Distance Learning Activities You Should Know
Student engagement is very essential in academic progress. And this has turned out to be an even more essential part since virtual learning has been placed due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, distance learning activities have become important for student engagement. Here are some distance learning activities high school that will help in increasing student engagement.
Genius Hour
Also known as 20% Time, Genius Hour is an opportunity for students to engage in an independent, inquiry-based project. They own the whole learning procedure, from the concept to the research, to the project management, to the questions, and to the eventual final product. Genius Hour is a project in the classroom (and sometimes in the office) where students are permitted to explore their own wonders and passions for a specific amount of time, normally varying from an hour weekly to 20% of their entire class time.
Design Thinking Project
Design thinking is a flexible procedure for getting the most out of the creative procedure. It is employed in engineering, in the arts, at universities, in the corporate world, and in civic and social spaces. You can employ it with every age group in every subject. It works when building things with duct tape and cardboard and when making digital content. It can even be employed in designing services or in planning events. Hence, the concept here is that you are offering a meaningful structure to assist students design a thing that they will show to a genuine audience.
Writing Journals using Visual Prompts
If you do not have the best tech in your classroom, but you do have an interactive whiteboard or a projector, consider performing visual writing prompts with a video or a picture. The concept here is to select high-engaging ideas that get students eager about writing.
Maker Projects
There are a few methods to look at maker projects. The first employs design thinking to go all over the complete design procedure. The other approach comprises less planning and research and gets students into quick prototyping as quick as possible. The idea here is that students make something with physical items that they are upcycling such as cardboard, duct tape, and plastic.
Wonder Day / Wonder Week
This is an easy, fun way to get students interested in non-fiction reading. Normally, teachers use it as high-interest method to help students understand the research procedure. Students start with the sentence, “I am thinking as to why/how/what would/if __________” and from here they ask lots of doubts. This eventually results to research and lastly a place where they share what they understood.
Scratch Video Game Projects
If you are not aware of this, do not worry. It is a method to teach programming and logic via the employment of blocks that students utilize to manipulate objects. Students can begin out small by going through the instructions to make a small game. Next, you can motivate them to move on to a position where they hack the game and rule them as per their wish. Then, you can have them set up their own rules that they actually design.
Thematic Blogs
In accordance with the theme of student ownership, these blogs are blogs based on a student’s passions, interests, and ideas. It can be a sports blog, a foodie blog, a science blog, a fashion blog, or a history blog. They select the subject and the target user. It is a great way for students to learn writing in different genres (functional, persuasive, narrative, expository, and informational) with particular blog subjects they select. They can also include multimedia elements such as pictures, slideshows, audio, and videos.
Image all the blogs out there that users actually make outside of school. That is what you need students to make. It is their opportunity to take part in the worldwide blogging community by using their own interests and expertise.
Sketchnote Videos
This is one of the most liked fun distance learning activities used for making visual and sketchnoting. This is one of the methods you can use to assist students take complicated ideas and convey them in a manner that is concrete and visual. Teachers also love taking it to the next stage by having students create small sketchnote videos that tell a concept, idea, or process. Hence, it may be something like how a bill becomes a law or life cycles.
Divergent Thinking Challenge
Divergent thinking, also known as lateral thinking, is the procedure of making unique, multiple solutions or ideas associated with an issue that you are trying to solve. Divergent thinking is same as brainstorming in that it comprises emerging up with many different solutions to resolve a solo problem. Many tests that are employed to calculate creativity, such as the incomplete figure test or optional uses test, have been found to calculate divergent thinking.
Podcasts
Teachers love having students create videos as it one of the most liked distance learning activities for students. On the other hand, videos consume time and it is more of a challenge to deal with lighting, props, and staging, among others. This is why teachers also like podcasts. They can work separately, in small groups, or with partners. It can be more open or more scripted. If you wish, you can have students add music and edit the podcasts with help of the Audacity or Garage Band. In addition to this, you can also do a simple recording using your smartphones.
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To sum it up, you just had a look at the top distance learning activities for students that will help them in learning during this COVID 19 health crisis. All these activities can be implemented to make the virtual learning process for students more fun during this pandemic situation. This will surely benefit the educational sector.
