2021 Guide to Remote Learning Tools for Education
Technology solutions can make remote learning a success. Which tools can you use to facilitate remote learning? Discover tools and tips that will make remote learning a success.
If you are reading this article, you want to discover tech tools to facilitate remote learning. Great, you are in the right place.
The pandemic affected many organizations. Learning institutions had to adapt to measures necessitated by COVID-19. Remote learning is one of the ways that learning institutions responded.
Remote learning is critical as the world continues to cope with the pandemic. Some schools have both in-person and virtual classes. It is unclear when students will all return to physical classrooms. Students can continue with their education without the risks involved if they attend in-person classrooms. With the right tools, teachers and learners can enjoy remote learning.
Many remote learning tools exist, as developers stepped up to support virtual learning. These programs offer different capabilities and features. Choosing the right one for you can be challenging. The wrong option can frustrate you and jeopardize the success of remote learning.
Clients often ask TREYSTA Technology Management about remote learning tools that can help them. TREYSTA offers IT solutions to organizations. This article provides a guide to virtual learning tools for education.
Classroom Management Programs Help to Ensure Enjoyable Learning Experiences
What Are Classroom Management Solutions? Classroom management solutions include Google Classroom, Kahoot, and Top Hat. These tools help educators host live discussions, present slides, create assignments, and integrate third-party teaching programs, such as Pear Deck and Classcraft.
Where Do They Fit? Classroom management solutions streamlined the creation and deployment of lesson plans, assignments, and projects. They transfer the classroom experience to virtual learning. Users do not need to download large software files or install new hardware, as most are cloud-based solutions. Teachers use these tools to invite students to virtual classrooms. They can also use them to share quizzes, post assignments, or set up virtual office hours.
Do These Tools Have Potential Pitfalls? These solutions help schools develop robust virtual learning experiences. Unfortunately, these tools’ public-facing nature needs extensive oversight of learners’ data to protect personally identifiable information.
Administration and Collaboration Solutions Can Improve Teamwork and Streamline Communications
What are the Administration and Collaboration Tools? These solutions facilitate the sharing of information among students, educators, and administrators. These tools include Bisk, Microsoft Teams, and Raftr.
Microsoft Teams simplifies assigning tasks, scheduling meetings, and collaboration on critical files. For example, students can work in groups even while at home using this solution. Raftr provides private and public chat channels, while Bisk supports strategy planning at scale.
Where Do They Fit? These solutions underpin virtual classroom functionality at scale. Educators and administrators use these solutions to schedule conferences and design long-term testing and assignment strategies by serving as infrastructure. Classroom teachers can use these tools to coordinate online lesson plans.
Do These Tools Have Potential Pitfalls? Regulating those who can access these solutions is essential. Who can create channels, oversee content, and link learners across collaborative files? For example, some characters in higher learning institutions may abuse their admin access. A zero-trust model is ideal for post-secondary schools. Proactively gating access enables granular control. Broad permissions increase overall risk and create a reactive environment, avoiding it for proactively gated access is necessary. Two-factor authentication for staff and students can also enhance their security, reducing the likelihood of account compromise.
Video Chat Tools Can Resemble Face-to-Face Experiences
What are Video Chat Tools? Video chat tools empower multimedia connections. Students and teachers can hear and see each other, educators can share documents and slides, and learning institutions can bolster a sense of campus society. These solutions include Zoom and Cisco WebEx.
Where Do They Fit? These tools streamline connections and sharing. Users can hear and see each other, share screens, add backgrounds, and chat on demand. Video chat tools offer the closest resemblance to traditional classroom learning experiences. Chat owners can control who speaks, what participants can share, and when the session ends.
What Potential Pitfalls Do Video Chat Tools Have? Users of video chat solutions often need to download installation packages. These downloads can introduce security risks, such as advanced persistent threats, malware, and ransomware. Learning institutions need to develop comprehensive cybersecurity protocols and review them regularly to limit the risks. For example, you may need anti-malware programs to help you scan and remedy instances of malicious code.
What Are The Challenges of Virtual Learning and How Can You Overcome Them?
Are you struggling with online learning? You are not alone. The pandemic threw many learning institutions into disarray. They had to adapt to the changes by adopting online classes.
You may not have signed up for this situation, but it is up to you to make the most of it. Knowing the challenges involved and how to overcome them can help you make the most from virtual learning.
Isolation
When students came to school, they did more than listen to the teacher. They interacted with other students, made friends, and played during breaks with classmates.
Learners may not engage in these activities while learning online. There is no buzz of a classroom environment and company of their peers. Some students learning via virtual classrooms may feel lonely. This sense of isolation can erode their desire to learn.
Being home for these months has undoubtedly made a significant number of students miss school.
Classrooms also support other forms of learning besides listening to the teachers. Class discussion, collaborative activity, and group work were essential parts of the learning program. Isolation made these programs difficult, and some schools abandoned them.
How can you address these challenges?
You can do a few things to keep things personable and maintain the classroom dynamic in a digital environment.
- Teachers Should Show Their Faces and Let Students Hear Them: Use video chat solutions, such as Zoom. These tools will help you be human, not a robot. Learners can grasp more and enjoy the experience with multimedia content.
- Have Frequent Check-Ins With Students: You may check in on your students via chat or email tools. Concentrate on those learners that are likely to disengage when learning online.
- Coordinate Virtual Group Tasks: You may enable your students to continue with collaboration via cloud tools, chats, and discussion boards. You may give them assignments to work on together.
Lack of Motivation in Online Students
Students now learn from peculiar environments. They shifted from classrooms to their living rooms and bedrooms. These surroundings have temptations, such as computers, the internet, siblings, and beds. Many learners struggle to pay attention when surrounded by all these distractions. Would you concentrate in such an environment? Some may not learn or stay in the virtual class.
One recommended way to motivate your students is by setting clear, measurable goals for them. You should ensure they always have purposes to keep them focused. Ensure the targets you set for them are specific. Open-ended tasks can be harder to do, primarily now when they have minimum supervision. Be clear on these issues:
- The duration that the students should spend on each task.
- Have a quantifiable or measurable outcome (ask them to research on five aspects of x).
- Develop a means of accountability (ask them to share their work on our platform).
- Have a due date for the task.
Gamified apps and tools can increase motivation for younger students. These solutions are for student engagement in independent surroundings.
You may involve parents to motivate their kids. Engage them to understand their concerns, monitor their children, and encourage their kids to enjoy virtual learning.
Online Learning Tools’ Technical Difficulties
Online learning tools have made virtual learning simple. Users may encounter some issues that can affect their experiences. For example, glitches and network challenges can make virtual learning unpleasant. Do not worry. You can fix most of them.
Ensure your students have access to technology. Some learners may not have stable internet connections or devices to facilitate online learning. Notify the parents, guardians, and students of the intended adoption of specific tools and allow them to raise any issues they have. Help them find solutions to their problems before taking the next steps.
Most of your students are confident they belong to the digital generation. They can use online platforms and devices without challenges. Do they struggle with social media? They may have some challenges with new virtual learning solutions. Some may not come forward about their issues. Having an ‘onboarding’ session with them is an excellent idea. You may also orient parents on these solutions, and they will assist their kids if they struggle to use them.
Can your students report issues or ask questions? Have a support system that learners can use when they need help. You won’t take a full-time position in IT support, but a communication channel will alert you to students with issues to address.
Time-Consuming Resources
You rely on various strategies to teach your students. Your lessons extend beyond speaking to your students. Resources, such as diagrams and notes, help your students understand what you teach.
Before the pandemic, you had a system that worked for you. You now have to adjust to virtual learning, as you create and share these resources with learners on time. Your verbal instructions may need translation to clear documents that all learners can access and understand.
Recording your instructions and sharing them online (as with a flipped classroom) is one strategy to avoid the hassle. The technical dimensions of this approach may take time.
Virtual learning solutions can help you save time and resources prepping for lessons. Some EdTech programs have instructional material and inbuilt resources that can save you time.
Scheduling and Forgetting Virtual Learning Activities
Have you forgotten your students’ lesson or task? Do not worry. It happens with teachers now more often than you think. Some teachers have struggled to cope with the changes. Events in society or home activities have made some teachers miss a few plans with students.
Like everyone else, you may need some help to keep up with the changes. Leverage tools that can remind you of tasks early. You can set alarms, use calendars, or schedule automatic deadlines for the collection of assignments.
How Can You Ensure Your Students Enjoy Virtual Learning?
Ensuring Successful User Adoption of Online Learning Solutions: You can help students enjoy virtual learning with these techniques.
- Have the Right Technology: Use tools that will help you achieve your objectives. You may need to keep up with developments to know the latest solutions. Review your programs to ensure they help you.
- Make Online Learning Fun: You can achieve this aim by keeping classes brief or having breaks between sessions. Use multimedia learning and show your face to the learners.
- Have Active Support for Learners: Students should reach you for clarification or to submit complaints.
- Address Issues That Students Raise: Find solutions to the challenges that the students have.
Virtual learning has been necessary to help authorities combat the spread of COVID-19. Kids have adopted it to stay safe while continuing with their education. Online learning has introduced challenges that learning institutions should address to offer value to students. Remote learning tools have helped schools cope with the changes.
TREYSTA has supported schools to facilitate online learning via implementation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and support for their online learning tools. We help learning institutions get the right solutions to address virtual learning challenges and achieve their objectives.
TREYSTA Technology Management provides IT services and support, including managed IT services, cloud technologies, cybersecurity, etc. We provide expert, customized, and affordable solutions that help organizations achieve their objectives.
Contact us today and let us help you enjoy online learning tools that will help you succeed.
Ready to speak with us? Give us a call on 888-242-0244, and we will gladly discuss reliable IT solutions you need to help you achieve your goals.
