As everyone continues to move to online education across the nation in response to the COVID–19 pandemic, student success has continued to be the highest priority for all academic leaders. Thankfully, technology has vastly improved to support this transition and will continue to improve as we find new ways to assist students virtually. Our team has been working diligently to add new features to Accudemia to aid in supporting virtual sessions and remote sign-in for appointments. But you might ask yourself — what are some additional ways your staff can enhance a student’s learning through this viable technology?
Here are a few tips to help engage your students through virtual sessions:
1. Encourage student communication
Using the new live chat feature, students can now reach out to staff members for quick and easy assistance with scheduling appointments or with finding the right services that are available to them to assist in their coursework. They can also access important news and updates using the home page news feed which administrators can use to add vital announcements about tutoring hours, school updates and much more. Additionally, staff members have the option to send out updates to students through SMS text or email directly from Accudemia.
2. Use analytics to target and personalize student interventions
Academic leaders can use Accudemia to track student engagement to implement support services that are being vastly utilized remotely by the center. Using the analytics reporting tool, administrators can easily access virtual traffic patterns and help students with creating additional academic solutions so they can continue to excel in their education with all the support available to do so.
3. Provide a strategic plan to help maintain focus
Online students must have the motivation and discipline to work in isolation. A lack of face-to-face accountability makes it easier for an online student to give up without anyone noticing. Time management, motivation and self-discipline should become their best friend and it’s your job to ensure this is a part of their routine. Letting your staff know that they should be encouraging students to create a plan to accommodate time to review material, complete coursework and reach the level of achievement they strive for. Dedicating a scheduled time for about 2-4 hours a day (depending on the number of courses they are enrolled in) secures that they will have sufficient time to concentrate on the material and leave additional time to reach out for support through Accudemia’s virtual appointment scheduling if needed.
4. Organization is extremely essential
As a student with a million responsibilities, it can become a little overbearing to keep track of all assignments, quizzes, exams, etc. Keeping a detailed calendar, planner and notes is significantly helpful to students. Thankfully, there are many ways technology has adapted to assist with maintaining organization. Tutors should recommend for students to use their smartphone to easily access applications such as My Study Life or Taskful which can help with motivating students to keep track of all their work and can influence them to complete assignments on time, every time.
By adding these engagement elements to your online learning initiative, you’ll be sure to create a learning experience that stands out among the rest.
