Developing Confident and Involved Learners for Online Learning
Online learning can be stressful for parents, students and teachers as it is a new approach to learn and navigate through. However, online learning can actually be fun and enjoyable once everyone is aware of their roles.
Benefits of Developing a Confident and Involved Learner
For the parent
- The parent act as a guide and is able to supervise the child with ease
- The parent does not need to remind the child about completing their homework assignments
- The parent does not need to punish the child to complete assignments
For the child
- Facilitates true deep learning so the child has a better understanding of learning content
- The child is braver in answering questions
- Eager to complete homework assignments
- Self-motivated and takes initiative in learning
- The child is more self-aware and disciplined
- Willingly seek support from parents, teachers and their support system
- Love learning and Explores in their learning journey developing a life long learner
- Develops reflective thinking
- Empowers students to think critically and develop problem-solving skills
- More responsible in their learning journey
For teachers
- The teacher receives completed assignments in a timely manner
- The teacher gets more engagement from students
- The teacher introduces new topics without too many tension from students as they are more open to learning new things
The child benefits the most since they are the focal point of learning. Once the child knows what is required of him/her and have the support to do so, they will execute.
CULTIVATING SELF-AWARENESS
In order to develop a confident and involved learner, it is important that we help children to gain more self-awareness. When I say self-awareness, I am referring to a child being able to identify and know their unique qualities and learning abilities:
What gets them distracted easily?
How long is their attention span?
What type of content captivates their attention span for extended time periods?
What time of day do they study best?
What motivates them?
Are they a musical or intrapersonal learner?
Are they a visual, audible, kinesthetic, read/write learner? To find out what your child's learning style complete this questionnaire https://vark-learn.com/the-vark-questionnaire/
How will you as a parent and your child know this? Through teaching your child reflective thinking. The key to reflective thinking is journalling. Yep, I said it. Journalling helps your child to be mindful and think about their day at the end of each day to see whether their goals for the day have been accomplished and if not why?
Once the child is very self-aware, they are able to understand their strengths and weaknesses and you can now work with them to set goals, plan and strategize to ensure that they get the best outcome.
SETTING GOALS, PLANNING AND ORGANIZATION
Setting goals means that there is a combination of long-term, medium-term and short-term goals consisting of goals for the school term, each month and each week so they are organized. It is important for students to be organized and have a schedule because this teaches them how to manage themselves and their environments. Children develop a sense of mastery in handling their lives when they have a routine so they can feel safe and deal with changes. Oh, and of course in the beginning it's going to be difficult for them to stick to their schedules due to many factors, one is going to bed late and getting up late for their class. This why it is crucial for you as the parent to set strategies in place like reminder systems so that your child can be reminded of what is required of them. For instance, a reminder system such as a vision board to remember their goals. Another reminder system is an alarm for when they should be getting ready to go to bed and another for the time they must be in bed.
ASSESSING LEARNING RESOURCES
In this new era of online learning, some kids are required to complete projects and the internet is one resource they will use to source information. The internet is a global network providing a variety of information where some can be factual and false or opinionated. How will your child be able to know what information they can utilize from the internet that is credible for them to use in their assignments? They must develop the ability to vet and assess information for their validity by looking for the creator/s, credentials and currency. Who are the authors of the information, what are their qualifications and what is the date the article was created? Ensure your child knows that they must always use information that is current and relevant for research.
SELF-DISCIPLINE AND STRATEGIZING
Some students may have habits that prevent them from achieving their goals such as losing track of time while playing video games. When the child is self-aware they will be able to identify this weakness and you can work with them to identify solutions to solve this problem. One solution is to set an automatic timer on the television after 2 hours so that it shuts off no matter what is going on. With this strategy, the child will have no choice but to engage in an activity that is more productive like studying. Once students are aware of their habits, you as their parent can work with them to identify strategies to curb the self-defeating habits and cultivate positive habits so they will be able to implement these strategies to help them adhere to their routine. This helps you as a parent to empower your child to become more self-disciplined so that they will take the necessary actions when needed to achieve their goals. Their routine will eventually become natural to them where you will be less involved in ensuring they stick to their schedule.
MONITORING AND EVALUATING STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVENESS
A crucial aspect of implementing new strategies is monitoring them to track the impact it is having on the student. Monitoring and evaluating their progress and performance can help them to know whether the strategies are effective or not. Once both you and your child realizes that a strategy is not effective due to the results that are seen, changes and improvements can be made to the strategies. AND it's totally okay, enjoy the journey while your child finds the right strategy that suits their uniques personality. Most importantly, your child will learn how to track their progress and growth.
CONCLUSION
Developing a confident and involved learner takes a strong support system and we at Survival Scholars are here to assist you and your child on this journey as we empower your child through our upcoming workshop and provide continuous support for your child throughout the term. Bonus: your child will learn coping strategies to encourage them with creative self-expression. There are a few spots available. Register your child now to secure their spot https://www.survivalscholars.com/event-details/developing-the-confident-and-involved-learner-for-online-learning
Thank you for taking the time to read our blog. We hope that you enjoyed reading and got valuable advice.