How to write online lesson plans that keep students engaged

Writing lesson plans is a familiar, essential task if you've chosen to teach and pass on knowledge and experience. Preparing a lesson plan before class has long been part of teaching, but how do you write an online lesson plan that engages learners? Don't worry. In this article, MONA Media will guide you through how to write an online lesson plan effectively so you can apply it easily.

What is a lesson plan?

A lesson plan is considered a blueprint for the teaching path and the activities in a class session. Teachers prepare it at home beforehand, and it differs by subject and by group of learners, so that knowledge is delivered more effectively.

With formats such as for online teaching today, preparing a digital lesson plan is essential and supports teaching well. A carefully prepared online plan, with well-invested content and delivery that suits learners' level, makes lessons livelier and helps students absorb knowledge better.

In detail, a lesson plan usually includes these elements:

• Lesson content
• Study plan
• Teaching methods
• Interactive activities between teachers and learners.

How is planning an online lesson different from a regular one?

In online learning, the teaching goal stays the same, but instead of standing in a classroom, teachers and students communicate through a screen. So there are certain difficulties in delivering knowledge.

Specifically, the biggest difference between online and in-person learning is that students lose focus very easily. That is why teachers must organize online classes so they aren't boring and help students concentrate. Some notes in this guide to teaching online that teachers should consider:

• Break the lesson into sensible chunks.
• Include activities that make teacher-student interaction more interesting, such as group activities and small exercises built into the lesson,…
• Run comprehension checks in the middle and at the end of the class.
• Teachers should assign exercises regularly, and students should complete them on the system so teachers can check. This keeps students focused on learning and reinforces knowledge.

Why should teachers prepare an online lesson plan before teaching?

Running a preparing a digital lesson plan before teaching is an indispensable task on the Education 4.0 platform today. So what exactly are the reasons you should write a lesson plan Let's find out with MONA below.

Assess the teacher's capability

A well-organized online lesson plan with carefully prepared content contributes a lot to the quality of the session. It also makes teachers more confident and in control of their work, avoiding awkward moments like fumbling, losing focus or forgetting material, for the best teaching results.

Learners access knowledge more easily

When teachers prepare a lesson plan ahead of class, it also benefits learners. Students can reach new information and knowledge more quickly, in a more structured way. That creates a professional learning environment and sparks interest and curiosity.

Make the lesson more successful

Teaching requires careful preparation at every step, such as writing the lesson plan, equipment for online teaching,… To fit the goals and real activities of each class, teachers need to take the initiative and invest in writing good lessons, which makes sessions more successful.

In addition, if you teaching method innovation, teachers need to keep up with new education trends and apply them to their teaching.

What do you need to prepare before writing an online lesson plan?

Research your students

Researching your students helps teachers determine the your teaching methods that fit. Depending on age, teachers must write online lesson plans suited to their students. For students who excel or who are struggling, the plan needs to be adjusted accordingly.

If a teacher can get to know each student's personality, the class is easier to manage. Teachers should also pay attention to online teaching skills, since they decide how well knowledge reaches students.

Define the lesson goals

Defining lesson goals helps teachers know which parts to focus on. Specifically, through the lesson:

• What units of knowledge will students gain?
• Which lesson content best fits their knowledge level?

To answer these questions, teachers need to understand the key knowledge to deliver, and may need a few short tests to gauge students' level first, so they can choose content and a teaching approach that suits how students learn.

Choose the main teaching methods

Teachers need to prepare online teaching methods carefully for each session. Depending on the specific activities in the session, the content to deliver and learners' level, teachers need a way of writing the plan that leads to the most effective teaching methods. 

This is vital, because using a variety of methods sparks students' creativity. As a result, lessons are effective and draw out students' love of learning. Popular methods teachers can use include drawing diagrams, watching videos related to the lesson, organizing games,…

In addition, teachers can make the learning experience more flexible by Elearning website design. This is considered the best approach for online training and learning, which are applied ever more widely today.

And the MONA Elearning system is a website for selling online courses that meets every need, for every audience from teachers, centers and training institutions to leading experts.

MONA Elearning goes beyond an online learning website interface and also offers 200+ features to support professional online teaching.

In detail, the standout features of the MONA Elearning system are:

• Lesson management: Easily manage, organize, create and edit lectures and training plans
• Student classification: Manage students, analyze learner data and plan detailed assessments
• App Mobile Elearning: Learn without limits through the mobile app on every operating system
• Security features: Encryption technology that protects your training content
• Varied tracking reports: Conveniently view reports and assess teaching quality and student engagement,…

And many more features, all in just one system. So why wait? Contact us for advice and get the MONA Elearning system below!

Prepare teaching devices and software

These are the essential tools to start teaching online. There are now many online teaching software developed to support online learning. For best results, teachers should buy paid software rather than free, since paid tools are built with a wider range of useful features. Teachers also need a camera, microphone and computer to teach online well.

>> See also: Top 10 digital lesson planning software best

A detailed guide to preparing online teaching lessons

To help you create the highest-quality online lessons, follow these lesson-planning steps with MONA:

Draft a basic outline

After the preparation steps above, teachers need to start framing the online course. This helps include all the content needed for the session, avoiding excess, gaps or drifting off topic.

To keep every lesson running smoothly, use the lesson-planning guide below:

• List all the lesson goals to achieve, specifically, clearly and without beating around the bush.
• Next, outline the lesson's titles and headings (in bold). Teachers should keep the goals above in mind to set sensible headings, and balance them against teaching time to add or drop main points.
• Match the amount of lesson content to the teaching time. You can't run over the time allowed.

Write the theory content for the online lesson

After completing the outline, write the theory content for the online session. Here you need to sketch clearly what you'll present to students. This is an important step that directly affects how effective the session is. In detail, an online lesson plan is divided into:

The opening part

At the start of class, students aren't yet focused. So teachers should add a warm-up to the opening. It gets students excited about the class and makes them think, so they absorb new knowledge more easily and remember it. You can start with images, a mini game, a review of the previous lesson,…

Deliver the knowledge

This is extremely important. Teachers need to have good ways to teach to deliver information to students in the easiest way to understand. Depending on students' level, different teaching approaches are needed. You can ask students to read the new lesson ahead so they aren't caught off guard.

Guided practice

This helps students reinforce knowledge so it stays in memory longer. They can then apply it to solving exercises. Teachers should give example exercises so students get used to the types of problems, and from those examples students can solve many other types.

Check results and assess the process

After teaching all the content, teachers should have students do one or two small exercises. This lets teachers gauge students' level of understanding. If students can't do the exercises, teachers can go over the important content again. It also helps teachers change their methods for later sessions to be more effective.

Assign homework

Once students finish the session, you can assign homework. This helps students reinforce what they learned. It also lets teachers check students' progress and attitude toward the subject,…

Prepare post-lesson questions

Teachers need to prepare a list of questions or homework for students, or ask directly in class to understand students' situation right away. Teachers can also set up a class group to contact and notify students faster. 

Wrap up the lesson

End the lesson concisely. At the end of the session, teachers should include a summary that repeats the main content. This is very important for tying together the whole session. Teachers can use the assessment feature in online software to survey students, then assign homework and send reference materials,…

Some notes when building an online lesson plan

To make the process of writing an online lesson plan as effective as possible, keep these points in mind:

• Write it down on paper: During teaching, many situations come up and you may forget some of what you prepared. So keep notes of the key content you don't want to miss.
• Stay flexible: There's no guarantee every session goes 100% smoothly. So have flexible plans ready to handle whatever may happen.

Above, MONA Media has just introduced to you how to write an online lesson plan. We hope this information helps you write effective lesson plans, develop lively lessons and help students absorb knowledge better in online learning. Good luck!