Online Teaching Tips to Ensure a Connected World for Instructors and Students

6 Tips for Effective Online Teaching

This year, millions of students and instructors may be holding classes online for the first time. We’re here to help. We’ve been ensuring a connected world for years to help teachers and students keep learning.

Online distance learning programs have actually been growing in the last few years as higher-resolution video technology became more affordable. Instructors can reach a wider audience without losing the live interaction often necessary for learning.

Major cloud-based conferencing applications, including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and others, can help keep studies on schedule.

If you are new to online teaching, here are some tips from our education and videoconferencing experts.

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

Be patient with technology. There may be bumps along the way. Your first day might just be getting the system up and running for students. Day two might be trying to figure out how to achieve certain tasks in the software. You’ll get there.

EXPLORE FREE RESOURCES

Locate free services. Zoom has removed limits from the free version so affected K-12 schools are able to use more features. Microsoft has put together a helpful guide for remote teaching if you are new to the practice.

EXTRA CREDIT FOR PIZZAZZ

Keep up engagement. Your in-class presence may not translate as well to computer screens. It’s a hurdle to remember as you adjust your teaching style to sitting still in one place and are trying to work through a technical program while also speaking and interacting with students (see tip four). Enthusiasm helps. In a world of bloggers vying for attention, check out YouTube or TikTok personalities – see what they are doing well with your students and see what you might borrow.

TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE

It’s a real challenge to teach, bring up your PowerPoint, switch to your doc cam, post polls, AND monitor the chat and respond all at once. Don’t go it alone! Find a grad student or willing undergrad to be your helper (while maintaining social distance). Even if they just monitor the chat window, that’s a great help.

CALL STUDENTS BY NAME

Keep your students on the edge of their seats. Call ’em out! And use those polls and emoticons. Have them use the agree and disagree icons, the applause, and laughter emoticons. Keep broad-based questions such as, “What do you think? or “Does everyone get it?” to a minimum.

CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE

If you have another computer or laptop, login as a student so you can make sure what you’re seeing, is what they’re seeing. This saves time and confusion. You can also use picture-in-picture functions if you are sharing a presentation.

These are the Online Teaching Tips to Ensure a Connected World

If you have any videoconferencing or live-streaming questions, our solutions engineers are ready to help. Email us at videoconferencing@officeplusuae.com with the details of your project.