6 Tips For Teaching English Online

With the current circumstances, more and more educators are making the switch to teaching English online.

This is a great opportunity to explore the advantages of teaching English online. Classrooms do have their benefits, but online education opens doors for students and teachers to connect anywhere and anytime.

More and more teachers are moving to online teaching as the need for language learning grows. It’s important to be able to deliver an effective lesson to students online, and these 5 tips will get you there.

First, let’s talk about why students are interested in learning online, and what benefits it provides. The most common reason is location. When we’re talking about learning English, there are so many students who just don’t have access to courses or teachers in their area. Learning online provides the opportunity to connect with experienced and qualified teachers.

Cost is another reason. Depending on where you are in the world, learning online may be a more economical means of learning. Different currencies, demand, and availability are all factors in cost. Learning English online could be the opportunity someone needs.

Time constraints are an issue that most people refer to when talking about online learning. Being able to attend a lesson or arrange for a private lesson at a time that is suitable is important to many. When you no longer have to find a class time that works for you, it becomes a lot easier to reach your goals.

So now let’s find out how we can give our students the best possible experience and help them to achieve their language goals.

Know your goal

It’s important to know what you want to accomplish by the end so you can craft an effective lesson. Determine what your end result is and work backward from there.

Knowing where you want to end up really helps when creating a program.

Get rid of the mindset that working online will limit what you can do.

This is a great opportunity to add some digital content and games to your lessons. Many of the online platforms, such a Zoom or Google meet, allow you to share your screen so your students can follow along with readings. You can even use a whiteboard feature for explanations.

Digital games work great as well. One-on-one students will have fun learning as they share their screen with you to monitor their progress.

Add some worksheets into your lesson and work through them together through the screen sharing feature.

Try the flipped classroom approach

There have been a ton of great studies on the flipped classroom approach to teaching. Teaching English online is a great time to try that out.

Assign work for students to do on their own time. Videos, worksheets, and anything else you have in your planning. Then use the online time to discuss challenges and solutions, correct any mistake and prepare for the next assignment.

Read more about the flipped classroom in this post: The flipped classroom – getting results by turning lessons on their head

This method has proven to be really effective for students because they’re spending time discovering the language then confirming their findings with the teacher. It also allows for more freedom for the students.

Assign projects or research

If you’re using the flipped classroom method, you could assign students a project or research assignment. That way students can work at their individual pace and use the online time with the teacher as a check-in.

It’s the responsibility of the teacher to make sure everyone is on track in each lesson. Students can check in and ask questions, get guidance and discuss solutions. It’s a great way to incorporate some discovery type learning into an online format.

Assessments

When working in an online environment, it’s important for students to know where they stand in terms of assessment. That’s why it’s important to talk about problems in class and deal with any issues.

It can be really easy for students to hide behind the computer and float along until, uh-oh! Fail. Incorporate a short assessment period at the end of each lesson to discuss with students any weaknesses and strengths, making sure everyone is succeeding.

Ask questions like; “What was your favourite part of the lesson?”, “What idea isn’t clear enough?:, and “Can you give me a real world example of todays topic?”.

Anticipate non-compliance

You will always find a student who doesn’t take the lesson seriously. Always missing assignments or not taking part in projects. These students can be a challenge.

There’s no easy way to encourage these students. Learning online requires some discipline on the student’s part to take things seriously. But there may be a few ways you can encourage participation.

If you’re working with a class, try assigning group work. Students may get a push from their peers to complete their portion of a project or assignment. It might be enough motivation to keep them in check.

When working alone, making the lessons fun and interactive may keep students interested and motivated to keep up with the work.

It all comes down to how much benefit students feel they’re getting from the lessons. If you make sure to develop engaging lessons, students should be able to stay focused.

These tips are just a few suggestions you can use to develop a fun and engaging lesson that encourages success. try them with your students and see how your online teaching improves.