Being a student myself, I know what it means to lose interest in a lecture. I have many times found myself sitting in a class, not really paying attention to what the lecturer is saying, and this is not because the topic is boring, but because of the way the lecturer is trying to convey the message. I have even seen students walking into a lecture hall, putting their bags on the desk and just sleep from the start to the end of the lecture. So how do you as teacher/lecturer get through to your students and prevent this from happening?
The truth is you have no idea in which state of mind the students are going to be in when they get to your class (especially on a Monday morning, first period). The problem is you are still expected to get most of your students to pass, without lowering your standard of teaching. BUT HOW? The answer is quite simple, just increases your knowledge about new technologies to the same level as your students, and once you get that rite and start using it in your classes, class should be fun for you and your students. So, I am actually telling the teachers that they should become the students for a while before they can teach modern day students.
Students use technologies that most teachers/lecturers won’t even dream about using. They’ve found ways to show things or convey messages to each other in ways that they find much more interesting than a lecturer using overhead projectors or wordy power point presentations. So what can you do to get their attention?
There are many technologies out there that you as a teacher/lecturer can use to make class easier and fun, not only for the students, but you as well. To overcome students (who were sleeping during your class), coming to your office asking questions about the work you just did in class, why not record yourself in the lecture/class, or let a student do it for you. Nearly all students have cell phones with cameras or voice recorders, why not encourage them to use it in your class, or you could use the free-ware called Audacity and install it on your laptop and record yourself. Instead of having the students come to you for the electronic lecture, why not put it on a downloading site where students can access it using their phones or any pc connected to the internet. This is a good idea, but remember that, just because the technologies are there, it does not mean that it always works, you need to tweak it so that it can accommodate your classes needs.
Another way to get your students to, not only interact with the work in class, but to make sure that they actually think about it in their free time is to use blogs or Facebook pages. You as the lecturer/teacher can set up a blog or the Facebook page, putting on the main concepts of what you did in the class. Here, students not only get the main concepts of the previous class, but they can comment or ask questions on the blog or Facebook page. This is a good way for them to discuss certain topics amongst themselves, and you as their lecturer can see where they misunderstood you in class and who it is that commented on the post. This gives you insight on what you have to go through again in class before you move on to the next topic. You can also comment on this page, and correct the students as they will most probably use the site as a revision lecture for test and exams.
Another good way of making the class interesting is to make videos or slides of the work. Instead of just talking the whole hour in class, why not show the students a slide show or TED video about the work that is going to be discussed. The slideshow you can make yourself by using free software like Picasa or Photostory. This doesn’t necessarily make the class more interesting, but it makes it different, and thus the students won’t get bored so easily.
There are many other things that you can do, but you should always remember, that different students take in information differently, thus, you should always try and use different techniques to accommodate all of the students in your class.
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