Conclusion
When faculty show passion for teaching, students sense the excitement and demonstrate higher motivation in return. Professional and caring relationships also foster students' learning. Regardless of the populations you teach, several strategies can be implemented to engage online learners. Here are a few general recommendations that apply to most learners:
- Create a classroom climates in which students feel welcome, safe, and included.
- Link the course content to the profession or vocation that students practice or pursue.
- Vary the activities and resources as well as the type of assessments to meet individual preferences.
- Provide ongoing feedback to guide learners toward mastering knowledge and skill.
- Use humor, visuals, and a variety of examples to demonstrate concepts.
- Follow up with students who are not attending class, do not submit assignments, or struggle with the class.
Being a successful instructor is a challenge because each learner is unique in terms of their needs and preferences. If you incorporate a variety of instructional strategies, course materials, and assessments into the courses, chances are greater to meet the needs of all learners as well as make the class an engaging, inspiring atmosphere.
Here are Top 10 general practical tips that are useful in most online classes:
- Provide clear objectives, standards, due dates, assignment instructions, and evaluation criteria.
- Follow universal design principles and create assessments that offer options for demonstrating relevant knowledge and skills.
- Get to know your learners; establish a safe and engaging class environment.
- Model cognitive learning processes in lectures.
- Provide feedback quickly and incorporate peer-feedback opportunities.
- Incorporate case studies and real-world scenarios in lecture.
- Establish multiple small-group discussions and activities and participate in these discussions.
- Utilize short videos, social sharing, action mapping, problem-based learning, storytelling, and gamification.
- Provide examples, demonstrations, and optional resources that meet student needs.
- Implement multiple formative assessments and practice opportunities to detect potential problems and offer solutions.
That's it for now!
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