Which steps help the transition to online teaching?

This three-chapter reader has been designed to help tutors who are relatively new to online, blended and hybrid teaching reflect on what they wish to achieve through their online instruction and how they might achieve this in the most effective way. We begin in Chapter 1 by exploring five common-sense steps that should assist with the transition to online learning. In Chapter 2, we then discuss how to make class materials for live and recorded online lessons before examining in Chapter 3 the methods for engendering quantitative and qualitative tutor and peer interactions.

Step 1: Remember Your Pedagogical Principles

Before your first online class, remind yourself of your core pedagogical principles and philosophies as a teacher. It’s important to recognise that these key principles do not change simply because you’re teaching online. Generally, all teachers want students to be engaged with the course content and equipped with the knowledge and skills to progress through their undergraduate and master’s degree. To achieve this as an EAP tutor, you may wish to follow some of the principles we’ve included below:

• focus on high-frequency lexis in depth and provide strategies for low-frequency items
• provide learners with intermittent but repeated opportunities to revisit course content
• reduce the learning burden by making effective use of previous knowledge
• encourage controlled and freer practice of lexical and grammatical structures
• include authentic materials that inspire learning and motivate students to communicate
• continually analyse needs and revise course materials where needed

Step 2: Study the Course Specification

Once you’ve familiarised yourself with the teaching and learning principles that make up your pedagogical philosophy, the next step is to review the learning outcomes, lesson aims, class materials and formative/summative assessments of the course you’ll be teaching. This will help remind you of the skills and knowledge that must be practised and covered throughout the course and provide you with ideas of how to meet the course objectives. At this stage, it might be a good idea to focus your attention on any aspect of the course that may be more difficult to achieve online, particularly if a face-to-face course is being transitioned at short notice. Difficult aspects to conduct successfully over the internet may include group discussions, jigsaw activities and mingle exercises, lab work and other hands-on learning, and timed writings and examinations.

Step 3: Consider the Class Size

While definite numbers may not come in until the last minute, having a general idea of a cohort’s size and proficiency should better prepare tutors to anticipate problems and manage timetables and staffing. While online lessons don’t have the same capacity restrictions as a physical classroom, it’s still not recommended to allow seminar classes to grow beyond normal face-to-face enrolment. The more students you have to teach online in one class, the more difficult it will be to organise peer discussions and build a rapport with your students. You also increase the chance that technical difficulties will interfere with successful and fluid teaching and learning.