Best practices in distance education manual

Everything from Clorox to toilet paper is gone! Bath and Body Works has followed suit. One little bug has changed the lives of global citizens, forcing us all to rethink how we commune and communicate. Technology has never had a better time to shine. For school districts, distance learning is a great way to provide students with location independence while having a synchronous experience with their teacher.

Not all students feel comfortable sharing publicly. This does not mean they are not active in the course. Most online environments offer useful statistics. If there is a tool that you know will make a difference in teaching and learning, we highly recommend that you request it from your supervisor, who will forward it to the company. Teachers are constantly correcting grammar, considering differentiation techniques, and mulling over best practices.

Classroom instructors are responsible for providing students with the opportunity to interact with the content, supporting and clarifying misconceptions to meet objectives. We can do this by remembering to:. Offer an environment conducive to learning. Classroom management practices are just as valuable online as they are face to face. Teachers establish and maintain a safe learning climate online by modeling expectations and setting the standard.

For example, sarcasm can never infiltrate the learning environment. Community building practices should occur throughout the length of the course—not just the first week.

Group activities are a great way to build comradery among learners. Take care not to single students out. Ask them, through private chat, if they would share exemplary work. Circulate through the roster and select new students each time until all students have been given the opportunity to share. Finally, be human. Admitting to being stumped and asking students if they have expertise on a topic is a great way to build confidence in students.

Digital aged students are experienced, accomplished, and proud. They have experienced life through social media, online gaming, athletics, and other extracurricular activities. Therefore, they bring these experiences and opinions into the classroom environment with them.

Allow them to process concepts through discussion and experimentation rather than listening passively. Provide expressive opportunities in the online classroom by using tools of engagement, such as chat, whiteboard, and polls, to empower learners to apply the content to real-life situations in real-time.

Before you think about purchasing any platform, we strongly recommend that the supervisor not only see it but use it. If you are a supervisor, I would expect you to participate in the tutorial, ask for an ordinary lesson, watch it, and engage with the facilitator.

Last, create experiences and integrate them into the platform before even thinking about purchasing it. Plus, how fun would it be to tell one of your class clowns to "pick up the Slack"? Online instruction has progressed by leaps and bounds in recent years thanks to digital infrastructure like Canvas. In addition to their paid plans, this online learning management system provides a free open-access platform for year colleges, K schools, nonprofit organizations with a public service or education focus, and government agencies with an education focus.

Educators who use Canvas appreciate the functionality of its adaptable cloud technology and its robust learning management system. Canvas even provides free access to all site data, making research a snap for education professionals.

When big changes are afoot, time meets its match. Deadlines are especially difficult amidst widespread change, from large-scale digital adoption to distance learning.

Implementing regular assessments will have several positive impacts on your digital classroom. First, students who receive regular assessments will have greater self-awareness and an improved ability to assess themselves and their comfort over time.

Second, they'll have a strong propensity toward high performance—"He who knows better does better. Further, assessments help instructors keep curricula relevant by offering qualitative feedback on lesson plan efficacy.

Readiness checks keep classrooms prepared and ahead of the curve for any potential emergency. Regularly check in with students and make sure they're learning. For example, call on your students throughout a lesson—not just at the end.

Create some quick ways for students to respond. Have students hold up a finger if they agree, two fingers if they disagree. Check-in periodically to make sure students still understand the experience or story, ask for someone to summarize the central point of the lesson or anecdote, and open up the group occasionally for questions or discussion.

Be sure to check for slumping body language, acting out, or distraction. Take time to do emotional wellness check-ins, too. Instruct students to grab their photos from the left side and drag them over to the emoji on the right side that best matches their current feelings.

Students who might otherwise feel too shy to talk openly about their feelings will be more willing to share during this type of class exercise. People bond over shared identity and shared experiences. You don't live in a vacuum, nor have you ever wanted to.

You are not alone and other teachers have faced similar challenges. Have you tried every possible solution, or are you just one step away from breaking through? Are you doing the right thing s? Or are you still working through your adjustments to education? All of these questions and more can be answered simply by being in community with other teachers.

That means that not only are there resources available to you, but that you can be a powerful resource in return. Reach out and teach out! You will make mistakes, and that's ok! Transitions don't have to be perfect. And your students are always more forgiving than you realize, more admiring than you notice, and more thankful than they know how to express. At the very least, your class provides a sense of normalcy and structure.

Distance learning can be fun, engaging, collaborative, and imaginative—it all depends on how you wield the available tools. Powerful things happen when pedagogy meets technology. Learn how to use Lucidchart to optimize distance learning. What does HR actually do? Lucidchart is the intelligent diagramming application that empowers teams to clarify complexity, align their insights, and build the future—faster.

With this intuitive, cloud-based solution, everyone can work visually and collaborate in real time while building flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, and more. The most popular online Visio alternative , Lucidchart is utilized in over countries by millions of users, from sales managers mapping out target organizations to IT directors visualizing their network infrastructure. Best practices for distance learning in Reading time: about 7 min Posted by: Lucid Content Team Mobile-first design.

Adjust your teaching style for distance learning Distance learning inherently requires you to rework in-person activities—what may work in face-to-face learning may not work online.

Design for interaction Since children have short attention spans, distance learning comes with challenges to learner engagement, especially from home. Focus on active learning Don't just be interactive with your students—engage them in active learning in your virtual classroom.

Your students are full of energy and curiosity—use it to your and their advantage. Chunk your lessons Distance learning means your online classroom is also unfairly competing with distractions from home.