Online learning has become a trend in recent times. With that the importance of online teaching has increased. In this article; we look at various guidelines which will be helpful for successful online teaching.
Online education has become a holy grail for many K-12 educators. With the advancement in technology, e-learning has become 21st century learning tool which not only provides enchanted learning but it also transforms education to another level. Hence; online teaching has become one of the most important jobs in recent times. There are special sets of skill and attitude required for online teachers. Let us look at some of the key criteria required to become a successful online teacher:
- Personalized contact: Classroom teaching and online teaching are totally different from each other. In classroom teaching there is a huge opportunity for the students to have one-on-one interaction with their teachers. But in case of online teaching, the only way to make your message personalized is through email. Online teachers need to have a far greater confidence and emotional security in terms of their professional competency. Online teachers need to work hard to personalize their message as far as possible so that students do not think of it as a robotic interaction.
- Know thy students: It is always advisable for the online teachers to know the strengths and weaknesses of each of their students individually by communicating effectively with the students. This will help them to have clear and to the point communication with the students. They can even track the performance of the student at an individual level.
- Lose complete control: Classroom teaching enables teachers to gain complete control over the students and get the task done beautifully. However; in case of online teaching, there is no control over the teaching pattern. The students have the choice of selecting independently when to study and take quizzes. Even in traditional classroom teaching there are chances of cheating more so in case of online teaching. But if the online teachers are able to convey their message to the students about the satisfaction and benefits derived from the courses then there is a tremendous potential for them. But if coercive techniques are used to extract information from the students then it becomes very difficult for the online teachers to get the desired results.
- 24 x 7 support: Online teaching is more of a lifestyle than a job. It is very difficult for online teachers to set reasonable boundaries on their workday. If a student runs into trouble the basic instinct is to help them as soon as possible. Majority of times online support is asked by the student from 10 pm to midnight.
Online teaching is a specialized job. It not only caters to providing innovative education solutions to the students instantly; but it also takes the sphere of 21st century learning to another level.
