5 Things to Improve Your Online Teaching Strategy

Online teaching requires different types of interactions with students. We`ve identified five things based on research to help you put your learners on the right track.

1. Keep up-to-date with the latest technologies

Technology is changing fast and shaping industries on the go. If you’re not keeping up with it, both you and your students will be left behind. So spend at least an hour getting familiar with the latest technology. Add tools such as video creators, online video trimmers, and more to your own platform. These tools will help you create and trim videos when you need them to represent your views to your students. Also, you should learn how to troubleshoot when you are facing any issues. The video editors and online video trimmers will help you maintain the video length so that the video won’t go for a long time. If you’re facing a problem, notify the students.  

It is important to inform students to whom they can go for technical assistance. Make contact information readily available and be prepared to direct students to the right person if they require assistance. And if you need more help, you can consult help centers as well. Many online video trimmers offer assistance to edit and trim video when you need it.

1. Be ready for any unexpected event

Irrespective of how good the systems are that you have put in place, there will be moments when they face glitches or, even worse, fail. Video chats will not work, screen-sharing will stop functioning, and you might be unable to hear each other. 

To prepare yourself against any such event, always keep a Plan B handy. Be honest in how you inform students of the possibility of a technical glitch. For instance, develop an outline of the steps that students should follow if they are unable to complete tasks due to technical issues.

Also, don`t be scared to tackle technical issues in real-time. For instance, in group discussions or other real-time collaborative tasks to help you reduce time. Create and trim videos by using editors and video trimmers so that your students can complete their tasks by watching videos while you are facing technical issues.

1. Ensure that your video won’t bore the student

When it comes to studying, usually, students avoid events that they feel are boring. If your video is more than 1 hour, it may bore your students even with exciting information. That is why make sure that you keep your video small and impactful. Suppose your video is very long. Then you can create more than one part of your video. For example, if your piece of work is more than 1 hour long, then you can trim video by using an online video trimmer to keep it short and represent your video in four parts. These video trimmers will help you cut the unnecessary and irrelevant parts that don’t make sense to the video topic. This will help your students connect with the topic you want to teach. And also, they won’t feel bored when watching your video online. So ensure that you have a small but impactful message so that your students will grab it instead of leaving it behind.

1. Keep building and maintaining a solid foundation

If possible, email each student who is watching class videos and encourage them to take part in online learning. Make use of video chat instead of instant messaging for communicating with students. Engage students through discussions. Use non-verbal communication, such as emojis. All of this will also help build a strong rapport between you and your students.

1. Set out goals

Inform students about how their work/grade will be evaluated. Establish expectations regarding response time. For instance, you must be clear about your commitment to responding to messages within a day or two. Students would want to know that you will respond to emails within the next couple of hours. 

1. Establish an interactive environment

Students will notice how you set the tone in class. Engage without taking on too much stress. Be more genuine by posting a welcoming message or biographical profile and photos which narrate the story of your daily activities. Encourage each student to design an individual homepage. Spend time in the classroom and ask students to share information about their content. Engage the participants by asking them questions. Communicate with the entire class rather than directing comments to only a select few. 

You should also keep in mind the following techniques:

What are active learning and teaching strategy?

One approach to teaching that works both offline and online is active learning. This method aims to engage students in their learning experience, so their education is not just academic but also practical and holistic. 

• Reciprocal questioning: In these classrooms, the students and teachers are able to engage in discussions, discuss issues, and cooperate to gain knowledge.
• Cooperative learning strategy: Also known as the three-step interviews, cooperative learning is comparable to mutual questions. Participants ask questions to each other and engage in discussions with each other often without help from their teacher.
• The method of pause: This way, instead of conducting a continuous session, instructors give breaks every 10 to 15 minutes so that students can consider, reflect, or discuss the study material. 
• The muddiest point: The method requires students to pay attention to the things that are unclear about the topic being discussed during class. For instance, it could be the way to apply a certain grammar rule in writing. Students can then discuss their issues in groups or write down their experiences to help the teacher determine the issues.
• Devil`s advocate: This strategy involves having a different perspective and then trying to discover "the other side" by means of debate or, in some cases, through essays or other kinds of writing. 

Exploring opposing perspectives and engaging in debate helps students think critically and form their own opinion.

• Peer-to-peer teaching activities: This type of game is effective because you have to know the subject thoroughly before instructing others on it. Students can participate in role-playing games "buddy-up" to study or guide one another in the topics or lessons they are assigned.
• Learning platforms that are based on games: Everyone loves games. In a classroom setting, games help students learn by doing while still having fun.

It could be conducted in various ways. For instance, students might be engaged in a race to solve math-related problems faster. Or they could be asked to submit various versions of the ending of a story, etc.