The sudden transition from offline to online evolution of the teaching system created many challenges for the teachers and students. From not getting internet connectivity to the unavailability of proper digital tools, they have crossed every stage of problems. Finally, new and improved digital tools became available, and the whole teaching system became easy and stable. Now it is easier to work in virtual classes.
Essential Aids of Online Teaching
Best resources can positively transform teaching, and at present, there are several helpful digital tools for virtual classes Each device maximizes the utility and creates a better learning experience. There are different segments of online tools available in the market for teaching and learning:
Online Teaching Tools
Online teaching tools come with tons of features and advanced applications. These tools and applications are inevitable to connect different students globally or nationally. Accessible and uninterrupted communication is one of the essential criteria expected from online classes. Practical communication and online activities for students help to overcome various challenges. Some of the crucial communicative tools are
You can create a plan before starting your Class and share the agenda and lesson with your students easily through these mediums. You can use a microphone and the webcam, share media and files and talk over those in live sessions.
Presentation Tools
When a teacher presents a review of content that needs tota to engage, teachers search for ways that are often fun and easy to use to overcome the online class challenges. Some of the presentation tools that are used globally make this task easy enough:
If you are using Google Meet or Google Classroom online, Google Slides is a great option to make a presentation and share it with students during the Class. It is creative and colorful, and students love to use it. Canva is a great way to show your creativity and make videos or posters uniquely. Microsoft PowerPoint is an age-old tool suitable for teaching or presentation purposes.
Online Video Chat
Effective communication is a critical element for both physical and virtual classrooms. Online communication platforms like Google Classroom, Zoom, Skype, or Google Meet provide different facilities, but they have one thing similar – the communicative aspect. They provide live chat options with the group or team in real life. Recording of the session is another important aspect of video chatting tools.
When needed, students can re-watch the videos, and teachers can play the same video for different classes by recording it for one time. Youtube and Loom are such great sources of online video recording.
Screen Sharing
Screen sharing makes teaching easy for the teachers when collaborating remotely with students. Screen sharing is a must-have online learning tool if you document demonstration, co-browsing, showing pictures, or writing on whiteboards live in a class session. That’s why choosing the best screen-sharing software matters. Screen sharing applications that are extremely popular and used by teachers and offices daily are:
- Slack
- Zoom
- Google Meet
- Demo Desk etc.
The screen sharing tool is an integral part of virtual teaching. It has an ease of access which the teachers and students can use equally. Presentation, switching, and collaborating documents are relatively straightforward to perform. It can be done from any device remotely, including a mobile phone. These sharing tools are most accessible or affordable and simplify the whole process.
Document Sharing and Managing Tools
In a virtual class, the students and the teachers are dependent on online document storing and sharing. Teachers have to maintain all the documents to communicate regularly. There is a central location to store, manage, and organize properly and keep track of them.
Tools like GSuite, Dropbox, OneDrive, MS Office, or Evernote simplify students’ and teachers’ documentation processes. The importance of maintaining documents is enormous in digital classrooms. If the papers are organized perfectly in the cloud, students can get access from anywhere and on any device. Records organized neatly in folders and subfolders make it easy to find or retrieve. Teachers can easily access the stored or shared documents and collaborate with the students to review, discuss, edit or comment.
Polls, Quizzes, and Assignments
Whether an online class or a real classroom, organizing polls and quizzes is a great way to boost and cheer up the students, it is also a necessary aspect of checking a student’s performance. It helps to create a format and check the assignments online. Creating jobs through Google Docs or slides makes it extremely easy to check the homework, essays, speeches, or examination sheets.
The chance of students learning concepts is much higher when they understand by themselves. Social media channels facilitate the teachers and the students and include the parents. Everyone stays connected outside the virtual world through different social media platforms used by the institution. Platforms like Whatsapp, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., allow creating an exclusive community or a group to participate and share information.
It helps to communicate and be present even after the virtual class. Share important information, documents, presentations, and resources related to the lesson or Class. It also helps to build a community sense between the students by allowing them to talk with each other during project work or preparation for exams. It also helps conduct question and answer sessions and live webinars whenever required.
Most of the online tools are free to use with limited access. However, some are affordable enough to use with customization and personalization. One such application is the Classplus, which gives total access to personalized feeling and looks to the website, and teachers can use it to create their own app, organized virtual classroom.
