Successfully Taking Your Classroom Online For ‘Social Distancing’ Reasons
There’s a right way to make the transition smooth and seamless
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As a few of you have hopefully noticed, I’ve not been my usual productive self on the platform lately.
This is because I’ve been working ‘round the clock writing lesson plans for the upcoming semester of new online courses I’ll be teaching.
I’ve already taught three online courses so far this year, but many more are needed as schools remain closed, and parents get more desperate for their kids to be more frequently educated.
Originally this was just a problem unique to China, but over the last week, I’ve been getting calls from friends all over the world who are just now entering the same situation.
The teachers most vulnerable to the current climate are the ones who teach in after-school centres that suddenly don’t have a business. Anyone teaching drama, dance, or running clubs like mathletes or debate are about to get a lot more desperate, and many of them don’t know where to turn.
Luckily for them, I’ve been teaching Chinese kids online for two months. I’ve made all the mistakes, and now I can provide guidance to the teachers around the world who are only just getting started.
Getting Started
You may already know this, but the best app for teaching online is Zoom.
Zoom is a reliable video conferencing app that you can use to teach your students from anywhere in the world.
The app has a rubbish whiteboard feature, but you can link your iPad and use that as a whiteboard for a far better teaching experience.
You can use Zoom for free for classes under 40 minutes in length, but you’ll need a subscription for longer ones.
Expectations
The key to leading a successful online class is making sure that your students know what’s expected upfront. Here are the expectations I set for all my students taking online…
