The basics of teaching Online
These pages were created to meet the needs of world language teachers who now teach online and need diverse instructional technology tools.
Teaching online during the COVID-19 pandemic is incredibly challenging. Teachers must be aware of their own and their students’ emotional states. A brief examination of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs can help teachers adapt to this new learning context.
This page includes information related to:
• The mindshift necessary for online teaching;
• Differences between synchronous and asynchronous instruction;
• Manners of organizing online content for teaching and learning; and
• Technologies for use in teaching and assessing interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational communication.
While there may be a wide variety of tools available, those presented in this section of the website are readily available, free or reasonably priced, easy to use, and effectively support standards-based instruction. To avoid overwhelming site visitors, not every tool is listed. Teachers must follow school policies for acceptable use of technology when selecting online tools.
online teaching requires a mindshift
When teaching in a traditional setting, teachers engage students in direct instruction, facilitate practice, support their independent work, and observe and reinforce student effort. Students have the opportunity to ask for clarification and receive immediate feedback. Teachers are able to read student facial expressions and body language for signs of comprehension and confusion. On the other hand, in online, distance instruction, the degree of control is limited and individualized interaction is quite different. These are some of the differences and related challenges to consider:
• Privacy and effective monitoring/facilitating privacy in breakout rooms;
• On-topic conversations, on-task behaviors; and
• Live meeting formats are created for check-ins, small amounts of direct instruction, clarification, guided communicative practice, independent presentational communication and the assessment of interpretive, interpersonal and presentational communication.
Transitioning to online teaching and learning
Online teaching and learning can be conducted synchronously (at the same time and within the same virtual space), asynchronously (independently and at different times), or in a hybrid format (a combination of both synchronous and asynchronous instruction).
Synchronous Learning
Synchronous learning takes place during distance learning when the teacher and students are on the same platform, at the same time. Teachers may begin planning a successful distance learning experience by reflecting on how they use instructional time and how they organize their class, estimating the amount of time spent on direct instruction, group, and independent activities. Teachers then consider the design of independent or group activities for synchronous online sessions. Synchronous online learning typically requires using a web conferencing tool.
asynchronous learning
Asynchronous learning is student-paced as students work on their own or with peers completing instructional activities at times that are convenient to them. Asynchronous teaching and learning online may include recorded segments of instruction, practice activities, and assessments. Feedback provided by the instructor is not immediate unlike feedback in synchronous in-person or online settings. Of course, if the teacher and student happen to be online at the same time, immediate feedback is possible. Providing a sequential checklist of tasks and activities helps students stay organized in an asynchronous learning environment.
The following article, “9 Benefits of Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning” offers additional information on the benefits of synchronous and asynchronous instruction.
Organizing classroom content
Teaching and learning online demand excellent organization and sequencing of content and instructional activities, including the delivery of content, practice activities, and assessments. Course and learning management systems provide for the administration, tracking, reporting, and delivery of curriculum. Teachers must make sure that their students can easily access the system they have chosen. Typically, these systems are provided by a school or school district.
Course Management and Learning Management Systems (CMS/LMS)
Google Classroom (CMS)
Getting Started (video)
Cheat Sheet (slides presentation)
Quickstart Guide (written)
Blackboard (LMS)
Planning for online teaching and learning
Online teaching and learning differ substantially for both teachers and students. Teachers may consider using the following resources to organize their planning.
Leslie Grahn (Coordinator of World Languages, Howard County Public Schools, retired) has provided this helpful lesson plan framework. She has also created a more in-depth tool with links to target language resources in French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Portuguese, and Spanish for each step of the lesson sequence.
Design Interactive Lessons
Interactivity is important in distance learning since it is the way teachers and students engage with the content and with one another. Interactive engagement may include responding to questions the teacher asks in a chat box, adding a response to a poll, working in a break out room, among other activities. Positive reinforcement of student responses is as important in synchronous online interactions as it is in brick-and-mortar classrooms.
As teachers and students participate in distance learning, they may notice that student and teacher engagement feels different. Interactivity typically depends on all participants’ comfort level with the technology being used. To lower stress within a new learning environment, teachers may choose to work first with the interactive tools they know. Once the environment feels familiar and students understand the context, teachers may introduce and experiment with new tools. Effective teachers understand that a combination of a new environment, new content, and a new tool can result in overload for all participants. Therefore, teachers introduce changes gradually.
Teachers may wish to view this tutorial by the California Teachers Association, “Best Practices for Virtual Teaching,” to learn more about interactivity.
Establish Distance learning Norms
Effective online teachers both teach and model distance learning etiquette. It is best to assume that students are not familiar with any guidelines for interacting and learning online. Teachers and students create a set of norms that align with school and district policies. Teachers may wish to use this checklist as a guide for establishing norms and expectations for online interaction. Teachers may also wish to explore 26 Tools for Classroom Management Apps and Websites from Common Sense Education.
Netiquette. Just as there is acceptable classroom behavior, there is etiquette for online interactions or netiquette. Effective teachers discuss the principles of constructive digital citizenship and create a set of expectations together with their students. Some teachers may wish to follow these examples:
Page created by: Tonja Byrom, Iman A.K. Hashem, Svetlana J. Lazarova, Valerie Sun, Brandon Zaslow