Online teaching is hot skill now, but what does it take to get there?

Representative Image

“Arey, ma’am ka photo aa gaya,” (Look the teacher is on screen) a  few 10-year-old children titter as their teacher, Mala Ranganathan, logs into a video class in Kolkata.

For these children, phones and laptops are just entertainment gadgets, and Zoom and Microsoft Teams an extension of that.

“Children take it very lightly. They will keep looking at themselves on the screen and turn their microphones on and off randomly,” 32-year-old Ranganathan says.

Welcome to the sometimes frustrating, sometimes amusing, but always challenging world of online teaching.

COVID-19 has made online learning the mainstream overnight. From schools to colleges to tutorials, teachers are adapting to the new normal -- some by choice, some because of the lack of choice. As a result, online teaching has become one of the most important skills to acquire during the pandemic.

Does online teaching require special skills?

It does. To begin with, on digital platforms, teachers are advised to provide lucid content- in short points and systematically broken down.

“Kids can lose interest at any point. A teacher must be sensitive to that. High energy, fluency of language, vocal intonation, and gesturing help. Besides communication, an online teacher must be equipped with tactics, games, and activities to bring back drifting attention,” explains Anshul Bhagi, co-founder and CEO of Camp K12.

Camp K12 mainly teaches coding for kids aged in the 6-18 age bracket.

A college professor said that in distance learning, he has to be entertaining, almost akin to an actor or comedian. He did not want to be named.

No wonder, some companies are even hiring media professionals and theatre actors to train online educators -- on how to face the camera, how to keep eye contact, and use voice modulation.

“The focus is on the delivery side and the personality of the teacher,” Anand Prakash, co-founder and head of academics at Vedantu,

points out. To this effect, ed-tech start-ups monitor each class to see the ‘personality’ of the teacher.

Vedantu provides live coaching classes for K12 (Kindergarten to Class 12) students, and for entrance exams such as IIT JEE and NEET.

“Our screening process involves multiple video rounds that test a teacher’s performance in real-world settings. We look for a base level of communication skills, patience, pedagogical savvy, and ability to connect with a child,” Bhagi adds.

WhiteHat Jr and Unacademy have staff specifically monitoring doubts in the comments section. The sudden switchover from physical classesis not without technical challenges.

Many teachers are subject experts, but new to technology. “Some of the older teachers have a difficult time adjusting. Where to check for the WiFi? If the internet is not working, how do I solve that? How to save the phone battery? This dents their confidence,” says Ranganathan.

“Online teaching requires higher skills. Internet connections can drop at any time, audio or video lags occur frequently and teachers need to hold their calm and be able to diagnose such issues on both sides – students’ as well as teachers’,” says Bhagi.

The early stars

Some of the entrance exam coaching centres in India have already proved that online coaching can be a hit. In fact, many online teachers from Kota, the hub of engineering entrance exam coaching, are stars in their own right – with their unique formulas to crack exams.

As a result, even offline teachers, who have so far used online platforms only for part-time income, are starting to realise its full potential.

This trend is being seen even in the post-COVID regular school and college teaching.

“Students are choosing teachers who have been online for a long period of time. They want experience. Teachers are also adapting because they see this is the future,” said Prakash.

Learning the three Rs in future

 In a post-Covid world, when offline education resumes, it may never be the same again. Social distancing may still be required, and sports and athletics may be the last to return to schools.

“Once students come back to classes, whenever that be, I wonder whether parents’ number one concern will go from ‘Is my child paying attention?’ to ‘Did my child touch anyone else?,’ Ranganathan says.

Reopening of schools and colleges, however, will not put paid to online learning now. In fact, many ed-tech firms believe that online learning is here to stay in some form or the other hereon.