Tag: 100 Awesome Online Learning Apps

The 7 Golden Rules of Communication for Online Meetings

Posted on by richardjamesrogers

An article by Richard James Rogers (Award-Winning Author of The Quick Guide to Classroom Management and The Power of Praise: Empowering Students Through Positive Feedback). This blog post has been beautifully illustrated by Pop Sutthiya Lertyongphati.

Accompanying podcast episode:

Even as far back as 2020, during the height of the pandemic, research was being conducted on the effectiveness of video conferencing in education, and some such research concluded that online meetings would remain popular long-after the pandemic was over. My personal experiences have certainly mirrored these predictions – tutoring has moved mostly online, online meetings are still being used by many schools for parent-teacher conferences and schools still find that an online meeting is the most convenient way to bring everyone together efficiently, even if everyone is in the same building! Some schools are still using online meetings for assemblies too – an efficient approach as all of the students can remain in their classrooms and simply ‘enjoy the show’ on the classroom smart board or projector.

The corporate world has likewise seen a dramatic shift towards online conferencing, and as a part of a recent Powerful Public Speaker Workshop I delivered to a team of insurance professionals here in Bangkok, I was asked to speak about the rules/etiquette people should follow for online meetings. The following seven rules are the result of my deliberations, and if you wish to download and use the slides I delivered to this corporate client, then you can find it linked as a pdf file at the end of this blog post. Please note that I have put a ‘teaching spin’ on each of the following rules to make them as relevant as possible to educators (which you will not find in the pdf file).

An overview

I was thinking about putting this summary at the end, but I think it’s relevant here. When it comes to ALL online meetings, remember the acronym MEET UP R:

Rule #1: Know your platform

Are using Google Meets? Maybe it’s the dreaded Cisco Webex (dreaded because I have such little experience with this platform). Perhaps it’s Zoom? Maybe you’re using Microsoft Teams for the first time?

Whatever platform it is that you’ll be required to use, the first Golden Rule is that you become familiar with the software. Spend at least 15 minutes before the meeting starts just getting used to the controls and settings, if you’re a newbie. Also, if you haven’t used a platform in over a month, then carry out the due diligence of checking its functionality first – it may well have changed since you last used it!

Rule #2: Be there early!

The reasons for the inclusion of this rule are not so obvious upon first inspection. Here’s why you need to try logging-in early:

  • Unexpected system updates can slow down your start (this has happened to me multiple times over the last several years)
  • WIFI may take time to set up. Don’t assume that that you’ll always be able to get online in the same way every time, using the same WIFI (especially if it’s public WIFI, such as that you would find in a coffee shop). Again – updates to systems and protocols do happen!
  • Bluetooth (e.g. For mics and headphones) may take time to set up (and setup protocols can change after system updates)
  • You may need an alternative device if there’s a technical problem (e.g. a smartphone connected to a 4 or 5G network)

Familiarity can often be the enemy of online meeting etiquette. On many occasions I have, for example, turned up at the same coffee shop multiple times in a row to use the same WIFI, only to find that the login procedure has changed. This unexpected hurdle clearly slows down my login time.

Getting to your online meeting destination early, and attempting to log-in early, allows you time to fix any issues that may come up.

Rule 3: Switch on your camera

The visual element of meetings is important. When you show yourself to the online audience via the camera, there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that you are present and attentive. Those who leave their cameras switched off do, unfortunately, arouse suspicion. If you absolutely must leave you camera switched off (e.g. so as to reduce your network traffic and allow for an audible meeting), then at least tell the host in advance (if you can).

If you are the meeting host, then don’t be afraid to ask people to switch on their cameras too – facial expressions, nods, mannerisms and other visual information forms part of the effective communication ‘dance’ that must play out in an online meeting.

Rule 4: Mute your microphone when you are not speaking

Background noise can interfere with the meeting (especially via sensitive tech, like expensive earphones). Also, experiment with different mics (e.g. wired or wireless – which microphones provide clearer sound to your audience?).

Last year I purchased a very expensive set of AirPods Pro for use in online tutoring meetings. They’re beautiful – but not every student I teach likes them. They are so sensitive to background noise, that in some locations in which I am sitting the students find that they cannot hear me clearly, and I have to use wired earphones/mics (even when I turn on noise reduction).

It’s good practice to have at least three modes of voice input to your online meeting available, if possible:

  • The computer’s built-in microphone and speaker system (probably not the best if you’re in a public setting)
  • Wired earphones with integrated microphone (if you have an earphone jack on your PC)
  • Bluetooth headset/earphones

Having three systems, such as these, will enable you to join the meeting and communicate even if one system fails (and this, again, has happened to me multiple times!).

Rule 5: Raise your hand if you want to say something

This can be done visually (on camera), or through a hand-raise tool. Raising your hand on camera is usually better for smaller meets.

Check out my award-winning book for high-school teachers, available on Amazon.

Rule 6: Watch the chat window!

Requests and questions may come up at any time, so make sure you keep your eyes on the video conferencing software’s integrated chat feature window (and make sure you know where it is located too). At the very least, whether you are the meeting host or not, check the chat window before going for a break or leaving/closing the meeting – there could be some vital information in there!

The chat window can also be a good place to receive/ask questions and to leave contact information (e.g. if you are meeting with outside stakeholders, such as parents, teacher-training providers or ECA services).

Rule 7: Leave at the appropriate time, and in the appropriate way

  • If you need to leave early, then let the host know in-advance.
  • You can slip out unnoticed, but please leave a message in the chat window to say goodbye to the participants.
  • Respect people’s time, just as you would in a physical meeting (e.g. try not to make the meeting too long)

My slides (feel free to download):

Online-meetings-and-conductDownload

Recommended further reading

Check out the following blog posts for more content related to the topic of online meetings:

Hybrid Teaching Apps, Ideas and Strategies – Richard James Rogers

Cognitive Challenges of Language Learners in the Digital Age – Richard James Rogers

Online Learning: A Risk-Assessment List for Teachers – Richard James Rogers

We welcome you to join the Richard Rogers online community. Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for daily updates.

Why is Coding Important for School Students to Learn?

Posted on by richardjamesrogers

richardjamesrogers.com is the official blog of Richard James Rogers: high school Science teacher and award-winning author of The Quick Guide to Classroom Management: 45 Secrets That All High School Teachers Need to Know. 

This blog post has been beautifully illustrated by Pop Sutthiya Lertyongphati.

Accompanying podcast episode:

As a teacher or a parent, you’ll likely have an interest in the subjects that children are learning in school, especially newer subjects like computer literacy, robotics, coding, or even game development. And while some parents and teachers might be worried that children already spend too much time on tablets, mobile phones or laptop computers as it is, the good news is that all of these subjects are likely to enhance the learning of more traditional curriculum areas, such as mathematics and English.

Coding, in particular, is quickly becoming a key skill that school students must achieve basic competency in before they graduate. In August last year, for example, former President Uhuru Kenyatta presided over the nationwide rollout of Kenya’s first ever coding curriculum in primary and secondary schools. This made Kenya the first African nation to create an official coding syllabus to be delivered in schools.

Today, I’ve invited Kat Sarmiento (content writer at Katreena’s Content Studio) to share her thoughts on why coding is such an important subject for students to learn.

Kat Sarmiento

In this digital age, when technological advancement continues to transform our lives, learning coding is crucial, especially for school students. Because if you think about it, the apps and websites children use all run on code. Thus, it’s vital for them to learn and understand the basics of coding to make the most out of the apps and websites they visit and utilize.

Image source: Pexels

As you may be aware, in the current curriculum, students in classes 11 and 12 are taught fundamental programming languages, such as C, C++, Foxpro, and more, while sixth-grade students and up learn computer basics. And as online education came to light, more and more students eagerly took online tuition coding classes to test various programming languages.

Given this situation, education professionals must also understand that teaching coding is as important as teaching sustainability at school. It offers numerous benefits for your students – from academic excellence to better career opportunities. To explain it further, we’ve listed down the reasons why coding is essential for students. Let’s get started.

#1: Coding improves critical thinking skills 

One of the many reasons why learning coding is important is that it can help students improve their critical thinking skills. A 2014 study actually demonstrates that the five brain areas associated with language processing, working memory, and attention are activated when people work with source code. Because besides memorizing various programming languages, students will also need to understand how to use them correctly. But to do that, it will require them to think differently. 

Dealing with codes requires you to break down problems into smaller and more manageable pieces to understand what happens next. This strategic problem-solving technique is called computational thinking. Coders must examine the data, assess the situation, and decide which course of action will help them achieve their objectives.

In light of this, students who learn how to code can improve their problem-solving/critical-thinking skills by figuring out the best solution to a problem at hand.

#2: Coding boosts creativity

Aside from honing problem-solving skills, coding also fosters the creativity of students. It gives them the opportunity to express themselves, experiment, and be creative. They can design websites, apps, or games in a fun and exciting way.

“But how does coding help with creativity?“, you may ask.

Well, while you learn various programming languages and techniques to create various programs, you always need to start building from scratch. For instance, when students are tasked to make an animated object, they have to think about what it should look like and how it can be presented on the screen. This is when they need to use their creativity and problem-solving skills to achieve what they picture.

#3: Coding teaches patience and persistence

Learning how to code is similar to how we learn a language. The only difference is we use programming languages to communicate with the computer. So, typically, we start by memorizing the alphabet, some words, and phrases before we begin creating sentences for use in conversations. And, of course, we will inevitably make mistakes along the way. It’s the same scenario in coding.

As you might already know, coding is complex and can be frustrating. But it teaches us patience and perseverance. Because to be successful, one must be able to experience failure and bounce back from it. It will take some testing and troubleshooting before the codes work effectively.

Students can use this process of trial and error to their advantage as they go through life, helping them to understand that perseverance is often necessary to find solutions to many difficulties.

#4: Coding improves communication and teamwork

Coding also teaches two of the best things students can use when they enter the real world: communication and teamwork. Most of the time, teachers assign students to work in groups when developing projects. That requires them to communicate with one another and make collaborative efforts for a successful program. But, even if they’re working on individual projects, they can still seek feedback from their classmates. Thus, by teaching coding to students, they’ll develop their communication skills and learn the importance of teamwork.

#5: Coding creates career opportunities

Finally, learning to code opens up many career opportunities. Considering how technology continuously advances as time passes by, coding is an extremely useful skill to possess. Computer programmers, web developers, and other IT jobs are now in demand because of the increasing number of businesses relying on code. And it’s not just those in the technology sector, but also those in finance, retail, health, and other industries.

If people learn to code at a young age, they’ll have the advantage of having better career opportunities in the future. Not to mention that the salary can be at a high level for those qualified, talented, and experienced IT people. 

The bottom line

There are many reasons why coding is important for school students to learn. Besides learning how to build websites and apps, they also learn valuable skills and lessons they can use in the real world. Not to mention that you’re also bringing them numerous career opportunities in this ever-growing digital world. And if they grow interested in developing more advanced and amazing software, they also contribute to our future.

Kat Sarmiento

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Simple Marketing Strategies You Should Be Using to Make Your Education Business Grow

Posted on by richardjamesrogers

An article by Richard James Rogers (Award-Winning Author of The Quick Guide to Classroom Management and The Power of Praise: Empowering Students Through Positive Feedback).

This blog post has been beautifully illustrated by Pop Sutthiya Lertyongphati

This article is your guide to implementing straightforward, tried-and-tested marketing strategies that are guaranteed to grow your education business. We will discuss both strategies that you can use personally to self-reflect and thus increase business growth, and more practical, digital-oriented approaches you can take.

Utilise Fast Resources

In business there will be short-term and long-term investments you will want to make in terms of marketing. Long-term will generally be bigger projects, perhaps a grand unveiling of a product. Short-term will more likely be simple strategies that you can do easily that don’t take a great deal of time. For the short-term, it is highly recommended that you utilise the fast online resources that are at your disposal. For example, a Facebook ad template already gives you the attractive basis for your advertisement – all you need to do is fill in the blanks. This is an affordable way to keep your business moving. 

Consider How You Are Learning

This isn’t so much a practical strategy, as a mental refresher course. Perhaps you feel you need to strip back down to the basics. You should really aim to properly soak in the information you are gathering for, for example, your market research. Surface level learning is where you should start on your journey, but to be able to be properly invested, engaged, and reflective with your business and its plan, you must dig a little deeper in order to forward think. Deep learning will have you constantly reviewing your business, in terms of what is going well and what can be improved.

Email Marketing

Because email marketing has been around for years, people may start to believe that it is not as relevant as it once was, and we should think forward to more modern ways of marketing. However, this is not the case. One reason for this is because of email automation tools. Email marketing, after the initial setup, is constantly generated and therefore constantly keeping the interaction with customers to a high level through newsletters, information on new products, etc. Email marketing also specifically reaches your target audience, meaning that your business is actually being promoted to those who are interested. Thus, the people who are more likely to purchase. 

Remain Focused

If you are feeling here, there, and everywhere, this hectic mindset can reflect on the way that you advertise your business. Have a clear-cut objective when you set out to market something; a simple approach with a touch of creativity is better than something that results in a chaotic, discernible mess. Maintaining a level of focus in your own mind means that you can concentrate solely on creating something for your business that speaks to you and the brand.

Search Engine Optimisation

Having knowledge of search engine optimisation (SEO) is the top rated strategy in order to increase website traffic. Through strategically chosen keywords and phrases, your website can rank higher on a search engine results page. This means the customers who are interested in the goods that you sell will find your online business due to their internet search matching up with what you are offering.

We welcome you to join the Richard Rogers online community. Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for daily updates.

Good Teachers Are Also Good Students

Posted on by richardjamesrogers

An article by Richard James Rogers (Author of The Quick Guide to Classroom Management)

Accompanying video:

I have always loved mathematics, but I’ve not always been ‘good’ at maths. I got a grade A for GCSE Mathematics when I was 16 years old (a grade I worked really, really hard for) but I struggled with mathematics at ‘AS’ and ‘A’ – Level (the UK’s pre-university qualifications). 

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“An AMAZING Book!”

It just so happened that mathematics wasn’t a subject I needed as a prerequisite for my university course anyway. So, in a sense, I committed the cardinal sin of thinking that it ‘didn’t matter’. I was planning to study molecular biology at university, and my admissions tutors were mainly interested in my biology and chemistry grades.

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I achieved my goal of going to uni and doing my PGCE in order to become a fully qualified Science teacher in 2006. I was happy for several years, but my failure to complete my mathematics education at school kept gnawing at me like an annoying itch. I needed to do something about it. 

I decided to complete the Certificate in Mathematics course with the Open University in 2009, after three years of being a full-time science teacher. This course covered everything in my ‘A’-Level syllabus with some extra, university-level topics thrown in. It was challenging and offered me just what I needed: closure. As a distance-learning course, it also offered me the chance to study and work as a teacher at the same time. 

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As I started studying the course and handing in assignments (which had to be snail mailed to the UK  – I was living in Thailand at the time), I began to realise how much I had become disconnected from the student experience as a teacher. It had been around three years since I had ever studied anything seriously, and this mathematics course was teaching me how difficult it was to:

  • Meet deadlines
  • Seek help when in doubt
  • Have the self-discipline needed to study at a regular time-slot each day

These skills were, of course, things I had to do whilst completing my degree course and schooling earlier in life, but it had been a few years since I had been immersed in serious study like this. I was slowly losing empathy for my students: that was until this course gave me a wake-up call. 

Another big thing I took from this experience was just how stressful it can be to prepare for a difficult exam (and to complete it). I had to fly to the UK to take the end of course mathematics exam (a three hour beast), and along with the intense revision that came in the few days running up to the exam I had the misfortune of not sleeping so well the night before the big day. And then, once sat down and actually completing the paper, three hours felt like it went by in an instant.

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I guess I’m trying to make a number of points in this trip down Memory Lane – namely that by immersing ourselves in the ‘student experience’ we can, as teachers:

  • Regain, or enhance, our true understanding of just how many hurdles await our students on their race to the exam finish-line.
  • Learn new skills and concepts that can be applied to our roles as classroom managers, leaders and ‘purveyors’ of specialist knowledge.
  • Build self-discipline, and pass on the lessons learned to our students in our roles as mentors, homeroom teachers, form tutors and coaches.

One final point to stress is that, whilst we can study almost any subject we want via online platforms like EdX and Coursera these days, it’s also important that we take the time to thoroughly reflect on a regular basis. Keeping a journal of things we’ve done well, and things we messed up, can be a great way to have a written record to read over when we want to celebrate successes and remind ourselves of lessons we have learned on our journeys as educators. This video I made a few years ago goes into this in more detail:

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We welcome you to join the Richard James Rogers online community! Join us on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates, giveaways of Richard’s books, special offers, upcoming events and news. 

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Assessing Students Remotely: Four Ideas to Consider

Posted on by richardjamesrogers

An article by Richard James Rogers (Author of The Quick Guide to Classroom Management, The Power of Praise: Empowering Students Through Positive Feedback and 100 Awesome Online Learning Apps)

Updated May 31st 2021

Accompanying video:

School closures due to lockdowns have presented teachers with two major challenges:

  1. How to teach students effectively using online tools
  2. How to assess and give feedback to students accurately and efficiently via remote-learning technology

Most of the books and blogs I’ve read deal primarily with the first of these two challenges. In fact, I even jumped on this bandwagon with some blog posts of my own (here, and here and here) and by publishing my latest book: 100 Awesome Online Learning Apps (which also includes some advice for assessment when teaching from home).

100 Awesome Final Cover

This focus was understandable in the early days of COVID-19: teachers had to adapt quickly and schools had to put systems in-place that were safe and efficient to use. We’ve now reached a point, however, where we need to start thinking seriously about the ways in which we are going to assess our students and provide high-quality feedback whilst teaching from home. 

Thankfully, I’ve done some of the serious thinking for you. I’ve been testing a number of methods with my students over the past two months and I’ve distilled the mix down to to a few methods that seem to work best. 

Tip #1: Use screen-share functions to quickly assess, give feedback and offer guidance

Any kind of screen share in a video-conferencing tool can be amazing for providing quick feedback. I currently use Google Meet with my students, and I use the screen share in the following ways:

  1. To quickly see student work and offer some verbal feedback and encouragement (students share their screen with me).
  2. To guide students through a process, because by seeing their screen I can show them where to click and where to navigate.
  3. By showcasing excellent work with the class. Oftentimes I’ll do this by asking exceptional students to share their work via screen-share with the whole class.

Tip #2: Get your students to build website ePortfolios

Do you know what an ‘ePortolio’ is? It’s basically a website that each student creates. To this website each student uploads their work, either as photographs of their notes or more complex pieces such as Google Sheets, PDFs and Google Slides. 

Provided that you, the teacher, has the URLs for each students’ site, marking becomes a doddle. All you have to do is click through the list of URLs and mark the student work. With New Google Sites you can actually type comments onto the students’ websites (if the student clicks ‘share’ and then shares the site with you). With other platforms (such as Wix and WordPress), an e-mail to each student after checking the sites would work well. 

it integrated

Tip #3: Use automated assessment programs for your subject

I personally use MyMaths (for mathematics), Educake (for Science) and I have used Lexia (for English) in the past. Software like this often has to be purchased by the school, but the investment is nearly always well-worth it. Automated assessment programs usually come with detailed reports post-testing which can be ‘auto-emailed’ to the class teacher. 

Systems that cover a wide range of subjects include Kahoot! (which can be set as an assignment, providing excellent, quick whole-class feedback) and Quizlet (ask students to take a screenshot of their scores for tasks such as ‘Spell’, ‘Gravity’, ‘Match’ and ‘Test’). BBC Bitesize also includes a number of multiple choice quizzes at the end of ‘Learner Guides’, all of which provide model answers and explanations should students get questions wrong (Hint: Ask students to screenshot their responses and make a note of any model answers that come up to questions that were answered incorrectly).

Tip #4: Use verbal feedback in the same way as you would in a ‘real’ classroom (but with a twist)

Set students on a task, and, whilst this is being completed, have some one-to-one conversations with students about work that has been submitted prior to the lesson (e.g. last week’s homework). Use screen share to show the student their submitted work, and talk the student through the different parts. CRUCIALLY – ask the student to write down or type what you’ve said on the piece of work somewhere (e.g. “Mr Rogers said that I must make my diagrams larger and neater, and I must always label every part”). Then – ask the student to re-submit the work (so that you can check that those comments have actually been written). 

Bonus tip: Try exam.net

Exam.net is a place where you upload end-of unit tests or assessments, and students complete them at home, remotely, at an allotted time and for a set period of time. The students submit their work via a word document. 

Exam.net can be used at high-functionality for free, but also has some premium options available for schools who wish to use the software with multiple classes.

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We welcome you to join the Richard James Rogers online community! Join us on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates, giveaways of Richard’s books, special offers, upcoming events and news. 

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