{"id":7803,"date":"2020-04-03T09:00:09","date_gmt":"2020-04-03T09:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/?p=7803"},"modified":"2023-10-19T07:25:56","modified_gmt":"2023-10-19T13:25:56","slug":"troubleshooting-teaching-online-classes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/troubleshooting-teaching-online-classes\/","title":{"rendered":"Troubleshooting When Teaching Online English Classes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This article was written by experienced classroom-based English teacher, Coleen Monroe<\/a>, who is currently teaching abroad in China. Like many teachers around the globe during the coronavirus crisis, she and her students have had to make make a quick shift to the virtual classroom. She shares some of the common problems she’s experienced during this transition, and advice for troubleshooting when teaching online English classes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In-person classes have been banned in many countries around the world and that makes the transition to online classes one of necessity and immediacy. For some, teaching English online<\/a> is also a way to claw back income from being laid off or placed on indefinite leave due to class cancellations. I\u2019m a teacher at a language school in Fuzhou, China, but I\u2019ve been teaching my classes online since the beginning of February when my school closed. It\u2019s not yet clear when the schools will be able to open. Due to an abundance of caution, they’re staying closed for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re new to teaching, you\u2019ll want to get initial training and qualification with a TEFL certificate<\/a>. You can explore our online TEFL courses<\/a> to get started!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Common issues students and teachers Face in the virtual classroom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the world we currently inhabit, it\u2019s going to be necessary to work out the problems that arise when teaching online without the normal kinds of interventions that we rely on as educators. You can\u2019t simply cross the room and point to a place in a book where an answer ought to be written; you need to be able to troubleshoot at a safe distance. As teachers, we must adapt to make sure our lessons still achieve the main goals of teaching a language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What follows are a few of the ways that I\u2019ve been able to adapt to the new reality of teaching online in the six weeks since I began. These are the biggest issues that you are likely to come across when teaching online and how to solve them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"laptop<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Issue: <\/strong>A technology learning curve for students<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been six weeks and ChenChen\u2019s microphone still doesn\u2019t work. We\u2019ve tried everything. I model leaning into the microphone. I hold up my hand to my ear because I can\u2019t hear him. The teaching assistant also translated for him outside of class how to make the answers more audible\u2026 it still doesn\u2019t work. But ChenChen is the only one in the class that still has that issue, and we started with all of them having problems. Progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest barrier for my classes is not the app that we\u2019re using to teach online. It\u2019s that the students are either too young to have had the time to learn computer skills or that there was a lack of serious consideration for technological education in local schools before now. Most of my students cannot type and a lot of them struggle to use a mouse to manipulate flashcards or games on the online classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What should you do?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

How can you fix these issues, and do so quickly? It\u2019s really important to spend a significant period of time in the first week of teaching your students online teaching the vocabulary that they will need (\u201cmouse,\u201d \u201cclick,\u201d \u201ctype,\u201d etc.) and also practicing using the computer system. It\u2019s also important to have clear instructions for how to use the functions of any app that you will be using, including screenshots and videos to help the students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tutorials can help students learn how to use common video conferencing platforms for class, like Zoom:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/hIkCmbvAHQQ\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Issue: You don’t have the right teaching setup <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You may have not had the time to get the perfect system for online teaching set up. When I first started teaching online, I was not allowed to wander around outside and it was hard to get additional things because of coronavirus. Most of the articles that I could find about setups for online teaching were not useful because of the difficulty teachers had getting additional things from outside the home. Lucky for you, I\u2019ve found a setup that works well. I\u2019ll give you the bare-bones list of what you really need to get things going as an online teacher, at a minimum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What should you do?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Make sure you have the essentials to teach online:<\/p>\n\n\n\n