As remote and hybrid learning becomes more prevalent, digital classrooms are becoming the norm. A well-organized digital space enhances the teaching and learning experience for both educators and students. With the right set of digital tools, you can create an engaging online classroom environment. This article covers tips on structuring your virtual classroom for effectiveness.
Choose an Intuitive Platform
The foundation of your online classroom begins with choosing an intuitive platform such as Google Classroom, Canvas or Blackboard. Consider ease of navigation and built-in organization when selecting a platform. The system should allow you to seamlessly integrate other edtech tools for assignments, assessments, communication and collaboration. With a centralized hub for the class, students can easily find what they need without hassle.
Organize Units and Topics Clearly
Structure your content and curriculum into intuitive units and modules in your platform. Establish clear topic headings and descriptions when building out the course. Break down units into specific, well-labeled sections to enable both instructors and learners to navigate the material with ease. Consider building in scaffolded activities that move students from basic concepts to more advanced skills within each topic.
Set Up Assignment and Assessment Systems
An LMS with assignment features takes the hassle out of distributing, collecting and grading work. Set up a well-labeled assignment tab in your platform where students can readily find current work. Integrate additional edtech tools such as plagiarism checkers or math auto-graders to streamline any routine grading tasks. Build assessments and make them accessible in an organized fashion so students are never hunting for quizzes, tests or exams.
Facilitate Communication and Collaboration
Foster better communication and collaboration with platforms that allow commenting, discussions and group messaging options. Have dedicated digital spaces for questions and conversations to eliminate email inbox clutter between instructors and students. Build community even while learning remotely with group discussion forums or tools that enable teamwork on projects.
Curate Course Resources and Materials
An online learning management system equips you to share vital course resources seamlessly. Upload files such as class presentations, documents and lecture materials to a specific part of the platform for anytime access. Share links to supplemental sites and videos in an organized fashion within the course. Develop class playlists on multimedia sites to curate collections of relevant media. Enable bookmarking abilities along with resource libraries so students can reference materials long after the class ends.
