Teaching Online: Tips for Engaging Students in Virtual Classrooms
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COMMENTARY
Teaching Online: Tips for Engaging Students in Virtual Classrooms Abi Sriharan 1,2 Accepted: 7 October 2020 # International Association of Medical Science Educators 2020
Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented challenge for academic institutions: to adapt classroom teaching to the online learning environment rapidly [1, 5]. As higher learning institutions are investing resources to increase the capacity of their technological infrastructure and prepare their faculty for the use of digital teaching tools, it is imperative for educators to focus on the pedagogical aspects of online teaching. In online learning environments, educators are often challenged by the need to strike a balance between delivering content to meet the course objectives and keeping learners engaged in the class activities. I’ve spent more than 10 years studying Master Teachers in Canada, the USA, and internationally to understand what sets them apart from the rest in online and in-person teaching environments. Based on this experience, in this article, I will share five tips for improving online learning for learners.
Tip #1: Curriculum Blueprint A well-developed curriculum blueprint logically maps out your teaching objectives, learning activities, and learning assessments for your course [4]. It can help you assess which aspects in your class are suitable for synchronous learning and also the elements of your class that are suitable for asynchronous delivery. Several weeks prior to your class, create a blueprint of your teaching plan, logically mapping out the teaching objectives, learning activities, and learning assessments for your course. As you map out your class, use the guiding questions in Table 1 to assess which elements are suitable for synchronous learning * Abi Sriharan [email protected] 1
Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
2
The Centre for Health Sector Innovation, Toronto, Canada
and which are suitable for asynchronous delivery. If you have multiple topics to cover, make sure that you provide a clear link between them. In your planning stage, be reflective, prioritize, and have realistic expectations of your learners.
Tip #2: Agile Plan When you are planning an online class, you will need to master effective class room management skills. Set clear expectations about the class start and end time, and as you deliver the class, keep it within the planned time. Ensure you have an appropriate number of concepts to cover within your allocated time. Usually, activities and discussions end up taking more time than initially planned. If your session spans longer than sixty minutes, consider including breaks in your session to ensure your learners can move away from the computer and return with increased attention. Take care of the timing of the small group activities and discussions to ensure they are progressing within the allocated timelines. In an online environment, keeping the learners’ atten
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