What should effective online language teaching look like in the land of the global village?
Communication in the world has changed considerably since the internet became more publicly accessible in the 1990s. We should especially consider limitations in travel caused by various global events. Teachers must consider effective online language teaching approaches and how global health events have helped reshape language classes, breaking down national barriers. How can we promote learner independence with occasional gaps in online connectivity? Can we connect the three aspects of online methodology, learner independence and sparing connectivity to each other effectively?
Good practice which creates effective online language teaching.
Good teaching companies, online or not, will have teaching methods explained to clients and students before buying courses or services. Many effective teaching methods put learners at the centre of the learning process. Others even put the learner and teacher, and learners together, all together in continuous discussion during the learning process. This is because everyone involved in the learning process has something to teach each other. Much of the process involves the development of learner independence and autonomy. Prepared, patient and passionate teachers can teach the student various aspects of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. However, good teachers should also teach the students effective self-study skills that facilitate distance learning.
An even better teacher also learns two things from each student. The first is student needs and the second is the desire to improve their teaching method for new or returning students. Returning students should expect an evolving teaching method, and new students should find a service which is constantly improving and innovating.
Constant innovation is the cornerstone of successful teaching organisations. However, can we take advantage of the globalisation of online classrooms to innovate and create a truly effective online teaching methodology?
Global events and the reshaping of virtual classrooms for effective online language teaching.
The structure and delivery of modern and effective online teaching should be designed with the global health events beginning in early 2020 in mind. Internationally, many governments advised or instructed their citizens to practise physical distancing and stay at home. The effect on teaching was that many language-teaching companies immediately transferred to online teaching platforms. Whenever they were eventually permitted to offer face-to-face classes again, some companies maintained online or e-elements in case of another lockdown. This has resulted in courses with a mixture of face-to-face and online or e-learning becoming more popular.
Moreover, international classes with the teacher in one country and students in another, or several other countries, are getting popular. Multinational learning groups in multiple global locations are now common, so the opportunity to network and exchange ideas and do business with learning partners is more possible. A good teaching organisation might take advantage of the international terrain to make classes global, especially with group classes. This is because in language teaching, there has always been a preoccupation with classes in which everyone shares a first language. Here, students often prefer to communicate with classmates in their first language. They often don't move out of their comfort zone to the target language which they are learning, which frustrates teachers. Multinational and multilingual learning groups can help break learners out of this comfort zone.
Connectivity and Internet issues.
Issues surrounding connectivity also influence effective online teaching, especially shaky internet connections during lessons. This can be common as various environmental factors or local, national and international issues affect internet performance. However, connectivity issues give us an opportunity to think about whether we really need to have a constant video connection in class. A student could just switch the monitor, or leave the video class, off to finish a task in peace. Once they are finished, they can reconnect with the teacher for feedback. This would remove the need to sit online while the learning process continues anyway.
Therefore, we might think about having a log-on/log-off formula in online classes. This could prioritise effective task delivery and collection, with students having access to a materials drive. The teacher could provide students with materials on the drive, along with live classes for conversational or interactive class elements. Lessons might go offline for some time while the students complete tasks. Learners would still be in contact with the teacher by phone, e-mail or chat. The lesson could then finish with live video, task delivery, correction and feedback, and homework for the next lesson.
So, a typical lesson structure might look like this:
- Live class Part One…30 minutes. Teacher and student interaction with exercises. Student is given a task and 20 minutes to complete it offline.
- 20 minutes offline; student completes task. If they require help or explanations, the teacher is available, by phone, e-mail or videocall.
- Live class Part Two…30 minutes. Student delivers the task and the teacher and student correct and discuss. The class finishes feedback then the homework tasks are delivered.
- Total class time…80 minutes. The teacher should always be available for help.
- 40 minutes of homework tasks to reinforce learning from the lesson, or to prepare for the next lesson.
The lesson structure would obviously depend on the students’ needs, so the student should be consulted on the class structure and time. If they wish, uninterrupted live classes should be made available. The important thing to remember is that effective lessons should contain student-centred tasks with extensive feedback and guidance from the tutor. Nevertheless, live video lessons might not actually be necessary to keep constant and effective contact between teachers and students. The point is to teach the learner independence and autonomy while guiding them with task setup and linguistic knowledge.
Moving the learner from teacher dependence to learner autonomy.
How does a good teacher help a learner become independent and autonomous while giving them the benefits of their linguistic knowledge? This is where study skills come in, with the teacher guiding learners on how to structure their notes. Correctly structuring notes which contain items such as phrasal verbs or collocations will ultimately help the learner make sense of what they have written or typed. It will also help them remember and understand the language learned as the lesson fades away in the students’ memories.
During the lesson itself, a teacher shouldn’t be afraid to leave the student to do tasks alone as this gives learners the chance to focus on their work. It has never been strange for a teacher to leave adult students alone in a classroom to help them concentrate, with the teacher maybe getting a quick coffee. The teacher’s presence sometimes even interferes with the student carrying out their task successfully, so why would this be different in an online context? What is important is that the teacher has given the student the correct instructions to start and complete the task. The teacher should then be nearby and easy to contact immediately for further instructions or clarification.
Moreover, the correct setup of homework tasks and delivery of clear instructions also facilitates good pieces of student work outside class. The student will have to demonstrate in their homework that they have learned how to produce good work as a sign of progress.
Ultimately, the teacher can help create autonomous individual learners or groups of learners by being active when explaining and giving instructions. The teacher can then take a more passive role, intervening when needed, while students complete the tasks.
Tying everything together.
All in all, we can mix classes with multiple first languages, learner autonomy and flexible logging in and out of lessons. Study and learning can continue throughout, creating a flexible and effective structure for online courses and constant teaching innovation. They are important considering any global crisis affecting travel and movement, and the subsequent effect on the internet’s functionality due to cyber-traffic and international communication.
Learning in the online world does not need to be so different to learning in classrooms and might even have a few advantages in the global scenario.
Have a look at our related article on staying connected online at this link.
