Most students tend to lose interest in taking continuous online classes. They are distracted by the things around them while taking classes while sitting at home. And this causes students to fade away from online classes. They start skipping classes and thus are left behind in their course or miss important topics. Physical classes make different situations, but online classes have changed everything: the teaching techniques, engagement of the students, student motivation, and attentiveness. However, online learning has brought along great convenience from the ease of your home. But it does get some challenges. The students who take online classes need to possess the quality of self-motivation and work in isolation. Not having face-to-face accountability with the teachers makes it easier for them to lose motivation, and that too without anyone noticing.
The research literature on interaction or interactivity has highlighted the complexity of this educational issue (Muirhead, 2005). It is important that students get engaged with online classes in order to achieve what they need t to achieve from education. The more students enjoy, the more they will get successful in their coming years. But how can you make students participate more in online classes? Here are some tips to get the task done.
10 AMAZING TIPS TO IMPROVE CONTRIBUTION
1.  ENTHUSIASM AND ENERGY
Maintaining the enthusiasm and energy of the students is crucial through videos, but it is equally important for the success of online classes. Often students lose their energy and wish “I would have someone to take my online class“. Delivering your content with the utmost energy and passion can motivate students to learn more and develop their interest in the topic. Even the tone of your voice can make them build or lose their interest in the course. And it can impact the student’s willingness to interact with you.
2.  INTERACT WITH EACH ONE OF THEM
Suppose your classes are one-on-one video calls. Try to learn more about your students. Ask them questions about themselves. But only asking questions won’t be enough. You will have to keep it remembered. However, it will be difficult for you to recollect every student’s answer, for you can try writing the answers of each one of them. It gives them the sense of value that their thoughts and ideas are valued by you and will give them the motivation to participate more.
3.  INTERACT WITH THEM IN ONLINE GROUP LESSONS
Online group classes can take more of your effort as compared to individual classes. Because in a high-strength class, it is sometimes challenging to keep engaging with every one of them with respect to time. Here, you do not need to remember everything about everyone, but you should keep in mind the main things about each student. Usually, some students are more into participating, and other lacks in confidence to talk in front of everyone. But when you remember things about the ones that are participating, it will increase motivation to the others as well.
4.  BOOST CHAT INTERACTION
Some teachers use chats to encourage students to communicate better in class. Chats can be a great way to communicate with those who feel shy to join video calls and audio calls. Make sure to ensure them that they do have an option of chat to interact if they are not comfortable with audio or video chats. This will give them the sense that chats are in their favour and not against them. Ask them questions or take polls to keep them interacting with the lesson.
5.  ADVOCATE YOUR STUDENTS
While studying online, distraction is stronger to shift their attention in a couple of minutes. An effective approach to overcome this is to arrange individual classes with your students and discuss their progress and get their feedback on different things. Interacting with them apart from classes will give them confidence and will create an open communication channel. This could also be done by having conversations with them over email.
6.  PROVIDE THEM WITH YOUR FEEDBACK
Input is a fundamental piece of the learning system. Giving steady input will build a strong interaction with your students. Your feedback should be clear, pertinent to the online course, and empowering.
Regardless of whether your student’s responses are off-base or right, you can constantly observe something in it to be laud and something to be moved along. Get that across and urge them to continue to improve. Getting useful input will build their connection since they need to hear you talk regarding their upgrades.
7.  PROVIDE THE OUTLINE OF THE CLASS
Toward the start of a class, do you ask your students what did you find in the final remaining one? As a rule, online teachers get a long and uncomfortable silence when they ask that. It’s a legitimate inquiry, and it’s an incredible method for beginning connecting with students assuming they recall it. To ensure they answer you next time, have a go at making a rundown of the example after each online class. It tends to be something basic, similar to an email with the main idea of the lesson.
8.  MAKE THEM INTERACT WITH ONE ANOTHER
To increase students’ participation in class, you need to enhance their interaction among themselves. This will give them more interest in the course work if they discuss the thing with a person with the same mental level. Make a virtual group of all the students where they could easily interact with each other.
9.  OFFER GIVEAWAYS
It can be a great way to increase student-teacher interaction. You can arrange quests or competitions and give them incentives or giveaways. This will build their interest in the class, and they won’t be sitting and thinking, “I wish I could pay to take my online class” instead will be willing to take the class themselves.
10. ASK FOR THEIR IDEAS AFTER EACH CLASS
During the online course and after it’s done, request that they audit your classes and get their input. Numerous online teachers don’t get audits, and that can affect your online class situations. Input during the online course can assist you with expanding the interaction with the students and assist you with better arriving at your students.
LAST THOUGHTS
However, online education has given litheness for both the students and teachers, where the teachers can impart and the students are able to study, all from the luxuries of their home with every means available necessary for learning (helpwithdissertation, 2021). But interaction is the key to your successful online class. Students tend to lose interest in online classes because they are getting proper engagement; they get bored studying at their homes alone and without their friends. Unlike physical classes, when it comes to schools and take full participation in the class is in the observance of the teachers.
REFERENCES
Muirhead, B. (2005). Encouraging interaction in online classes. Insights for Teachers and Students, 74.
HWD. (2021). Artificial Intelligence. Online Available at https://www.helpwithdissertation.co.uk/blog/artificial-intelligence/ [Accessed on 28th February 2022]
