How to Make Your Online Classes Super Interesting

The coronavirus pandemic has changed everything about our lives in 2020. Many of us have become furloughed from our jobs, or worse, have been made redundant, and for those with jobs, their working lives have changed forever. Long gone are the days of commuting to offices in cities, as the majority of non-essential workers are encouraged to work from home. This has meant that meetings and conferences have to take place online which has meant that people have had to adapt to the available technology. The employment sector is not the only part of society that has seen big changes as education has moved from classroom-based learning to online tutorials and lessons. This way of learning has been a challenge for many teachers as they struggle to keep their class engaged through a new online medium. 

In order to help keep children captivated, this article will explore how to make your online class super interesting, so read on to find out more. 

There is nothing worse than being taught by someone that you cannot see as children will quickly become disengaged and will lose interest at the drop of a hat. It is therefore important that as a teacher, you are always in front of your pupils in an online format, just as you would be in a normal classroom setting. You may not like the idea of having the camera turned on but it is vital for engagement and you need to also ensure that you are staring right at it so it appears as if you are making eye contact with your pupils. By following this simple strategy you can captivate your audience and help them to learn at the same time.

Given you might have up to 30 students to manage virtually, it is important to set some initial ground rules so that all the students know what is expected of them and how to behave. For example, if a student wants to ask a question there needs to be a way of doing so without everybody shouting over each other, which would turn the virtual classroom into a free for all. There should be etiquette in place should someone need to leave for a bathroom break, and pupils should be encouraged to keep distractions to a minimum so that they don’t disrupt each other, and they can concentrate on learning.

The youth of today are brought up being comfortable using social media and all the associated technologies that come with it, so a great way of engaging your students is to give them YouTube videos to watch and learn from. They will need a way of downloading from YT so make sure that they have an appropriate platform installed on their computers. Watching videos hold people’s attention, especially at a young age, so by having them learn this way you will stop them from being distracted and will encourage them to take their learning seriously. They will also find it a lot more fun than standard textbook learning so you are likely to see their grades improve too.

When giving lessons online, most platforms give you the ability to record your classes, and there is also a chat function that will allow your students to talk to each other and discuss ideas. The beauty of recording your lessons is that they can easily be made available to any pupil who was absent, and they can also be used as revision tools when it comes to exam time. The chat function will need monitoring, however, because although the most diligent pupils will use it to discuss the work at hand, many others will use it to purely chat which will become disruptive and will interrupt their learning. You will also be able to assess your own performance when you watch the videos back, and you may even find omissions that you can then go on to cover in future lessons. All in all, recording your classes is highly beneficial to both student and teacher alike.

As we have learned there are many ways that you can make online classes super interesting. Make sure that you show your face to the camera so that you can appear as if you are making eye contact with your pupils and set ground rules so that there is as little disruption as possible. Videos should be used to your advantage as they are more likely to engage media-savvy youngsters, and record your lessons so that they can be used as revision guides and also as a way of assessing your own performance. If you follow this guide you will find that your audience is captivated and that their academic achievements improve no end.