Essential skills for teachers for virtual classrooms

Since early 2020, educators across the globe have had to tackle a new method of instruction and connect with their students all in a virtual world, through a screen. Having been trained in the traditional form of in-person teaching, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused much upheaval to a teacher’s life. Whilst adapting to schools closure, and the opening up of the virtual teaching format, educators have realised that a successful online teaching session takes creativity, knowledge of the curriculum, engagement, and lots of preparation.

Given that the pandemic continues today, teachers will have to consistently upgrade their teaching methods to incorporate newer technologies to multiply and deepen the learning outcome for students.

Below are a set of must-have skills for teachers in an online education environment:

Awareness of the digital environment and learning tools: Teachers have to come to terms with understanding the basics of the application or software they are using in an online environment as well as constantly keep themselves updated with new age tools.

Time management: A poorly managed schedule could spell disaster for a teacher who may still be coming to terms with time management in the virtual world. It is essential that teachers need to be skilled at providing relevant resources to students in time, and also to schedule their time for conference meetings and prioritise events to avoid clashes. Making time for such a rubric will help students speak about the changes they would like in their routine.

Good communication: In the virtual world, teaching is not just about sharing knowledge, but it is also about building a bond, and this can only be achieved with good communication. Teachers need to focus on the clarity with which they teach, along with the relationships they build with students as mentors. This will not only increase their engagement rate, but will also help students feel supported and well-guided during the learning cycle, which is new to them too.

Flexibility: It is important for teachers to make themselves accessible, whether it is via e-mail or any other digital application. This would help in attending to the needs of the students, solving doubts in time, providing right guidance and preparing them well with concepts before they are assessed.

Game-based learning: The online school environment is a mix of virtual instruction and individual assignments, which sometimes could be laborious and hectic for the students. Teachers should come up with creative assessments (fun and effective) so as to engage students. Simulation activities and games can help amplify the learning outcomes and also provide a different aspect to the learning process, which will help students retain concepts for longer periods.

Adaptability: Learning to implement various cutting-edge technologies will help teachers create immersive learning experiences for students in an online environment. Teachers need to be flexible in welcoming newer forms of teaching and assessment, as these dynamic times will help us understand nuances and benefits of new applications on the go.

Patience: Online teachers who take a patient approach can offer a higher level of support to their students. With multiple network issues and system errors, teachers need to keep in consideration that students too will take time to adapt to new learning applications. Teachers could also keep handy backup learning activities in case of tech issues.

(The author is the co-founder of an online only school)