1 Why hold live online classes with younger learners?
The recent (current, at the time of writing) Covid-19 pandemic has seen school closures and teachers suddenly having to teach online. In most cases, this has meant young learners doing a lot of asynchronous work from home, eg using online language learning materials, apps and games, etc. But in many cases, it has also meant teachers holding real-time online classes with their learners via videoconferencing.
2 I teach young learners aged five to eight. How do I start teaching live online?
First, ask yourself some questions. For example: What videoconferencing tool should I use? Should I involve the parents and, if so, how? What activities can I do in my live online classes? How can I keep my young learners engaged and motivated?
Now read on for some suggested answers …
3 What about safety and privacy concerns? I’ve heard that some videoconferencing tools are not safe for young learners.
The security features of videoconferencing tools have been in the spotlight recently, and security has been improved. For example, Zoom has added additional default password protection to permit access to a live class, a default waiting room from where the teacher allows individuals to join, and the capacity for teachers to be able to lock meetings. Google Meet is part of the Google suite of tools, and teachers can create a meeting room for learners from within the secure environment of Google Classroom. Whatever videoconferencing tool you or your school uses, carry out an online search to check what the latest security features are. Security for most videoconferencing tools is pretty good now, certainly compared to a year ago!
4 What should I do about the parents?
It is crucial for parents to understand the benefits of live online classes. First, inform the parents (for example, by email) of how, when and why live classes will be held with their children. Include information about the types of activities you will do, how long and how often the children will need to be online, and what the parent or caregiver’s role will be. Explain how safety and privacy is maintained in your chosen videoconferencing platform. Then hold a live online meeting in the platform with the parents only, to discuss all of this and to answer their questions and concerns. Working collaboratively with the parents from the outset will help to ensure that they support your live online classes. It can also strengthen the home–school connection, which research shows can positively affect student outcomes over the long term.
5 What activities can I do in a live online class with younger learners?
Some of the activities that you do in your face-to-face classes can be carried out online very effectively, by exploiting the camera. For example:
- Have a regular (eg weekly) ‘story time’, in which you read a storybook aloud to your learners, showing the pictures to camera and eliciting words.
- Include activities with movement, eg ‘Mime and guess the verb’; the ‘Head, shoulders, knees and toes’ song; ‘Simon says’.
- Hold a scavenger hunt to review vocabulary: ask your learners to fetch items from around the house, and to show them to the group via the camera, eg items of clothing, stationery, a favourite toy, objects of a specified colour, etc.
- Teach your learners a new song and sing it together every time you meet online.
- Do a picture dictation: describe a picture that your learners have to draw with coloured pencils; the learners then share their drawings with the class via the camera, pointing out the items and colours.
- Use flashcards: to review vocabulary, hold flashcards up to the camera and ask the learners to say the words. Ask each student to choose a word and to draw their own flashcard to show to the class in the next lesson.
The key to successful live online classes with very young learners is to include a variety of (connected!) activities, to involve the learners in activities by getting them to do something, and to keep things short. The younger the learners, the shorter the online class should be. For younger learners, classes of 15–30 minutes several times a week are more effective than hour-long classes once or twice a week. But most importantly – have fun!
