Teaching online if you have to work from home (and while on the move)

For a few years now, given the significant advances in web technologies and internet connectivity, I’ve been advocating against the use of the term “distance learning” anymore. At least not, in countries where connectivity is not an issue. At least not, within countries so small like ours (an island in fact) where travelling from one point to another is not a big problem. What I’ve rather been saying was that with such technology at hand (and which is still going to get better), that we had a unique opportunity: Digital Transformation of the Teaching and Learning process. To the layperson, simply put it – teaching and learning differently. Just as they would use WhatsApp or Viber to ‘telephone’ differently. As usual, very few would care, until we experience some crisis situation like the Covid-19. In many cases, tech-savvy and creative teachers are already using simple communication tools and social media to keep in touch with their students, sharing resources and interacting with each other. 

So, what are the options available to the educator (mainly targeting upper secondary) or the academic of the University who has to teach from home? The answer is quite a few. Unfortunately for some, it is still not clear in their minds. Teaching and learning differently in the new era do not necessarily need an eLearning platform like Moodle or be familiar with big terms like instructional design. Yes, such things do help but are not the sine-qua-non conditions to succeed. Others would be using Google classroom, and some despite having a Gmail or a Microsoft account would be terrified of the idea of having to use the different tools in the Software Suite which they never even bothered to have a look.  

As they say, there is no need to panic. Just ask yourself the right questions, and if you have the answers, then you are ready-to-go.

Question 1 : Do I have a reliable internet connection?  

The first thing to ensure is that you have a good internet connection. An ADSL connection of 10MBPS will be enough in most cases. 3G unlimited packages also work fine. 

Question 2 : Do you have a computer (PC or Laptop) and Smartphone?  

Ideally, a functional PC or Laptop and a Smartphone with simple modern communication tools (WhatsApp/Viber/Messenger) is fine. To start with you can have WhatsApp group with your students where you can start by exchanging messages, and documents (PDFs/Video/Voice Memos) with them. Remember you can run WhatsApp and Viber from your computer as well.  

Question 3 : Do you have a Facebook account?  

If not, well it is the time that you may think of creating one. You can create a private Facebook group with your students in it. It is an alternative to the WhatsApp group. You can also have both at the same time. With a Facebook group, you can share a videos, images, links, and also engage in productive discussions in the form of comments and replies. You can even have a live video where you can talk in real-time to the students. You can also do an offline video and share it with the students. You can organize simple polls with the students to keep them engaged.  

Question 4: Some more tools and ways?  

There are quite a few of them. I will enumerate some classic and well-known ones here. This list is however non-exhaustive.  

Start a YouTube Channel  

You can create an account on YouTube where you can upload your own video resources, and then share the links with the students. In this way you have your own video channel. To do your videos, you can use your laptop or computer webcam or your phone to do a nice selfie video (with photogenic effects, of course).

Start a Blog  

A blog allows you to setup a kind of personal website in an intuitive way. People often use wordpress.com or blogspot.com to start a blog. If you have a Gmail account, it might be easier to start with Blogspot.com. Your students can be asked to follow the blog, and you can post articles and lessons there for them to read, and to interact by posting comments (in the form of Q&As) on the articles. In a blog article you can easily embed a YouTube video and other resources such as images or sound.   

Install Zoom for Online Meetings  

Zoom is a user-friendly software with a nice intuitive interface that allows you to setup virtual classrooms where you can conduct an online meeting (video conferencing / sharing your screen and your PPT) where many participants can attend. The lecture can be recorded, downloaded and shared with others. The free version of ZOOM allows for 40 mins sessions with many participants. So, you can plan accordingly, and have different 40 mins sessions.  

PPT to Videos  

New versions of Microsoft PowerPoint have an in-built feature where your PPT can be easily exported to a Video format. If you have done a set of PPT slides, all you need to do is to carry out a voice recording on each slide, and then export your file to video format. This video can then be shared on Facebook group, WhatsApp group, or YouTube and then embedded in your blog if you wish to add some instructions for doing homework via a blog post.

Homework and Correction  

While your students can easily share their own homework files (digital) or a picture of their handwritten essays with you via the groups (WhatsApp/Messenger) or via email, managing these and providing feedback can be a bit cumbersome for you. Still though with some patience you will be able to get through it. You can fix this though, if your students have a Gmail account, where they can share the file with you on the shared Google drive. You can easily open them, put your comments in them, and then the students can access these comments as you complete them.  

Concluding note  

If you are a regular social media user (Facebook/WhatsApp) and have an email account, you are ready to go. It’s not complicated to keep in touch with the students and guide them through the learning process. If you are motivated to go the extra mile, then a panoply of possibilities exists, where you can be independent of other people and systems. Still, with or without Covid-19, in the 21st Century that should be the standard practices to resort to, of course, notwithstanding the fact that, in a more regular situation, we can then use classroom time for more productive educational activities.