The so-called “new norm” has not only changed the lives of each one of us but has disrupted the entire education system.  Moving from the world-class traditional classrooms to making the living rooms the workplace environment, from teaching in person classes to collaborating with the latest technology and high speed Internet and going online, everything has transformed.

The need to explore online teaching and learning has been revived due to Covid-19. Facing a new challenge everyday, online teaching and learning can be made easier with collaboration, interaction and communication to co-create the learning process. The role of the educator during this time has changed from the “sage on the stage” to the “guide on the side”. 

Utilizing every positive aspect of technology, a quality educational learning experience can be provided.   Emphasizing student-centered learning and employing active learning activities can be one of the most effective online pedagogy. 

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Best practices for effective online teaching and learning can include – 

1. Comprehend the technology 
Familiarizing with the latest technology, taking up proper trainings, being able to troubleshoot and making the contact information available and most importantly having a backup plan during a technology failure, would allow a smooth session without any interruption.

 2.  Maintain a strong presence
To be present in a digital realm isn’t difficult as not only responding to queries online help but social presence encourages the learners to stay on to exploring, interacting and learning experience.

3. Set clear expectations
Setting expectations will give the learners a clear view of how they will be assessed, their online participation, performance objectives and the code of conduct to be followed during the online teaching and learning.

4. Allow the learners to take charge
Engaging the learners in activities, allowing them to find and discuss resources and holding student – led sessions will create learning opportunities for them to explore.

5. Use readily available resources
Learners being familiar with the technology and Internet can easily use an assortment of accessible resources as they are available online.

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6. Regular feedback
Acknowledgement and response right from the content to teaching methods, improvements to on going learning, helps to achieve the best as there is always a room for improvement and learning.

7. Develop a community of learners
Demonstrating enthusiasm about teaching, encouraging each learner to ask and share information, incorporating messaging and blogs and asking questions that empowers the other learners to elicit discussions will allow response to everybody as a community and not to individual participants.

8. Diverse ways to learning
Giving choices to learners in their learning experience will increase their contentment and retention. Different projects, assignments and activities for learning will give them options and different learning styles will act as a spice in the learning process.

Acknowledging the way the world is already developing, understanding the importance of online learning through collaboration and engagement in student learning, JBM being one of the best schools in Noida, took the initiative to effectively support online teaching and learning right from the beginning of the pandemic, focusing not only on the technology but also on effective pedagogical strategies for online teaching.

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During this crisis, JBM Global School has been able to showcase resilience and major upheavals of the system relying on strategic learning initiatives. The school has coped up with the challenges of using online platforms, training the teachers to the optimum level for a smooth transition from the classrooms to the virtual world.  A continuous endeavor to provide effective online teaching and learning is the aim to facilitate the learning process. JBM Global School has succeeded in sailing through this crisis and turned problems into advantages by acquiring appropriate resources and up skilling their teachers.