The current Covid-19 pandemic has caused a massive disruption in the life of each individual around the globe. Schools all over the country are closed for an unknown period. There is no clear visibility when the schools and colleges will start their routine again.
The learning process is on halt due to all of this. Schools and colleges are looking for alternate options through online classes for their students to continue their education year. The Internet has made it possible for schools, teachers to adopt remote learning methods in this pandemic.
For both teachers and students, remote learning is not the same as the classroom. But to keep learning on track here are few tips. These tips will help to maximize the utilization of available tools for teaching students from home.
1. Online Learning Doctrine:
The school administration needs to create a comprehensive remote learning plan for students and teachers. This plan will have a detail of subjects and topics to cover within a given time. It will identify the role and responsibility of students, teachers, and parents in online learning.
Online learning doctrine also sets the goals and expectations at the end of a specific period. Parents will have an idea of what their children will be able to learn through remote learning.
This plan will help both students and teachers to follow and fulfill their responsibilities properly. It will keep remote learning in the right direction.
2. Learning Management System:
Online classes need to setup in LMS (learning management system) such as Schoology, Microsoft teams, or Google classroom. It is important to keep in mind that students and teacher both should be familiar with the tools that are selected for online classes.
Unfamiliarity with the online tools can create confusion and may result in wastage of time. To solve the problem of familiarity, the school administration needs to arrange an introductory session of these tools for both students and teachers.
3. Online Platforms:
Learning is about the interaction between teachers and students. Other than lectures from teachers, it includes discussion, questions from students, assignment solution, and submission. Schools need to consider an online platform that facilitates these options in remote learning.
There are different platforms available that support the online discussion, assignment submission, and sharing of different resources for students to learn. Flipgrid, Padlet, and SeeSaw are few examples of such platforms. One of the great advantages of online, remote learning is that students can access study materials around the clock and outside of class time. This assists them in developing knowledge of subjects and promotes independent learning. It doesn’t matter if they are a high school student or studying for a DNP degree from Wilkes University. Around the clock access to resources via an online platform helps students progress with their education and gives them a sense of responsibility.
4. Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning:
Synchronous learning is live and real-time interactive learning sessions using different tools in remote learning. While asynchronous learning is a pre-recorded session available online for students to watch without any real interaction during the lecture.
For schools, teachers, and students, it is difficult to have full synchronous learning during this pandemic. A better approach is to mix both types of learning. Have pre-recorded lectures available for students to watch. The watch time of students can be tracked through different apps to monitor their progress.
Weekly interactive sessions for students should be arranged using the internet for synchronous learning rather than daily. This will create a sodapdf merge and students can learn in a much better way.
