I remember in they year 2012, We were experimenting with Blended learning in the various tier 2 cities in Maharashtra. But the response was not great . Probably the timing wasn't great.
Now with the current situation of June 2020 when Social distancing is the norm and colleges, Schools are still trying to come to grips with the impact of Lock down and trying to find ways to deal with Covid19 pandemic Online training has become the new fad.
You can find almost any one and everyone being swept away by this wave of Zoom Calls and You tube channels and Online training.
It is great thing to go on and adapt to the situation but as teachers I feel we need to be more adept at adapting to the changing environment by fine tuning on our Learning trait.
Things will be different. We may not have the same impact in training online or through videos. Students may not react the same way to our online teaching. For many the core aspect of Interaction during classroom sessions will be impacted due to technical limitations. Hence we need to be really on the learning mode while teaching.
Lot of our Regular methods may be failing.
We may need to add some new skills to our teaching repertoire.
A different level and kind of awareness may be needed.
Different approach towards planning may be needed.
And this is where sharing best practices may be a good learning tool for all of us.
Here I would like to share a few best practices which I feel will be important for conducting online sessions.
1: Know the tools
Online training is dependent on Various technical elements including the training platform you are using to connect with students. There are various online tools like Zoom , Web ex, Google Meet etc which will help you connect with the audience. But knowing how to use these tools is the first step . It is more like platform skills here the only difference is platform has changed. If you are not adept with the tools you will struggle during your session and that may impact your training delivery.
2. The SFH (Study from Home) effect
Learning from home can have its own side effects. While trainers may be professional enough to have a quite environment and ensure the internet speed is upto the mark during live online sessions it may not be same with students.So we will have to keep in mind that online teaching the students attention span will be less than that in classroom unless you understand how to mix and match your sessions. The session will have to be interactive and participatory but not chaotic. Here is where planning the session for online version could be one of the most important learning point for a trainer.
3. Ways of Working Online.
Every trainer has his or her own way of conducting session and want to proceed in certain way. Setting the right expectations with regards to ways of work in the very beginning of the session is very essential at this stage. You have to remember that this is new even for the students hence setting right expectations with respect to Asking questions in the session, Responding to points without creating chaos and ways to clarify doubts Need to be explicitly mentioned in the beginning of sessions.
4. Video and audio becomes a very important aspect of the Online training as it creates a major impact on the attention span of students. Even if the topic is interesting, if your audio or video is Not creating the right impact, The session will not be very effective for the students.
These were few pointers to share regarding beginning with online sessions. If you have any more pointers do share with us. Also share with us your best practices before starting an online session.
These are a few videos to help understand how to make effective use of Video and Audio during our online course or during Live sessions.
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