The Challenges of Online Teaching!

What are some of the major problems that we face while teaching online?

We have all recently challenged by the online teaching without having any previous idea about it. We have faced, and we are still facing many issues. Here are some the major problems that we face while teaching online.

One of the most important issues is student's engagement. In most of the cases, online sessions are actually a lecture session that will end up by the teacher being talking to a screen. One of the things that can be done is to design the lecture in a way that involved student's more like asking challenging questions that elicit curiosity and thinking in the students or get the working in teams to let them think and work together in breakout rooms. Student's involvement is essential in online learning and to make sure that they are engaged together and with us as teachers.

Students' participation in online classes has high importance. But, how can we assess their participation and add it to their final grades? In fact, participation includes the quality of the answers students share while attending online sessions, listening to their classmates and building up or correcting their ideas, and the posts they do while answering a given question. These are things that can be taken into consideration when grading student's participation activities. 

Another challenge that we face in online teaching is giving differentiated instructions for students of different learning abilities and interests. We need to make sure that the students who struggle capturing the content and who move at slower rates are also involved in the learning process. One thing that can be done is to dedicate a part of the break or free time that we have to follow up with low achievers and answer their inquiries or give them extra work to solve. It is very important to reach out for passive learners through our differentiated instructions while teaching online to make a huge difference in the life of our diverse classes. 

A third problem that come along with online teaching is the amount of posts, messages, emails, and activities that are given to students. It is very difficult to read all of them and respond to every single student. As teachers, we can set a rule and make them clear for students regarding how, what, and when they can send us inquiries and make assignments clear as much as possible to avoid any misunderstanding. We should take into account how to improve our communication and ways of responses to students as we tend to be their models. 

Giving feedback for student's work might take weeks and this is not what students actually expect when it is related to online learning. Our feedbacks play and essential role in students improvement as they should be done in way that should push students to learn carefully from their mistakes after doing an assignment or activity and how to improve themselves. Feedbacks should be personalized, students feel their importance to us when we do so, and they will be able to respond in their own way to our feedbacks as well.

At the end, it is important to keep in mind that whether it is face-to-face or online teaching, it is supposed to be fun for students as well us for us as teachers! Being ourselves, letting students to express themselves as well, and interacting with them give energy and life to the class and will make us all satisfied with the outcomes!

Successful Integration of Technology Into Teaching: "Modern Education!"

Should technology be used in education? If so, then how should technology be integrated in a classroom? 📱📡💻

Technology is rapidly evolving and being introduced to children at very young ages. Kids are playing less outside and being more likely spending time on their gaming counsels, tablets, and cell phones. At school, this can be a major distraction instead of paying attention in class. Such distractions can cause the grades to slip and produce off-task or even disruptive behaviours hence impacting the learning negatively. These are actually some of the misconceptions that are related to the use of technology in classrooms.

Beyond this view, many schools are integrating technology in their curriculum. An important note to be highlighted here is that technology is not a solution for our nowadays educational problems, but rather a tool that can facilitate the learning process in various subjects and under several circumstances. 

Interactive educational sessions that require students to use mobile devices can keep students engaged in the studies by delivering knowledge through a medium that they are comfortable with. Introducing students to technology in the classroom using computers and smartphones attract students more than whiteboards and books do. I am a biology teacher and I can easily sense the excitement during the Profuturo program sessions where I work along with my students on simulations and online games using individual tablets. 

Familiarizing students with this technology will also help prepare them for jobs where they will definitely need to know and have more practical skills related to technology than just academic theories. These skills can include the beneficial use of social media and coding. It is very important to mention that teacher should be trained well to effectively use technology in their classrooms so that the tools they use such as active boards become as entertaining as regular TV shows for students. 

An effective teaching is basically the one who is student-centred. Teachers should be aware that using technology does not always mean interactive classes. For example, teachers may use active boards or visual presentations but they keep talking the majority of time. Moreover, taking online quizzes with immediate feedback for both students and teachers can sometimes ignore problem-solving and critical thinking skills in students even though the majority would think about it as the best alternative for paper-based tests. 

So, how would you, as a teacher, use technology in an effective way in your classrooms? First, you may allow students to simply make research and google facts. At the same time, the students are learning from very valuable resources. Within every week, there is always a session dedicated for research about different Biology topics that I give my students to increase their knowledge in the content studied and present their findings using PowerPoints or Google slides. In addition, technology enhances critical thinking skills where students can evaluate and criticize the content presented. Another important point is the use of technology for collaboration among students and their teachers as well. Group work allows people to share ideas and their voices, discuss them, and build on their previous experiences and knowledge. Moreover, one of the most exciting aspects of using technology is designing or creativity. Students are able to create contents of different types with wide  range of sophistications and present their ideas from videos, PowerPoint presentations to creating designs or data bases on a software. 

Technology is actually present at all stages in the education process. It renders learning more dynamic and related to life. The key is to smartly use technology hand in hand with education in an attempt to prepare our students for brighter futures.  

EDUC561

 

My Opinion About EDUC561 Course!

1. Technology has become a part of our everyday life. In education, it has facilitated our lives in terms of content presenting and assessment. Because of this course, I am now able to use a wide variety of tools that I have never known about them before. I have started implementing them in my classes according to the topic I am explaining. they are very useful in making sessions engaging and interesting. In addition, I like the fact of direct practice we do while learning how to use a new tool. 

2. One of things that can be taken into consideration is having breaks between sessions during the course. Sometimes, we come back from work feeling so tired and we have to put lots of efforts and energy to keep up following with the steps to be done.