Engaging young learners in an online class
9 tips for teachers to give children an interesting and effective virtual learning
If there's a silver lining to the pandemic, it's that we deliberately seek solutions to better online learning. Contrary to a widely held assumption that online learning means listening to talking heads, teachers are making use of technology and exploring different ways to engage learners, especially when their learners are children.
Since children’s screen time should not be too long, we need to make that time worth it. One challenge when we move classes online is that some interactive elements and the sense of connection might be a bit limited. Therefore, we need to be aware of how online learning works and get a bit more creative if we were to create an engaging online lesson.
In this blog post you will find specific, immediately applicable tips to make your next online classes engaging, thus making learning a joy-filled experience for your young learners.
What is an engaging learning experience?
To answer this question, let’s first find out what’s NOT an engaging learning experience.
Sometimes we assume that an engaging lesson simply equals a lesson that includes a bunch of games. While playing can bring fun to young learners, games alone do not make up a truly engaging lesson. In fact, there are three components to engage young learners in a classroom:
#1. Behavioral engagement. This involves whether and how children participate in activities
#2. Emotional engagement. This refers to children’s affective attitudes toward their teachers, peers, and the learning program in general.
#3. Cognitive engagement. This happens when children can relate to the learning content
Why is engagement important?
Engagement is essential for children's happiness and their likelihood to complete the lesson with enthusiasm. An engaging online class helps children cultivate their joy in learning, especially during these trying times. Also, since learning online likely means more distraction, investing the efforts in creating engaging learning will help the children stick to the lesson until the very end.
The challenge is that not every experience in an in-person classroom translates well into online learning. Therefore, these are some of the tips for you who are looking to increase engagement in your online classes.
9 tips for teachers to increase engagement in online learning
Category 1: Tips to increase behavioral engagement
#1. Cater to different learning styles
Some children are visual learners. Others learn better by listening or physical activities. It is important to design diverse lesson activities that serve the learning goals and suit different types of young learners. This helps them feel comfortable, thus more motivated to participate in the lessons.
Specifically, you can try adding relevant illustrations into your lesson content, create space for peer discussion, or guide the children to conduct experiments.
For example, in upiopi’s color science lesson, we let students do hands-on experiments to practice measuring (involving physical movement). Then we let them observe capillary action and the mixing of colors (visual). After that they can practice making interpretations by discussing what happens to toilet paper and paper towels when mixed with dishwashing liquid (audio)
#2. Create room for peer learning
A great way to involve children in the lesson is to make room for productive discussions. Children can learn communication and collaboration by exchanging ideas with each other. To make the discussions effective, you need to ask relevant guiding questions, assign them with a topic of appropriate level, or group kids with different perspectives together. This way, one child can learn to listen to their peers and express themselves confidently.
One note is that some children are naturally more introverted, so make sure to create a safe space where every child can be heard.
#3. Build on what they have already known
Children are more engaged in the lesson if they are confident in their ability to learn. To help boost their confidence, you can build on what they have already known. For example, you can ask warm-up questions and let them share about their own observation or experience with the topic, and continue to dig deeper from that.
Another idea is to have a mini-reflection in the beginning and let the children recall what they have learnt in the previous lesson. This is best done in a stress-free way so that the children can express what they truly think, not what they are supposed to.
Category 2: Tips to increase emotional engagement
#4. Increase your presence via visual/audio
It might be challenging to keep children focused in an offline class, and the stakes are higher in a virtual environment. The last thing we want are laggy videos or sounds that distract the children even more. Therefore, it’s a good idea to double check all equipment before class, and have a backup plan in case the wifi crashes in the middle of your teaching.
Apart from the technicals, your energy can affect the learning experience. Children are adept at picking up our energy, so it’s important you can be ready before the lesson happens.
#5. Adopt a check in routine
Scheduling a 10-minute check in time at the beginning of the lesson can help children get ready emotionally for the class. You can start off by asking about their feelings, how their day has been, or what they look forward to in the upcoming lesson. This allows the children to actively participate in the lesson early on, which sets the right tone for an engaging experience afterwards.
Make sure to adjust the lesson content so that the check in time does not affect your class schedule. You can consider keeping the most important parts of the lesson, and avoid dragging on since children cannot spend too much time on screen.
#6. Celebrate the small wins
Focusing on the process and celebrating small achievements along the way can boost a child’s confidence and motivate them to learn more. Make your compliments specific by using this structure: You’ve done a great job on + the specific activity or behavior the child has done that you want to encourage. For example, you can say “Katia, great job on asking the question” or “It’s very good that you try different ways to find out the answer, Katia!”
The point is to emphasize the efforts and good mindset, not necessarily the result. A compliment on how hard the child has tried will help him or her realize that their hard work is appreciated. In contrast, a compliment on how beautiful a drawing is might make the child feel a bit hesitant to try new ways of painting as they are worried about failing to create the same beautiful drawing.
Category 3: Tips to increase cognitive engagement
#7. Give children choice
Giving children a sense of ownership in their learning journey keeps them motivated in your lessons. Make a list of well-picked options on the activities they can choose to join or projects they can work on. For example, they could choose between drawing one of the four animals, or create artworks in the form of a video, or a writing.
One thing to note is that the list should not be too long so children will not suffer from decision fatigue. Also, the options should have relatively the same level of challenge, so that the children can pick from different options that appeal to their interests.
#8. Focus on their interests
There might be a superhero fan or a little animal guru in your student group. Including elements of the children’s interests can make your next classroom activities ever more engaging. For example, when teaching a child about different forms of water, such as snow, you can create illustrations or stories related to Elsa or other movie characters that the children enjoy.
Another way is to give them an option of the topics they want to learn. This approach helps you find out the topic that likely interests most children, but it will require a bit more effort to do pre-lesson surveys.
#9. “Keep it real”
Find every opportunity to show the children how to apply what they have learnt in their daily life. For example, if they learn about measuring, encourage them to practice by helping their mom measure the ingredients while cooking.
Another way to make your lessons relevant is to create projects that focus on real-life problems. You can ask the children to create artworks to celebrate their family members’ birthdays, or help them create a morning exercise routine so they could stay active every day. This approach not only makes children excited during the lessons, but also makes a difference in their lives.
We hope that these tips will help you create an engaging online class that brings joy to the little learners, thus bringing joy to you as well. We would love to hear which tips you find most helpful and how you have applied them in your online classes.
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