Online tuition offers convenience to both teachers and learners by providing flexible schedules, personalized learning, and many more perks. However, it is difficult to keep the learners engaged during online tutoring sessions because of the distractions. For instance, the physical presence of the teacher is missing in online classes. Therefore, they easily lose focus during the session. Additionally, there are many other factors that make the online classes less engaging for the students. With the help of several tips and tricks, you can make online tutoring more engaging for the students. Go through the below post to find out about those.
Table of Contents
- Tips To Make Online Tutoring More Engaging
- Reserve Some Time To Talk To The Students
- Use Fun Activities And Games In The Class
- Short Breaks Between The Sessions
- Use A Digital Whiteboard For Lessons
- Motivate And Provide Feedback To The Students
- Use Energetic And Positive Body Language
- Ask The Students To Explain The Topic
- Organize Doubt Sessions
- Use Real-Life Examples And Situations
- Conclusion
Tips To Make Online Tutoring More Engaging
Reserve Some Time To Talk To The Students
At the beginning of the session, do not just start the lesson immediately. Reserve 10-15 minutes for interacting with the students. During this time, you can discuss the topics covered in previous sessions, or resolve their doubts and queries. Moreover, you can ask the students to bring a particular book or study material during this time. In this way, you can minimize the distractions; and can keep the learners engaged throughout the session.
Use Fun Activities And Games In The Class
You can make the online sessions more engaging with the help of different activities and games. Try pre-existing games related to the subject or invent your own. For example, English tutors can try the “spell-guess” game in which students have to tell the right spelling of given words to earn points.
When students participate in these fun activities, they learn without any extra effort. In addition, they show high interest and engagement in the class. Thus, by including games in the classes, you can ensure interactive sessions for the learners.
Short Breaks Between The Sessions
Looking at the screen for longer durations can make the students tired. As a result, they may lose focus in the class. To deal with this issue, a good practice is to provide the learners with a 5-minute break; when half of the session is complete. During the break, you can simply chat with the students; or punch up a joke. With this short break, you can restore their energy; for the remaining half of the class. Hence, they stay engaged throughout the session.
Use A Digital Whiteboard For Lessons
A digital whiteboard comes with the basic functionality of a regular board, plus some extra features. For instance, you can change the color of the marker, draw perfect shapes and highlight the text more easily. Hence, using it instead of the regular whiteboard engages the students more. Additionally, you can also incorporate audio and video content in the lectures. Thus, it enhances the online tutoring experience for the students as well as the tutors.
Motivate And Provide Feedback To The Students
You should regularly analyze the students’ performance and prepare a feedback report listing their strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, you must praise and motivate them for their performance. It encourages them to do better in the future. Besides, they start working on their weak areas; to further improve their grades.
Moreover, you can provide digital badges and stickers to the top-performing students. These small rewards help keep the learners inspired to give their best. Thus, they engage more in the class; and also excel in their studies.
Use Energetic And Positive Body Language
You should use good and positive body language in the online class. Use hand movement to properly explain a concept. Do not fold your hands, or put them into pockets. It subconsciously conveys that you are not open to a discussion.
Additionally, the tone and speed of the voice are important factors that influence body language. Hence, to keep the students engaged, you must tweak those, from time to time. For example, to emphasize a particular point, slow down the voice speed; and raise the loudness a little. In this way, high engagement levels can be maintained among the students.
Ask The Students To Explain The Topic
After completion of a topic, ask your students to explain it to others in the class. By this approach, the learners become more confident. However, do it casually without making the learners uncomfortable. Their explanations need not be perfect, it is just the effort that counts. Additionally, the students themselves get more clarity of the concepts; and you can correct them if there is a learning gap. In conclusion, this approach is highly effective; to engage learners in online tutoring sessions.
Organize Doubt Sessions
Doubt sessions are another effective method to keep the students interested in online classes. So, encourage the learners to ask their doubts in dedicated doubt-solving sessions. By this approach, the students get a better understanding of the topic. Moreover, they put more time and effort into studying; when they are curious about the topic. Consequently, they perform better in the subject. Furthermore, when you explain a topic to a student having doubt, others have the revision of the topic at the same time. Thus, the learners who don’t come up with doubts are also benefited.
Use Real-Life Examples And Situations
When the students are able to relate a topic to the real-life use case or situation; their understanding of the topic improves. In addition, incorporate examples and scenarios in your lessons as they are an easier way to convey the concept to the learners. Besides, the students retain the information for longer intervals using this approach. Either pick scenarios from real-life or use imaginary ones. In this way, you can make online learning more interactive for the learners.
Conclusion
Along with benefits, online tutoring also offers the challenge to maintain student engagement. Using the above tips, you can optimize your online tutoring services; to ensure optimal levels of learners’ engagement. Furthermore, keeping the sessions interactive is a win-win for both tutors and students. The learners have a better learning experience. Whereas, the tutors get good word of mouth from the students and their parents which leads to better career opportunities.
