Effective Tips for making online classes useful

1. One to two teachers with 30-40 students appearing in different grids of the laptop screen with parents making guest appearances and running in and out of the screen although unintentionally, while attending to the technical glitches such as setting the camera, adjusting the volume, muting/unmuting the mic, power cuts and so on.

2. Or even while dealing with the unavoidable circumstances such as catching hold and bringing back their child to sit at one place and attend their classes who decides to wander off in between or prefers to attend the class in the most awkward poses with lying down position being their favourite one. 

3. This is a typical scene nowadays usually between 9 am - 1 pm in most of the houses wherein parents can be seen coaxing their child to sit patiently and to focus on the lessons taught by the teacher while its a bedlam with the teachers calling out the names of students and attaining absolute decorum while conducting the class.

4. Both the parents as well as the teachers can be seen adopting various strategies in adjusting to the new trend of online classes that have become the “new normal” courtesy raging COVID-19 pandemic which is throwing up all sorts of unprecedented challenges and leading to physical closure of schools.

5. Wavering attention spans, disinterest and ensuring that children remain looped in are some of the key challenges faced by parents every single day apart from their presence around which is required throughout especially with younger children. It has become an everyday struggle more so for working parents who are either working from home or need to go to the office while juggling classes with professional commitments.

6. To deal with such challenges I will be discussing some of the effective tips in making online classes useful for children.

• Consider setting up a quiet, clutter-free designated workspace devoted to learning that is comfortable for your child as the surrounding environment with too many things such as their favourite toys, games etc can be a distraction. Besides with many parents working from home, creating separate, quiet work stations for both i.e. parents as well as their children where possible will benefit them by providing an environment which will be conducive to focused and effective learning for them. 

• Screen breaks in between learning can help children relax, reboot as well as improve their attention allowing them to reset their focus as sitting through an entire class can make it difficult for them to do so. Besides, it can pose serious health hazards with eyes related complaints such as dry and irritated eyes, eye fatigue, watery eyes, headache, lethargy, obesity in the long run to name a few.

• Consider limiting your child’s exposure to gadgets such as cell phones and tablets until their school work is done satisfactorily as these can prove to be distracting. Plan physical activities such as exercise, yoga, aerobics for an hour or so to channelize their energies in the right direction.

• Monitor your child’s level of interest and engagement to confirm they are indeed learning by observing if they are taking notes or zoning out. Ask questions at the end of a lesson thereby keeping yourself abreast with their day to day performance. 

• In order to avoid social isolation encourage them to engage in video chat or facetime with family and friends.

• Help your children in developing a written schedule by prioritizing and creating goals, tasks and deadlines. Reinforce boundaries and offer incentives for healthy behaviours.

• Check-in with other parents to find out the effective strategies they have adopted that have worked out for them. For the good of our children and families, it is important that we all work together as a community.

• Plan off-screen activities for the whole family so as to create opportunities for family bonding between school and work obligations. Organize fun sessions by having a dance and music breaks, playing board games, having a chit-chat or watching a movie together.

Without a doubt, this is a challenging time for parents, teachers and children alike. Online classes have become the need of the hour in current circumstances for students to be engaged in a constructive manner especially at a time when physical contact with the outside world is not being encouraged. It also helps in their mental growth and happiness besides offering a routine to students.  Hope that these effective tips will help you and your family navigate this new terrain thereby making online learning useful.