Online Teaching Tips: How to Become a Successful Distance Learning Teacher

In online classrooms, teachers need to work even harder at establishing an online personality as a part of their every day instruction.Since online courses tend to move much more quickly than traditional classrooms, teachers need to integrate their instruction while relating to students on a class and individual level.

Shadow an Online Teaching Mentor

If possible, see if you can shadow an experienced online teacher for a period of time. Some online universities subscribe to this process of mentoring new online instructors.

Create an Approachable Student-Teacher Relationship

Many students can be intimidated by online learning. This means, the teacher needs to figure out what is the best way to present the information in a clear concise way so she or he comes across as approachable online. Students greatly appreciate it when you root for their success. You can do this in a variety of ways such as:
1. Posting welcome announcements with encouraging words such as "I'm rooting for your success."
2.You can also send students a welcome email a few days before the class starts. It is also recommended to call students and make sure they are ready with all the necessary books and equipment before the course starts.
3.Reassure students in informing them that you will return all emails and questions within 24 hours. Use the students' first name in as many contexts as possible. This creates a more personal relationship.

Use Humor to Get your Point Across

Because online learning can be somewhat limited due to a lack of face to face interaction, it is important to work the interpersonal element as much as possible. Using gentle humor can be a good thing as most often, students who choose to study via online are often stressed by their own lives as well as keeping up with the course load. Technological problems often creep in as well.

Be encouraging in your tone

It is possible to be encouraging even in the most difficult situations. Avoid using complicated language that is not clear and straightforward. Also, use as often as possible, encouraging statements like: "You did that very well" or "I see some really great improvements in this piece" which motivate students to do a good job.

Online teaching and learning can be enjoyable experience so long as a teacher is willing to adapt his/her teaching to suit the needs of a virtual classroom.