Henrietta Butler, C1 (Advanced level) Class
Online lessons are working out extremely well and to be honest a lot better than I thought! It is great being able to write in the chat as the students are speaking to highlight any mistakes and to show them where they could make improvements. All aspects of class work can be done online just as effectively as in a classroom. It is proving to be a great success and we don't have to travel anywhere!
Claudine Angear, B2 (Upper Intermediate) FCE Exam Class
I think it’s actually working well for the FCE class and everyone seems appreciative of our efforts to keep the classes running.
Some of the positive feedback from my students:
· We can continue classes, even if we're in another country.
· It's convenient. I can wake up 5 minutes before my lesson starts!
· It's practical in terms of not having to commute
· I don't have to waste time travelling to school.
· The teacher writes down the conversation/vocabulary and grammar in the chat bar so we can look back at it.
· We can contribute by writing our sentences in the chat bar and correct the sentences together.
· It’s great for seeing the spelling of vocabulary.
· Writing feedback is good and we can rewrite and send it back quickly to have it checked
· Watching the lesson recording back is great.
· Having the powerpoint presentations sent to us is useful for links, and to remember the main points of the lesson and a reminder of the homework.
· Listening is good as it is like in class
· WhatsApp breakout for speaking is good
· Using own pictures on WhatsApp - sharing pictures and using them for exam tasks (speculation, deduction)
The students suggested the following points to work on:
· We are going slower than face to face
· Distractions from family/children/noises when students don't mute
· Some internet connections aren't brilliant.
· Group speaking activities are difficult.
· Miss the classroom dynamics and personal touch
Katie Mansfield, C2 (proficiency) Class
All of my students have adapted well to online lessons. They seem to enjoy the screen sharing function and having their own material projected.
Online learning comments in general:
There have been some problems with connectivity but this is something that everyone is experiencing.
The key to online learning seems to be making lessons interactive and short exercises.
Emma White, B1 (Intermediate) Class
I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to grips with a new way of teaching over the past couple of weeks. It offers many opportunities to take advantage of the plethora of fantastic online resources that exist, while still allowing for students to practise the four key skills.
While more teacher-centred than I'd usually like, I'm quickly learning new ways of passing responsibility to students for giving instructions and nominating other students. One of the main challenges I have faced is maintaining good levels of speaking practice for students. Technology has helped to overcome this, by getting students to call each other and do pair work on the phone with computer microphones muted.
Online learning lends itself well to listening and pronunciation tasks, and it is relatively straightforward to keep lessons structured and to time. I am by no means an expert in this teaching method, but am learning and improving all the time.
Amanda Thorogood, A2 (Pre-Intermediate) Class
I like the way I can summarise lessons on Powerpoint to refer to and show students.