Distance Learning In K-2: 10 Ways To Make It Work
Over the years, distance learning has become increasingly popular. This is especially true now that many parts of the world have gone into a nationwide lockdown due to the Coronavirus. However, there are plenty of benefits and challenges for this style of education.
Distance learning can be incredibly difficult for students who are in the K-2 grades. In this article, we will be discussing 10 ways in which teachers can make this form of education much easier for themselves and their young students.
Play Online Games As a Class
Young students generally love to play games. If you want to make your online lessons a bit more fun for your students, incorporating online educational games into your lessons might be the best way to go. However, you must ensure that these games are still related to the lessons.
Use Online Resources
There are plenty of online resources that you could use to make online learning easier for your young students. For example, Pedagogue is a social learning management system that allows teachers and students to communicate via a stream based classroom. This app has many other features that we will discuss later on.
Have a Central Hub For Educational Materials
To make finding and staying up-to-date with work more manageable, you should offer your students a central hub for their educational materials. Pedagogue can also be used for this purpose, making it an exceptional tool for online learning.
Use Various Teaching Materials
Making your lessons diverse is very important for young students, as they can get bored or distracted very easily. For this reason, you should try to use as many teaching materials as possible in your lessons. For example, use videos, images, PowerPoints, online games, etc.
Have a Designated Class Time
It will be much easier for your young students and their parents to stay on track with the school work when there is designated class time. Online learning requires plenty of discipline and time-management skills. However, very young children do not have these, making routine important.
Communicate With Parents Frequently
Young students are unlikely to tell you when they have a problem or don’t understand a work section. However, you can learn this information from their parents, making it vital that you communicate as frequently as possible.
Ensure That Students Don’t Feel Alone In Their Studies
One of the biggest problems with online learning is the lack of communication and collaboration. However, this can be avoided by reaching out to your young students and their parents frequently. You could even hold Q&A sessions for the students.
Promote Interaction and Communication Between Classmates
Communication and interaction between young students are of utmost importance. Apps such as Pedagogue, Skype, or Zoom can be used to incorporate these skills into online learning. More so, it makes lessons much more fun for the students.
Offer Rewards For Hard Work
When your students work hard, they should be rewarded. This is especially true for online learning, as it will make the students feel acknowledged and accomplished. Rewards can be simple, such as playing a game in the next lesson or watching an educational movie.
Include Practical Work Into the Syllabus
Learning practical skills is extremely important when it comes to education. This can be a challenge with online learning, but there are a few ways in which you can incorporate these skills into your lessons.
Concluding Thoughts
To make online learning easier for young students, teachers should use various online resources, have a central hub for educational materials, have designated class time, promote interaction and communication between students, and include practical work into their lessons.