In the past few months, some of us have engage our learners in various forms, remote teaching and learning became the order of the day. For most private schools teachers, they were compelled to switch and engage the students formally with online learning with apps such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Skype, Google Classroom just to mention a few.

In another few weeks, some of us would resume back to class which could be online or face to face but there are some online tips that would needed in making the teaching and learning process an enjoyable one for all.

1. Think differently

Classroom management is going to be taking a new form most especially now that technology would have to be in the class. Students’ behaviour must be addressed firmly and rewarded appropriately so that it can deter other students from doing the same thing online or face to face.

2. Plan ahead

I am very sure every teacher plans ahead of the class but with technology you just need to plan effectively and strategically. Knowing that technology cannot be overly trusted, there should be a back-up methodology most especially for online engagement with the students.

3. Choose the right technology

In every subject there is always a need for multimedia to buttress learning or maybe engaging the students in a one-on-one situation or demanding feedback during starter or plenary. The teacher must be able to use the right and fastest tech in getting his questions or media to the learners. Microsoft Forms comes to mind easily for question, YouTube for Videos, MS Word for long essays just to mention a few.

4. Platform

Mastering the platform which is to be used in the class is very important and as facilitators of knowledge, it is important we know the best way to communicate on the platform we have been instructed to adopt. You might not know everything about the platform but you must know how to use it effectively in delivering an engaging lesson to the learners.

5. Student Centred

For every learning, it must be built with the student in mind, so also as the facilitator it is important you consider their daily well-being as the scenario might be different now that they might not be in school. You can ask question to assess their well-being and be the reason they smile while at home or in school.

6. Top Notch Participation

With technology it is easy for the students to be laid back and get bored with lessons but the teacher must prepare lessons or activities that are engaging during those sessions so that no child is left behind while the lesson is on-going.

7. Music & Games

There is no time in life that music and games doesn’t help to relieve stress, within online or face to face engagement it is important to spice up your class with either music or games as breaks. Kahoot comes in handy for educational games as you can upload questions that are related to what is being taught, you could also use funny videos to also bring them back to class when you notice everywhere is becoming dull.

8. Timed Task

Students’ are fond of asking for extra time while doing task, it is important you let them know that task session would be timed and closely monitored with you have a timer app like Timer that you can use to monitor activities.

9. Informal checks for Understanding

As a teacher, it is important you check for their understanding as teaching and learning progresses, informal ways are the best to use at this point in time most especially if you are online. Name calling polls is the best technique I use for my informal checks to assess the level of understanding of the subject matter.

10. Be selective with Teaching methodology

As a teacher sometimes I get carried away with lecture method but I consciously limit my talk time for some classes and topics and explore other methodologies which are student centred such as debate, research, group presentation, scenario based learning just to mention a few.