Best Strategies for Online Teaching: How to Engage and Educate Students
As a current or future educator, you’ve likely spent time teaching – or learning to teach – online. After all, online learning—whether fully remote or hybrid—is becoming increasingly common. Of course, online and in-person classrooms have a lot of similarities in best practices and goals. However, strategies need to be tweaked depending on the space you’re in.
Read on to learn or build upon existing strategies to engage your students in online spaces to maximize their participation, enhance learning outcomes, and make their class time effective and meaningful.
Strategy #1: Create a Structured and Engaging Course Design
Online classrooms can be a bit chaotic. Students aren’t in the same place and cannot easily interact with you or their classmates. In some environments, they may learn totally asynchronously, meaning they’re flying solo! Because of this, a well-structured course that follows predictable, consistent layouts and logically groups concepts into chunks can be even more helpful online than in a physical classroom. From the moment a student signs on, this coherent approach can help ensure they know exactly what to expect (and what is expected of them) because the objectives are clear, the tasks are manageable, and the learning progression makes sense.
In my experience, attending to these details naturally fosters motivation and engagement because it reduces confusion and overwhelm — two factors that often abound in the absence of a physical classroom. When the path forward is clear, students can breathe a sigh of relief and take the next step.
Best Practices:
- Start with clear learning outcomes in mind when creating modules.
- Clearly outline and communicate learning objectives within each module and lesson.
- Ensure that each lesson builds upon the last.
Strategy #2: Use Interactive and Active Learning Techniques
When you teach in a physical classroom, you can walk around the space and check in with students as they read or work on an individual assignment. In an online classroom, however, you generally can’t see at a glance if students may be struggling or distracted while they work independently. Since very quiet methods may not be as successful in an online classroom, strive to create a learning environment that actively engages students in the learning process. Interactive tasks such as discussing, creating, problem-solving, and investigating can promote engagement while helping you see or hear if someone needs help – even if they aren’t asking for it directly. You can also have active and interactive learning in asynchronous classrooms through message boards, discussions, student-created videos, and more.
Ultimately, these higher-order cognitive tasks can boost engagement, increase retention, and foster a deeper understanding of concepts. In my time in the classroom, I’ve observed many students go from complying to thriving when instructional approaches are even slightly shifted in this direction. Rather than doing just enough to get by, students are forced out of their comfort zone, often resulting in them making novel insights far beyond the content at hand.
Best Practices:
- Be sure to engage directly with the students while they work together.
- Encourage peer discussions for collaborative problem-solving and investigating.
- Develop lesson plans that include peer interaction beyond discussions.
Strategy #3: Foster Strong Communication
Regular, effective, and prompt communication is essential in any classroom. However, it is especially crucial in online teaching, where in-person interactions are nonexistent. Therefore, online instructors must carefully maintain clear, consistent, and timely interactions with all students and encourage students to communicate with one another. This goes beyond interactive and active learning because where that focuses on a learning goal, this focuses on relationship-building.
Teachers and students can use a variety of communication channels like email, video conferencing, messaging platforms, and discussion boards to foster relationships and ensure everyone is on the same page regarding class. Through those tools, teachers and students can access announcements, ask questions, find support, collaborate, and gain a sense of community. Teachers can also set “office hours” for students to meet with them and proactively reach out to their learners, even when they have no concerns. Without adequate access to instructors and peers, students (and even teachers) may feel disconnected or isolated, which can harm motivation and engagement.
Best Practices:
- Offer one-on-one and small-group office hours and encourage students to use them.
- Set clear communication expectations, including those for response times, for your students and yourself.
- Encourage peer-to-peer communication through available tools.
Strategy #4: Leverage Technology and Online Teaching Tools
With the right online teaching tools, you can overcome common online classroom challenges such as limited social interaction, lack of engagement, and difficulty monitoring student progress. Luckily, there are many educational technologies that teachers can use to improve their online teaching approaches. These include learning management systems, video conferencing software, and collaboration tools.
To fully harness the power of educational technology, it’s essential to stay updated on the tools you currently use and be receptive to exploring new ones. This way, you will be prepared to select the tools that make sense for your classroom and strategically integrate them to enhance the learning experience. If your school chooses the technology for you, being aware of upcoming updates or changes to the platforms can help you stay ahead of challenges, and knowing about digital teaching tools in general can help if your school asks for teacher input on new platforms.
Best Practices:
- Select tools that support learning objectives and make sense for your particular students.
- Ensure you know how to use the tools so you can provide clear instructions, tutorials, and tech support options.
- Use a variety of tools to appeal to different learning styles and meet various classroom needs.
Strategy #5: Promote Student Accountability and Time Management
Online learning can be a double-edged sword. Less constant monitoring gives students greater control over how, where, and (especially in asynchronous learning) when they complete their work, but it may cause them to struggle to stay on track. Consequently, providing students with a solid framework for effectively managing their time and holding themselves accountable is vital. While some of your in-person accountability and time management methods may transfer to online learning, researching ways other teachers have succeeded in this tricky area could help.
For example, when I transitioned to online teaching during COVID quarantines, I found that my students stayed on track better when I broke large assignments into smaller portions, with each part having its own clearly posted deadline for submission. They felt less overwhelmed and were not as likely to fall behind.
Best Practices:
- Set clear, realistic deadlines and expectations for all assignments.
- Break large assignments into separate steps with their own clear deadlines.
- Provide regular feedback and do one-on-one check-ins.
Strategy #6: Adapt Assessments for the Online Environment
Many challenges inherent in online learning, such as students’ WiFi going down at inopportune times and greater opportunity for academic dishonesty because you can’t circulate in the classroom, can make traditional summative assessments impractical. But, evaluations can be adapted to address these challenges. For example, quizzes can have timers so students don’t get distracted, multiple-choice items can be swapped for open-ended questions so it’s harder to Google answers, and tests can be replaced with asynchronous, project-based, collaborative, or open-book assessments.
These measures help ensure that all students can fairly, securely, and effectively demonstrate their mastery of the content. As a bonus, these adapted assessment methods tend to increase engagement by appealing to a wider range of learning styles than traditional methods.
Best Practices:
- Use varied assessment formats, including open-ended questions, essays, and projects.
- Employ tools such as time limits, automated proctoring, and plagiarism detection.
- Offer asynchronous assessments with specified deadlines.
Strategy #7: Build a Supportive and Inclusive Learning Environment
A supportive and inclusive learning environment is critical for any classroom, whether online or in-person. When students feel their voices and experiences are truly valued, it creates a sense of belonging and safety that can motivate them to take academic risks and participate fully.
In an online setting, this involves providing accessible digital resources for all learning needs, encouraging open communication, crafting course content that reflects diverse perspectives, providing ample academic support, and ensuring that all interactions are respectful and empathetic. For instance, you can help students who would typically get one-on-one reading help access technology that can “read aloud” along with them. You should also closely monitor instant messenger discussions on your school’s learning platform for unkind words. This approach can empower students to succeed because it removes many barriers to achievement and creates a positive atmosphere where they can thrive.
Best Practices:
- Encourage students to provide feedback; actively listen to their concerns.
- Ensure all materials are available in multiple formats to account for learning differences.
- Select instructional materials that reflect diverse cultures and perspectives.
Answering Your Questions About Online Teaching
Now that you’ve learned about some effective strategies for online teaching, it’s time to move on to a few of the questions teachers frequently ask about this topic. Continue reading to learn how to address common challenges, get clarification on the instructor’s role in the virtual classroom, and more.
What is the most effective method of online teaching?
There isn’t a universal “most effective method” for online teaching; the one that’s best for you will largely depend on the unique needs of the specific learners in your classroom. But in general, any technique that promotes instructional flexibility by combining asynchronous content (pre-recorded lectures, reading assignments, etc.) with active learning techniques will be the most effective. Personally, I’d advise using regular formative assessments and focusing on tasks that get students to interact with one another, such as discussion boards, collaborative documents, and group projects.
What is the biggest challenge in online teaching?
The biggest challenge many teachers face in an online environment is enticing students to engage and participate regularly. Naturally, there are more distractions in the virtual class, so getting and keeping students’ attention can be difficult.
To combat this, use hands-on strategies so students can be more invested in their learning. If you can get them to feel a sense of ownership over their educational journey, they will likely be more engaged. Furthermore, hold students accountable by setting clear deadlines, giving prompt feedback, and doing check-ins regularly.
What is the best teaching style for an online class?
A student-centered approach is the best style for any class, but it is especially suited to the online environment. The teacher is there to tailor assignments to the needs of all students and facilitate the learning that students take into their own hands through actively exploring, discussing, and applying their knowledge.
How should I deal with quiet learners in an online environment?
To encourage quiet learners to add their voices to the discussion, make sure that you are doing everything you can to foster a supportive, inclusive, and safe environment. All students—even the quiet ones—are more likely to participate when it’s clear that their contributions are valued. If you feel the issue is attributable to shyness or anxiety, take some of the pressure off by allowing asynchronous contributions (like message boards) and keeping discussion groups on the smaller side. I’ve witnessed many students in my brick-and-mortar classroom come out of their shells when they connect with a smaller group of peers rather than being confronted with the entire class.
What is the primary responsibility of the instructor in the e-learning teaching environment?
Just like in the traditional classroom, the instructor is primarily responsible for facilitating and supporting student learning. This responsibility includes tasks such as structuring the course and designing accessible, engaging content, setting expectations, answering questions, providing feedback and support, fostering participation, and assessing individual progress.
