In today's educational landscape, fostering active engagement and interaction among students is crucial for effective learning. As a teacher, keeping students engaged and interested in the subject matter can be a challenging task. However, making classes more interactive can help to increase student engagement and participation. In this blog post, we will discuss the top 5 tips for teachers to make classes more interactive.
Using multimedia and technology
In this world that is being taken over by technology, it is crucial for schools also to incorporate technology and multimedia to make classes more interactive. Showing videos in class, using interactive whiteboards, online games and quizzes, and educational apps can help make class interactive and much more engaging. Multimedia content helps to vary and enhance the learning process and leads to better knowledge retention [source]. Visual learning is one of the best forms of learning, through which students can easily grasp what is being taught in the class and retain the knowledge for a longer period of time.
Encouraging Discussion
Once the lecture is done, it would make the learning process more fruitful if we encouraged discussions in the classrooms. This way, students can reflect on what they have learnt and also interpret their learnings in their own words. Bringing their perspectives into the learning processes will help them understand the subject matter better, which will further help them retain what they have learnt. Discussion is important to learning in all disciplines because it helps students process information rather than simply receive it [source].
Leaving open-ended questions for students to discuss among their peers will help them evaluate the problem and creatively bring out solutions.
Using Group Activities
Another essential way of making classes more interactive is to engage students in group activities. Group activities will allow them to explore ideas in a team, and apart from just grasping academic knowledge, they will also learn a lot about teamwork and leadership skills. Group projects can help students develop a host of skills that are increasingly important in the professional world [source]. Bookish knowledge alone does not make students capable enough to compete in the real world. Along with it, students require a variety of other skills to stand out from the crowd and group activities will help harness just that. It will make the teaching process more interactive and also teach skills that will ensure their overall development.
Incorporating Case studies
We all know that implementing what we studied in real life is challenging. However, in order to make this journey of implementing academics in life easier for students, they must be introduced to the concept of reading and analysing case studies. This will help them get closer to real-life problems and how they can actually be solved, linking with what they have studied in class. This interactive way of teaching will reflect the mirror of reality and make the studies sound more relevant and realistic. This will make students more intrigued and interested in studying and knowing more about the subject matter. A major advantage of teaching with case studies is that the students are actively engaged in figuring out the principles by abstracting from the examples [source].
This will help them develop analytic, problem-solving and decision-making skills. These skills will not only help in studies but also while coping with real-life problems.
Gamification of Classrooms
Gaming can create a dynamic that can inspire learners to develop skills and competencies as they focus on the activities of the game [Source]. Gamification of any subject matter can make the classroom more engaging, fun and interactive. It can also work as a productive refreshment break activity for students who have been studying monotonously for the entire day. Gamification of the study matter will not only keep them interested in studies but also teach them effective ways of learning. For example, we can use placard quizzes for the gamification of questions in class, and they can also do the same at home to learn and remember the subject matter better. Thus, gamification of the subject matter will not only make the class interactive but will also give students a much-needed break and entertainment.
In a nutshell, making classes more interactive is essential for keeping students engaged and interested in the subject matter. By using technology, encouraging discussion, using group activities, incorporating real-world examples, and using gamification techniques, teachers can create a more engaging and interactive learning experience for their students. This will not only improve their learning but also sharpen their skills and make them highly interested in learning.