Face To Face Interaction In Online Learning

When the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the sudden closure of schools universally, the shift to online learning was so sudden. There wasn’t enough time for adequate training in virtual learning. Many teachers later discovered that to effectively deliver a lesson for every student and enable peer interaction wasn’t a simple undertaking. In this blog article, we’ll explore what researchers have to say about one of the elements of the virtual classroom: The role of face to face engagements and how it affects the brain.
Virtual learning

Does Online Communication Affect Virtual Learners?

Ask any teacher about the significance of face to face interactions in their physical classroom environment, and they will say it’s absolutely essential. Seeing the faces of students while teaching discloses much. Teachers can tell which students are actively engaged and who is “zoned out.” A puzzled or perplexed look on multiple faces show there is a need to pause, figure out what the learners aren’t getting, and approach the point from a slightly different angle. Watching face-to-face interaction between students in group discussions is another rich feedback. Taking away the student’s physical face from the teacher is a major interruption to how they normally teach.

Education online can be handled in different ways, one of which is to have the students all present in an online classroom for online learning that lets teachers see their faces. But it begs the question of whether the benefits of face-to-face communication can really be achieved when applying technology in online education courses.

Brain Research on F2F Communication

One captivating study, Neural Synchronization During Face-to-Face Communication, the brains were scanned as they engaged in various forms of communication, including non-F2F and F2F modes of interaction. There was better “neural synchronization” between partners during face to face dialog mode of communication.

In other words, face to face dialog leads to more effective communication—and effective communication is one of the major components of the education equation, including learner and teacher performance. The implication here is that the human brain favors face to face communication, but current communication technologies such as phones, email, text messaging, and so on, have increasingly taken away the F2F element and with it the benefits it brings to communication.
Physical class
This study, however, did not directly address the question of whether online classrooms with virtual video conferences for online lesson delivery come close enough to F2F dialog to confer its benefits to the online learning process. Speaking with teachers who have already made the shift to online learning, they all have widely varying opinions on whether or not the virtual classroom was an adequate replacement for face-to-face teaching where the teacher and learners are in the same physical location, such as a room in a school. Most teachers would say it’s better than not having live virtual classrooms.

Academic Instruction in the Time of Coronavirus

Just about every school staff member, teacher, parent, and student has experienced an extreme interruption of the last several months of the most recent school year. There is no doubt most of these individuals would love nothing more than for the next academic year to be a normal back-to-school return to traditional physical classroom learning on the school campus. Unfortunately, without a vaccine for COVID-19, it’s simply too early to tell what will happen next. What we have seen in states that opened up much quicker than others are reporting surges in cases and hospitalizations, which gives pause to other states trying to come up with a plan for the fall.

Effective Virtual Classrooms: Lessons from Higher Education

Face To Face Interaction In Online Learning
Institutions of higher education, such as colleges and universities, have done more experimentation in recent years with various forms of online education, including live virtual classrooms. But even at college and university level, many professors beforehand expressed disdain for online learning. One professor’s pre-pandemic experience at piloting a high-touch Zoom class is worth checking out. What he notes is obvious but has to mention: Long lectures where the lecturer talks at students in a virtual classroom are uninspiring as it would be in a physical classroom. The key is making sure students are well prepared for meetings of the virtual class and then immediately get into discussions, debates, interactions, questions and answers, and small group work using Zoom breakout rooms. Another of his articles, Flipping the Class without Flipping Out, is also worth a read. As you can see in these approaches to virtual classrooms in higher education, while the online lesson cannot be a perfect alternative of physical classroom instruction, it is also true that just because the learning environment is virtual does not necessarily mean it can’t also feature high levels of interaction and engagement.

Tips for Improving Virtual Classrooms

While many teachers are hoping they won’t have to repeat what for many was a pretty painful process of having remote online learning dumped in their laps without much time to prepare for it, you have to imagine this could and might happen again, not only this fall but in the future when something else like the novel coronavirus comes along and turns our lives upside down. And there’s just as much classroom management involved in the virtual environment as there is in the traditional classroom setting. Here are a few tips for teachers to keep in mind:

  • Rules and Expectations:Make sure students fully understand the rules and expectations ahead of time by explaining them very clearly. And in your first meeting, you can have an open discussion about them, so students feel included in the process. The norms need to cover discussion etiquette (not interrupting), how to ask questions, respectful language, dress code (such as no pajamas), no device distractions, and so on.
  • Decisive Discipline:If behavioral issues arise, discipline must be swift and decisive to show that just because this is a virtual classroom doesn’t mean students can get away with anything. Take a fun but firm approach, and include plenty of praise for positive behaviors.
  • Inclusion: Just as you would in the physical classroom, make an effort to have everyone participating and included in discussions. Encourage questions.

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