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7 tips to make your online tuition class amazing for your students

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7 tips to make your online tuition class amazing for your students

The spread of COVID-19 has resulted in several challenges. Not least of which are those created by the closure of schools, colleges, and universities. These educational institutions have now tasked their instructors and teachers with moving their classes online. But crossing this particular chasm is no easy task. It requires learning new skills and adopting a new approach, says junior high school tutors in Calgary.

Here are 7 top tips for making online classes excellent for your students:

Indeed, if you're willing to embrace this new medium fully, you'll be amazed by the flexibility and interactivity it affords you, says junior high school tutors in Calgary. There's a good chance that you'll be impressed by the results as well.

Pick The Right Tool

Before you can host your first online class, you'll need to find a video conferencing tool that enables you to connect with your students. Luckily, you have a variety of options available to you.

Market leaders include Zoom, Webex, Adobe Connect, Google Hangouts, and others. Regardless of the tool, you select, it would help if you took the time to learn how to use it properly. Read the instructions, view the tutorial videos, and test out functionality for yourself. Your goal should be to know the tool well enough to support your students with any questions or difficulties.

Send Invites & Clear Instructions

Once you've set up the classroom event, you'll need to get invites out to your students. This is typically done within your video conferencing tool. Your invite should include a rough schedule, joining instructions, and a list of anything your students will need to bring with them.

If they're expected to be on their webcams or utilize their microphones during the classroom session, you should let them know this. This will allow them to prepare accordingly.

Finally, junior high school tutors in Calgary suggest you send out a reminder approximately 15-minutes before the classroom session is scheduled to begin. This will jog their memory and ensure that the joining instructions are readily available to them.

Stay Secure

COVID-19 has facilitated a bump in online meetings and classroom events. In turn, increased scrutiny has been placed on the security offered by video conferencing tools. Luckily, you can take action to secure your online classroom and ensure it is a safe space for you and your students. Junior high school tutors in Calgary recommend following these steps to keep your online study sessions safe:

  • Don't share meeting invites in public forums.
  • Password-protect your meetings.
  • Use a 'Waiting Room' to control who joins the meeting.
  • Make sure you know all participants in the room.
  • Ensure you know how to manage (and remove) participants.

Show Your Face

A disembodied voice is not half as engaging as seeing you in action. So turn on your camera and engage directly with your audience. To maintain their attention, you should ensure you are talking directly into your camera. This will help you to stimulate a more personal connection with your students.

But the considerations don't stop there. Don't sit too close to the camera. Don't sit too far away. Find the comfort zone and stick in it. Check the lighting in your room. It shouldn't look like you're broadcasting from a dingy basement or a messy room. If you can remove distractions like these, you'll help your students to apply their focus in the right way.

Record Your Lessons

Here's a simple, practical piece of advice: record your online classroom sessions. These recordings are helpful for several reasons. For example, there will be occasions when one or more of your students are unable to attend. While this is not ideal, they will at least be able to catch up with the session in their own time by viewing the recording.

What's more, these recordings may prove to be valuable resources. When they need to study, your students may dip back into your lessons to recap specific topics. You could also watch the recordings to help critique your technique or approach.

Provide Interactive Activities

You learn best when you are active participants in the learning experience. As such, you should seek to banish passivity by incorporating interactive activities into your online classroom. Examples include icebreaker activities, puzzles, presentations, pitches, peer reviews, quizzes, brainstorm sessions, games, and even virtual field trips.

Look for ways to involve students who are less outgoing than others. Review different activity types and make a note of which ones resonate with your audience.

Seek Feedback From Your Students

Last but certainly not least, don't forget to solicit feedback from your online students regularly, says junior high school tutors in Calgary. This will help you to ensure you are meeting the needs of your audience and improve your approach.

There's a good chance that hosting an online classroom is new to you. As such, this feedback is invaluable. It will enable you to address concerns, make subtle changes and build your confidence. You'll need all the help you can get to make your online classes as fun as possible.

 

Embracing the digital revolution and making the leap into online classroom sessions can be nerve-wracking. Making online classes enjoyable is even more challenging, says the junior high school teacher in Calgary. There's an awful lot to learn and many obstacles to overcome this school year.

But while online classrooms are limited in some ways, they also open a virtual doorway to new learning experiences. As a result, learning experiences are more accessible, more interactive and more engaging than ever before. All it takes is a digital mindset, the right tools, and a focused approach.

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