Module 4: Lesson 5 - Practical considerations Flashcards
Common areas to be taken into consideration when teaching online.
- Physical environment: quiet; clean; light; neutral; colorful (VYL - ManyCam)
- Attendance policy: agreement; warnings if late both ways; absence policy
- Appearance and dress code: professional; smart; cultural expectations; hair tied up; well kept
- Teaching approaches: prescribed by companies; free to pick own freelance; experiment
- Props and materials: puppets; flashcards; realia; photos; resumes; build up vault of materials
- Ratings, salary, and incentives: students rate; pay affected; can be let go; incentives to recruit or performing well
Contingency plans for:
Electrical issues
Change your physical location to somewhere that isn’t experiencing problems, or switch to a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet.
You could use Skype, Teams, or Google Hangouts with the student and perhaps at least have a conversation lesson with them.
Contingency plans for:
Internet issues
Get the fastest internet speed that is available for your location and budget. It is better to have a hard wired connection to your PC if you can and some companies will insist on this.
Use SpeedTest.net to check your connection speeds and report any problems to your service provider.
As a back-up, you could have a 4G/5G modem, or connect via your smartphone.
Contingency plans for:
Planning problems
Things can go wrong when you are following a course plan. It is always useful to have a back-up plan. It could be the form of a handy resource site or book that you can dip into quickly and find suitable materials to fill the gap, or you can make use of your student and let them guide you for that lesson.
Contingency plans for:
Platform problems
When this happens, get straight onto the company support team. If you lose lessons because of this, they may need to pay you for them, as it’s not your fault.
In this situation, there is not much you can do other than keep informed about the current status and try to communicate the issue to your learner.
Contingency plans for:
Timezone mix-ups
Many platforms change these times automatically for the student and teacher, but even so, mix-ups can happen. Daylight saving in the spring and fall can also confuse timetables, so be aware when these changes are about to come into effect and make a note of when countries change their clocks, if at all.
Use worldwide date and time clocks to keep yourself informed about the time difference between yourself and your student.
Contingency plans for:
Illness & lateness
If you are ill, make sure you cancel the lesson in good time, and make sure that you know about your company or platform’s cancelation and sickness policy.
If the student is ill, they may cancel a lesson at the last minute.
If you teach privately, have a policy in place so that both yourself and the student are clear about what happens in this circumstance.
As a professional you should try your best never to be late, but this can happen.
If the student is late, wait for as long as you can.
What activities are unsuitable for online classes?
- Group work
- Reading long texts
- Extended writing
- Exam questions
- Activities that are not engaging for young learners
