Common Problems Faced By Teachers In Online Teaching

 

Common Problems Faced By Teachers In 

Online Teaching

The seismic shift in the education system due to the pandemic hasn’t been easy but is definitely bringing up a myriad of opportunities in the teaching and learning space. Although they started with apprehension, now both teachers and students are adjusting to the new equilibrium of learning. However, the new form of learning has its own unique set of challenges. While it was assumed that the adaptation to technology would be a major struggle, their lie many other problems.

As education is going on online, many educators are being asked to teach their students from home. We know that all the teachers are not aware of online learning and their process as most of them are into traditional classroom teaching. It sometimes makes it difficult for them to change their way of teaching. Proper online training should be given to teachers before teaching students. With many benefits of online learning still there are some challenges faced by the teachers. Some challenges faced by teachers during the online learning process are as:-

1) Engaging students

• As students are moving towards online learning from traditional classrooms, it becomes difficult for teachers to adjust to a new learning platform.
• Online instruction can turn students into passive observers rather than active participants. Although these unengaged students may acquire the lecture content, they aren’t able to apply their learnings outside the virtual classroom.
• Teaching online may not influence and engage students for longer periods of time. They can easily get distracted and lose concentration during live sessions.

 2)Time Commitment

• If the course content is thought in person then you might not really understand the time commitment. It is still difficult to convert those learning into effective online format.
• Teachers should be given some time for proper planning of the content and methods to deliver to the students. Teachers are not able to deliver the effective content in time.
• It is said that teachers take more time in teaching online than face to face. If students exceed their deadline in submitting assignments or projects can lead to more work for you.

3) Communication

• The more detailed the syllabus, the easier to communicate to the students. Sometimes teachers are not given enough time for the preparation of content for their students.
• And also there are students who avoid communication with teachers during online learning. Online teaching is like communicating without body language, so students might misunderstand and can result in their poor performance.
• Sometimes students might ask for an extension for their work or give any excuse for the delay

4) Assessment

• Assessment is the most important part of online learning for students as well as teachers. And it causes stress to students at times.
• So whenever there are assignments or projects, teachers might face a lot of questions from the students. As there is less communication between students and teachers, expectation from the students’ performances also differs.
• Students are likely to experience less homework, less assignments or lack of examination at times. This can cause difficulties for teachers in assessments.

5) Feedback

• Feedback loops are key to building strong connections with learners in an online environment. When students complete a task, they get feedback and make adjustments accordingly.
• Feedback is meant to be non-evaluative and focused on a specific course learning objective. Every student needs feedback for their performance for improvement. Teachers find it difficult to give feedback to all students individually.
• Sometimes few students get benefited from it and others don’t. As students are not given proper feedback leading to poor performance. Teachers do not find proper methods of providing feedback to all the students.

6) Learning Management Systems

• Teachers experience a hard time in expressing their content to students, especially assignments and assessments. There have been problems with understanding the level of difficulty in terms of course content among students.
• It can be difficult for instructors to teach online when they struggle to gauge how students are comprehending course content, and whether they are participating in learning experiences.
• According to teachers, the incident opportunities that happen face to face communication fail in online learning.

7) Teaching Methods

• We know that most of the teachers follow typical classroom-style teaching methods, as they use to teach with only blackboard and books.
• It becomes difficult for them to adopt new teaching methods that are completely virtual and technology-driven.
• New internet tools like Google Meet, Zoom, Cisco, Tutor room, Easyclass etc needs to be comprehended and managed for virtual teaching and controlling interactions.

8) Fear of Cheating

• Sometimes teachers might feel concerned about the risk of cheating in online learning. They feel that students can cheat to get better results in the tests and assignments.
• Pressure and stress are key drivers of cheating behaviours, and students today are experiencing a lot of both. So, students who feel connected, supported and encouraged are less likely to cheat.
• Use of AI based software tools to keep a close eye on students appearing in test needs to be arranged and implemented, which is not easy.

9) Technical Issues

• Many teachers struggle with technical issues that are unavoidable and cause stress. They become helpless if something technical errors come in the middle of the live session or communicating with students.
• Technical problems are one of the main stumbling blocks of online training. Very often, there are compatibility issues, network issues, etc. All this adds to their frustration and reduces interest, the learning experience is disrupted.
• Fast and updated devices need to be kept ready for easy online sessions.

10) Course Content

• The course content was designed earlier with respect to traditional classrooms. But with the shift to online learning, it requires redesigning of course which can take a considerable amount of time and energy.
• It would have been successful when it started well in advance for better learning outcomes. Most of the cases, these courses work well in traditional classrooms but go flat in online learning.
• It happens when there are no content-related activities, assignments or projects that can be done online.

The shift to Online learning can be difficult. It can require restructuring course components using new pedagogical approaches, learning activities and tech tools that may be new to you and your students. The pandemic has surely caused a change in the usual teaching and learning practices employed in the on-campus classroom environments, but that doesn’t mean they must be abandoned altogether. By instilling collaboration, frequent communication and active learning into your classroom, you can still ensure students receive valuable and engaging educational experiences, regardless of where learning takes place.

BLOG BY :-  MEGHA BHATNAGAR & DEVANSHI PATEL

DEPARTMENT :- AIB

UNIVERSITY :- AMITY UNIVERSITY RAJASTHAN