Teaching is not merely about getting up in the early morning hours and talk about knowledgeable things in front of a bunch of students. It takes much more than that. In fact, many experts believe that teaching is probably the most important profession of all as it lays the foundation of other successive career paths. Thus, teaching is probably one of the fields which need the most innovative and also the field which gets the least. Over decades, if one is to wonder, what all innovation has been done in the niche of teaching? Surely there must be a few but unlike others they are nothing. This article dives into various innovative teaching methods and how these can be applied for getting desired results.
Following are the top 6 innovative teaching methods:
1. Cross-Over Teaching:
Though this might not be an option that contains the use of a lot of technology still if opted it might be one of the most enriching experiences both for the students and the teachers. In Crossover learning, students, accompanied by teachers, go out to different places of physical interaction like museums, camping, after-school clubs, and other informal settings. By introducing this method in teaching, teachers can connect students with real-time issues that actually matter in their lives. Whatever one learns in school or college can be enriched by real-life experiences and cross-over learning is one of the finest methods of doing so. Teachers can also introduce various activities like putting forth intriguing questions, puzzles, drawing attention to some unknown facts, and much more to deepen the experience. Cross-over learning is one of the methods that exploit the strength of the environment for the learner and provides students with some real-time experiences.
2. Teaching via Argumentation:
It is very important to provide students a space for arguing various aspects of their learning just like the experts in a particular field do. One of the major benefits of argumentation is that it introduces each student to various contrasting ideas and notions and thus deepens their understanding of the subject. Teachers can help in this by allowing open-end questions, asking students to place answers in a more scientific manner, and using models or presentations for explanations. This will not only help them to learn and understand in a better way but also add up to their listening and communication skills.
3. Teaching via Incidents:
Many times a student might come across a situation in which while doing an activity something intriguing comes and the teacher diverts the topic to explain that one thing. This is widely known as incidental learning. Incidental learning is not planned or led by a teacher nor does it follow any particular curriculum. In addition, there are chances that incidental learning may trigger self-reflection and leads one to self-contemplation and this could lead learners to reconsider various aspects of a topic and helps in enhancing their personality development skills.
4. Teaching via Collaboration:
It is very important to teach students at a very early the importance of working together by assigning them various tasks and activities. This not only teaches the importance of working together but also helps them in the future. As of today, more and more organizations are looking for candidates who have the skill of collaborating with others and working accordingly. This could be done, for instance, by dividing the class into small groups and assigning each group a particular task along with a deadline. These days, collaboration as an innovative method of teaching is once again popular. For this one can also opt for personality development classes.
5. Teaching via Virtual Reality:
Reading certain things in the book is one thing and experiencing the same is something else. Over years, experts have found that once you experience a particular thing or at least witness it virtually, your mind retains it for a longer period of time than otherwise. Just like movies. Virtual reality in teaching plays the role of a movie, where instead of bookish knowledge students are subjected to real situations via virtual reality. Instead of explaining the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, using virtual reality teachers make their students experience it. This helps not only in visualizing many things but also easy retention of what is otherwise forgotten in a number of days or even hours.
6. Teaching via Cloud Computing:
When teaching and innovations come together the results are something more than desirable. Sometimes your students might not understand certain things in the class and you do not have much time for repeating that cloud computing is the real-time savior. Using this you can record and store all the vital class resources such as lessons, notes, lectures, videos, and assignments on the cloud from where students can easily access them whenever they feel the need to do so. This eliminates learning through heavy books and gives students the space to learn things at their pace and however, they are comfortable.
By using these innovative teaching methods, teachers can make the classroom more engaging, happening and help students in better understanding by activity-based learning. Not only it sharpens the mind but it also makes the content of the class more interesting and makes learning fun and easy.