Dos And Don'ts Of Online Teaching
Most of the educational institutions are closed in India and other countries. Because of the COVID-19 lockdown, teachers are instructed by their organizations to conduct online classes. We are going to discuss important things related to conducting online classes that will help teachers.
We will try to explore and answer the following questions related to conducting online classes during the COVID-19 lockdown in India.
- Why do we need to conduct online classes?
- What do we mean by online classes?
- What are the basic dos and don'ts of conducting online classes?
- What extra things can be done due to COVID-19?
1. Why Do We Need To Conduct Online Classes?
Because of the COVID-19 lockdown, most of the educational institutions in India are closed. But, during this lockdown, a portion of the syllabus could be completed by conducting online classes. This will help teachers cover the syllabus after the educational institutions reopen. Consequently, conducting exams on time will help maintain the flow of study for students. In addition, students will be engaged in studies during this lockdown.
2. What Do We Mean By Online Classes?
By online classes, we mean conducting teaching and learning sessions with the help of ICT; the internet is an important player. Nowadays, we have a lot of open-source LMS solutions like Moodle, Edmodo, Google Classroom, Chamilo, and Canvas.
You can inform students through email or WhatsApp about the time and topic of the online class. You can also stream your video tutorials live on YouTube. After a tutorial, you can answer students' questions on WhatsApp by using a group chat. Follow this by sharing the related assignments on Google Classroom.
3. What Are The Basic Dos And Don’ts Of Conducting Online Classes?
Dos
- Collect email addresses and contact numbers of all the students and create a group of students in the LMS through which you want to conduct online classes.
- Prepare yourself before the actual online class. It is best to rehearse offline before your class.
- Check all the necessary equipment and services, like your internet, laptop, camera, etc. before your session.
- Be ready with the assignments that you want to share after your online class, like a list of questions related to the topic.
- You may also ask one or two students to be volunteers and help you pass important information about the online session to other students in the group if required. It will reduce your workload, you will not have to inform each and every student. This may be beneficial in conveying last-minute changes if any.
- Give your students all the instructions required so that your online class runs smoothly and is fruitful.
- During online sessions, give proper breaks so that the students will have the time to think about the topic and frame their questions as doubts.
- It is better to keep your class short or as a series of short sessions; this depends on various parameters, like the topic, the participation of students, and the teaching plan.
- You may ask a few open-ended questions related to the topic during the online session to make students more responsive.
- Encourage students not only to ask their queries or doubts related to the topic but also to answer the questions asked by their peers. You may set up an online discussion forum for this.
- Post the assignments just after your session and announce the details in your session.
- Take feedback from the students. It will help you learn their point of view about the session.
Don'ts
- Don’t be too formal especially if you are familiar with the students.
- Don’t postpone or cancel a class without any strong reason.
4. What Extra Can Be Included In Tutorials Due To COVID-19?
- During your online class, you may request students to wash their hands properly at regular intervals.
- You may share a template or poster regarding precautionary steps for COVID-19 published by WHO or the government in your tutorial.
- Share some positive quotes during your tutorial.
