Teaching during a pandemic presents many challenges, not the least of which is the sudden and mostly unprepared-for shift to online learning. However, not only teachers were affected by this change. Teacher’s aides, or teaching assistants, used to working face-to-face with students were left wondering what their role now was in the virtual classroom.
TAs are having to find new ways to help students achieve their academic goals and provide support to course instructors virtually. Taking the challenge of distance learning head-on requires TAs to take on new responsibilities that take into account the online classroom environment.
Here are some ways virtual TAs can adapt to virtual education and continue providing value to students and instructors while learning new skills that will help further their careers in education.
Moderating Asynchronous Distance Learning
Our TAs take an active supportive role in your virtual classes. They assist with forum discussions and instructions, communicating class criteria to the students, even organizing activities and projects for the class.
Virtual teaching assistants can monitor discussion threads and emails for questions from students, and address minor technical concerns to minimize interruptions. They are also able to answer student questions themselves or bring student concerns to the attention of the instructor if needed.
Virtual TAs collect unanswered questions from all avenues, such as threads, message boards, forums, emails, and calls, and respond to them via email or messaging boards. Additionally, they can moderate chat boards and forums on the virtual learning platforms they use too.
For example, many TAs at Vanderbilt University assist with monitoring and responding to student posts on discussion boards and external tools like Perusall and virtual learning platforms like Brightspace.
Designing Assessments
In a face-to-face classroom setting, a teacher or a TA can find many clues on how students are progressing with their learning and whether or not they’re engaged. Taking notes, confused looks, and affirmatory nods are just a few examples. In virtual classrooms, however, it’s more difficult to get a sense of where students are at learning-wise.
Together with the instructor, a virtual TA can design and implement short, informal assessments such as quizzes, online polls, and virtual activities that provide more insight on students’ progress, challenges, comprehension, and areas for improvement. Instructors can use information gleaned from these assessments to make changes to the course for better outcomes.
Developing & Curating Learning Materials
Educational videos and interactive online learning materials can help keep students engaged outside of the virtual classroom. TAs can support instructors by creating content that is engaging, challenging, and aligned with the objectives of the course.
This responsibility requires knowledge of video editing software and other tools. TAs who have familiarity with these and other content creation software can develop videos, presentations, slideshows, and other visual aids for students. They can also assist instructors with editing content and converting it into different formats if needed.
In addition, TAs can curate existing educational content and modify them as needed, depending on the needs of the instructor and the students.
Teaching Assistants – A Necessity for Quality Online Education
TAs provide much-needed instructional support to teachers of online learning programs and distance learning courses. Virtual TAs perform day-to-day and supplemental tasks so that faculties can focus on education delivery and student outcomes. At the same time, they help students with their educational and social development.
Even as the world transitions back to in-person classes, virtual TAs remain a key source of support for universities and other institutes of learning that want to provide better instruction. Plus, virtual TAs can help schools save on instructional delivery costs.
