Remote teaching services have been around for a while. This form of education can chart a new path to manage the inefficiencies of what modern learning used to be. Interestingly, COVID-19 and its impact on high school and higher education took remote teaching to the next level. What’s more, it has been a great response to the sustained effects of the COVID-19 pandemic thus far.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, about 43 percent of elementary students and 48 percent of middle schoolers take classes on Zoom and other additional resources for remote learning. With more students and families growing increasingly fond of remote learning flexibilities, you may be on the right track for the future if you’re a remote teacher. Here are some tips for teaching remotely.
Use explainer videos.
No doubt, learning via the web can provide a significant opportunity to lighten the load for students. However, as a teacher, it helps to use explainer videos more rather than doing too much talking. Let’s use an elementary school art class as an example. When learning how to draw cartoon characters, one short explainer video about how to draw animated hands can be enough to carry an entire page’s worth of textbook content. What’s more, a child is more likely to listen to their favorite Walt Disney animated characters than you, the teacher. Equipping yourself with the additional resources you need to make it as a teacher in the computer animation world can provide positive results.
Understand each student’s strengths and weaknesses.
As a remote teacher, it pays to know the individual strengths of your virtual class students. One of the perks of remote teaching is the opportunity to have a sizable class per session. You can liaise with a college counselor to help you understand common traits in students and what they mean for how students absorb basic knowledge.
You can tailor your plan to the unique needs of students, especially those with physical or learning disabilities. As a remote teacher, you can be at the top of the list of referrals students make when they need personal counseling about decisions relating to career plans, career processes, and the general college admission process. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your remote class helps you deliver the right college advice for their academic needs.
Use the right tools.
Some professional associations for teachers and other local districts have specific curriculums and tools. What’s more important is how these tools complement students’ works, helping them perform tasks more effectively. Leveraging the right tools can have benefits in many folds for your remote class. Google recently introduced several teach-from-home cloud computing resources. Furthermore, there are many videos on YouTube introducing new and effective tools for communicating and sharing school work. Certainly, all these real-time collaboration resources can also be beneficial to remote teachers.
Make expectations clear.
It’s easy for students to get lost in the flexibilities and liberties associated with remote learning. The best way for remote teachers to deal with this current situation is to be clear and firm with expectations from students. Be critical of how many business days are included in your academic plan and how long each session takes.
Be open to feedback.
Allow students to ask questions and be sure to provide responses with the mindset of improving processes. Create room for quick question sessions after remote teaching. But the questions can come from both ways instead of a one-sided approach. You can also ask questions and measure students’ appreciation of your remote teaching and how you can constantly improve to meet their needs.