These past few years have had a profound impact on our lives, and education is no exception. Although most traditional classrooms are now back teaching in person, virtual teaching will still play a significant role.
Virtual teaching is still useful for educators, whether it's to deal with illness, teach across the globe, or make sure students don't miss learning.
Many of the same problems teachers faced when they first moved to the virtual classroom persist today. It can be hard to recreate the sense of belonging and community when teaching young children online.
Virtual teaching is not an option, but there are many ways to make it work for you. This article will help you ensure your students are not missing out on the social aspects of education. You can also make use of the online technology to create innovative and engaging lessons.
How do you create an online learning environment that is engaging?
Teachers know how crucial it is to create a learning community that is open and supportive. This is especially important for teachers who are restricted to teaching via video calls. These tips will help students feel at home, even if they are learning in their bedroom.
1. Establish routines and expectations
A teacher's ability to confidently lead a class is dependent on having a good understanding of school routines and expectations. This consistency will make it difficult for pupils to understand the expectations surrounding their behavior and work.
This is also true for teaching online. Start by defining what you expect from your students when you teach an online class. You should consider how your students will contribute to the class and ask questions. Also, think about where they can submit their work. Finally, decide if you want to turn on all of your pupils' cameras and microphones.
Encourage older students to discuss what an ideal professional learning environment online looks like. The definition of ethical culture is a set or expectations that are shared by people. This should guide the environment you create.
Photo sourced from Unsplash
This could be done online with the whole class. This will allow you to set expectations together and make sure that your students have a clear understanding of what is expected.
You should also establish a routine for your online school day. You can set aside time each day for class discussions, or assign tasks to your students such as filling in a section on a Google Doc.
After you have established the expectations and routines for online learning in your class you need to make sure your students follow them. It is important to ensure that your students are comfortable with the rules and that they understand them.
2. Use morning meetings
Try to include a meeting with your students in the morning when you plan this routine. This will help you build community and a structure that encourages your students to learn.
You can focus this time on building a community for younger children. You can think about how you would engage children in a classroom setting and then try to do the same thing online. These can be classroom singalongs or interactive games.
For older students, morning meetings can also be very useful. These meetings can help to recall yesterday's learning. You should also consider cloud collaboration tools that can be used to encourage students to collaborate to summarise previously learned information.
This time should be used to create a sense of community in your class. Encourage your class to sing "Happy Birthday" if a pupil has a birthday. This is a good time to congratulate pupils for their hard work and classroom contributions.
3. Make the most of technology
Although teachers may be tempted to focus on the negative aspects of teaching online, the web offers new opportunities for teaching.
These ideas can be very ambitious. For example, AR/VR learning is becoming more popular. AR and VR equipment can be used by your students to bring your teaching to life.
Gamification is one example of AR and VR that can be used. You can think about the parts of your curriculum students will understand better if they interact with it. For example, you might use VR to teach history.
Not all educational institutions can afford to purchase expensive equipment like VR headsets for their students. This doesn't necessarily mean they can't make use of the latest technology.
Online learning offers the perfect opportunity for you to play games and take quizzes. These may be distracting in a classroom but encouraging students to complete them online can make a big difference in learning.
You can also use social media to teach (with the appropriate age groups). For example, you might create Instagram reels for classroom use. These would be small, easily understood bits of information that your students can learn.
4. Encourage peer learning and collaboration
Image taken from Unsplash
Social learning is what makes physical and virtual learning different for children. It is important to offer plenty of opportunities for cooperation if you want your pupils to develop properly.
You can do this in whole-class meetings by using breakout rooms. These can be used to encourage pupils to work in small groups and discuss worksheets or questions. Peer learning is a great way for you to ensure that your virtual lessons go beyond a live stream in which you talk about a topic.
You should also encourage interaction between pupils to foster a sense community and belonging within your class. Pairs of students could be given specific tasks in the classroom, such as moderating chats and greeting others who participate in video calls.
You should be able connect to your class via a sophisticated virtual phone systemspan styling="font-weight 400 ;">, Lunch calls between classes can help to create a sense of community among your pupils, who might not see their classmates in other classes.
5. Personalize your teaching
It can be easy to get lost behind your webcam when teaching online. Online teaching can make it more difficult to build strong relationships with your students than in a classroom.
Building personal relationships with your students is one way to ensure that they are happy. Knowing morespan styling="font-weight 400 ;">. You can schedule one-on-one meetings with students to monitor their progress and discuss their interests.
It can be hard to keep track of all the details about every student in a large class. Teaching virtually allows you to access this information, via a Word document or specialized software. You can build relationships with people even online by recording details and mentioning them.
Image taken from Unsplash
It's not enough to get to know your students; it is equally important to give your pupils the opportunity of getting to know you personally. Consider how you present yourself as a person to your students. Consider what background you have for your webcam photo. Perhaps you can show off a poster that shows a little of your personality.
You can also achieve this via virtual learning by using an online questionnaire to allow students to vote for questions they would like to ask you. This can help you make your teaching more personal and create a sense community in your class by incorporating these answers into a morning session.
Virtual Learning–not an obstacle to building a community of belongingness
Teachers can be intimidated by the idea of teaching online, as we have seen. Many teachers struggle to replicate the best aspects of traditional classrooms online, especially when they are trying to create a learning community.
By following this article, you can ensure that your students in online classes feel the same sense of belonging and community as those in physical schools.
Your pupils will have a great learning experience if you establish clear rules and guidelines and encourage collaboration. Your classes will be more positive and communal if they have regular morning meetings and emphasize personal relationships.
You also have new ways to engage students through virtual learning, such as AR and VR learning. This means you can create an online classroom that's perfect for your students to learn!
The article How to Create a Classroom of Community and Belongingness While Teaching Virtually appeared first at Emerging Education Technologies.
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By: Jenna Bunnell
Title: How to Build a Classroom of Community and Belongingness When Teaching Virtually
Sourced From: www.emergingedtech.com/2022/12/build-classroom-of-community-belongingness-teaching-virtually/
Published Date: Tue, 06 Dec 2022 14:40:47 +0000
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