With the better flexibility, convenience, comfort, and cost-effectiveness provided, the online courses platform is the new preference of educators and learners. Online teaching is divided into two modes that are synchronous and asynchronous. When real-time interactions take place with the teachers, and there is a live virtual exchange of knowledge, it is said to be synchronous programs. Let us discuss its benefits in detail.
Benefits of synchronous learning
1. More understandable content
In asynchronous courses, instructor presence is limited. Because of this understanding, the theoretical and applicative subjects alone can become challenging for students. However, in online live classes, students get to ask doubts from teachers and have instant solutions. Also, the verbal and nonverbal communication skills of the teachers make content more understandable to the students.
2. Cost-effective
Going to the educational institutes include transportation cost, and fee charges are also high. Whereas, there is a tough competition going on in the e-learning field, which gives high discounts and free offers to the students. Also, just with a basic networking device and an internet connection, students can have quality virtual interactions with students. This makes education pocket friendly for learners.
3. A better feedback loop
Synchronous online courses help in better feedback exchange. Sending feedback through mail or in any other written format cannot be that effective. As it lacks tone and emotion, students might not take the feedback constructively. However, this is not the case in live classes.
Here teachers can give suggestions, and advice to students for improvement and better learning outcomes. In real-time interactions, students understand much better and stay positive only. Teachers can also seek feedback from students that how efficient they are in finding the live classes and what more they expect from the course.
4. Motivating for students
In online classes, physical meet-ups with teachers and batchmates are not possible. This gives students a sense of isolation which hits hard in the case of asynchronous programs. However, in live classes, students get to see and meet the instructor regularly. Real-time interactions keep students feel safe, secure and actively involved in learning. Listening to the teacher’s explanations, and having healthy and friendly talks, keep students motivated and encouraged.
Teaching methods for synchronous online courses
For effective online live teaching and learning, students need to follow the right styles. Let us discuss some effective ways that educators can follow to enhance learning outcomes and make online synchronous courses successful.
- Use multimedia to teach
Listening to the textbook material via computer screens becomes quite challenging as well as boring for students. To make synchronization learning more valuable and interesting for students, use multimedia tools to teach. By using online teaching apps and sites, teachers can access several audio-visual tools like educational videos, modules, demonstrations, picture cards, and more. With the help of Microsoft PowerPoint, teachers can make high-quality video presentations too. With visualization, course content becomes more understandable to students.
- Ensure active learning
Teachers explaining and students simply sitting as mere listeners won’t work. For how to sell courses online, you should plan for active learning practices. Allow students to speak up in class, share their knowledge, and thoughts, and stay involved in classes. To do so conduct participatory activities like group discussions, recitations, question-answer rounds, one on one questioning, debates, and more. This makes students more engaged and active in classes.
- Give a proper study material
Along with live classes, self-studies are equally important for students. So make sure that you provide students with proper study material. This should include, presentations, educational videos, and video lectures. With the help of visualization, students tend to understand the concepts better and more quickly.
These videos can be accessed by students as many times as they want. Also, include a question bank for practice too. This will make sure that students are applying the theoretical knowledge gained. You can upload the study material on the online course website or send students to their respective email addresses.
Conclusion
With the growth in educational technology, online teaching platforms are also increasing. With better learning outcomes and experience, synchronous online courses are gaining immense popularity among learners. By reading the above-mentioned information we can make out the benefits of synchronous online courses. We also discussed a few tips that teachers can follow for conducting quality live sessions for students.