Key Teaching Skills in Online Language Learning

Communication Skills

Firstly, considering there is a lack of real interaction in online teaching, the teacher develops various kinds of communication skills. In my opinion, the most important skill is being empathetic and trying to understand the student. Being empathetic to students means being able to put yourself in their shoes, listening to them actively, and noticing unspoken messages from them. By active listening, I mean the use of gestures to show interest and patience and create a safe and friendly space where students feel confident to share ideas and answers. In the digital classroom, you can not use body language as much as in a physical classroom. Therefore, it is necessary to build skills that will provide a good rapport with the student.

Time Management

Managing the teaching time is another challenge in online teaching. Online lessons are more dynamic and intense, and you can easily lose track of time despite having carefully planned the lesson. As for me, I always make sure to teach different skills in the same lesson to keep a student interested and add more diversity to the lesson. When it comes to time management, the advantage of teaching online is that you can adapt your daily routine as I do. If you are a night owl, like I am, you can easily learn late at night. No matter when you have an online lesson, good time management contributes to overall satisfaction and fulfilment.

Assessing students

Assessing students is more or less similar in both contexts. Make sure that the teacher evaluates your proficiency level at the start. An experienced teacher will also carry out a needs analysis which is an interview that helps the teacher tailor your lessons. Also, providing constructive feedback after each lesson is essential regardless of the way you learn. Online teaching allows a variety of tools for giving productive feedback, such as screencast videos. Accurate feedback helps you overcome your weaknesses and improve your strengths even more. On the other hand, it helps teachers build the student profile and choose the most suitable teaching method for each individual.

Digital Skills

Last but not least, with online learning, you are allowed to choose your own teacher. Choose a professional and skillful teacher who has thoroughly mastered digital tools and has set up an online classroom system where you can access assignments, materials, quizzes, and many more outside your normal class time. Finally, technology threads together all the above-mentioned skills.