Thanks to the advancements in modern technology and the emergence of fast and stable internet connections, students now have the option of taking courses online. In case you are a teacher, then exploring the possibility of teaching online can help you further advance in your career. This article lists down some of the most useful tips that you can do to prepare for it.

Get to know your audience

One of the primary things that you need to do when you intend to teach online is taking the time to get to know your audience. Some of the audiences that you can consider, apart of course from your students, are their families and other teachers, as well as the administrators that you need to work with. Like with face-to-face classes, you have to exert the effort to get to know each of your students for you to be able to design a lesson that will be able to benefit them accordingly.

Apart from the learning ability of your target students, you also need to consider their age and preferences for you to be able to come up with lessons that will pique their interest, encouraging them to learn. The age of your students is also a significant factor when it comes to their attention span, which is why you need to also consider this.

Sometimes, you also have to factor in their habits at home because this can also affect their concentration, thereby also affecting your focus in delivering the content of your lesson intended for them.

Familiarize yourself with your technology stack

Another thing that you need to prepare is learning the technology stack that you will be used to hold online classes. Simply put, your technology stack is the collection of the tools, platforms, and codebases that you need to use to deliver your lessons.

This is where you can explore online sources to have a good idea of a suitable teacher app that you can use. In this case, you may come across the klassly app from the company klassroom that has a simple and intuitive layout, making it easy to use for everyone. This app is proven to be a hundred percent effective for emergency communication of teachers with their students’ families. The best part is that this app is free.

Ideally, your technology stack should be able to foster a one-to-many text-based communication, as well as one-to-many audio and video broadcast. In terms of the former, this will be beneficial in establishing a single source of truth where all high-level announcements will be posted. When it comes to the latter, this is where you can stream videos for important announcements.

You should also search for a platform that will help your conduct a large group audio and video discussion, as well as a platform efficient for small group collaboration. You should also look into the use of a learning management system with some of the most popular ones such as Google Classroom or Canvas.

Get your work area ready

When you intend to teach online, you should have a work area that is designed to help foster a positive learning environment. As much as possible, allocate a part of your home that is intended specifically for you to work and teach your students.

Apart from being friendly and inviting, your workspace should also encourage you to be productive. Since you are teaching online, you need to have a noise-free environment that is free from various forms of distractions such as your television, other family members, or even your household chores.

Prepare a checklist for your students

To prepare for teaching online, you should also establish a certain goal. It will help if your objectives are planned based on a specific time frame rather than on a particular scenario. For instance, phase your lessons based on weeks and set goals for each week accordingly. Soften the ground for your students by preparing a checklist for them to gauge their learning as well. Some of the content of your checklist can include what each of your students needs to learn by the end of each week such as how to use your collaboration platform.

Create a simple schedule

As much as possible, create a simple schedule for both you and your students to make it easier for you to stick to it. In this case, it will be a good idea to share a high-level timeline detailing what your students can expect from you as well as what you expect from your students. Make sure that you include regular communication with your students through different kinds of platforms as necessary such as emails, text messages, or video calls.

Offer digital support rooms

Finally, to effectively prepare to teach online, you should also look into how digital support rooms are set up and begin setting up one yourself for you to be able to offer it as soon as your classes start. Some of the rooms that you can offer include a technical support room or an instructional support room.

You can also delve into offering human resources support, as well as a health and wellness support room. This will allow you to motivate your students as they are aware that you will always be there to offer help in case they need it.

To effectively prepare in teaching online, one of the first things that you need to do is to get to know your audience. From there, make sure that you are familiar with the technology stack that you will be using and that you have a work area that will foster a positive learning environment. Make sure to prepare a checklist that your students will be able to use to gauge their learning and create a simple schedule that both you and your students will be able to adhere to.

Also, take the time to prepare digital support rooms to help your students further. All these are geared towards ensuring that you will emerge victorious in helping your students learn by teaching online.