COVID-19 has forever changed the way we do classroom facilitation. With bulk of attention moving towards online learning, what can we do to ensure a more successful virtual classroom experience?
What new skills would we need to lead virtual teams as compared to past where we had the luxury of a face-to-face interaction?
Photo by Jeffrey Hamilton on Unsplash
This article by DDI helps break down 5 steps towards improving your virtual classroom.
5 Critical Steps to Creating a Successful Virtual Classroom Experience
To summarise, there are 5 key areas to look out for
Suitability
Interactivity
Variety
Minimal technical glitches
Skilled facilitator
To oversimplify,
Do you really need virtual classroom or can a short micro learning module achieve the learning outcomes?
How much interactivity can you handle? Kahoot, pollen, padlets, quizlet, etc. or is a webinar more appropriate?
Mix it up. Pre-readings, self-assessment, blog posts, peer-review activities, etc. all can be mixed with your virtual classroom to give a more engaging learning experience.
Team up with another partner, so that one can focus on facilitation while other ensures that all technical glitches are handled. Flashback to days of Utah State University where I was a Teaching Assistant for Prof Mimi Recker’s distance learning class.
Skilled online facilitator. Facilitating an online class is different from f2f class. As this will be new to many educators, practice and feedback is key.
For a sample of how more in-depth look at the virtual classroom, you can view this short video from DDI.
Benedict Chia
11 Apr 2020
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