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Online learning got an unprecedented boost because of the global emergency that shut down everything else. Thankfully, we had all the tools we needed to deliver quality education to students attending classes from home.
While the logistics part of delivering online education is quite straightforward, teaching in a virtual environment can turn out to be dramatically different than teaching in a classroom.
The best video conferencing software can ensure that all your students have access to your classes. However, the task of making these classes impactful still rests upon the shoulders of the teacher.
One of the common challenges that many teachers are facing with delivering online classes is to address the various learning styles in an online training environment.
If you are also facing this challenge, try the following tricks to address the needs of the different learning styles in your online classes:
Visual Learners
For visual learners, the presence of visual aids is important for effective learning. Luckily, most online educators make use of charts, graphs, images, and even videos in their lessons.
However, the truth is, you cannot deliver all the information relevant to a class in the form of visual elements. Besides using such elements, it is also a good idea to make use of bulleted points to deliver lengthy information. This allows visual learners to “see” the information.
Similarly, when delivering instructions on completing a task, it is a good idea to include visual instructions (if they are relevant).
Auditory Learners
The online education model, for the most part, is extremely conducive for training auditory learners. However, it is important to ensure your online training experience doesn’t just make use of text.
Instead, take live online classes with the help of a video conferencing software. You can also record these lectures, upload them on a video streaming website such as YouTube and make it available for students to refer to later.
The best part is, uploading lectures on YouTube fulfills the ADA requirements because the YouTube algorithm can create closed captions for your videos.
Kinesthetic Learners
Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing (don’t we all?). Addressing the needs of kinesthetic learners in an online training environment may be tricky, but it can be done with the help of carefully planned assignments.
For instance, instead of written essays, you can ask the learners to deliver their graded assignments in the form of videos or audio files.
Another way to incorporate the learning needs of kinesthetic learners during an online class is to make use of the screen sharing feature on your web conferencing software. Showing such learners how to do something will work much better than telling them how to do it.
Social Learners
Online classes can be daunting for social learners that enjoy learning with their peers. Thankfully, there are a number of social learning features you can introduce to your online learning experience with the help of a learning management system (LMS).
For instance, using a LMS you can create an online forum for students to discuss problems and concepts taught during a class. You can also use this forum to conduct collaborative activities among students.
In fact, group assignments are one of the best ways to help your social learners combat the feeling of loneliness.
Conclusion
It is almost impossible for educators or teachers to address the needs of all these learning styles during a single online lecture. However, with the right mix of innovative assignments, self-paced learning, and online classes, the overall learning experience can be designed to help kids with different learning preferences.
How are you addressing the different learning styles in your online classes? Share with us in the comment section below!
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