The popularity of distance learning continuously increases in different parts of the world. You all know that distance education has been steadily growing even before the pandemic, but it became more popular and many people found it very important since then. That’s why today, you can find tons of virtual schools sprouting worldwide for years. It may not work for some but others see it with high value, especially those student-athletes who go through rigid training schedules, learners with physical or mental challenges, and families who want to enjoy having the flexibility of their time.

Moreover, teachers who are new to distance learning may find it difficult to look for the methodologies and strategies in teaching that will work best for them and their students. So if you’re one of them, this blog post is for you. Please, check some strategies and helpful tips for online teaching below that will significantly make your journey as an educator on this platform fun and easy.

Be Familiar With Technology

As an online teacher, you have to expect to deal with technology. You might be using different computer software and applications that you need to prepare for your lesson and when conducting your classes. It could be for communication like Skype, Slack, or WhatsApp. There are also some intended for plotting schedules, sharing, storing, and organizing materials and resources, making explainer videos, and a lot more.

So one thing you can do to help you become more effective in teaching online is to be familiar with all of this stuff. You should know how to use them properly and do some troubleshooting when any of them isn’t working. Besides that, if you encounter any tech problems when the class is on, you should be able to provide a resolution right away. Doing so will make you more efficient with yoru job as an online educator.

Always Be Flexible

Teachers should always be ready before handling an online class. They need to prepare their lesson beforehand, including the materials to be used to make sure that the set objectives will be achieved at the end of the session. However, you can’t always expect things to happen as planned.

Sometimes, tools may fail and stop working, some materials are missing, the internet becomes slow in the middle of the class, and the list goes on. So as an online teacher, you should be flexible all the time. You should always have a backup plan after a backup plan. You need to have an alternative assignment or assessment that uses the internet to work out.

You can provide a set of guidelines for your students that outline the action they need to take when whenever technology fails. Also, if the materials are not available and you think those are important and will significantly help deliver your lesson more effectively, find them on your own. As you can see, being an online teacher is to become a problem-solver in the class by being flexible and creative.

Provide Ongoing Feedback

Effective feedback is intended for you to see the level of understanding of the students and the development of their skills in order to make plans for the next steps towards the achievement of the learning objectives. You all know that in every lesson, there should be a set of objectives that you and your students need to achieve at the end of every session.

In addition, feedback is one of the most effective strategies in the learning and teaching process. In fact, it gives an instantaneous impact on the progress of the lesson when the class is on. So when it’s given at the right time, there will be success in the learning achievement. So one thing that will make you more effective as an online teacher is to provide ongoing feedback to your students.

Keep in mind that the feedback you provide is the response to the behavior or performance of your students. It can be gestural, written, or verbal. It always aims to improve their performance and encourage them to do more. So as a teacher, always look for the perfect timing to give your feedback and always use the right words and appropriate approach. Once this will be utilized properly, you will surely see a positive outcome in the long run both for you and your students.

Consider the Student’s Learning Styles

As mentioned in the previous blog, people are all unique in many different ways. So as the students. They have various interests and preferences that work best for them. They have their own ways where they learn faster in a particular way. In fact, Howard Gardner proposed the idea of 9 multiple intelligences to demonstrate this concept. Please, take a look at the details below.

• Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence: People who can show well-developed verbal skills and sensitivity to the word’s meanings, sounds, and rhythms.
• Logical-Mathematical Intelligence: This refers to the ability of the person to think abstractly and conceptually, and the capability to understand numerical and logical patterns)
• Spatial-Visual Intelligence: It’s when a person is able to accurately perceive the visual world, utilize the presentation method to perform activities, and construct clear mental representations of information presented in visuals.
• Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence: This particular intelligence refers to the capacity of the person to make use of a variety of physical skills and manipulate objects.
• Musical Intelligence: Anyone who possesses the ability to appreciate and produce pitch, rhythm, and timbre, and even shows an authentic inclination to the forms of musical expressiveness.
• Interpersonal Intelligence: If you are able to understand and interact with others in the most effective way and you have verbal and nonverbal communication skills in the most effective manner, then you are interpersonally intelligent.
• Intrapersonal Intelligence: People who are good at being aware of their own motivations, feelings, and emotional states are known to possess intrapersonal intelligence.
• Naturalist Intelligence: This intelligence refers to the ability of any individual who can classify, identify, and manipulate environmental elements, plants, animals, and other objects in nature.
• Existential Intelligence: People who possess this particular intelligence are good at answering questions, like “What is the meaning of life?” “How did we get here?” Why do we live and die?” These people show deep and more reflective thinking than anyone else can.

These are the multiple intelligences that Garner proposed. So as a teacher, you should be familiar with all of these for you to know the best interests of your students. If you knew how they can learn fast and what learning styles work for them, you can prepare and personalize your lesson based on this information. Doing so will make you more effective and efficient in what you do as an educator.

Never Stop Learning

There’s a famous line that says you can never give what you don’t have. So make sure you have something before you can provide something. The same concept is true in teaching. As long as you have enough knowledge and skills about a particular lesson or subject area, you are able to transfer that knowledge and skills to your students through teaching.

However, learning doesn’t stop when you graduated from college and when you started teaching. It even doesn’t stop when you’re done with your master’s and doctor’s degree. It’s because learning is continuous and it happens every day. So if you want to become more effective as an educator, never stop learning and always look for opportunities that will help you increase your knowledge and hone your skills even more.

Takeaway

Being a teacher requires so much dedication, passion, and consistency in the work that they do. Teachers always aim to deliver their lessons effectively and efficiently for them to achieve their objectives at the end of every session. As you can see, they do a noble job. So to make them be the better version of themselves and produce more high-quality results, they can always consider doing the list of strategies discussed above and explore to find more ways to become more effective in teaching online that they can find in books and different resources on the internet.

Phil-Chi Class International Corp. (PCCIC) has a set of experienced teachers who handle different subjects, like English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and many others at different levels. We provide our teachers with various effective strategies that they can use in teaching online using our platform. On top of that, we always encourage them to develop their skills and utilize a particular teaching strategy and methodology that they think will work best for them and for the lesson they are about to deliver in the class.