TEACHING ONLINE CLASSES: 15 tips for achieving success in the virtual classroom.

TEACHING ONLINE CLASSES: 15 tips for achieving success in the virtual classroom.

Are you a teacher who is now in a position where you need to adapt to teaching online? Do you have more questions than you do answers? Do you feel totally lost in a virtual classroom and find the whole concept impossible to grasp? If you do, please take the time to read my article, it is based upon 6 years of teaching online classes to students of all ages through my own institute.

I first wrote this article back in 2014 when my wife and I were invited to teach online classes to groups of English teachers who were located in Ecuador. They were looking for B2 level international exam preparation classes as well as methodology workshops.

At the time, we were the owners of a successful language institute in Trujillo Peru, and we felt that it was a good way for us to expand our business whilst better utilizing our team of teachers. We already had experience with online classes, specifically for engineers who lived in isolated mining camps in the Peruvian Andes, so in our minds, this was a mere extension of a service that we were already providing.

The first 3 months of these classes was a learning experience, and over the months as the classes grew, and they started to include younger students, even children, well, our approach and methodology had to adapt to meet the needs and expectations of our various students.

Now it is 2020, and over the past few weeks, due to the CORONA VIRUS, there has been an increasing numbers of schools and universities across the world announcing that they are moving to virtual classes. This has required hundreds of thousands of teachers, who have never taught online, working to adapt their face-to-face lessons online.

Designing online courses, preparing the necessary materials, searching for appropriate support materials is not easy, it takes significant time and effort if it is going to be successful.

Today I am in the thick of this whole process, because apart from the fact that my wife and I are still the owners of a language institute that teaches traditional and online classes, I am also the Headmaster of a large Bilingual ib school that was required to adapt our entire 2020 educational calendar to online classes.

It is for this reason that I decided to revisit this article that I wrote all of those years ago and to update it based upon what I have learned throughout the last 6 years.

Whilst online classes are complex, and the methodology is often very individual depending upon the teacher, I hope that you find the ideas and suggestions helpful. Whilst it doesn’t answer every question that could be asked, and this article was never written specifically for the thousands of teachers who teach online to China, it outlines our experiences and what we have learned, as teachers, in our own classes.

I hope that you enjoy the article and learn something that will help you.

1. Invest in good equipment
Just because you are working from home online doesn’t mean that you need to be less than professional in any way. Whether you like it or not, you are going to be judged based upon the professionalism of your class. If you have a camera that’s cheap or old or a headset with a bad microphone, the video and audio quality won’t be sufficiently professional and the quality of the class will ensure that the students suffer. Even though working from home has much more casual elements than when you work in a school or institute, you always want your set-up to look professional. First impressions are important and heavily influence the mentality of your students.

2. Dress to impress
Just like with your equipment needing to be in the best condition, so is your personal appearance. Make sure that you wear neat, clean clothes that are professionally appropriate. Brush your hair, shave if you are a guy, and don’t wear a singlet or t-shirts, especially those with pictures on them. A shirt or polo top will always look more professional and presentable than casual clothing. If you are representing an institute or school, and they have a uniform, wear the uniform in your classes. If you don’t normally wear a uniform in the classroom, then wear the same style of clothing that you are normally expected to wear.

3. Be aware of your environment
When choosing a location to sit and present your class, remember that through your camera, your students can see quite a bit of what is happening behind you. Make sure that you are sitting in an area that is free of personal distractions behind you. Don`t sit in front of your bed, untidy shelves, dirty walls, old or ugly curtains, bathroom doors that your relatives can walk out of etc. Don`t teach on the beach, in a restaurant, or in a public park, remember, you are a professional and your students expect professionalism. Whilst teaching online classes brings your students into your personal realm, just be careful exactly how much, and exactly what you share.

Some platforms such as ZOOm allow you to display a photo as the backdrop for your class. If you are working for a school or institute, use their logo as your background. If not, then choose a suitable photo that will instill an impression of professionalism into your class.

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4. Find a good program / platform and perfect it!
There are many different programs and platforms available for teaching online classes. Some of these programs are suitable for any form of education from kindergarten aged children through to university students. Whilst there is a large choice to choose from, some of the most popular for online classes include:

Zoom is a web-based video conferencing tool with a local, desktop client and a mobile app that allows users to meet online, with or without video. Zoom users can choose to record sessions, collaborate on projects, and share or annotate on one another's screens, all with one easy-to-use platform. With ZOOM, there are also interactive screen features that allow the students to control the mouse and interact.

ezTalks Webinar  is the reliable and hugely popular virtual classroom software perfect for both students as well as instructors. This inexpensive and simple-to-use virtual classroom software will allow the institutions, colleges, universities to organize live classes and share important knowledge. It also includes many useful and powerful features.

Skype is an IP telephony service provider that offers free calling between subscribers and low-cost calling to people who don't use the service. In addition to standard telephone calls, Skype enables file transfers, texting, video chat and videoconferencing.

Blackboard is a mobile app that enables you to view course content, grade assignments, connect with students in discussions, and interact with your class in Blackboard Collaborate. The app, which is primarily for higher education, is available for iOS and Android mobile devices.

Google Hangouts is a unified communications service that allows members to initiate and participate in text, voice or video chats, either one-on-one or in a group. Hangouts are built into Google+ and Gmail, and mobile Hangouts apps are available for iOS and Android devices.

Adobe Connect is a suite of software for remote training, web conferencing, presentation, and desktop sharing. It includes some powerful features and permits a lot of add-ons plus customizations to their system. All meeting rooms are organized into 'pods'; with each pod performing a specific role (e.g. chat, whiteboard, note etc.)

Edvance360 Learning Management Software is a cloud-based learning management system that provides online learning programs for schools, higher education and corporate training departments. The system features online lesson management, progress tracking, online certificate generation, along with an in-house social network.

When choosing a program / app, search the web, evaluate the options, have friends help you by having mock online classes and see which of the programs best meets your needs.

Once you have chosen the program that you would like to use, study it, learn its features and perfect how to operate it. Have practice classes with friends and family, make yourself an expert so that you are not only able to instill confidence in your students, but you are also able to completely meet their educational needs in the most successful way possible.

 5. Choose additional support materials wisely.
One of the biggest problems teachers encounter when they first start teaching online is they are unprepared with additional materials. This often causes them to do emergency GOOGLE searches ultimately choosing a website with the most attractive heading. If you are using websites to reinforce skills or to improve your students learning experience, then the best thing to do is to search for, and then choose a selection of websites that you know are high quality and suitable to what you are teaching. The choice of bad materials can destroy your classes and your reputation.

6. Adaptability of materials
 When preparing materials such as PowerPoints and Prezi, make sure that they are suitable for students who only have a cell phone or tablet. If the materials are crammed with materials, and the lettering is too small, then it is extremely difficult for students to study. After making materials, test them out on your own cell phone or tablet to ensure that they are able to be read and understood.

7. Be prepared for the class.
Because these classes are online, it is only logical that the foundation, or support for most of your classes will be program or web based. Today, the web is full of websites and programs, there are literally hundreds to choose from, and the best ones to choose will of course depend upon your teaching style and your requirements.

Before starting your online teaching, search the web for the what you believe could be the best programs to support your classes. Programs such as Kahoot, Evernote, Dropbox, Class Dojo, ABCYa.com, FunBrain.com, PBSKids.org, Poptropica.com, Kids.NationalGeographic.com, GameClassroom.com, Arcademics.com. ect  are very popular with language teachers. When you combine these with videos from Youtube or Ted ect, you are able to form a very successful base for your classes.

Another option of course is to use a language teaching based platform as the basis of your classes. There are many available online, some that are available on the internet are free, but most have a modest cost that can of course be passed along to your students. There are platforms developed by publishers that support language books as well as standalone platforms that do not require a book. Generally speaking, the most professional way to use a platform is to have each of your students invest in the platform which of course replaces the standard book that is used in traditional classes.

Once you have chosen the program(s) that you believe will support you in your class, then the only thing left to do is to make sure that you utilize them by preparing relevant, high quality materials and presentations to enhance your students learning experience.

Just remember, preparation is the secret to a successful class, and when you prepare them properly, then you will not only maintain your students, but the amount of students that you teach will increase, as will your income.

8. Be comfortable. A good table and chair are your best friends 

When we are completely prepared, and everything is comfortable, then our classes will be the best that they can be. Don`t rest your computer on your bed, on your lap or on your sofa. Initially you may feel comfortable, but this is a recipe for disaster. Remember, you are a teacher, a respected professional and like a classroom, you must be prepared and set up in a comfortable, professional way.

Set yourself up on a suitable table, one with enough room for you, your computer and any additional papers etc that you need to teach your class. Next, find the most comfortable chair that you can so that no matter how many hours you are online, you don’t suffer physical stress and the related pain that accompanies it.

If your conversion to online classes is something that you believe will last for a while, then go out and invest in a good table and chair to help make your environment professional and comfortable. Remember that as teachers, we must be positive and upbeat at all times, a reality that can be difficult to maintain when we are suffering from the pain associated with bad posture, hard plastic seats, back pain from laying on a bed or sofa for hours or from having to continually bend down to pick up papers from the floor because our laptop is balancing on a bar stool. Be prepared.

9. Never rely on your memory, always record a few notes about each student

When teaching online it is more than possible that you could have a lot of students, especially if you are replacing regular classroom classes. In that scenario, you could teach up to 30 students per class, 4 or 5 classes a day, five days a week. After just the first day, the students and all of the details all starts to mix together into one huge, confusing memory. Apart from any mandatory administrative system that you may be given to use in your class to register attendance, contents ect, in addition, set up some sort of personal system and try to keep a few notes about each of your classes and students in a notebook or on a spread sheet. If you found out during a previous activity that a student loves travelling, or creating art or they told you that their birthday is on the 15^th of June, then make a little note for yourself so that you don’t forget. Also, if you find out that some of your students are having problems with something specific, or they have a weakness in a certain skill, write that down too.

10. Approach each class in a happy and enthusiastic manner

One of the reasons why so many teachers like online classes is because it’s purely about the students and the teaching. It is about finding happiness through the teaching of a new language, through experiencing personalized student growth, and through those lightbulb moments when you know that your student(s) finally understand what you are teaching them. Always smile, be happy, maintain an upbeat personality and give your student’s unlimited positive comments of support and congratulations. Your positive attitude will spread into the hearts and minds of your students.

11. Set reasonable expectations

When you create activities, you should make sure that they can all be answered in the allocated time and with the learning resources and materials that you provided. When you ask students to write a summary, draw a picture or complete a worksheet you should make it clear and easy to understand as this will produce the best outcomes and responses from your students.

12. Make classes interactive.
For online classes to be successful, especially when they are being taught to children or teenagers, then they need to be interactive in every way. Create PowerPoints or Prezi presentations that are colorful, that include sound effects, that have content that allows for open-ended questions to expand the learning experience or that have embedded videos to increases the students desire to participate.

In addition, invite students to bring items from the home into the class. If you are teaching colors, they can bring things that are different colors. If they are learning numbers, they can bring a certain amount of different items to practice counting etc. Also, it is good for the teacher to bring physical props to class as well to support the interactivity of the class.

Another way to create an interactive environment is to invite the family to be a part of specific activities such as through the creation of videos for homework. I have had my students create cooking videos, interview family members about specific topics, give video presentations etc.

13. Always show faces

Research has shown that classes are always more successful when teachers and students show their faces as it invites that personal element into the classes. Insist that all students have their cameras turned on at all times throughout the class.

14. Give clear, specific instructions

Unlike a regular classroom where it is easy for students to put their hands up when they have a question or problem, online classes, especially with groups, have a different reality. For this reason, when giving instructions in the class, it is very important that they are clear, complete and are able to pre-empt any questions that the students may have. Giving clear instructions is one of the most important elements in a class when achieving good time management.

15. Classroom management
When teaching groups of students online, classroom management skills, whilst similar, are different due to the fact that your students are being influenced by the environment of their home. Teachers need to set rules such as putting up hands to answer questions, only students who are asked by the teacher can speak, have students mute their microphones to prevent environmental noises in the class, set strict time limits for each activity, and most importantly, don`t fill the class with too many activities.

Whilst classes with individuals or small groups of adults can achieve a good level of productivity, large classes of children don’t always achieve the same amount of productivity as they would in a regular class. Test your class, find a comfortable level of daily achievement and create or set an amount of activities that you know they can complete during the class.

In closing, I hope that this article is of some assistance for those teachers who are now facing the reality of having to teach online. It`s not easy, it requires a lot of adaption, but in the end, if it is done correctly, you can continue to provide your students with that valued education that they need to prepare them for their future lives.

Good luck and good teaching.

David White
Managing Director English For You Language Institute Trujillo Peru
Headmaster American School Trujillo Peru.