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With recent events, many of us have been thrown into online teaching with little to no training. Truth be told this new territory can be tricky and overwhelming. From my years of online teaching experience I have found that one main issue that can hinder online teaching/learning or video conferencing is: a lack of professional look. Here are a few tips to make your transition from physical classroom to virtual classroom easier and the most professional.
1- Internet Connection
This is crucial. Nothing kills a lesson faster than a bad internet connection. Your students will be unable to follow along if your connection is cutting out every 15 seconds. Some things I have learned along the way to stabilize my internet connection are:
Disconnect all other devices from your WiFi. When I teach I use my laptop, sometimes I also add in my ipad. I disconnect my cell phone from my WiFi. In addition if there is anyone else at home using the WiFi (such as someone playing a game or streaming a show on their cell phone) that will drain your connection as well. It is crucial to disconnect all non-essential devices from your internet source. This might be tricky to demand from other people in your home but try to work out a work schedule with others based on mutual respect and necessity. This might be obvious but: close all the unnecessary open tabs on your computer/laptop. Your computer should be working for you not for unnecessary distractions.
While I was working with one of China's biggest online English companies, we used this website and only this website to check our internet speeds: www.speedtest.net . Here you can see your upload, download, as well as your PING.
2- Lighting
Good lighting is essential. If you are teaching young learners especially, bad lighting can be quite scary for the little ones. It can make someone look unfriendly and- for-lack-of-better-word: creepy. When teaching online we want to be well lit from the front. Overhead lighting or just a side table lamp will cast a shadow on our faces while on the screen. This is why most Youtuber's or influencers have ring lights. It allows your face to be illuminated from the front with no shadows cast. Now, most of us don't have fancy equipment- nor did most teachers have time to prepare for this online transition (or even a stipend for these tools) but we can make do. I suggest either placing your work desk in front of a window (so you are facing the window and possible sunlight) or moving the table lamp from next to you, to in front of you (perhaps behind your computer or laptop).
3- Placement
Where your laptop or computer's webcam is placed is also very important. This is more so for laptop users. You want to be eye level with the camera or as eye level as you could get. The best tip would be to simply prop your laptop on something (even something such as a book) to give it some height. This could be that thick dictionary you haven't touched since 1999. If our laptops are left on the surface of our desk without adding height, then the camera hits us from a lower angle which highlights our chins and necks rather than our faces. This is key when teaching all ages and even for all professions collaborating online. A bad angle gives a goofy professional image.
4-Background
A distracting background can be, well, distracting. I always try to have a plain white background while teaching online. Some teachers like to have "classroom" backgrounds with maps, pictures, the alphabet, and such. This is great also, especially if you are teaching younger learners or ESL students. One big piece of advice I could give regarding backgrounds is make sure whatever your background is, it is not too distracting nor too dark. No one wants to see a pile of laundry or dirty dishes. Additionally, a dark background will darken your overall picture thus interfering with your lighting. I prefer white backgrounds because it softens the light around you way creating a nice balance of light. I also find white backgrounds to have the most professional aesthetic and overall clean look. As I mentioned earlier, a lack of professionalism can make or break your online session. Messy or unorganized backgrounds are a huge red flag when working via webcam. A messy background is the equivalent to wrinkled and unkempt work attire.
5-Noise
Noise is sometimes something we cannot control when working from home. Perhaps a truck drives down the street, the dog barks, there is thunder outside, etc. Try to find a quiet spot in your home to set up your online class. For me this means dodging shared spaces such as the kitchen or living room, and preferring a bedroom or storage space (such as a finished basement). Not only will you get privacy (no one could walk in and out of the screen, no one could talk to you while you're trying to work) but you will also have less noise distractions. Another tip I could offer happens to be as a result of a pet-peeve of mine: please mute your microphones while sneezing/coughing/sniffling/clearing your throat. Again, we want to have the most professional image as possible it is the "little things" such as these that could cause an online classroom to go from educational to laughable. Keep in mind, your students (or colleagues) are mostly wearing a headset or headphones while in conference with you. That means that all noises go directly from your microphone (which is centimeters away from your mouth) directly to their ears. Do everyone a favor and mute your microphones if you need to sneeze, most headsets have a simple button to press (mute/un-mute) when you'd like to do this so it's quite effortless.
6-Headsets
Going off of number 5, I truly recommend headsets for online teaching or conferencing. Your audio quality will be better, your microphone quality will be better as well, so your students/clients/colleagues will be able to hear you without strain. Most headsets have noise cancellation features built into their systems so this helps erase those outside noises as mentioned above. Above all, the main reason I highly recommend the use of headsets (for teachers and students) is: echoes. I cannot tell you how many times I was in a Zoom session with about 10 students and someone (if not multiple students) happened to be using their device speakers for their audio and microphone resulting in the sound bouncing from person to person. This created an endless echo. Picture this: if you put a mirror in front of another mirror, you have an endless stream of mirrors bouncing in-between those two mirrors. That's what happens with sound when someone uses speakers instead of headphones/a headset during video conferencing. It is highly distracting, loud, and very hard to move past. In case this does happen, most online "classrooms" or conferencing software allows the moderator (you) to mute someone else's or everyone's microphone. That is a life saver.
That wraps up my main online teaching tips. Let me know in the comments about your challenges or your own tips for online teaching!
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