How do we teach when teaching online: webinar 1.7.2020

This is the video of a webinar I gave based for telc at the start of July, which was based on my contribution to the Global Get-Together, an online conference run by IATEFL. The focus was on rethinking our teaching methods when moving our classes online and starting out with video conferencing tools.

At the beginning of the pandemic, I found it easy to find video tutorials and blog posts on different video conferencing tools available to teachers and I was grateful. I, too, had to quickly get to grips with tools the organisations I was working for chose to use. Those ‘How-to’ tutorials saved me a lot of time and heartache!

However, I found that while there was lots of information about how to use tools, there was not as much info on how to actually teach with these tools. At the same time, friends and colleagues were getting in touch saying ‘I did everything right, but still…’

The problem…

If we don’t recognise that teaching via video conferencing tools requires different strategies, then we end up disappointed, frustrated, and doubting ourselves. It’s sad to hear teachers say that teaching online is something they just have to suffer through. Having lessons online opens up learning to those who may not have the opportunity otherwise. It frees us from geographical limitations, allows us to learn whatever we want, wherever we are. Of course, we teachers are still just human and getting used to new ideas, technologies and teaching methods can’t happen over night. Effective change takes time. There will be highs and lows, and it’ll be hard to maintain momentum.

A solution…

That’s where my talk comes in. It might point out some underlying issues you hadn’t considered, give you some concepts to think about, or provide some tasks for you to try in class. It may even just serve as an affirmation that you got this teaching online thing under control.

I also wrote a guest blog post for Sandy Millin after the IATEFL online conference. If you want to read rather than watch, that’s an option too.

So here it is… https://sandymillin.wordpress.com/2020/04/28/how-do-we-teach-when-teaching-online-guest-post/

You can also check out my post on podcasting Listening to the Experts. If you need a new challenge and want to keep the tech exploration momentum going, audio recording might be just what you’re looking for.