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The Online Primary Classroom: Best Practices & Tech Tools

In the face of school closure earlier this year, teachers everywhere have had to rely on online tools to maintain continuity in education. While teaching online has its own benefits and challenges, it requires a shift in the means of instruction and therefore the strategies associated with the teaching-learning transaction. This is especially so in the context of a primary classroom, as children have intrinsically shorter attention spans and are particularly vulnerable to screen time related issues. 

Here we explore some strategies and tools which have helped us fully explore the advantages offered by online classes, as well as ways to address some of the challenges.

Interactivity, engagement and attention share the primary focus when it comes to the virtual classroom. In this section, our educators share some tips and techniques on how the online class can be made effective.

  1. Periodically communicating class rules with both students and parents is an ideal first step. Sharing class schedules and meeting links with parents should ideally be done ahead of time. These steps set clear expectations from both the educator as well as the learner.
     

  2. A blended approach to learning vis-a-vis using both synchronous as well as asynchronous means is the most effective way to transact teaching-learning, as both have different benefits and challenges. For example, dance/PE sessions done asynchronously through recordings and group activities done asynchronously but later shared/presented online in class have been successful.

 

  1. To make sure things stay interactive and engaging, all children are coaxed to have their videos on and encouraged to be participative. The “Hot Seat Strategy” is popular; calling out names and intentionally having them included in the class activities or answer questions in turn is effective.
     

  2. Both whole and small focused group activities can be undertaken. One-on-one learning sessions can be conducted for children with learning gaps. Using breakout rooms on the platform of choice (MS Teams, Zoom etc) can help facilitate peer teaching, better understanding, and help shy children in finding their voice.
     

  3. Regular circle time and mental well-being sessions for learners helps children share feelings and vent frustrations. It also helps forging an emotional bond between teachers and students, which was always an inherent part of the traditional classroom. 

 

  1. To allow for gamification of concepts where possible has made learning very effective. Also using animations and interactive videos has helped our early years classes.

  2. Parents are important stakeholders in their child’s learning, particularly so with young learners. Online teaching-learning, more than its traditional counterpart, has to be a two-way street so keeping communication going is key. We schedule regular interactions through Parent-Teacher Meetings, pastoral meetings with class teachers and counselors etc.

  3. Keeping communication going out to parents (as well as young learners) under a unified platform is a great way to simplify and streamline learning which can otherwise get chaotic. Using a comprehensive Learning Management System (LMS) is a cornerstone of successful online teaching-learning.

In order for learning to come alive, a multitude of apps and tools are available for use for the primary classroom. However, planning the integration of technology in the curriculum is key in order for these tools to support and enhance online teaching and learning.

  1. Seesaw as a platform for student engagement and as a tool to create a digital portfolio for students. Assignment submissions, feedback from teachers, sharing announcements and so on can all be unified under the same platform.

  2. A digital whiteboard app such as whiteboard.fi, Ziteboard, the AWW board or even Microsoft OneNote with digital pen/stylus is a good substitute for making diagrammatic and/or written explanations.

  3. An online quiz tool such as Quizziz, Socrative and Mentimeter can be used to conduct quizzes, and review skills or concepts learned within the classroom. These tools are self-paced and therefore ideal for a classroom with many students, which help students stay engaged through their lesson by asking questions and taking polls. Further, for younger learners, quiz apps gamify learning and encourage better concept retention.

  4. Padlet, an interactive online bulletin board, can be used for online collaborative activities. Teachers can post a concept or ask a question along with associated learning resources on the Padlet Wall and students can then record their answers/progress on the wall and collaborate on each other’s answers. Padlet can also allow for answers to be anonymous, according to the teacher’s preference.

  5. NearPod is an effective, interactive addition to presentations to introduce new concepts, by adding quizzes, audio, activities, calculators, drawing boards, games and more interactivity to the lesson.

  6. Using an assessment-centred tool like Edpuzzle that allows for interactivity to be added to videos, by way of questions, notes, audio, polls etc. works well. Edpuzzle can use videos from a vast number of resources such as YouTube, TED, Khan Academy and so on.

  7. Bookwidgets is a unified platform where teachers can create interactive widgets such as exit slips, games, timelines and video-based activities and integrate these widgets on other platforms like Google Classroom.

  8. Wordwall is a good resource for language teachers to create interactive vocabulary games and resources for the online class.

  9. Online library apps such as Epic and Raz provide useful and interactive digital reading resources to children. These provide access to thousands of simple and interactive ebooks, videos and more. Many of these resources are also free and downloadable. Vooks is another library which has read-aloud animated books for children.

  10. Storyweaver is another such platform that offers free, illustrated children’s books in mother tongue languages. This repository is open for all stakeholders (educators, publishers, parents) to add to by creating new stories or adding translations to existing ones.

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