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When the COVID-19 related situation started in March 2020, its impact on education domains were immediate. Both teachers and students were called to navigate in new learning environments. Like many educational institutions, we at Premiere Class offered to switch to online courses to all our students. Two years later, Premiere Class is still offering online courses as online learning continues to be prevalent in educational settings. Based on informal surveys with our students, we have learned that the online offerings remain a desirable option for many individuals. This has prompted me to reflect on how we can continue to ensure an engaging and successful online session for language learners.
This digital shift was something new to all of us, including students and trainers. Some of the latest research indicates that, “Compared to in-person classes, in this online environment foreign language learners might experience a gamut of feelings from anxiety to enjoyment and boredom” (Qiu, 2022, p. 1). In my role as language instructor, I quickly responded to the need to seek, to review and to adapt to new teaching techniques and strategies. I met with my colleagues to collaborate on ideas and lesson design specific to online learning environments. We identified and agreed to uphold the key elements required to engage our students to continue to build their confidence and progress in learning a language.
Some of these key elements include:
The goals, expectations and values of the program need to be clearly stated.
Specific training for both instructors and learners to ensure maximal use of multimedia sources.
Regular meets with colleagues to share resources and expertise based on reflecting on our own online experience.
Regular satisfaction surveys to assess the students’ experience.
We recognized equally the importance of building a positive climate in an online environment, just as we would in a person-to-person learning environment. A positive climate can be defined as a positive space, a healthy environment, “In which enjoyment, connectedness, and enthusiasm are incorporated in the classroom interactions” (Qiu, 2022, p. 2). Research evidence demonstrates that a lasting positive classroom climate and the teacher-student emotional bond can improve learners’ satisfaction, motivation, class participation, engagement in group tasks and activities, overall well-being, and reduce their anxiety and internal sense of fear (Qiu, 2022).
As an instructor, these are the key elements that I bring to my sessions to foster overall wellbeing:
Opening each session with the following question: What have you done in French since we last met? This offers a great opportunity to share personal anecdotes
Active listening on the part of the teacher
Paying close attention to verbal and non-verbal cues
Fostering social interaction
Reviewing weekly events of personal and professional lives
Smiling, sharing of thoughts and ideas
Providing tools and strategies to support expressing an opinion
Just as in an in-person setting, my goal is to maximize student involvement and to encourage them to take risks by expressing themselves in French. Whether in person or online, human interaction remains at the core of what we do. Accepting and embracing online tools is just part of our evolving way of reaching students and making them feel comfortable when they come to class with us.
Source:
Qiu, F. (2022). Reviewing the role of positive classroom climate in improving English as a foreign language students’ social interactions in the online classroom. Frontiers in Psychology, 6600.