10 Things that Require No Talent When Teaching Online

Laguna de Apoyo, Catarina, Masaya, Nicaragua

Photo by Jonathan Acuña (2017)

10 Things that Require No Talent

When Teaching Online

By Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano, M. Ed.

School of English

Faculty of Social Sciences

Universidad Latina de Costa Rica

Friday, August 2, 2019

Post 334

     Over the years I have experienced with different types of online teaching scenarios (depending on the company I have worked for) and with the way courses are administered by the institution offering online classes. Regardless of the school I have taught English or teaching courses online with, the prevalent concern among the administrative staff is why students start skipping synchronous classes, the reasons why they do not complete tasks on the platform, or the rationale behind the “why” they end up dropping out of the course.

     Looking for some ease in my mind when intending to find answers to these boggling questions, my unsettled mind came up with a kind of solution to all these concerns. When as a team my colleagues and I were asked about the logic behind attrition, demotivation, and unattendance, senior partners started to voice their opinions pointing out at different directions or reasons why all this happens. And at this point, I came up with my “10 Things that Require No Talent When Teaching Online” infographic.

     None of these ideas were organized in any sequential way or respecting any order of importance; they were just included in the infographic to evidence some of the work an online teacher is meant to do.

Being punctual for online synchronous sessions	When you were a student, did you ever like having professors who arrived late to class? I bet this was not your liking. Being unpunctual is disrespectful behavior against learners.
Keeping learners motivated during the course	Isn’t part of our job as educators keep up motivation during a quarter, semester, or bimester? A good vibe coming from us teachers has to be felt by our students to always motivate to continue learning.
Rescheduling a class when attendance is low	I’m sure you may say that punctuality has to be demanded from our pupils, but if our students are working adult learners, should we expect 100% punctuality? Carrying a bit for them means you can reschedule a class.
Having a positive attitude toward learners and their language mistakes	Part of the magic of teaching is seeing our pupils making mistakes when trying to use what we are facilitating. A positive attitude is needed to create the right atmosphere for them to try out their new knowledge.
Always being passionate for students’ learning	How satisfied can we feel when we witness the mastery of new content being used by our learners? The satisfaction can be translated as “passion” for your students’ learning, which they really appreciate a lot.
Using the platform’s features to enhance a class	In our courses we always use two different platforms, one for independent study and the other for videoconferencing sessions. Using their features is a great way to enhance a class and entice our learners, too.
Reminding learners of their weekly responsibilities	As an online instructor, you cannot forget to send your learners friendly reminders of the different tasks they must accomplish before the next class takes place. Be kind and send them the reminders!
Making students feel that their course participation is valuable	If you can make your pupils feel that their participation is essential to the success of a course, they will be responsive and participative. Do the opposite, and they will bid you farewell.
Reporting potential dropouts to institutional leads	Potential dropouts must be identified as soon as you detect that someone is about quitting the course. You can detect this through the amount of work they perform within the self-study platform.
Having a strong work ethics and commitment	All educators ought to have a strong work ethics; it is unethical to be in charge of a class just because of money. Your commitment is the fuel that power student interest, engagement and success.

     As mentioned before, there is no reasoning behind the way in which the ten things were included in the infographic. Any order is fine; what really counts is what we can do for our students to make them achieve success.