Having to switch to an online class has been an ongoing challenge for teachers but they are doing the best they can and exceeding everyone’s expectations. Whether you are a teacher in K12 or higher ed some classes are much easier to teach online than others, but at the end of the day, I think we all miss having closer contact with our students. It has been a slight challenge to read body language, eye contact, and sometimes I’m not sure if my students are daydreaming. Today we are going to explore some ideas that may help bridge that gap between ourselves and our students now that we are physically separated from them. We hope some of them will be useful in thinking about distance learning in a slightly different way.

How are you speaking to every student?

Welcome, all students to your online class, even if you have to stop in the middle of a sentence! I had a great friend, Kara Guiff, who shared how she has roles in her online class and one of her classroom jobs was a greeter. Everyone wants to be acknowledged, a friendly hi, John welcome to class goes a long way. Recognizing individuals their successes, and having them share, thoughts, as well as their work, is a great way to build relationships. Breakout rooms for groups and having 1 to 1 meetings with students are also great ways to engage individual students, it also gives you a good sense of where they are in relation to the material (5 Ways to Take Some of the Distance Out of Distance Learning, 2021).

Tips that will make your online class an immersive place to be…

1. Know individual students’ needs and what they like: make sure they have everything they need to be successful in the class while keeping in mind each student’s unique learning style. Make sure you always have images and close captions on for everyone.

2. Humanize your class: It’s okay to have fun, survey them to see what they like to do for fun and create an activity that relates to their idea and explore it. Allow students to express themselves, share experiences, and help one another. (Loom, screencast, are great starting points)

3. Social-Emotional Learning: During this pandemic students are experiencing different emotions and it’s okay to share thoughts and ideas with the group in a safe classroom environment. I encourage you to take that leap and have through tough discussions students will appreciate this gesture.

4. Always have an activity: Students should be excited to come to class especially to see their peers, give them that time to co-create, using a google document or a group video. This is a wonderful way to chunk learning content.

5. Mark your students’ engagement: We want all students to participate in learning, try not to let students go through the whole lesson without speaking. Of course, Canvas, Zoom, and Schoology allow you to track student chats and engagement but work hard to mark who talks and who doesn’t so you are aware the next time you go online.

Our current situation has forced us to find new and improved ways to explore best practices. If you have any new practices, please share them with us! We are a learning community that continues to grow! We all miss our students and being in a face-to-face environment but until we are back together again, let’s learn together. We will continue to strive for greatness in our digital classrooms so let’s make the most of this opportunity and try everything!

References

5 Ways to Take Some of the Distance Out of Distance Learning. (2021). 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-ways-take-some-distance-out-distance-learning

Smith, R., & Lambert, M. (2021). Assuming the Best - Educational Leadership. Retrieved 21 January 2021, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept08/vol66/num01/Assuming-the-Best.aspx

Sprengel, R. (2020, July 05). Learning styles online: How can we allow for different learner types? Retrieved February 05, 2021, from https://www.eltas.de/2020/07/01/learning-styles/