As educators, it is important to foster an environment of self-directed learning and student engagement. Maintaining the attention and interest of students in the classroom is a challenge, but it is essential for learning and comprehension. While the overall merits of the course material play a role in student engagement, an educator greatly influences self-directed learning: an initiative for learning by the students.
The concept of self-directed learning is simple. It constitutes every effort by a student to complete their coursework and direct their learning to match their aims, while an educator provides guidelines. Self-directed learning requires collaboration between peers and independent learning strategies.
Employing self-directed learning in a classroom can have many benefits. It increases student engagement and interest while course material is better understood. Students take more interest and work hard on projects and assignments, perform assessments on their learning skills, and help each other study. An educator is always at an advantage with self-directed learning since students are more eager to learn and their workload decreases.
As an educator, you can employ various strategies to encourage students toward self-directed learning and maximize their engagement.
Teaching programs
To teach is to learn, and an educator’s learning process never stops. A master in teaching online programs can be an excellent option for educators. It opens doors to the latest approaches and techniques for teaching in a digital environment. It helps provide insights into the latest trends in technology, educational theory, best practices, and more. Also, aspiring educators and experienced teachers can benefit from teaching programs. It helps them develop instructional skills, understand student learning styles, design effective course materials, evaluate student performance, handle classroom management, and get to grips with a digital student information system.
Teaching programs help educators to formulate a plan and employ new strategies to make their classes more engaging and productive. With an approach encompassing various aspects of the teaching experience, teachers can inspire students to take responsibility for their learning and engage in activities to make the course material easier to learn. Passionate educators partake in programs, seminars, and workshops to improve their teaching style and incorporate new strategies for better student engagement.
Make a plan
Educators having clear, concise goals in mind are more organized. Making a plan helps you achieve your goals timely and effective. Plus, if your school has received something like Cognia accreditation for catholic schools, you’ll be able to plan with this in mind in order to ensure that you are following what is expected of schools with whatever accreditation you have. Planning your lessons according to classes, assigning projects and homework while encouraging students to follow this plan results in a positive response from students. Sharing your goals with your students makes them more likely to follow them since they challenge themselves to fulfill these in the given time. Dividing your course between guided classwork, homework assignments, and projects keeps students interested in these activities, and they take the initiative to complete their assigned work. Developing a timeline for activities will inform students of deadlines, encouraging them to take responsibility and ensure timely submissions.
Open-ended questions
Employing open-ended questioning in your classroom guarantees an open-minded atmosphere. Questions starting with phrases like “What do you think” and “In your opinion” stimulate students to think in detail about them, and they will interact with you to provide answers. Open-ended questioning keeps student engagement high, and leaving students with these questions to think about will inspire them to research and learn more about the course material. As students become more curious and express thoughts and ideas, they will choose to explore concepts in detail.
Encourage group activities
Group activities allow students to interact and work with each other. As students engage with each other, their motivation increases, boosting their productivity. Activities like assignments, projects, and discussions allow students to plan and share ideas. When teachers create an environment that is ideal for productive peer interaction, students can develop healthy relationships with each other and collaborate on work. Students in groups are known to be more interested in the course compared to when working alone. Groups of students feel more responsible toward their goals, while pairing students together helps them to combine their strengths and work to cancel out each other’s shortcomings. By applying what they have learned together and evaluating each other’s work, students will benefit from each other’s experiences.
Be flexible
A rigid plan rarely works out in teaching. Allowing your students to choose how they approach a course makes all the difference. When students are involved in the decision-making process, it makes them feel important and heard. Student-led presentations, research group work, or video animations are a few of the choices you can provide to students. Employing various teaching methods helps keep things fresh and exciting. Students will feel responsible when they are a part of lesson planning and will encourage others to participate. Being flexible in your approach to teaching will maintain student interest and save you from the monotony of traditional classroom teaching.
Time management
Time management skills are essential. Students should follow deadlines and manage their time effectively to reduce delays in learning plans. As an educator, you must emphasize the importance of time management skills and ensure students complete their work within the given deadlines. Designing a slightly flexible, realistic schedule can help teach students the importance of prioritizing their education and staying on the course. Introducing some consequences into the mix can further emphasize the importance of following a schedule, but it’s best to keep students motivated by positive reinforcements. By teaching your students organization and management skills, you can make them realize the need to make timely decisions.
Set realistic goals
Approaching your lesson plans with a positive mindset is essential, but setting unrealistic goals will only reduce students’ interest. Your objectives should be realistic and attainable, with rough time provided to work constructively. The end goal of any education program is to learn, and learning something takes time and hard work. Students will only take the initiative if you give them a realistic set of goals that they need to achieve. This strategy will help boost their interests and increase their productivity. When education goals are unrealistic, students often rush through the course material resulting in ineffective learning, which defeats the purpose of teaching the material. To make sure that students learn and interact with you, keeping attainable goals and measurable progress will go a long way.
Be more approachable
Student engagement largely depends on how approachable an educator is. When teachers seem unapproachable, students will not interact with them and lose interest in the course. Approachable educators bridge the gap between themselves and students, increasing student-centered learning. Student engagement increases when educators include them in deciding lesson plans and using approachable methods like interactive sessions and group study techniques. Guiding your students in various aspects like time management, organization, and managing their mental health allows you to build a rapport with them. Being friendly and encouraging questions, queries, and concerns helps you connect better with your students.
Summary
Independent learning and student-teacher interactions are recommended methods for productive learning. Educators encouraging a student-centered approach are more successful, and their students are more satisfied. As more students take the initiative to learn, educators should use this to their advantage and encourage students to take responsibility for their education.
