Online education has captured a paramount spot in the world of academics. Especially, post covid’19 era has swiftly adapted to this method, rather a lifestyle, because it offers more pros than cons. The global pandemic bears the flag of making online education more prevalent in schools throughout the world (thanks to the computer geek generation) and it is pretty handy in other adverse circumstances as well, that might result in school closure.
Online educational world is in full swing in the current era, and it is not just limited to teachers sharing and students receiving, but many people even offer educational services online, like academic counseling, dissertation writing service online, academic writing, individual tutoring and many more. When it comes to online education, not every teacher or professor is tech-savvy, and they love their traditional classroom. They just scratch their heads at the idea of handling online classes and a number of questions cross their minds, like how will we manage to use the online platform? What if there is any technical error in the computer? What if the internet fails? Will I be able to deliver my message affectively? How will I keep my students engaged? They rather become anxious than productive, and the online session becomes a disaster. Little do they know that remote learning is the future of education.
Video Calls – Ensure Efficient Delivery of the Content:
Let those worries take a backseat, as this article is here to rescue many such educators and assist them conduct an online video call, virtual classes, webinars and others, more competently. You just need to make sure that you have the right kind of equipment to get started.
• Get Your Hands On the Proper Equipment:
In order to conduct a well-organised and coherent online video calling session for educational class, you must get access to a good quality camera or webcam, an external microphone to ensure a clear dialogue, proper lighting if you need to use the white board and a tripod. However, if you are on a financial crunch, then there are other alternatives as well. Some of the educators choose to not appear in front of the camera and for that, professional quality gadgets are not mandatory. In that case, you can present your content on-screen using slideshows and an online audio commentary. You can even use software that features screen-sharing along with live audio commentary. If you decide to come on-screen on the live stream, make sure that the tripod is properly set up and the lens captures the entire white board with words visible to the students.
• Select an Efficient Platform for Making Online Video Calls:
Now that you have you adequate equipment in place, this next step is of sheer importance. With so many options available online like Skype, Google Meet, Zoom and many more, it’s pretty difficult to choose the one that suits your needs. We recommend you to choose a platform that is easily accessible and user friendly. It should be affordable and have Zoom live integration that will allow peer-to-peer streaming and you will also be able to have a conversation with the students. Also, make sure that the online platform should have the Videos on Demand capabilities to allow the students to playback the videos after the online session is finished, but that feature is optional.
• Give Your Students Some Online Classroom Rules Ahead of Time:
In order to make an online video calling classroom fruitful, hand your students a list of rules and regulations to follow, such as;
- Gather all your stuff and check in with your teacher.
- Be punctual.
- Focus when others are talking and use encouraging non-verbal communication like nod and thumbs–up.
- Mute your mic when you are not speaking and only unmute it when your teacher calls on you to speak.
- Use the chat or raise your hand if you have any concerns.
• Customise the Educational Content Beforehand:
In a physical classroom, teachers work super hard to come up with a lesson plan that is engaging in the classroom. They tend to go with the methods of teaching that resonate with their students’ preferences. However, in a virtual classroom, keeping the students immersed in the content becomes a daunting task. As mentioned above, the camera must be set up properly in order to capture the view without any distortion. In addition to that, you must be fully prepared for the lecture before going live. Be familiar with the content and think about the examples that can be included in the lecture; you can include the real life examples to keep the students engaged. Moreover, you can include showing educational videos in your live online video calling for education class. You have to be confident and energetic while delivering the concept; remember, your attitude will set up the pace of your classroom and make it more conducive towards learning.
• Check Your Internet Service:
When it comes to playing videos and live streaming, a good internet connection hold a supreme importance. You need to ensure that your message is delivered to the audience without any technical glitches. Lagging of videos and distorted videos with incoherent voice can serve as a great distraction in learning and the students tend to lose their motivation to learn. Even the educators get frustrated because of it. To counter that potential, yet very prevalent issue, fast internet connection must be ensured to stream live at high quality.
• Start Your Online Video Calling:
Once you have everything in place, it’s time for you to go live for online video calling for educational classroom. Speak softly and pleasantly while delivering your message; make sure you are not wearing any distracting clothes; have water placed in your proximity so that there are no interruptions; relax yourself and have fun teaching online.
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