Andréa Guterres Câmara (Final Project for
the course Writing for Teachers)
When we
think about English teaching in the 21st century, we can’t ignore the impact of
the Internet on our practice as teachers. Students of all ages can now access
information 24/7. There’s YouTube, with an impressive library of millions of
videos growing steadily, with about 300 hours of new content uploaded every
minute. Students can watch videos, listen to different accents, and learn
authentic language anytime and as many times they want, something unimaginable
and unattainable not long ago.
As our
society advanced technologically, the demand for virtual classrooms was a
natural consequence. To answer that, our first MOOCs, or massive open online
courses, came to be in the 2000s. Since then, more and more people across the
globe have been able to learn countless subjects without the need to commute to
a brick-and-mortar school. This phenomenon hasn’t been different in regard to
language learning.
We live in
a fast-paced world; traffic can be daunting in big cities, and in some remote
locations traveling to attend face-to-face classes can be quite impossible.
Commuting to class used to be a chore for many, but now with a computer and a
reliable Internet connection, anyone can have access to online courses and
private tutors alike. As online teachers, we have the potential to reach
students practically anywhere on the planet. More and more people are
discovering this learning option and embracing it. “Due to a combination of
factors (for example cost, convenience, learner expectations, developments in
technology, and changing paradigms within education), it is clear that online
learning is here to stay” (Hockly, 2015).
The
challenge we online teachers face is to offer the same quality lessons to
students who are miles away, as we’ve done in traditional in-person settings.
Below I’ve included a few tips to address common problems and to circumvent
issues we may have with technology and distance learning. They are intended for
one-to-one lessons for adults, which is my niche, and with which I’m most
experienced.
Start
with a needs analysis and a placement test
Like with a
regular course, you must know exactly what your student needs and wants to
learn. It will be a partnership between your student and you. Both need to be
aware of what is necessary to achieve their goal.
Choose
your favorite communication platform and have a backup option
You can use
Skype, which is probably the most popular platform, but there is also Zoom, a
favorite of many teachers: “Zoom is excellent. It offers a wide range of
annotation tools, recording facilities and great audio and video quality”
(Nobre, 2017).
It is a
good idea to have a backup plan. If Skype is not working, use Zoom or Google
Hangout. As a last resort, you may also try FaceTime for Mac/iPhone users or
WhatsApp Video Calling. The important tip is to be ready in case things don’t
go as expected.
Make
sure your student knows the basics about technology before you start your course
It may be
straightforward to you, but many people are not familiar with all the
technology available out there, let alone learn a language in a new
environment. You can send them tutorials, links and schedule a call if they
need extra help getting set up. Remember their success and commitment depend on
a good start.
Choose
your materials wisely
If you decide
to use a textbook, look for one with a presentation tool. Most publishing
companies nowadays offer that feature. You can install a program or download
it, and have access to the student’s book on your computer screen. This way you
can share your screen, make annotations during the lesson, play audio files,
videos, and make your class more fun and interactive.
Create
your own online lessons
You can
create your own lessons using articles from blogs, news websites, or stories
you saw on TV; the options are countless. There are many reasons to do this.
Here I list a few: you will bring more contemporaneous issues to your lessons;
you’ll be using authentic materials that can help students learn collocations,
pronunciation and connected speech in a natural way; they can improve their
listening and writing skills with examples taken from authentic texts; and you
can also stimulate their critical thinking in the process.
Use
other online teachers’ free lessons
If you are
pressed for time and can’t produce your own lessons, you can also download free
lessons from other teachers. My favorite ones are:
Websites
like the British Council and VOA (Voice of America), for instance, offer free
lessons with authentic resources to make yours interesting and up-to-date on
current world issues.
Use
videos for storytelling
Videos can
be a great resource, but don’t just show your students a video and use it as a
listening skills lesson. You can use videos to tell a story.
“The
traditional way to use video in the classroom is to watch the video first and
talk about it later. In a Videotelling activity, the teacher communicates a
video narrative through traditional interactive storytelling. In this way, the
technology takes a back seat, and human communication comes to the front of the
class” (Keddie, 2017, p.15).
Have
your students participate actively
A challenge
to teachers and more so to online tutors is to control their TTT, or Teacher
Talking Time. You must prepare your lessons to be student-centered. Use Skype’s
chat boxes to have your students write. Share your screen, and show them
PowerPoint presentations to scaffold vocabulary and language. Engage their
attention with nice visuals and videos. Ask them to record an audio at home
about a topic you’ve agreed upon, and then give them feedback. These are simple
and easy to do. The important thing is to create opportunities for the students
to produce and not just sit and listen to you lecture them for 1 hour.
Final
Considerations
Online
teaching is not for everyone. Not all students will want to study online, and
not all teachers will adapt to this new environment or enjoy it. “It might
sound obvious, but some people simply don’t enjoy studying online, preferring
face-to-face lessons” (Nobre, 2017).
As with
anything relatively new and changing fast, it’s a matter of trying for yourself
and seeing if you like it or not.
If you do
decide to take the plunge, I recommend you create a databank of resources. The
more lessons and content you have saved, the easier it will be for you to adapt
your lessons and save time in the long run.
References:
Keddie, J.
(2017). Videotelling | YouTube Stories for the Classroom.
(Introduction, page 15). Retrieved from Kindle, Amazon.com
Nobre, C.
(2017). Challenges in ELT: Teaching online.
The
British Council, https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/
To do so, I am always reflecting on how relevant and interesting the writing can be for my young teenage students. The formula is not so hard: just take the genre of the piece of writing into account and think about how it could be applied to their realities. That is basically what I did for my Teens 6 group. Writing news reports was the goal, so I decided to take my students from the role of students to the role of reporters.
I had to do it in two classes. The first attempt wasn’t so good because some of my students messed around and interfered in other students’ slides. In the following class, I told them off and told them that they would be given a last chance to finish their reports. I also said that those who didn’t finish would have their pages taken out of the magazine. That gave them some encouragement. On the second day, then, they worked a lot better and behaved as expected.
