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How to Make a Remote Learning Lesson Plan

23 Dec 2020

How to Make a Remote Learning Lesson Plan

By Marques Coleman

 

With remote learning taking over the world, we need to adapt to the “new normal.” Teachers have to replace their traditional teaching tools and face-to-face communication with technology and video lessons. However, the abrupt change isn’t the only challenge. Creating a remote learning lesson plan is another novelty that teachers need to conquer.

Even though writing a learning lesson plan for a completely different teaching method can seem intimidating, once you establish how to do it, the pressure will ease up. With well-planned lessons, students can have engaging and interesting remote classes.

In the following lines, you can learn how to create an efficient and comprehensive remote learning lesson plan.

 

Conduct a Survey

Even though the majority of households have everything needed for remote classes, you should still assess your students' situation. Give parents a short survey that will provide you more information about whether the students have everything they need for online lessons.

Obtaining this information will help you ensure that all students will have equal learning opportunities. In case some families need support to establish an online learning environment, you can help them find a solution. For example, you can direct them to go to the school library to access free internet, or inform them about a loaner agreement so that they can lend a tablet from the school.

 

Provide Engaging Material

Learning through a screen makes it harder for students to keep their focus. Consequently, online lessons need to be more engaging and interactive.

If necessary, diversify the education material with additional content. You can add images, short videos, or interactive exercises directly to the online learning platform. As long as the material aligns with the lessons from the curriculum, you can make learning more fun with a few additions.

If you are on the lookout for some extra material, make sure that you only use licensed educational resources.

To find some inspiration on how to make your lessons more interactive you can browse for creative templates and layouts. Some of the popular lesson planning platforms are Chalk and Planbook. Besides, templates can help you cut the lesson planning time and customize the lesson at the same time.

 

Avoid Experimenting with New Software

With the ability to easily implement interactive content in the lesson plan, you might get tempted to give a new software a try. However, the transition and use of new online platforms for remote learning are a big change for students. Introducing them to yet another software can become overwhelming.

The best option is to use existing digital resources or Open Educational Resources (OER). For any extra material opt for content that everyone is familiar with (images, videos, etc.). The lessons will be engaging and the students won’t have to tackle yet another unfamiliarity. 

 

Specify the Platforms and Source for Accessing Learning Material

In remote learning, teachers use different platforms for conducting lessons and sharing material. For example, you can use email for announcements, Seesaw as the primary mode of content delivery, Subjecto for providing students with learning flashcards, and so on.

Provide information on which technology platforms and communication methods you’ll be using. Including the platforms that will be used for assessment. Create a section that includes the name of the platform or communication method along with a short description of its purpose during the remote learning process.

If you plan to use multiple channels for communication explain which piece of information will be provided on which platform. Also, state who will have access to the platform. For example:

Channel

Audience

Description

Email

Students and parents

Official announcements from the teacher and the Principal

Student Logins

Students and parents

Access to curriculum programs and tools

 

Give an Overview of Remote Learning Schedules

Create a learning schedule that will give students and parents an overview of upcoming responsibilities. You can easily make a schedule in the Google calendar platform or use different software that the school prefers.

The learning schedule also helps teachers to organize their lessons more efficiently. When creating a schedule, take into account that tackling learning material remotely might take longer. Interactive content can especially prolong the lessons, so the additional material can be saved for the end of the lesson. If you don’t have time to cover it in class, students can do it for homework.

 

Establish Communication Channel for Parents

Teacher-parent communication is another important component of remote learning. Parents need to have clear directions on how and when they can get in touch with you.

Teachers can typically choose how they plan to communicate with parents during remote learning. Whether you decide on direct messaging, emails, calls, or other communication methods, let the parents know where they'll receive the information about their children.

Any announcement or relevant information should also be posted on the parent portal. In that way, you will be certain that parents can revise or reread the information whenever they want to.

 

Provide Parents with Guidelines for Remote Learning

Without the teachers' presence and discipline that comes with physically attending an educational institution, parents will need to get engaged even more.

Parents are also new to the remote learning system so they should be informed about how they can help their children during this process. For a smoother transition (for children, teachers, and parents altogether), the parents should be advised to:

  • Establish a routine for students.
  • Help them to prepare and organized their learning materials.
  • Motivate the children to take breaks and spend time outside.
  • Monitor how much time students spend online and what are they doing during that time.
  • Help children with any technicalities and technology-related questions or encourage them to ask the teacher about it.

 

Final Thoughts

Remote learning is bringing a huge change not only in education but also in the lives of teachers, students, and parents. To make this transition as smooth as possible, create a comprehensive lesson plan that will outline all the crucial elements of remote learning. The lesson plan will help you maintain focus on how to conduct remote learning and maintain the quality of education.

 

RELATED ARTICLES

 

1- The essentials of lesson planning

2- Checklist for Lesson Planning

3- Top tips for brilliant lesson planning

4- How to Use Technology for Lesson Planning

5- 3 Weird but effective lesson plans

6- 4 Secrets of Successful Lesson Plans

 

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