| |9 September 2021HIGHERReviewBeing aware of the fact that students have an easy access to the internet, teachers along with parents need to provide mentorship and an appropriate guidance to help them with additional reading or helpful information for additional research on their concepts. available online to provide a productive learning experience for the students. Constant innovation and transformation to stay relevant and equipped to facilitate better participation from students and also ensure their social and emotional well being has been commendable. In-spite of the efforts taken by the teachers, student engagement and motivation will always be an ongoing challenge. Just like there is no blueprint to make face-to-face traditional class engaging and meaningful, there is no specific formula as well to keep students moti-vated during the virtual learning session. However, some of the aspects/strategies given here can greatly help parents and teachers to keep students motivated in order to bring out greater learning outcomes. During the virtual classes, it is very important to fa-cilitate collaborative learning experiences for the children through the activities within the scope of the lesson. This will break the routine structure of the class and encourage greater participation. Teachers need to connect with every individual student and monitor their progress. They should also continue the practice of rewarding students and rec-ognizing their efforts on the online portal. These acts of appreciation will not only rejuvenate student's interest in learning, but also help them build self esteem and boost self confidence. Being aware of the fact that students have an easy access to the internet, teachers along with parents need to provide mentorship and an appropriate guidance to help them with additional reading or helpful information for ad-ditional research on their concepts. This practice will defi-nitely help students to become responsible, independent and discerning in navigating the internet and enhance and build on their knowledge. Inclusion of a variety of virtual aids such as videos and informative presentations and also teachers can incorporate tools and learning strategies like flipped class-room, Integrated learning, Ted Talks among others which are available absolutely free in their lesson plans and be flex-ible during the lessons to meet individual student learning requirements and achieve greater learning outcomes. Robert John Meehan, an educator and author had aptly said, "A well prepared and engaging teacher is a catalyst, a spark that creates the desire to learn in our students." Teach-ers and parents need to continue to be self motivated first in order to awaken the same motivation among students. It is said that only inspired teachers can inspire students. Also, the entire pandemic has taught us that roles and responsibil-ity need to be shared. The first teachers, our parents have equal responsibility to help students develop focus, confi-dence and motivation. On the online platform, while teach-ers do their best by making a good plan for their lesson deliv-ery, students on their part need to put in required efforts to make virtual class a wholesome learning experience. Learn-ing on the virtual platform has offered a significant scope for students to become independent learners, enabling them to explore their abilities for time management, development of 21st century skills and taking ownership of their learning journey through online and offline mode of learning. Par-ents and teachers should continue to encourage students and motivate them towards resilience in being responsible pro-active lifelong learners. As elaborated in one of the articles on the e-learning industry website, teachers may also use the Keller's ARCS (attention, relevance, confidence and satisfac-tion) Model which is found to be helpful to sustain student motivation and engagement on e-learning portals. Once students realize their capacity to learn and monitor their learning outcome, it will only help them remain intrinsically motivated for life. In conclusion, along with these aspects, parents, teach-ers and students need to realize that they are equal stakehold-ers in ensuring meaningful and relevant learning happening for the students and prudently integrate strategies that work in order to support the overall learning experience.
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