Interactive teaching has turned out to be the most effective form of teaching today. Even when handling a person who is doing individual courses, this type of teaching is still applicable. It is applicable in the teaching of languages or in the teaching of sciences and other subjects. For a teacher to be effective, they need to be nimble, observant, and responsive. A teacher should always keep an open mind concerning how he or she will engage the students. For learning to be effective, learners should be excited about it.
The one simple principle behind interactive learning is that students will fail to understand the depths of study material if there is no practical learning. Consequently, a teacher should strive to explore various interactive styles in teaching. The following interactive teaching styles have been found to make a significant impact on teaching:
1. Interactive Brainstorming
In most cases, interactive brainstorming is usually done in a group setup. The fundamental purpose of this kind of learning is to generate creative thoughts and ideas. Also, it enhances the spirit of togetherness amongst students.
- Interactive brainstorming can be categorized into:
- Online interactions, for instance, emails and chat forums
- Structured and unstructured
- Nominal group relationships
- Reverse thinking
- Group passing
- Team-idea mapping
- Individual brainstorming
2. Think, Pair, and Share Method
First, you need to come up with a question or problem to solve before pairing the learners. Each pair is allowed sufficient time to come up with a conclusion. A pair representative does not air the conclusion. Instead, every participant is allowed to state the conclusion individually.
Alternatively, each participant can be requested to explain a particular concept from what is discussed. As such, the participants will be keener, even as they engage and gather more information.
3. Buzz Session Style
Here, participants discuss a single topic in each session group. There is much working together within the groups as each student is encouraged to contribute their thoughts and ideas. The core purpose of the buzz session is to allow participants to learn from each other’s input and experiences.
4. Incident Process Style
It involves a case study in the learning process. However, it is not as complicated as a full case study session. Usually, the main aim is to help learners know the tactics they can use to handle problems in real life. The students are well prepared to face life beyond the classroom.
This method works by dividing learners into small groups and then providing them with details of actual incidents. They are required to think and come up with a realistic, workable solution.
5. Q&A Session Style
This style of teaching involves requesting written questions from students right after you introduce a topic to them. You then collect all the questions and answer them randomly.
Cours de Langue is one platform that has made effective use of interactive teaching in the teaching of language.
