One of the biggest effects of the pandemic is the change in how people interact. Parties, concerts, and large gatherings are strongly discouraged. Social or physical distancing has also been required. This means that people are urged to stay at home as much as possible. Otherwise, they are required to maintain a distance of at least six feet. According to the CDC, this will help prevent the spread of the virus, along with masks and sanitation.
Because of this change, schools have made a massive adjustment. More and more classes are being taught online. This decision has been met with criticism and protests. But, there are ways to make remote learning effective for every age group. From Suzuki violin lessons to English class, home tuition can work. Here’s how:
For Kindergartners
Children aged 4 to 6 years old tend to have short attention spans which are not ideal for online classes. Getting their attention is one thing but keeping them is an entirely different thing. Since the teacher’s not personally there to keep the students in line, it’s important to try other strategies.
One way is to keep the classes interactive. Don’t just talk to your laptop’s camera. It’s a surefire way to lose their attention. You should engage their senses. Use visual aids, fun sound effects, and vibrant colors. Thanks to the internet, getting teaching materials have never been easier or faster. You can use educational videos by Blippi and National Geographic Kids on YouTube. They’re already tailored to keep kids’ focus. There are also catchy and informative songs in the internet that you can play during class. Another way is to make your own visual aids. Canva is free and easy-to-use. If you want to create your own videos, you can use Adobe Spark. What’s great about it is that it’s not only free but also online. You don’t have to install a large application that will eat up your computer’s storage.
For Elementary School Students
Like kindergartners, primary school students are also full of energy. But after a few years of studying in a classroom, they’re used to more time in the classroom than in the playground. With that said, they can still get unruly. That’s why it’s important to keep their focus.
Because of technology, you can keep them concentrated using educational apps. There’s data that backs up how effective they are. A research paper has found that students who use educational apps to complement their traditional classes achieve 165% of their goals. Apps are also well-suited for elementary school students because they’re used to handling gadgets. Unlike kindergartners, they know that tablets and smartphones should be used with care. You can leave them alone and trust that they didn’t throw an iPad to the ground.
The best part about educational apps is that you don’t have to spend a cent if you don’t want to. There are so many apps on the App Store and Google Play that are free. Using free apps, kids of different ages can learn math, science, art and even a different language. Since the apps are made for children, they work like a game, so they won’t get bored with them easily.
It’s important to remember that there’s still a downside when you let kids use gadgets on their own. You can’t supervise them all the time. When you’re not looking, they can spend hundreds of dollars on purchases. The good news is that you can prevent this before you get a massive credit card bill. Whether your tablet is an Apple or Android device, you can set up parental controls that disable purchases without your consent. If a child has already bought something, you can still try to get a refund.
For High School Students
As they grow older, kids become more complicated. The same idea applies to teaching. You can no longer keep their attention with games or fun songs. If you do, you might not get taken seriously. Instead, you have to make your class entertaining and relatable, so they won’t get bored. One way to do that is by using memes.
By definition, memes are amusing posts that’s used online, mostly through social media. They are typically in the form of a photo, GIF, or video. For class, they can be used as icebreakers or even visual aids to illustrate a certain point. They’re easy and fast to make. The important thing you have to do is to keep updated using social media so your memes aren’t outdated. From there, you can take any meme and use it for any class.
Gadgets and phones may have captured students’ attention. But this doesn’t mean that technology can’t be used to educate them and keep their focus on class. With the right apps and strategies, kids can be taught remotely.
