Benefits of peer interaction: for online learners.

" The idea that children are passive repositories to be shaped by their parents has been massively overstated. A child's peer group is a far greater determinant of its development and achievements than parental aspiration." - Steven Pinker.

The communication and exchange of information, knowledge, and viewed among the students is known as peer interaction. This type of interaction among the learners enhances their many personality development traits such as communication, teamwork, active listening, speaking. Let us discuss more of it.

Benefits of peer interaction: for online learners

Better communication skill

Increasing peer engagement and interaction is one of the most important maxims of teaching that every online teacher must practice to achieve. When students interact with one another, communication skills and command of the language are increased to a great extent. Good communication skills and effective speaking techniques are the need of the hour. This will not only benefit students in their classrooms but also for excelling in their professional careers. When students listen to each other and exchange views and information, they learn new vocabulary, phrases, and words which help in increasing the existing communication skills of the students. Students should never miss the opportunity to interact with one another.

Improves interpersonal skills

Peer interaction helps in improving the interpersonal skills of the students. These skills are very important for the personality development of the students too. The way we interact, talk, listen, and communicate with others comes under interpersonal skills. The students who have these skills can work within the groups very effectively. They can make good bonding and relationships which improves teamwork. These characteristics and skills are very important for the learners in education as well for developing a good career for themselves. Both the personal and professional lives of the students are improved with the help of good interpersonal relations.

Boost confidence

Every effective try to follow the maxims of teaching including the process to enhance peer interaction in their classroom. When students interact and communicate with one another their confidence level is boosted and increased. When students give the right answers and perform quite well in interactions their confidence level is boosted and they feel motivated to perform more better and actively.

Better comfort

 It's easy for students to communicate with their peer group. There is a sense of comfort and solace among them. Better problem solving, reduced stress can be achieved because of this. Sometimes students feel hesitant in discussing their problems and opinions with the teachers but sharing them with the other students seems to be convenient and comfortable. For this, online teachers can give a five to ten minutes break in between the lectures where students can interact with one another freely. Teachers can listen to their conversations without interrupting them in between and can guide them later after the break and discussion are over.

How to enhance peer interactions: tips for teachers

1. Reward your students: learners perform much better when they are rewarded and appreciated for their work. To encourage students to interact with each other, set rewards for them. In this regard, teachers can organize some activities where when students interact and collaborate they will be rewarded with prizes and certificates. By this rewarding process and system, the active participants will receive exciting prizes and the other students will be motivated to interact and participate actively.
2. Conduct group discussions: other than interacting with teachers during the class lessons, teachers must organize proper group discussions for the students. This will provide them with an effective space and platform to interact and communicate with one another. How to teach online, effectively can be achieved with this activity. For these discussions, teachers can give some interesting topics to the students on which they can speak up their views and opinions. By unmuting themselves and by hand-raising options students can interact with each other on an online teaching platform. Teachers must design and practice their lesson plans in such a way that they can make up some time for these group activities in classes
3. Listen and ask: it is a very helpful activity that will surely help teachers to enhance peer interaction in their online classrooms. For this activity, teachers can assign some topics to the students individually. Ask a student to elaborate and speak up on the topic assigned to him or her. And later tell the other students to listen to the speaker and ask questions related to the topic of speech. This will surely help in increasing the interactions. If they want, teachers can also give the topics related to the syllabus and course content. Listening and asking questions related to the course material will also make sure that students are learning properly and performing well in their academic studies.

4. Giving feedback to each other: one of the best solutions to increase student-to-student interaction is asking them to review and give feedback to one another. After finishing the group activities, ask the students to give constructive feedback and suggestions about how they performed and what can be done for improvement. Teachers should also interact in between so that students take this activity in a positive and supportive manner. This will help how to teach online the importance of peer collaboration and interaction.

Conclusion

The above-mentioned information shows us the importance of peer interaction. We also came to know that what practices teachers can involve in their teaching methods to improve the student-to-student interactions in their classes. This will help students to achieve proper growth and development in educational fields as well as their career lives.