How to make online learning more engaging?

Student engagement is a challenge for any teacher, especially when it comes to virtual classrooms. And when that training happens through VILT (Virtual Instructor-led training) platforms, involving you, your LMS (Learning Management System), and a bunch of screens, it can be even tougher. 

You have your lesson materials. You have a virtual whiteboard. You have a group of individuals with different learning pace. How can you get them to engage, and stay engaged? How can you ensure active online class participation?

Engaging learners in your online learning programme is one of the key points to ensure they learn effectively and grasp most of what they are taught. One of the most efficient ways to engage learners is to make their online classes interactive.

With interactive online learning experiences, learners get a chance to participate actively in their studies. 

Here are some tips to help keep your students interested in digital classrooms until the end of the semester:  

• Implement Presentation mode: Engage your students with illustrations, charts, graphs, PowerPoint slides, YouTube videos, and other forms of eye-catching visual content.
• Live Virtual Classrooms: The easiest way to teach a complicated process is to walk your students from start to finish and clarify their doubts through live sessions. Mykademy enables you to easily conduct live classes with unlimited sessions. 
• Use Interactive whiteboards: Many teachers like to use white or chalkboards to explain concepts, write notes, etc. Are you one of them? Then, you will love our interactive whiteboards.
• Take polls and surveys:  The easiest way to engage your class is to ask them questions. Send polls, surveys and churn engagement between yourself and the students.
• Avoid overcrowding: It can be difficult for 50+ students to interact with each other effectively, which is why breakout rooms come to the rescue and help in classroom management.
• Share class recordings: Easily record your virtual lessons and make them available to students who are unable to make it to the live session or those who want to reinforce the concepts taught in class.
• Maintain classroom security: Protect your students with password-protected lessons and the ability to lock virtual classrooms from any intruders.
• Ask for feedback: Asking your learners for feedback is an excellent opportunity for interaction and improvement. How they respond to your online course and put forward their suggestions can play a pivotal role in analysing and enhancing your course delivery system.
• Encourage learners to contribute: Getting the learners to contribute their knowledge by making resources or hosting online group study sessions is another way to empower them. This can provide the learners with a real, relevant outcome shared with other learners to inspire them and help with their studies.
• Support peer evaluation: This is a conventional classroom technique that does wonders in online classes.  Empowering learners to review each other’s work reinforces their understanding of what they have learnt and encourages a culture of sharing, which can be valuable in spreading knowledge.
• Assign projects / Team tasks: Online projects give students opportunities to pursue special interests individually or within groups. Projects also provide students with practical experience and a sense of accomplishment. Using projects in a learning activity makes learning more relevant to the learners. By sharing individual projects with other participants, the learner obtains more diverse viewpoints and feedback.
• Play Games: Games add a level of fun to the class, but make sure that you play games with a clear learning objective in mind. Also, competition can be good at times, but collaboration is good all of the time. If possible, design your games to encourage students to work together. 
• Understand your learners: Every student has a different learning pace. Identify the base level of knowledge and grasping power of each student, so there are no knowledge gaps and the learners can easily absorb new information. This will ensure no one is left behind and everyone is on the same page.
• Be a patient listener: During the online class, students may not understand certain concepts clearly. Take the time to listen and help them discard away from any confusion. It can be a little overwhelming in the beginning, but take the time to go slower and answer their queries before moving on to the next topic.

Though online classes come with their unique challenges, following the tips above can help you to be successful even in the most chaotic of times.