Even though online teaching has been around for a while, I think it has only recently appeared on most teachers’ / students’ radars due to the current climate. Teachers and students up until five months ago would have been studying and working in a brick and mortar school but now they find themselves having to adapt to a new environment of teaching or studying online.
Having moved over to a permanent role in an online school myself, I decided to write about my initial observations when comparing online classes to face-to-face classes. There is of course the glaring similarity in that the teacher presents materials to students in a classroom, be it virtual or brick and mortar, but what else has struck me thus far?
The obvious point to make is flexibility. With online classes, students can now study when they otherwise would not have been able to. If they don’t have the time or the luxury of travelling to an English speaking country to take an English course, they can sign up online and start learning from the comfort of their own home. Learning can now take place anytime, anywhere, and can be squeezed into the busiest of schedules.
Most English Language Schools’ courses are based around the Communicative Method or some variation of it, I know that all TEFL schools I have worked at have been. This is relatively easy and straightforward to implement in a brick and mortar school where the teacher can move the students around and group them in different ways, but how does this translate to online? Well, now, the majority of online classrooms have the function of breakout rooms which makes it easy for the teacher to create and change groups. Whilst the 3 second lag of visiting different “rooms” may be slightly frustrating for the teacher, in reality, is it any different from moving from table to table in a physical classroom?
Online classes may benefit the quieter students who are usually reluctant to raise their hands in a brick and mortar environment. They may find it easier to contribute when they are not surrounded by a group of more outgoing students who are always talking in class. It is also easier for the teacher to control who speaks when in an online class and of course the teacher always has the use of the handy “mute” button!
In an online classroom, an easy way to check students’ engagement in a task is to simply ask them. The teacher can make use of the virtual classroom tools and create polls posing questions that require the students to vote on a task, activity, or even the lesson as a whole. In a physical classroom this sort of feedback can be gained by the classroom atmosphere, if there is a sea of bored faces staring at you, you know it’s time to change it up a bit or introduce a new type of activity.
In conclusion, whilst I can see the benefits of a student coming to the UK to experience full immersion, with regard to the classroom itself, I have definitely observed that online classes can now offer an equal if not preferable alternative to the brick and mortar norm.
Sacha Smallwood
Online English Teacher - Top Up Learning