How To Help Students Who Fall Behind In A Remote Learning Environment

The educational sector witnessed a sudden shift from traditional classroom learning to remote learning. This is partly because of the explosion of new and enhanced technologies and the current global pandemic. The challenge many teachers are facing today is how to assist students who are falling behind remotely.

To overcome this, tutors need to know that distance learning is not something that most students are accustomed to. Something must be causing the student to fall behind. Is it the style of the tutor? Are there enough resources? Below are methods teachers can use to help their students cope better and learn faster.

Identify The Problem

No learner goes to a class set to fail therefore, the tutors must find out the reason why they are falling behind. They can always start by having a conversation with the student. For different reasons, most students don’t usually reach out for help when having problems.

Could the student be having any learning disabilities? Sometimes it may not be personal issues or disinterest that is causing them to fall behind. Some of the signs to look for in a student with learning disabilities include:

• Trouble remembering information
• Confusing basic words
• Impulsive conduct
• Trouble learning new things
• Being dependent on memorization

Every parent should be interested in their kids’ success and therefore tutors can schedule meetings with them. This ensures that learners are supported both ways and adjustments are made to aid their learning program.

Have One-On-One Conversations

Having candid conversations with the students creates an atmosphere of trust and they feel genuine care. The students will feel more comfortable to open up and talk about their challenges. With this, the tutor can now design a learning program that will support their academic progress.

One-on-one conversations with them promotes stronger social-emotional skills, academic voice, and identity. To achieve this milestone, tutors can consider using screen share applications. What is screen sharing? This is the technology that allows content sharing between two or more devices.

Even while away, the tutor can get to the student, have conversations, and go over classwork together. The student can ask questions to help him understand better and this can be a great boost to their academic excellence. They can share their ideas, get support, and improve their self-esteem.

Differentiate The Instructions

Tutors must understand that sometimes students need to be instructed differently. This is because they don’t have the same learning abilities, preferences, challenges, and interests. Some of the approaches can include having a one on one session with a student or teaching them in smaller groups.

This allows students to have various options for getting information, expressing what they’ve learned, and making sense of it. Among the areas tutors can differentiate instructions includes:

• Content – Tutors must find out what students need to be taught and the resources that can facilitate that.
• Process – Find out the activities that will allow them to make better sense of what they have been taught.
• Projects – Create ways for students to showcase what they have learned.
• Learning Environment – The tutor must create a better environment by knowing how the students feel and how well they collaborate.

Differentiated instructions work differently but the main features include:

• Working in smaller groups.
• Reciprocal learning, where students take the teacher’s role and share what they’ve learned.
• Constant assessments of students’ weaknesses and strengths.

Create A Learning Community

Students who are in a learning community have a better chance of succeeding academically. Various studies have shown that they have higher levels of collaboration and satisfaction. The learning community consists of friends who share similar interests and values. This makes it the perfect place to share questions and answers, as well as discover things together.

Tutors can also consider having struggling students and those doing better in the same group. This is to help enhance their collaboration and therefore promote a better grasp of what they are learning. Getting them involved also helps introverted but slow students have a better academic experience which makes it worthwhile. Learning communities are a great boost for broadening their learning experience.

Find Academic Success

All students have different learning capabilities and tutors must be able to identify those falling behind. Tutors must therefore adjust their teaching approach to accommodate and help them improve academically. Having learning communities is one great way of encouraging student sharing, learning, and bonding. The positive impact these methods leave is enormous, and they encourage better participation.