“AM I AUDIBLE DEAR CHILDREN”…..Isn’t this ’ THE’ sentence that is heard in every household? The parents have a new list of dialogues added to their vocabulary “MA’AM MY CHILD WAS ON MUTE OR THERE WAS A NETWORK ISSUE.”
These sentences are a part of every parent’s morning.
Imagine how we thought or drew an image of a teacher in our mind. A lively person is full of life standing in front of us, listening to us, interacting, debating, and discussing so many aspects of a child’s life. However, the pandemic completely made the image go for a 360-degree change.
Teaching as a profession was digitalized by the pandemic. Nobody ever imagined a 3 year or a 16-year-old kid sitting in front of a machine and taking Lessons. The teachers themselves never imagined teaching through a laptop. However, this is the NEW NORMAL!!!
Teachers’ roles have altered in the digital era from simply preachers to managers of students’ social and emotional behaviors; mentors for their learning and overall development as a balanced citizens; and motivators for both slow and quick learners.
In today’s changing world, when knowledge is nearly limitless, the function of teachers in the twenty-first century has gotten more complex. Teachers are expected to become more digitally savvy and accountable not only for their own teaching but also for the learning of their students. Teachers must now be facilitators, assisting students in making judgments about the quality and validity of new sources and knowledge, open-minded and critical independent professionals, active co-operators, collaborators, and mediators between learners and what they need to know, and scaffolding providers.
We know one thing for sure: people empower people. Teachers encourage pupils to pursue their interests. They want to be creative, productive people who can learn new things they didn’t know they could. However, in the twenty-first century, the job of the teacher has evolved, much like our technology and how we interact with one another. Finding the humanity behind the machine is one of the most difficult difficulties when transforming learning settings from the classroom to online learning. Professors and students alike must adjust to the many changes that have occurred in the world of education.
Today, online education is becoming a more prominent feature of the Indian educational system. The statewide closure of educational institutions in reaction to the coronavirus pandemic, which resulted in millions of students and digital teachers being locked out of the classrooms, can be partly due to the rising popularity of online teaching courses. Many advantages of online classes over traditional offline classrooms include the capacity to teach and learn from anywhere at any time, the availability of recorded lectures, interactive and interesting study material, and so on. However, there are a few things that digital teachers should keep in mind in order to ensure that their online students attain high levels of success.
Make ample use of technology
A digital instructor must become familiar with all of the technical features of any teaching tool he intends to use for online instruction. Before you can succeed as a digital teacher, you must be a keen learner. Digital whiteboards, online teaching through mobile, screengrab, and other classroom management tools such as automated attendance, automatic fee collecting system, and other helping tools are just a few examples of excellent methods to employ technology in your class. Furthermore, online teaching platforms allow for the creation of courses that include a variety of media types such as audio, video, image, text, and so on. Comprehensive material that incorporates a variety of media is a wonderful method to improve participation and learning results in your classroom.
Provide individualized service-
Every learner is unique in his or her own right, with his or her own set of requirements, talents, strong and weak areas, and grasping ability. The teacher’s job is to instill in each student a solid comprehension of the topics. As a result, a digital teacher must create courses that cater to a wide range of learning styles while also providing tailored help to each student as needed. A digital teacher can keep an eye on each student in an online class by allowing them to communicate or message them about any queries or concerns they may have. Alternatively, digital teachers can set aside some time each week to video call each student and inquire about any concerns or issues they may have with the course. Apart from assisting students, such interactions also allow digital professors to gain insight into each student’s comprehension and academic achievement in their online class.
Collaborate closely with parents and guardians-
Because remote learning eliminates any actual touch between the digital teacher and their students, the role of parents in their children’s academic success has grown. Periodic feedback with guardians is critical to a student’s overall performance in class. Furthermore, parents may be able to provide valuable information about their children’s learning habits. You must also inform the parents about the requirements for online learning equipment and setup, as well as other stationery. Because parents have an instant presence close to the student in this age of remote learning, children naturally rely on them to address their doubts. As a result, it is your responsibility as a digital teacher to keep in touch with parents on a regular basis.
Stimulate collaboration and group activities
Students require more than simply academic knowledge. Employability is becoming increasingly dependent on social skills. Students’ social skills must be honed in educational institutions. Although it may seem paradoxical to some, online educational apps can be a great way to socialize and participate in group activities. Students can be organized into online study groups or teams for online group tasks by digital professors.
Student Feedback on a Regular Basis-
Students require regular and timely feedback on their class performance. The importance of timely feedback in increasing student morale and learning outcomes cannot be overstated. On the other side, irregular and delayed feedback can be devastating for student interest and morale, as well as your teaching goals. As a result, you must make certain that each student receives timely feedback on his or her performance in your class.
These are some pointers to assist the teacher in meticulously performing your position as a digital instructor in a virtual class. Improving students’ online learning experience will almost always result in higher student achievement and more success for you as a digital instructor.
The teacher is the center of the teaching-learning process. To stay up with new technology and changing teaching-learning settings in this digital era, a teacher has a number of additional obligations in addition to his or her previous position. A teacher is responsible to the society that trusts him or her to shape future generations into better civilizations, as well as the nation that trusts him or her to make the country’s future brighter and more advanced. To deal with this accountability, a teacher must combine ICT with traditional teaching strategies to foster critical and innovative thinking in his or her classrooms, and only then can one dream of a knowledge society and a better-digitalized education world.
A computer program or product, no matter how powerful or intelligent, will never be able to catch a teacher’s knowledge and life experience. Several studies have been undertaken, and it has been repeatedly demonstrated that teachers can effect change in ways that no technology can. A teacher does not merely pass on facts or knowledge. And teaching isn’t all about numbers and facts. A teacher is responsible for leading, guiding, facilitating, and mentoring a student. They are role models who lead by example and inspire pupils to pursue a brighter future. Independent thinking and learning are encouraged by a skilled teacher. He or she has the potential to be a positive influence and an inspiration for setting and achieving goals. The optimum learning environment is created by the trust and bond between a teacher and a student, which can never be replicated through virtual learning.
