Online Microteaching

Grade: 7

Subject: Technology

Topic: Electrical Systems & Control

What I liked about online teaching

• I enjoyed that I was able to work from the comfort of my own home.

• Teaching online was a new and exciting experience that allowed me to tap into my creativity and discover innovative ways to teach content to learners. For example, I made use of an online tool called PhET to provide learners with an activity in which they could build their own electric circuits.

What I disliked about online teaching

• I experienced technical difficulties. I had to reload the session at least twice to be able to hear my group members speaking, and although my mic was working, the sound was not perfectly clear.

• There was no face-to-face interaction, so it was difficult to tell how the learners were feeling during the lesson.

• Learners responded to questions in a chat box, which was slightly time consuming as it took some learners longer to type in their answers.

What new skills have I learned through this experience?

• Microteaching online has helped me improve my time management skills as I had to microteach a component of a lesson I had planned within a time-frame of 15 minutes. I also learned how to navigate various online tools such as ‘Blackboard Collaborate’ ‘Quizizz’ and ‘PhET’. Additionally, I learned how to adapt teaching and learning to suit the classroom context; online. This experience has also helped me improve my communication skills, for example, I asked learners to send a thumbs up emoticon on the chat box if they had understood instructions and explanations of content. I also provided my email address to learners to send the classroom activity to me once they had completed it to ensure that all learners have participated and understood.

What would I do differently?

• If I could reteach the lesson/in future I will ask learners to turn their camera’s on during the lesson so that I can see whether they are paying attention and if they truly understand the lesson. I will also ask learners to raise a hand if they have questions and use their microphone to speak instead of typing on the chat box.

Have I chosen appropriate tools to teach my online lesson, and why?

• I believe that I have made use of effective teaching and learning tools during my online lesson. To elucidate, the tools that I made use of (Quizizz and PhET) were fun and engaging. Quizizz was used as a lesson hook to capture the learner’s attention and tap into their background knowledge. The quiz contained questions and music, and provided learners with the correct answer after they attempted each question. PhET was used to engage learners in an activity where they had to build their own electric circuit. This was a creative technique as it allowed learners to illustrate an electric circuit in a fun way as opposed to simply drawing it on paper. I also made of a PowerPoint presentation containing the relevant information learners needed to know for the lesson. This was appropriate as learners had the information in front of them and could follow whilst I, the teacher, explained.

How has this experience developed me for teaching in a school?

• This experience has developed me for teaching in a school by helping me explore and discover different techniques and educational tools to aid teaching and learning, and make it more exciting for learners. I have also learned how to adapt lessons to suit the different classroom context and learning needs. Even if learners have no access to technological devices in a school setting, the tools which I made use of can be adapted to suit the context. For example, quiz questions, with possible answers in different colours can be printed out and stuck on the board, and learners can be given different colour blocks to show their answers.