6 Innovative Teaching Methods

Long gone are the days of a classroom of bored children struggling to stay awake during their lessons while the teacher drones on. Luckily, these days, the arrival of many new and innovative teaching methods has bid classroom boredom goodbye! Make the learning process engaging and exciting for your students by using creative teaching methods.

First Things First: What Are Innovative Teaching Strategies?
New innovations in teaching methods encourage a student-focused approach that promotes open and thought-provoking interaction during classes – with other classmates as well as with the teacher. Teaching in this way encourages students to work harder to process information, using their own approach and strengths. Innovative teaching strategies come from a mindset of engagement and creativity, rather than rote learning in silence.

Why Do We Need Innovative Online Teaching Methods?
As online teaching becomes more popular and is highly normalized, teaching methods have had to adjust. Of course, distance learning is an amazing tool and makes education much more accessible. However, some children may struggle to focus on the screen for long periods of time and can get easily distracted. Finding a novel approach to teaching can help your students absorb more precious information and actually enjoy their classes, which is so important.

But a lively classroom isn’t the only benefit of this approach. Innovative teaching techniques for distance education as well as those in the physical classroom can actually improve critical thinking skills, develop interpersonal skills, and improve self-confidence and self-awareness.

So what are the innovative teaching techniques for online distance learning? We’re so glad you asked! Check out our list below for examples of innovative teaching strategies to keep things fun and fresh.

The Best Innovative Teaching Methods

1. Blended Learning
Blended learning combines online teaching with in-person classes. One great aspect of blended learning is it allows for in-person classes to be customized according to what suits students – using technology when it is necessary and otherwise making the most of lessons done physically. For example, blended learning could involve some lessons in person, some in the digital classroom, and/or the use of online platforms in physical classes to add interest.

Blended learning is becoming more and more common, as it allows for the best of both worlds – appealing to those who prefer in-person lessons and those who want the convenience and fun of digital learning.

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Using AI to complement teaching can be such a useful and effective tool. When we say AI, we don’t mean a replacement teaching robot that’s a threat to your job. Instead, we see AI as a massive aid in the small tasks that can be a total drain on precious teaching time.

For example, AI can help with things like grading exams, scheduling, and even pointing out grammar mistakes in papers that may be easy to miss. AI can also help detect plagiarism, and contribute to a high quality of learning overall by simplifying otherwise tedious and/or difficult tasks.

3. Gamifying
Gamifying refers to the process of making a lesson seem more like a game to create a fun and exciting learning environment. Gamifying your lessons is one of the best examples of innovative teaching strategies. Children are much more likely to stay engaged in their lessons if they find them enjoyable, and sometimes, a little bit of healthy competition can really help! Moreover, gamifying can build team spirit and social skills, and best of all, allow your students to express themselves and be creative.

This method is highly effective for both online classes and in-person lessons, making it extra useful. There are a variety of online resources or apps available for this approach – for example, have a look at Classcraft or Quizlet.

4. Peer Feedback
Scheduling peer feedback time for the end of a lesson is an effective innovative teaching method. There are many advantages to this. First of all, students learn how to communicate in a thoughtful and honest way. Secondly, students can learn from their peers how to improve, in a safe and moderated environment (be it online or in the physical classroom). By learning how to give and accept constructive criticism or praise, students can develop healthy interpersonal skills that will stay with them as they grow and develop.

Technology can certainly be your friend here. You could use a tool such as WordClouds or Miro to allow students to give their thoughts by asking a few short prompts such as “What did you love most about this last class?” or “Who did a great job?”, and discussing the answers together. The great thing is feedback can be anonymous, which makes it more general and less targeted.

5. Project-focused learning
Project-focused learning is a wonderful way to get students motivated to learn and is one of our favorite creative teaching methods. This approach allows students to connect their lessons to a real-life example, which can be very rewarding. It’s an effective way to channel creativity and also allows students to develop research and critical thinking skills.

Why not encourage this to be done in groups? Group work also enables students to improve their teamwork abilities. Some suggestions for topics could be writing about a particular city or country they find interesting or even writing a movie review. It could also be fun to allow alternative modes of production such as a short film or even a series of photos capturing a certain issue or topic.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this exploration of new innovations in teaching methods, and that you find them useful in helping your students engage with their lessons.

 

Featured image by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash