Enhancing Online Learning in Secondary Schools

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Secondary schools are often known for their rigid and boring curricula. However, in recent years, there has been a move towards allowing students to have greater control over what they do and learn and take more chances with education. With the advent of the internet, it is now possible for students to find information and develop their own understanding of concepts instead of receiving the same information that is presented by the teachers.

When you think of online learning, you probably think of online learning platforms like Axonify or Khan Academy. These platforms are mainly used for higher-level education like undergraduate and graduate levels. Online learning has been used in secondary schools for over a decade. In fact, it has been the most popular form of learning, especially among schools with a high poverty rate, since the 1990s.

If you are a teacher in a secondary school and with the new online classes, it might be hard to actually teach and give your focus to your students. That’s why we’ve compiled a list that can help you improve your online teaching.

  • One of the greatest challenges for online teachers is that, with a busy schedule and limited time to spend in the virtual classroom, they can lose sight of their students. As a teacher or professor, you want to connect with the students in your class, so you can guide them through the material and move them through the course. The class you teach may be large, but the students you connect with are two-dimensional. You can’t see them, and they can’t see you. If you really want to connect with your students, you have to learn how to use video conferencing. Technology is improving every year, and even today, it is a lot more affordable than you may think.
  • Teaching online has changed a lot over the past 20 or so years. The way we teach on the web has dramatically improved, with tools such as video, interactive whiteboards, and wikis. You can even create explanatory videos without using your own voice, instead, a text-to-voice software like what WellSaid Labs (https://wellsaidlabs.com/voice-over-for-elearning/) provides can prove extremely useful. There are several other AI tools to promote online education. Unfortunately, many online instructors still find themselves battling with the same old problems that plague live instructors’ whiteboards: poor attendance, non-responsive students, and low student engagement.

    If these things are happening to the class that you are responsible for teaching, maybe it’s the way you’re teaching students? It might work for some, but if the majority aren’t present, then there might be something wrong with how you teach. Exploring different teaching methods online might help you make your students attend and actually pay attention to your class.

  • If you’re a teacher, you probably know how rewarding it can be to teach. But every once in a while, those feelings of satisfaction can get lost amid the daily demands of the classroom. Collaboration helps make classroom management easier. It helps bring teachers and students together and lets them work through problems together.
  • Another thing that can help your teaching online in secondary schools is by increasing student engagement. As a teacher, what do you focus on when you want to increase student engagement? We spend all of our time trying to find the best lesson plans and teaching techniques to improve student engagement, but sometimes it’s the simple things that make a big difference. One of these simple things is to make sure your students know that they can ask you questions and that you’ll respond.
  • If you’re a teacher, you know that you have your student’s best interests at heart, and you know that your ability to help them improve is limited only by your own knowledge and abilities. What you may not have realized is that some of your students will struggle, and you may not know how to support them.

Many teachers struggle to overcome the challenges of helping struggling students succeed in educational environments. It is a lot of work, and it can be exhausting. But some ways can help you with just that, and you can set up a counseling meeting online for individual students struggling with their studies. Not only can this help the students with their studies, but they can also build a relationship with you, and over time, they’ll be able to be comfortable asking you about anything school-related.