Nowadays teaching online is a very essential part of our education system. Therefore, we need to focus on the quality of online teaching and should find out the teaching skills needed for online teaching.
You may say why are you talking like this?
But my point is, I have witnessed so many teachers don’t know how to approach online teaching properly, even though they are actually awesome teachers in the physical classroom.
So it must be our concern to improve it. If you are a teacher and looking for how to teach online in an effective way then certainly this article is for you.
Let’s discuss the skills you need to become a more effective online teacher.
Table of Contents
15 Teaching Skills Needed for Online Teachers
In this era, effective online teaching is a must-have skill for the teachers. However, before we go I need to tell you that maybe you are a stunning teacher in the physical classroom, but there is a huge difference between physical and online teaching, so knowing teaching skills needed for online teaching is very important for every teacher. Let’s have a look:
1. Understand the terms of online education
Firstly, you have to understand the language of online education. This is one of the first teaching skills needed for becoming a more effective online teacher.
Online teachers should be familiar with all the essential tools and online infrastructures such as; learning management, and content management systems. Also, you should have a clear understanding of the uses of each system to support online course design and delivery.
For instance, you should know how to use the grading method within the online course program.
2. Revise and prepare course documents in CMS
You should know how to make appropriate use of the Content management platform’s features. By producing documents that are well structured for the use of students. Also, you should keep documents up to date during course delivery.
For instance, online teachers should have enough facility with content management to re-check or change courses to meet students’ learning methods and needs.
3. Use CMS tools efficiently to facilitate course object
This is one of the teaching skills needed for more effective online teaching. You need to be familiar with all kinds of content management elements, and you have to be able to choose the perfect elements while designing and teaching courses.
For instance, you should know when, how and what types of study ranges to use to foster student to student cooperation during the online class time.
4. Design and deliver the course to proper online design and content standards
This is another essential teaching skill needed for effective online teaching. You should be familiar with the online plan and content models.
Also, you should have the skill to select which standards are relevant for their course design and delivery demands and show the use of plan and content standards in document creation and delivery.
For instance, you should be aware of the requirement that online learning stuff is easily accessible for persons with disabilities, and you should ensure that the design and teaching of online include appropriate text descriptions of course videos, audios, and graphics.
5. Utilise technology to support curriculum design
In the course material, you should have the ability to show the skill to use multimedia appropriately in ways that also facilitates people with disabilities.
For example, if you use a video clip to describe a scientific subject, then It should be able to combine the clip into the learning platform in a way that learners may easily reach the clip without any technical issues like lengthy downloading times.
Besides, the video clip should be explained by the text, too. Because it certainly meets the requirements for people with disabilities.
6. Update course documents to maintain accuracy
This is one of the teaching skills needed for effective online teachers. When you are working in course design and course delivery, you need to be able to revise the course documents to keep the information up to date and authentic.
For instance, you should be capable of reviewing online courses records and of maintaining up to date internal links in the course records.
Also, you have to update course records at least once in a semester during teaching to make sure that the links are still active properly.
7.Incorporate Internet resources into course documents
If you want to be a good online teacher, then you should be able to demonstrate a skill to search and utilise websites so that the links can be combined into the course.
Moreover, you need to use Content management system features appropriately to refer to websites and have the information literacy knowledge to pick which sites are relevant and sufficient for inclusion. When citing these sources, it’s essential to utilize a citation maker online to ensure accurate and consistent referencing.
8. Communicate a suitable online tone during course delivery
This is another essential teaching skill for you to be an excellent online teacher. Online communication may lack the full array of visual and verbal cues that help listeners interpret speakers’ words.
So you must be sensitive to problems of misunderstanding; also, you need to be conscious to use a proper online tone in course plan and course delivery.
Besides, you should be capable of modelling an appropriate tone and be able to advise learners toward a proper sound when they are in the discussion.
For instance: Online teachers should know how to use emotions in virtual communication so that learners are not confused when you are referring to something with a joke. Moreover, you should quickly intervene if dialogue seems disrespectful.
9. Promote student-to-student discussion
As an online teacher, you must foster student-to-student discussion during course design and delivery.
So when designing the course, you need to insert a course discussion as features of student grading. The instructions should make clear that when, where and how the students will engage in online discussions.
Also, when in the course delivery phase, you should help students by intervening appropriately when it seems inappropriate.
For instance: You can promote discussion during the course plan by including leading questions to kick start among the student discussions.
10. Engage students in collaboration
Another teaching skills needed for you to make more out of online teaching.
Most importantly, it is your duty to foster student to student collaboration by using an online discussion on any topic, group project, team activities etc. Also, you should demonstrate skill at facilitating student inter- conversations.
When student discussion just turns out of the topics, you have to intervene appropriately to return the conversation on the relevant topic.
11. Provide appropriate and timely feedback to students
For a teacher, this is an essential teaching skill indeed. As an online teacher, you should monitor students’ learning, and you should provide feedback on their work or any performance. It helps them to engage more in their study.
So you should review the students’ homework or any kind of task timely because, in this context, it is your responsibility to provide feedback on their performance as fast as possible.
As an online teacher, you should provide proper instruction to learners on how to submit their research paper or any assignment, give rubrics on how the paper will be assessed, you need to follow the rubrics when grading and return the paper with proper comments or feedback.
If some of your students are struggling, you can give them some writing tips. Research paper writing tips can help walk your students through the steps of researching and completing their assignments.
12. Participate and be present in an online course
If you are an online teacher, it is vitally important that you should be an active participant in the class on a regular basis. You should take part in the class discussions, review submitting, respond to students queries.
You should log into the course every day to check students’ questions and respond to them, review student discussion and provide feedback to students on their assignment since the previous day.
13. Provide course materials to students in a timely manner
This is also one of the vital skills needed for teaching online. You should be able to provide the lesson materials timely to the learners in a timely manner. It can be physical materials that you can share by emailing them or electronic materials in the form of internet links.
So as an online teacher, you have to maintain the currency of course materials.
14. Track students’ participation in the online course
An online teacher should have the relevant tools to track student participation in the course on a daily basis. You should also track course logs, reviewing student postings in the discussion area, and student assignments.
So you should regularly evaluate and assess the student participation in course discussions, and base a portion of a student’s grade on the level and performance of student participation in the course lecture.
15. Track students’ basic technical support
This is also one of the most important skills needed for teaching online, because if the students experience any kind of technical issue, then the course plans may fall apart.
So you should have enough technical skills to answer students’ questions on some technical issues, including posting discussions, submitting, using the internet, and seeing the online grades.
So you should instruct students how to submit their online activities, assist students with difficulties by clarifying the instructions, or provide support by phone or email. You should be able to understand the students’ pain points.
Related:
1. Strategies for Remote Learning and Teaching Online
2. The Changing World of Remote Working, Teaching, and Learning
3. How Teaching English As a Second language?
Closing Note
So these were my 15 skills needed for teaching online effectively. If you are an online teacher, it is highly recommended to follow those tips to make it batter.
Most importantly, as a teacher, whenever you are acting online, this is your responsibility to make sure the best output from the online courses.
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