Teaching in an Online Environment

 First of all, you need to choose a video conferencing tool that is free to use and easy to understand. 

    There are multiple video conferencing tools that we can make use of... Discord, Zoom, Skype, and Microsoft Teams are one of the most popular ones among such tools. 

• Discord can be distracting since it is widely used among people playing video games which would be detrimental to creating an environment for education.
• Skype is not used as much even though it is still widely known, the reason is that they have not updated the platform until they lost nearly all of their users.
• Microsoft Teams can be confusing at times, however, it can be linked to a school's system for easier access and automated calendars to an extent. Another downside is that there can be conflicts between the platform and the school's system.
• Zoom is the platform that is the most practical based on my observation, it gives more control to the host/presenter. It is the most friendly one for teaching, in my opinion, it is easy to understand, simple, practical, and more.

    After deciding on which platform to use, create some rules and decide upon the consequences for breaking said rules. The rules can be simple, for example;

• Be respectful,
• Wait for permission to speak,
• Stay on topic,
• Attend classes,

Be active during classes(being Away From Keyboard or AFK, in short, is disallowed).

    Utilize the fact that you are using an online platform;

• Set up clear due dates,
• Allow late submissions,
• Send reminders,
• Record your classes.

Assessment;

•     Formative Assessment (easier to do in an online environment under the right circumstances)
•     Positive Reinforcement
•     Public Shoutouts

Interactive Games and Activities for Online Classes;

•     Who wants to be a millionaire?
•     Jeopardy
•     Karaoke
•     Find the Difference
•     Find what's wrong with the picture
•     Voiceovers