Let’s admit it – face-to-face learning is something we should leave in the past. Although we will not completely give up teaching in schools, we will certainly stay with him for a longer time when we get to know distance learning. Traditional classrooms are replaced by their online versions and you may give a full lecture, including checking the attendance list, sharing your ideas on a whiteboard, or getting feedback from your students, without setting a foot outside of your living room. It turns out that remote learning is not only more convenient for students who can sleep longer in bed. It is also a great option for teachers who can add variety to the lecture through various functions. Virtual classes are a timesaver for students, moreover, according to science, webinars help listeners perform better and get higher scores.
Unfortunately, the question that often arises, is how to use webinars for online teaching? Do some students always have to be bored with the lessons, no matter in what form they are conducted? We hope not! That's why we've prepared a few tips from LiveWebinar. Follow these 5 rules to run your educational webinar like a pro!
#1 Create unique content
Content is the king – it’s not just an empty slogan, but the number one rule you should follow prepping your online classes. Before running your webinar ask yourself – who are your participants? What kind of knowledge do you want to share? Why is your content useful? These are your pieces of a puzzle – by matching them in the right way you will create webinars that teach efficiently. In the current teaching environment, webinars are the best way to communicate with students and add a personal touch to your curriculum. You have many tools available to help you better deliver your lessons, such as polls - which allow your students to vote, or whiteboards. Distribute your content in a more attractive way for students and it will make them remember more about the lesson.
#2 Quality is the key
80% of information processed and learned by our brains is visual content.
Another most commonly used “educational” sense is hearing. Even if you prepare the most amazing topic and presentation, poor audio and video quality will kill your webinar in the first few seconds. Boost your educational webinar by using modern classroom technologies that guarantee sharp vision and crystal clear sound. Students won't get distracted during the lesson and won't complain about poor connection quality, so everyone will be happy, both students and teachers. Additionally, the content that will be displayed on the screens will be clear and readable, so students can take notes of it while listening to the lecture. Sounds like the perfect solution?
#3 Underline the benefits
Meeting in a virtual classroom – this is a great advantage of an online lecture and your students should be aware of it! Highlight the benefits of participating webinars – be sure to present it as the most comfortable and effective way of learning. Simply speaking, explain to your students that they can gain easy access to knowledge in a blink of an eye and with minimum effort. If you’re aiming to reach worldwide audience, make your class more available by recording it. Now your students can gain access to your webinar not only with one click and without leaving their homes, but also at any time! It is so convenient for students that if they were not in class, they can play the entire recording and learn the lesson on their own.
#4 Engage & interact
It takes (at least) two to make a conversation – this rule applies to webinars as well. Remember that at the other side of the screen there are regular people, that regardless of the subject of your presentation, can keep their attention only for a limited time. Use simple tricks and tools as the whiteboard or animated slides for sharing content and to “refresh” and increase your students’ interest.
Communication is about exchanging different points of view, so be sure to invite your students to join the conversation, let them comment or ask questions. How to use webinars for online teaching is not that difficult!
Treat engagement as the key factor to measure the effectiveness of your webinar. Chat boxes, polls, Q&A sessions and other collaboration tools are great boost your students’ engagement and make learning more fun.
#5 Keep it simple & clear
Leave digressions and off-topics aside and focus on the merits of your presentation. Use examples from everyday life to explain the more difficult matters. Or... do quite the opposite. Wake up your imagination and think of absurd situations words that will make your story easier to understand and memorize. These simple techniques – appealing to novelty and familiarity will fasten learning processes occurring in the brain. It will interest students who are usually bored during lessons. Write down the most important things in the chat and let the students ask the questions that bother them there as well. Maybe they also have great ideas for the lesson, or maybe something brilliant occurred to them? It is possible, so involve your students in brainstorming!
Most students consider webinars to be boring learning activities that are compulsory at the present time. But maybe you want to change it? Maybe you want to engage your students in a new way of acquiring knowledge? We know that distance learning students have heads full of ideas, but also distractions. It would be perfect if all their attention was focused solely on the lesson, wouldn't it? Therefore, introduce interesting features and new possibilities into your teaching method. They will not only interest students but also help you, as a teacher, get more out of your work!
Therefore, try out all the features of LiveWebinar. See for yourself that with LiveWebinar you can achieve success in a new area of distance learning. And then, you stop asking yourself "How to use webinars for online teaching?" – it will all be straightforward.
And once again, don’t forget that effective teaching requires lots of hard work and engagement - both from you and your students. Fortunately, online class technologies come in handy when it comes to reaching communication goals. Good luck in hosting your educational webinars!