Keeping students engaged is key to better teaching. Now that most students continue to learn remotely, it has become an even bigger challenge. This is evident in schools around the country. A survey of school districts in San Antonio found that 54% of high school students report being less engaged during distance learning compared to in-person classes. 64% of parents of younger students reported similarly about their children. While there are a lot of factors that affect engagement, teachers need to adjust to students’ needs. Right now, they need lessons to be delivered in more engaging ways. Here are 4 ways to make your teaching materials more engaging.
Integrate Videos
Videos are great tools that offer students a deeper understanding of lessons. When you use a variety of media – or in this case, media that has both visual and audio components – students are more likely to stay engaged.
It’s also important to be mindful of the types of videos you choose and how you use them. Have a clear objective for using a specific video clip, and share it with your students. This lets them know what to expect and can enrich their learning experience. Don’t fall into the trap of choosing a video and leaving your students to make sense of it on their own. You still need to guide them through it. Watch a few minutes of the video learning material and then pause to discuss what was just shown. This also gives them time to digest the video and jot down some reflections. These pauses are extremely valuable when you’re watching videos chock-full of information.
Use 3D Technology
One way to boost engagement is to have immersive teaching material. In classrooms, it’s done through practical demonstrations or show-and-tell. Online, it can take the shape of 3D technology. Of course, not all students and teachers have access to high-end 3D technology. One of the most accessible formats is 3D PDF, a PDF file that supports 3D images.
On top of improving engagement, 3D technology also enhances creativity, spatial thinking, and critical thinking in students. Teaching materials with 3D PDF capabilities assist students with visualization, especially for complex lessons – and there are several available online. For instance, a geography lesson would be better remembered with a 3D image of countries and places; it can also be used in blueprints and design guides in shop and electronics classes. And since these materials use the PDF format, students can easily view 3D renders through conventional readers such as Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Employ the Jigsaw Technique
Huge chunks of text clumped together in a single teaching material can put students off. It can seem overwhelming and they would choose not to engage. With the jigsaw technique, you can break the material into bits and assign each part to individual students. They would then be asked to teach their parts to the bigger group.
This way, each student plays a role in the entire class’ learning. As such, the jigsaw technique trains them to cooperate and builds their social skills. After synthesizing all the different parts of the lesson, you can assess the group’s understanding through a group project or essay. This is a great way to keep students involved, particularly because they get peer interaction.
Only Highlight the Main Points
Teaching materials have to be comprehensive, but that doesn’t mean that entire lessons should be written down. In some cases, it would be better for you to just provide the key points and leave room for students to fill them out as you go through lessons.
This triggers active listening for students. They can also go back to these key points as references, so they can follow along and know what to expect. Teaching materials shouldn’t be too wordy or too long; you can always give reading assignments for that purpose. They should be concise and punchy to keep students’ attention.
Teaching materials have become doubly more important with remote learning. It’s your primary medium to communicate with students, so keep them fun and engaging.
How do you keep teaching materials engaging? Share in the comments below.
About the Author: Julia Peterson is a 32-year-old mom who enjoys baking, blogging, and bowling. She is friendly and creative, but can also be very pessimistic.
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Christine Weis is a passionate educator, classroom management coach, wife, and mom of two busy boys. She enjoys teaching, writing, and creating resources for teachers.
Definitly a post I’ll be sending on to my sister who teaches in a secondary school. I’ve also started worknig with a colleage on teaching kids about bugs, so I’ll be using some of these too.
It’s hard to keep their attention once its lost. You have to really work hard to have engaging plans more often than not, that’s for sure.
These are so great! So helpful to teachers!
Keeping kids involved, especially in school is nearly impossible at times. This is some great information, and thank you for the ideas!
Creating engaging materials is crucial, whether it’s in advertising or in education. It’s will ultimately dictate the success of the material that you prepared.
I so wish that they would have used more 3D technology when I was a kid, that would have made learning so much more fun!
Brilliant Piece and very well written. All teaching establishments could learn a thing or two from this x
This is excellent advice for teachers! Engaging materials are more interesting for students!
This was such an interesting read. I’ve never heard of the jigsaw technique before. These are excellent ideas.
Great ideas for keeping the little ones engaged. Thanks for these tips!
I wish my teachers had had some kind of resources to make my studies more interesting when I was a kid. I got so bored and so disengaged.
These are absolutely fantastic ideas! The only real way to keep kids engaged is to keep them excited about what they’re studying.