Aim: This tasks invites you to think about ways to support learners in their independent work.

Time: 20 – 30 minutes, approximately

Introduction

When learning happens online, you need to think carefully about how to help learners get the most of their asynchronous work. Although your WhatsApp or video conferencing lessons will last the same length of time you normally have in the classroom (e.g. 45 minutes), online activities take longer than the same activities carried out in the physical classroom. To keep pace, and to cover the same amount of learning content that you would cover in the physical classroom, your learners will have to do more asynchronously as homework. In this task we examine what you can do to help your learners get the most out of their asynchronous work.

Instructions

Part One: Supporting Asynchronous Work

In Task 3.2 we looked at the Grade 3 EFAL lesson, About my weekend, which included five exercises. Let's think about whether each exercise is best done before, during or after a live WhatsApp lesson, and how the teacher can provide feedback on each exercise. Look at the slides below, and reflect on the questions for each exercise. Then check the answers in the following slides.

Part Two: Tips for Supporting Learners in their Asynchronous Work

Below are six tips for making independent online work easier for learners. Which tips do you usually follow in your own F2F or online classes?

1. Always have a learning objective

2. Give an overview of what needs to be done

3. Share resources to be used e.g. page numbers of the workbook

4. Give clear instructions e.g. make a suggested timetable for learners to give some idea of when and how long they're supposed to work on each topic/exercise

5. Give ideas for additional practice activities.

6. Make channels of communication (with you) and collaboration (with other learners) clear.
   

Now listen to Lesedi, an experienced online teacher in South Africa. She mentions five of these tips, in the slideshow below. Click on the audio icon to listen to Lesedi. While you listen, look at the tips above and see if you can spot which tips she refers to. The audio transcript for this task is in the downloadable PDF at the bottom of this webpage.