The outbreak of Covid-19 and mass lockdowns across the world have left millions of students out of school for many months. Now that the epidemic situation is more manageable, most schools and colleges are mainly back to delivering traditional face-to-face education. Still, after such a long time of distant learning experience, it seems like this form of education is here to stay.
According to the latest statistics, the trend for online learning is growing, with 3 million out of 4.6 million students in public institutions that offer online courses taking at least one such class. Moreover, since 2020, 98% of universities have embraced online learning and offered respective courses.
Other studies revealed that the majority of students are already using e-learning tools every day. They leverage these tools to help them study, handle their assignments, take exams, etc. They also opt for paper writing services to have someone write my essay to support their success. With that being said, we can say that students themselves are ready to undertake online learning.
Still, the opinions about virtual teaching are still biased, mostly among teachers themselves. A 2022 survey showed that 70% of teachers, principals, and district leaders find virtual training much less effective, with only 2% finding it somewhat or much more effective than traditional learning.
So the main question really is how to make virtual instruction effective. In this guide, a professional essay writer online will share some handy tips for changing the quality of online teaching for the best.
1. Encourage Students to Participate
According to a professional essay writer, encouraging students to show up and participate in online classrooms is the primary challenge in virtual teaching. In 2020, the New York Times found that many teachers across the US reported having more than half of their students logged out during online classes. The problems behind this might be different, but the core issue is the lack of motivation.
A respected UK-based educator, Harry Fletcher-Wood, shares a few actionable tips to overcome this primary challenge:
- Clearly communicate goals and expectations;
- Emphasize the participation of other students to play on students’ FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out);
- Make the lessons’ content truly engaging (more on this one later).
If you follow these tips, your students will be more willing to participate in online classes.
2. Work on the Educational Content
Once your students show up for the class, the next big question is what to teach them to help them stay engaged. Unfortunately, traditional educational content is way too boring to keep students interested when they are not physically present in the classroom. Due to this reason, an expert essay writer for hire recommends working on your content more.
Here are a few tricks to grab and keep the attention of students in a virtual classroom:
- Make your presentations more dynamic;
- Include videos;
- Leverage social media;
- Try gamified learning;
- Strive for more interactivity in everything you do during the class.
All these tricks are proven to be effective in attracting students’ attention and keeping them more motivated to participate. So be sure to try these tips.
3. Strive for More Interactivity
Earlier, we told you about the importance of making your educational content more interactive. In fact, this point deserves particular attention. According to experts, more interactive activities inside the classroom boost students’ attention, reduce stress, encourage cooperation, improve memory, add up the motivation to study, and bring many other benefits. While all of this is important in a traditional classroom, it becomes even more crucial in a virtual one, where students find it hard to concentrate and participate in the first place.
The expert from a professional essay writing service review platform suggests educators include more interactive activities like quizzes, discussions, and similar in their curriculums. This simple tip can change the outcomes significantly.
4. Break Down the New Information Into Smaller Chunks
Kent University discovered that a lower level of concentration and shorter attention span seen in modern students hit online classrooms even harder than traditional ones. Apparently, students find it even harder to stay concentrated in a virtual setting, and there is no teacher nearby to ensure that they are paying attention. Due to this reason, the next expert tip from an experienced essay writer is to dole out new information in smaller doses.
Since your students are finding it hard to stay concentrated for a long time, step away from the traditional concept of a 45-60-minute class. Instead, make sure that you spend no more than 15-20 minutes on delivering new information. The rest of the time can be used to revise the information from the previous class. In psychology, the trick of shortening data sessions and returning to the same topics again later is called the “spacing effect,” and it’s proven to boost learning outcomes.
The Bottom Line
The growing trend for online education suggests that this form of learning will be here to stay. Therefore, whether they like it or not, teachers across the globe will have to adjust to it and look for ways to make their virtual instruction better.
Luckily, now you have a few actionable tips from an expert from a trusted essay writing service. Each of these steps is proven to level up the quality of online learning and students’ outcomes. Try them now to make a positive change!