Do you know that 90% of modern students prefer eLearning to in-person classrooms?
It all started with the pandemic and assimilated into today’s education. This phenomenon forced educators to adjust classroom management habits according to online education requirements and create a favorable environment for remote learners. Let’s explore the idea of classroom management, its benefits, and common challenges, and check out the strategies for creating an engaging and productive learning environment.
What is Classroom Management?
Have you ever experienced a situation when a teacher enters the classroom but is unable to start the lesson due to the noisy behavior of the students? Or, when even if starting or conducting a lesson somehow appears to be successful, there is still no productivity in the overall learning process? This is an example of poor classroom management caused by the inability to establish the right contact.
Effective classroom management helps teachers handle tons of everyday duties and maintain a productive learning environment. It is a set of skills and strategies that aim to ensure smooth lesson processes, minimize students’ disruptive behavior, and provide the best teaching-learning experience for everyone involved. In the context of online education, it refers to managing virtual classrooms, promoting student engagement, and ensuring effective communication among online study groups. Every classroom management process includes setting clear expectations, providing consistent feedback, and utilizing technology to facilitate learning.
The Role of Classroom Management in Online Learning
Online classroom management is even more challenging than that of an offline format. It should be arranged properly to guarantee a structured educational process for student engagement and motivation through effective communication within the online learning environment. The role of online classroom management is to minimize the temptations of social networks and gaming and facilitate the utilization of technology for productive outcomes in virtual learning. It aims to educate learners about sources and guidance to apply to enrich their practices and experience.
Benefits of Classroom Management
Comfortable Learning Environment
Comfortable space - whether online or live - sets the tone for the entire learning journey. And what can be more comfortable than sitting in one’s favorite cozy corner and enjoying studying to the fullest? However, when talking about comfort here, we also mean the safety and confidence that come from a well-managed online classroom. It allows students on eLearning to feel more at ease sharing opinions, asking questions, and interacting with peers, which, in turn, leads to enhanced concentration and willingness to be part of class activities.
Track of Student Engagement
The variety of monitoring tools and strategies, like interactive lessons, assessment quizzes, and learning analytics, simplify the identification of learners’ needs for additional support or encouragement.
Consistent Support for Students
As mentioned before, effective online classroom management develops the skill of using relevant supporting resources. Besides, consistent support includes direct guidance with timely feedback, regular consultations, and access to the community.
Foster Collaboration and Communication
A managed classroom improves communication among students, thus providing valuable outcomes in online collaborative learning. Group activities and projects, meaningful discussion forums, and virtual breakout rooms facilitate smooth and encouraging peer-to-peer interaction and learning.
Efficient Student Grading
To streamline the grading process in classroom management, educators implement online quizzes and assessments, which should be accompanied by timely feedback and organized suggestions. Assessment in the Learning Management System includes pre-and-post-learning surveys and short or detailed examinations with multiple-choice and true-false questions.
Common Challenges in Online Classroom Management
Technical Issues
Although technology has obtained control over almost every sphere, it can be unpredictable. Technical issues can disrupt the flow of online classes. Even if you double-check to fix any possible issues, there is always a risk of Internet connectivity problems, software glitches, and hardware malfunctions, which can affect both students and educators.
Inadequate Evaluation and Feedback
Another challenge is the lack of timely evaluation and feedback through relevant support channels between teachers, the technical team, and learners. That’s a usual issue in a non-face-to-face interaction, which makes it harder to measure student understanding and provide immediate assistance.
Poor Interactive Lessons and Low Student Engagement
Keeping students engaged through the PC (or whatever device) screen virtually requires more effort than in a traditional classroom. With poorly structured lessons teachers fail to capture student interest, which results in low engagement and participation.
Online Classroom Management Strategies
Set Clear Rules
Every class activity should have clear rules; a virtual classroom is no exception. Students need to know about course policies, guidelines on participation and behavior, submission deadlines, and a grading system. Awareness of terms and expectations is the key to a respectful and productive learning environment.
Use Different Modes of Learning
The age of boring lectures on theory gave way to versatile educational styles. Incorporating multimodal learning and interactive activities keeps students engaged and builds up memorable learning experiences.
Utilize a Learning Management System (LMS)
With the help of LMS, it is easy to provide access to various courses, create progress tracking and assessment practice, and promote communication channels for student-teacher interaction. Tools like Blackboard or Moodle are popular choices that offer comprehensive classroom management features.
Use Modern Technology to Enhance Learning
Video conferences, chat rooms, and webinar systems make learning more immersive and engaging. The use of technology in education helps educators keep track of student engagement, provide feedback, and stay in touch with them.
Provide Feedback
Regular detailed and personalized feedback is essential for student growth. Such methods as written comments, video feedback, and one-on-one meetings facilitate timely interaction between educators and learners and provide constructive feedback.
Organize Online Study Groups
Encourage students to form virtual study groups where they can discuss projects, share experiences and acquire new skills. Having an opportunity for connection, mutual assistance and collaboration with peers is an essential component of productive learning.
Create Additional Learning Resources
Any teacher has a huge stored library of supplementary materials like recorded lectures, literature, and online tutorials. Sharing these resources can help students reinforce their understanding and catch up on missed content.
Offer Rewards
A reward ensures motivation. Effective classroom management includes multiple interesting ways to reward students to keep them on track, enhance engagement, and simply break the boredom. These can be in the form of certificates, badges, or even small prizes.
Pre-lesson Virtual Classroom Setup Tips
Create an Online Whiteboard
Continuing the topic of technology utilization, it is helpful to create an online whiteboard for visualization. Specific tools are designed to provide a space for thought sharing, presenting ideas through graphs or charts, and many more for real-time collaboration and taking the teaching-learning experience to the next level.
Use Breakout Rooms
Breakout rooms enable small group discussions and activities. They can be used for group work or focused discussions, or just as a chance to know one’s peers better.
Share Slides or Other Visual Aids
Visual aids, like slides, infographics, or video tutorials, enhance understanding and retention of information. They are another suitable chance to engage students in discussions over the material viewed.
Provide a Lesson Agenda
Preview your lesson and introduce a brief agenda or a demo for students to have a clear idea about what to expect and prepare accordingly. This approach also keeps the class on track and ensures all necessary topics are covered.
Check Audio and Video Settings
Even though it is almost impossible to predict the behavior of technology, we can at least check audio and video settings before starting the online class to minimize technical disruptions and ensure smooth communication.
Set Up a Chat Function
Equip your lesson with live chat and instant communication. Students can ask questions, share comments and insights, and participate in discussions without interrupting the flow of the lesson.
Conclusion
Effective classroom management not only encourages growth for students but also improves teacher performance. It helps reduce the likelihood of study-related stress and anxiety by paving the way to a successful learning experience. With proper understanding and implementation of the strategies discussed, educators can overcome common challenges and foster a collaborative online learning space, irrespective of the class size.