As distance learning has become more common, teachers and students have had to adapt to follow the syllabus.
When distance learning was introduced on a more regular basis, many students felt demotivated, while teachers reported that they were falling behind academically. Additionally, students became less responsible and less active during lectures.
And while online teaching holds its unique set of challenges, the educational system as a whole must address these challenges to resume the mission of creating competent academic citizens. Here are some of the biggest obstacles facing online teaching today and how to overcome them.
The Critical Challenges
Remote and face-to-face teaching are very different methods of lecturing the same material. However, as teaching methods have shifted over the years, many students worldwide have chosen to continue their studies online. As such, teachers have had to adapt to adequately connect with their students online.
Passive Classrooms
Looking at a PowerPoint presentation and listening to the teacher’s lecture for 45-50 minutes, followed by homework assignment instructions for the next day, leads to passive students. Hence, their academic development stagnates.
To thoroughly soak in the new material, students need more interaction. Teachers must revise their plans for the day and find exciting ways to engage students to practice what they’ve learned.
Remote Peer Collaborations
Peer collaboration is a proven method for learning. However, achieving this in a remote classroom can be challenging.
It can be difficult to facilitate peer collaboration in a remote setting, and oftentimes teachers are unsure how to do so. However, the potential benefits of peer collaboration – even when done remotely – make this learning method one that teachers should focus on.
In a remote classroom, teachers can help foster collaboration by creating student groups ahead of time, assigning different roles to each student, setting goals and making expectations clear, and prompting students to share their thoughts and opinions virtually with their classmates.
Students must engage with the topic to complete the assignment and better communicate with their peers.
Using the Right Teaching Platform and Tools
More than 700 colleges in the US registered on Zoom in 2020, but connection issues often disrupted the lectures.
Although these disconnections were primarily short, they greatly distracted students. Therefore, reliable platforms that won’t interrupt the class with a glitch are imperative. Moreover, teachers should also consider using educational tools to engage students in the lecture.
Conducting Effective Examination
One of the most serious challenges universities face with online teaching is choosing the proper examination tactic. If not conducted effectively, universities create underskilled academic individuals in the future.
Each subject has specific skills students should acquire during the course. To assess students’ performance to the best abilities, universities have a few open options.
- Open-book exams – This assessment focuses solely on students’ critical thinking, analysis, and reflection on the material. In such exams, students receive a specific subject matter they must complete in a given time, but they can use notes and books to support their statements.
- Proctored Exams – A proctored exam is a monitored examination. An instructor or an authorized invigilator will monitor the student during the test. The proctor ensures that the exam’s norms and regulations are followed.
Get More Instructional Strategies from Instructional Connections
Remote learning has slowly become the norm in the educational systems, and colleges and universities need more support to conduct online classes successfully. However, with the right partner, these challenges become a thing of the past.
At Instructional Connections, we have identified these problems and have helped over 50 universities to overcome them. If your board struggles with issues related to remote learning, don’t hesitate to contact us – we’re happy to help!
