Benefits of Effective Teaching in a Virtual Environment: Best Practices and Strategies Revealed

Teaching is not just a profession, but an art that shapes students’ lives in the most crucial years of their growth and development. More than any other aspect, it is the teacher’s effective teaching that has a profound influence on the student’s achievements.

Let’s take up this topic today. And understand how a teacher’s ability to teach the class affects the student outcomes.

Stay glued as we take up the nitty-gritty of effective teaching right here!

Read on.

What is Effective Teaching?

Teachers/educators facilitate the student’s learning process. They support and help all students to learn well irrespective of their individual differences or diversity. And effective teaching makes all this possible. Before we move further, let’s discuss some examples of effective teaching strategies:

Collaborative learning
Active learning
Differentiated instructional delivery
Flipped classroom
Project-based learning
Gamification
Micro-teaching
And the biggest support i.e. classroom management

We all remember our teachers teaching in the classroom. And especially the ones who imparted effective instructions.

Yes! Effective teaching positively impacts a student’s performance.

Up next are the benefits of effective teaching strategies in an online learning environment.

What are the Benefits of Effective Teaching? (Common for both Traditional and Online Schools)

Addresses individual learning needs and promotes student motivation.
Promotes better student engagement.
Fosters creativity and collaboration.
Makes students active during their learning process.
Enhances retention of information.
Supports the holistic development of students across all learning styles and intelligence types.

Now that we know this much, it’s time to move on to some more important aspects of teaching the class, a teacher’s strategies, techniques, and habits!

What are Some Effective Teaching Habits in Online School?

Create the Right Learning Environment

As a teacher, your ability to create a good learning environment drives a zeal in students to learn. For good teaching, a teacher sets the classroom rules, promotes mutual respect. And creates a safe space for all students including the differently-abled ones. Work on these essential aspects from day one. And make your online classroom a happy space to learn.

Hone Your Class Management Abilities

If you have a noisy and distracted class none of your effective teaching techniques can work well. So this means that both traditional and online teaching need strong class management skills. Establish your class guidelines clearly, and always stay consistent during your classroom teaching. Do not forget to set boundaries to deal with undesirable behavior during the class. And use some tried and tested ways to maintain decorum (such as reinforcing desirable behavior).

Master the Art of Microteaching

Do you know that a learner can forget almost 80% of the content within a few minutes of its exchange?

Yes!

Most of us already know about the shrinking attention spans of humans (75 seconds in 2012 and 47 seconds in 2018). And it’s not surprising for our students to struggle in lengthy classes with these dwindling attention spans.

Like many other areas of life, technology offers solutions to this issue as well!

After the internet boom, micro-learning has emerged as a powerful model for retaining information. And if you master the art of micro-teaching, this can set you apart from the crowd!

Digital natives face rampant attention-related issues. But if a teacher teaching class knows the art of breaking chunks of information into smaller parts, half the battle is won. Add value to your online teaching with more emphasis on short and meaningful instructional delivery.

A Constant Zeal for Learning

It’s simple!

For teachers continuing learning matters!

While teaching in the classroom, your attitude towards learning is bound to support your student outcomes tremendously. Be the zealous learner that you wish your students to be. And try to get better by improving your knowledge of the subject matter.

Tech-savvy and Subject-Matter Expert

Your knowledge of the subject is also crucial to set the foundation for good teaching in your online class. If you know your subject well, there are better chances that you will be heard by students without putting in too much effort.

If you are a teacher teaching class (virtually), you must also know your tools like the back of your hand. Master the seamless use of Google Classroom, Zoom, Blackboard, Adobe Connect, etc. Because your knowledge of online tools will maintain better student engagement throughout the class. And someday, this knowledge will also help you tackle unforeseen technical glitches.

Follow the Process- Think, Plan, and Deliver

Online teaching needs the same level of planning as teaching in the classroom of a traditional school. Jot down your teaching objectives, new words (vocabulary), value adds, pedagogies, and lesson-end targets (aims) clearly.

You can always use some classic tricks like using sticky notes, or sticking paper chits on your table/computer while you deliver your online class to avoid missing out on any important details.

Get into the habit of going back to the laid objectives while delivering your lesson. This will keep you focused to know if you are heading in the right direction.

Use Videos

Do you know that online classroom teaching can enhance student happiness by 91% if you use video-based learning?

Yes!

Similarly, video-based learning also enhances student’s accomplishment by 82%.

Master the art of sharing information through video content and instant feedback. This will help in good teaching. And you will be able to eliminate distractions (if any) as well. Let’s discuss video lessons in more detail.

Pro Tip for Online Classroom Teaching

4 Phase Instructional Method for Effective Teaching Through Video Lessons (As per the global educationalists/experts)

Phase 1 – Activation

Lesson preview
Learning through reflection/previous knowledge/questioning

Phase 2 – Demonstration

Discussions and presentation of topics
Learning by example/pedagogies

Phase 3 – Application

Assignments/Worksheets/Practice/Exercises/Solutions
Learning by doing/Hands-on/with Adaptive feedback

Phase 4 – Integration

Creating cognitive connections

Practical Tips for Effective Online Teaching

Give clear instructions in the class that are free from any ambiguity.
Clarify the feasibility of your replies (timelines) in the non-school timings (messaging, e-mails, chats, etc.)
Use reminder tools to avoid any lag related to your classroom teaching
Establish a strong rapport with your students (like any traditional teacher teaching class).
Leverage all professional development opportunities to learn continuously and effectively.
If your school is under-resourced, make use of free online platforms (including online school resources and streaming platforms) to access the most updated resources.
Peer learning models are great, so utilize the power of collaboration to the fullest.

Final Thoughts

The integration of innovative technology has certainly transformed the educational system with all-new ways of imparting instructions. But the good news is that this era comes with some great learning opportunities for our Indian teachers.

Being a teacher is rewarding if you know the art of teaching the class effectively. You can also master this art through a planned approach and dedicated involvement.

Embrace the online learning movement today!

And make significant inroads into the future with your expertise in online teaching!

Thanks for Reading!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is classroom teaching important?
Classroom teaching implements the planned pedagogies to meet the defined educational goals.
What is effective classroom teaching?
Effective classroom teaching is all about helping diverse students learn to the best of their capability.
What are the methods of teaching in the classroom?
Some common teaching methods are lectures, demonstrations, projects, game-based, peer tutoring, inquiry, etc.
What are teaching skills?
Teaching requires skills like communication, patience, class management, understanding the varied needs of students, and the ability to incorporate technology in the present times.