Mathematics is not everyone’s favourite subject. One might be scared by just going through the math notes given by the teachers. Teachers need to put extra effort to make maths fun and understandable and help the students get away with the fear.
Whether you teach online or in traditional classrooms, you know the fear students have for it. But, do you know that it is the most studied subject in the world? Yes, that’s right. It was revealed in the study conducted by Cambridge International which was published in the Global Education Census 2018. However, students mostly are used to learning it in traditional classrooms. When it comes to online teaching, it might be a little intriguing at times. It becomes more challenging than teaching it offline. But, there are many advantages as well. You can use videos, audio and animation to elaborate and explain difficult topics and make learning fun.
Here are some tips for online maths educators and learners to make online mathematics classes a smooth learning experience.
Tips for Teachers
- Do not teach everything in one go. Teach slow and less, one topic at a time. As most of the students find mathematics difficult, it is recommended to teach easy topics first and explain the concept thoroughly. This will make students comfortable in learning tough concepts later on.
- Record your live classes and make them available to the students. This will help the students to go back to the topics if they have any doubts while practising questions on their own. Also, absent students can go through the videos before attending ext classes.
- Do not hesitate on taking the help of other resources if you find certain topics difficult to explain to the students. External help is good sometimes.
- Give assignments to students based on the topic that you teach. Students will understand concepts better when they learn them on their own.
- If you use whiteboards, use different coloured markers for writing formulas, drawing figures, writing solutions, etc. If teaching with the help of digital whiteboards, use different colours there as well.
- Call out names of your students, ask for formulas or tables, etc. while teaching so that the class participates in the learning process and not just watches you teach.
- Connect with the parents and keep them updated about their child’s performance, progress and behaviour.
Tips for Students
- Check for all the types of items required beforehand. If the class is about geometry, keep your geometry box aside. Apart from that, stationery items like pen, graph paper, copy, scale, eraser, sharpener, etc should be handy.
- Make notes of the important formulas, theorems and questions. Keep the recorded lecture to revise later.
- Participate actively in the class. Ask your doubts, ask the teacher to explain the topic again if you do not understand, give honest feedback to the teacher so that there is transparency in the learning process and the teacher can focus on what to improve and improvise.
- Never miss a class. Try to be as disciplined as possible, check for charges on your device, internet connection before class time. Also, be punctual. Join the meeting on time.
- You can surf the internet for additional study material and resources and practice extra questions from them. Supplementary knowledge would benefit you and improve your speed and accuracy in solving problems.
Learning maths online may seem intimidating but remember that it is just like any other subject, the fear is just in your head. In fact, it might be more fun to learn with the help of technology. Teachers and students should keep the above-mentioned points in mind while teaching or learning maths online.
