Regularly updated course content
The course delivered in 2020 should not be the same as you delivered in 2018. One of the best ways to differentiate your course from everyone else is to update the content with the latest:
· News
· Researches
· Policies and regulations
· Emerging trends
· Opinions
Make sure you stick to the course contents. Keep the course relevant, timely, and interesting and I bet the students won’t be able to get distracted. You will be able to notice the amount of interest and attention students will show with this update.
Encourage accountability
Online education has some drawbacks when coming to the interest and attention of students. However, it does provide numerous cool tools that used properly can result in a lot better way of learning, even better than physical education.
Use the email notification feature over your learning management system. Schedule automated emails to students who don’t log in for a certain number of days or don’t complete assignments on time.
Remind students they are not alone and not hidden from the instructor’s eye. Make them feel important and an important part of the class.
Use technology to your advantage
While teaching online does come with a set of challenges, it also brings with it a whole bunch of cool tools that you can use to keep your students engaged. Tools like virtual games, discussion boards, file editors, drawing tools, etc. could really liven up your online lessons.
Before you use these tools, though, be sure to familiarize your students (if they're young) with them so they feel confident about using them. Kids love rewards and they’re likely going to jump up at the thought of getting a few minutes' worth of playtime with a drawing tool.
Set goals
Setting simple, short-term goals for your online classroom by outlining each lesson can effectively engage students, help them to realize where they currently stand in the learning process, and gives them some context for any activity that they’re doing.
When students actually finish a task (or work hard) during an online lesson, think of ways in which you can reward them. Possible ways of rewarding include badges, positive feedback, playing games, and other “fun” activities. Rewards will work as positive reinforcement and motivate the students to stay engaged and attentive in future lessons as well.
Become a storyteller
Storytelling has been used as a teaching technique for generations, and while it may sound like a cliché, humans love themselves a good story – good being an important word. The story will engage your students even more if they can relate to it somehow.
A good story taps into your emotions which helps you retain the information delivered through a story. Your students will grasp the concepts more quickly when they are illustrated through a good story. In fact, videos work just as well. Videos are a more complex form of stories that add a visual component to an otherwise voice-only story.
