contents
Set Expectations
Don’t expect everything to be perfect right out of the gate and do allow for some trial and error. However, make sure you set expectations. This goes for both your students and their parents (if you are teaching a younger demographic). Give clear instructions on how and where to submit assignments as well as how they should contact you and for what questions they are allowed to contact you.
Have students familiarize themselves with the new platform (Canvas, Blackboard, etc) and create an entry-level assignment just to test their navigation skills of the platform.
You should also have them take a practice quiz (such as a syllabus quiz) to ensure they know how to take remote tests. For example, your testing software will probably require them to use a microphone and camera, so it’s best they figure out any tech problems now, before their first major test.
Leverage Outside Resources
While you probably performed a lot of lectures in your in-person classes, that system of learning might not work as well now. Remote students will likely become distracted, and as you want to set your students up for success, consider using videos, podcasts and other materials to teach.
Take this as an opportunity to show your students how your subject exists in the real world.
For example, if you’re teaching a psychology chapter on Sigmund Freud, introduce them to a podcast that discusses the topics and some real examples of how his philosophies are used to treat patients today. Or perhaps you could interview a psychologist on a certain topic and have your students listen to the interview.
Create Engaging Slides
You will still likely use some presentations to teach, so consider how you can make them more engaging. For example, be sure to incorporate videos, interactive quizzes, and other engaging elements.
Try to incorporate stories into your slides as well. About 90 percent of people believe that a strong narrative is crucial to an engaging presentation. Think about how you can include current events into your presentation to give your students a real world perspective.
Many teachers also record screencasts of themselves narrating the slides to help students better understand the slides.
Encourage Hands-On Activities
There are many studies that show the negative effects of too much screen time and online classes will add to this. In fact, one study showed that too much screen time may be linked to depression and even suicide. Make an effort to get your students offline and do projects and assignments that are more hands-on.
For example, if you previously had your kids build dioramas and present in class, have them still create it and then record a video of themselves presenting it.
Once it is safe to go outside again, consider having small groups of students meet up at local parks complete group assignments, and get them out of the house.
Create Collaboration Platforms
One of the main things that most people are missing right now is communication. As teachers, one of the most important things you can teach students is how to communicate effectively, even online.
Even after the virus passes, it will likely leave a lasting impact on the workforce with more remote jobs than ever before. In fact, about 62 percent of Americans have worked from home over the course of the virus.
Therefore, this is a great opportunity to teach students how to collaborate remotely. You may even create remote collaboration projects where students learn how to use Google Hangouts, Zoom or other remote communication devices.
You can also upload documents and encourage students to discuss it in the comments collaboratively.
Create Office Hours
Just as you might offer office hours for in-person classes, be sure to offer them for online classes as well. You may choose to offer them over the phone, via Google Hangouts or Zoom, but be sure to offer them in a format where your students can talk to you or a teaching assistant directly.
Block off an hour or two every week and have students book 15-minute time slots on a calendar like Calendly.
Design Surveys
This is a unique experience that most of us are unfamiliar and uncomfortable with. You likely won’t be perfect immediately, so offer surveys to your students. Ask for feedback on what they are struggling with from a technical standpoint and how they think that it could be improved. Could you use different software? Or perhaps offer a different online collaboration method?
Just as real companies often encourage employee feedback, allow your students to give you feedback.
Create a Plan For Students Without Wifi
About 14 percent of school-aged children do not have access to wifi. Before the virus hit, it was simple to tell students without wifi to use school computers or the local library computers. However, in many states, it is illegal to go to libraries or schools to use computers.
Therefore, you need to create a plan for students without wifi. Get in touch with their parents to get a better understanding of their situation. If wifi is not an option, consider sending hard copies of assignments to them. For any collaborative assignments, see if they have a phone and if they can text or call. Discuss it thoroughly with parents and you may decide to create case-by-case scenarios.
Conclusion
Chances are, you never learned how to teach remotely in college, and unlike teachers that signed up to teach remotely, you probably never received any formal training from your employer. Do your best and continue to test different teaching styles. These are extreme times, so just learn from your mistakes, just like you would tell your students.
Ljana Vimont is the managing director of Stinson Design, a design agency specializing in customized, professional, and on-brand presentations for companies across all industries. Ljana’s leadership has taken Stinson from a hobby to a well-respected creative agency working with big global brands like NASA, Microsoft, Google, and Hilton.