Free course to help teachers transfer their skills to the online environment

A free online teaching course has been made available by Cambridge Assessment English to help English teachers teach online and prepare their students for qualifications as the spread of COVID-19 continues to impact education worldwide.

Teaching English Online is a free 4-week online course that covers the skills, knowledge, digital tools and resources teachers need to design and deliver effective online English lessons. Teachers who take part will be able to gain insights from online teachers, trainers and learners and share ideas with other course participants.

Over 57,000 people from over 180 countries have joined the course: futurelearn.com/courses/online-tutoring A version of the course has also been made available in China with over 8,000 registrations so far. Find out more about Teaching English Online: China and Beyond futurelearn.com/courses/online-tutoring-china

Cambridge Assessment English has also brought together their range of resources to help teachers quickly access the materials they need to continue supporting their students and adapt to new ways of teaching. These are available at all levels, starting with young learners and include exam preparation materials, webinars, support packs for teachers and lots of free teaching resources: cambridgeenglish.org/supporting-teachers/

It is also offering free digital access to the popular Cambridge English Exam Boosters series to deliver essential support for those preparing for English language examinations. The team and expert guest writers are sharing daily content on the Press’s English Language Teaching blog ‘World of Better Learning’ to ease the transition to home learning. Popular recent posts include guidance on choosing the right platform and motivating learners, as well as advice for others from teachers experiencing school closures: cambridge.org/supportingeveryteacher

For more details, go to https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/news/view/how-cambridge-english-is-supporting-every-teacher/ and https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/news/view/cambridge-offers-free-online-teaching-course-to-thousands-of-teachers-worldwide/

How to homeschool your child

Now that classes have been suspended to prevent the spread of the virus that causes Covid-19, many parents have had to take up the work that teachers do every day and homeschool their children. Here are some tips on how to get the best out of studying at home with your kids.

Education Otherwise, the primary English home-schooling organisation, describes two core approaches: structured or autonomous. Structured learning follows the school day and curriculum; and there is a solid argument that, since you intend for your children to go back to school and the school will give you materials (all primary and secondary schools are making plans to this effect), this is the way to go.

If you are of an autonomous bent, that is also legitimate. Your children are unlikely to get hopelessly behind.

Adopting a structured approach benefits the child immensely. Start every morning with a timetable and stick to your timings. Use language such as “now” and “next”. For younger children, you can build in very clear timings such as 10 minutes’ reading followed by 10 minutes’ Lego, role playing, chase games or exercises.

For ages five to eight, this is the hardest age to do yourself. Whether you have one, two or three under-fives, all those situations are uniquely challenging (loneliness, squabbling or constant squabbling).

On the plus side, a lot of the formal learning requirements are things you would do instinctively: communication and language development; fine motor movements; large movements and coordination; reading and writing; counting and adding; shape, space and measures; and expressive arts and design. There is a section on understanding – the world, people and communities, technology – and, sincerely, where would any of us start? The challenges in this age group will be around letting off steam, especially if you can’t leave the house, not being able to socialise, especially for a child without siblings, maintaining concentration, especially your own, and mess.

Keep your timetable realistic. You will not conclude a slime-making session in less than an hour; you will probably not spend more than 10 minutes at a go, reading. Make as much use of your garden as you can (for communication, all motor skills, understanding the world). In the pre- or only just-verbal age group, it’s hard to explain what’s going on in a reassuring way; you can download a really good, illustrated booklet here.

Go to https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/mar/21/try-to-minimise-stress-how-to-home-school-your-child to read more.

Tip on how to use Zoom

Zoom offers robust collaboration and engagement tools as part of its standard free license, including the ability to connect using VoIP or via traditional phone when internet is not available. Administrators, teachers, parents, and students also have access to:

• Unlimited meetings for up to 100 participants • HD audio and video • Screen sharing • Whiteboarding • Annotation • Breakout Rooms • Virtual backgrounds • In-meeting chat • Local recording • Nonverbal feedback

For organisations requiring a more robust feature set and administrative control, Zoom’s Education plan provides the above capabilities and more at a low cost, including:

• Unlimited meetings for up to to 300 participants • Single sign-on (SSO) • LTI integration to support most LMS platforms • Enhanced user management to add, delete, and assign add-on features • Advanced admin controls for enabling/disabling recording, chat, and notifications • 500 MB of cloud recording • Cloud recording transcription • Usage reports to track participation

Here are some additional online resources to help you most effectively use Zoom for virtual education:

Live Zoom training daily: These include sessions specifically highlighting Zoom Meetings for Education (Students & Educators), focusing on using Zoom Meetings as your classroom setting. Zoom Webinar training is also available.

Recorded Zoom training: Watch previously recorded sessions on demand and at your convenience. Several are in German, Japanese, and Korean, in addition to English.

Here are some additional online resources for educators:

Outschool, a marketplace for live online classes, has made available Free Remote Teacher Training Webinars demonstrating how to adapt teaching practices and curriculum to a live video chat classroom. These webinars are led by Outschool’s experienced teachers who have transitioned from in-person to online teaching.

Instructional platform Nearpod is temporarily offering free online learning access to schools impacted by closures. Access includes live weekly webinars, a guide to using Nearpod for distance learning, and lessons on the coronavirus to keep students, teachers, and parents informed.

For more details, go to https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2020/03/06/how-to-use-zoom-for-online-learning/