What are the benefits of Online Teaching and Learning?

Online teaching and learning can be more accessible

The needs and skills of individual learners can be supported effectively online. Class sizes are often smaller, and the methods of taking part and differentiation (tailoring learning instructions to suit the needs of individual students) are more varied. This is helpful for learners who may not be able to attend a physical classroom because, for example, they may feel distracted by their surroundings or by noise, or they might have a medical or wellbeing reason for not being able to. Also, online learning removes the physical barrier to accessing education for many learners. Educators can reach learners from all over the region, the country or even the world. Online teaching and learning can offer opportunities for people in places that are not near a school, providing a high-quality, international education.

Of course, we should also remember that online teaching and learning can only be accessed by those who have the technology to do so, and who are able to use that technology.

Online teaching and learning provides opportunities for innovation

Today’s learners are navigating a world of continuous advances in technology. An online education can develop some of the technical and practical skills they may be expected to learn in the workplace. It is also possible to offer a wider curriculum online and provide subjects that may not be available in all schools. Teachers can be innovative too, by trying out a range of ways to present content, check understanding, carry out group work and experiment with new tools. You can find more guidance in our teaching resource on tools to support remote teaching and learning.

 Working together online nurtures your professional development

Being online can allow teachers and schools to engage with each other more freely. For example, you can attend or watch a recorded version of an online lesson in order to carry out a lesson observation, improve your own practice and share feedback with each other. Recorded lessons can also be used for training purposes.

Online teaching and learning can lead to more efficient use of time

An online education removes the need for travel time which, for some learners, might otherwise add up to several hours in a typical week. They can use this time for extracurricular and other activities. It can also lead to a healthier school-life balance, with more time to spend with family and friends, enjoy the outdoors or get the right amount of sleep for better wellbeing.  Also, lesson time won’t be reduced by moving between activities or disruption caused by behaviour issues.

You can watch this video to hear ideas about what online teaching and learning is and how it might benefit learners:

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Engagement and collaboration

Successful teaching and learning online provides opportunities for active learning, both in pair and group work and individual tasks. It can also meet the needs of individual learners, using formative assessment to monitor how engaged they are and help them progress. 

To use online tools to deliver high-quality teaching and learning, remember that: 

• you should focus on pedagogy and learning, rather than technology; 
• all online tools still need the skill, experience and expertise of a teacher; 
• you may need to use a wider range of approaches and techniques; and
• the tools you choose should be in line with any school eSafety policy. 

The best lesson planning enables learners to achieve short-term and long-term wins. This might be through posing a ‘big question’ or provocation that sparks a conversation or requires critical thinking. It might be diagnostic testing, such as a quick quiz or a review of previous learning. It might be a longer project, where learners have to deliver a presentation on their conclusions. Or it might even be as simple as adding an element of light competition.

The Education Endowment Foundation says that ‘teachers should be supported to consider which approaches are best suited to the content they are teaching and the age of their pupils. For example, games for learning were found to have a high impact on vocabulary learning in foreign languages, but there is less evidence related to their use in other subjects. Likewise, using technology to support retrieval practice and self-quizzing can help pupils retain key ideas and knowledge, but is not a replacement for other forms of assessment.’ You can find more support from the Education Endowment Foundation in their Teaching and Learning Toolkit.

Getting off to a great start

At the beginning of a new year or school term, it is important to build in time to get to know your new class. Getting-to-know-you activities are a great way to start any unit of study. Online, this can be as simple as asking learners to introduce themselves, either verbally or in the chat. You could also display instructions for how you would like them to share a fact about themselves. Or perhaps provide your class with a personality quiz, a series of light-hearted ‘likes and dislikes’ statements or some quick-fire creative writing tasks to share. Encouraging ideas and knowledge from learners, and sharing your own reasons for being passionate about your subject specialism, can also help to create an environment where students are engaged and work together.

Explore behind the screens

In Teaching in the Online Classroom by Doug Lemov and the Teach like a Champion team (2020), Jen Rugani and Kevin Grijalva refer to the teacher’s need to ‘Dissolve the screen … the tool that lets us create vibrant and engaging classroom cultures.’ They explain that to ‘dissolve the screen’ is to engage learners in the discussions, content, tasks and interactions of the lesson without allowing the screen to dominate.

You can use eye contact, gestures and body language in the same way that you would in the classroom. This might include smiling, laughing, leaning into the screen, keeping eye contact and using tone of voice effectively. In a physical classroom you probably would not always be looking to the side (for example, at an online chat feed) while a learner is talking to you, and you probably would not stay seated at your desk for the whole lesson. Try out ways of using effective non-verbal communication online. For example, sitting back in your chair to make a big gesture, leaning in to share a fascinating fact, or referring to the outside world or your own surroundings where appropriate.

According to Judith V Boettcher and Rita-Marie Conrad in The Online Teaching Survival Guide (2016), ‘energy and enthusiasm are infectious. As you share your own excitement, knowledge, curiosity, and questions within your discipline, learners will respond.’

Not only does this kind of interaction engage students and remind them that you care, it also reminds them that they too are contributors to the lesson, that you will personally interact with them, and that they are encouraged to interact with you and each other in this way. Ultimately, the teacher can show students how to be themselves – their true, interactive, individual, unique selves – with each other and with their teacher.

Keep ‘face-to-face’ in place

‘We often assume that a learning community in a face-to-face environment develops spontaneously, as students generally have opportunities to develop friendships. In digital environments, more explicit nurturing and planning is required.’

To make learning online engaging, it is sometimes helpful to have learners visibly present. Then they can see each other, to let the novelty of being ‘on camera’ become normal and allow for the important, non-verbal exchanges that help us all to navigate the lesson. There are crucial care aspects to this, too. Being face-to-face online not only nurtures the social and emotional development of learners, but also helps us to spot those subtle signs that a learner might be struggling. These signs might be behavioural or academic.

However, you should not assume that it is always appropriate to expect that all learners have their cameras on.

There are two important things to consider when it comes to camera use and expectations  online.

1. Online educators should always be familiar with the safeguarding policies at their school when recording lessons, especially if they plan to share those recordings with other schools or institutions. A safeguarding policy will set out what is expected from all members of staff in order to keep all learners safe.
2. The neurodiversity of all learners means that for some, having their camera on might act as a barrier to their learning and wellbeing. You should thoughtfully consider and carefully manage any decisions made about some students having their cameras off, making sure that other members of the class respect and understand this. To genuinely include everyone, you should create opportunities for any learners who don’t have their camera on to still contribute actively to the lesson, possibly in other ways.

Class collaboration

Group and paired activities allow students to work together meaningfully with each other as well as the teacher, and you should include them in lesson planning. In the Online Teaching Survival Guide (2016), Boettcher and Conrad remind us that ‘Building in options and opportunities for students to work together and individually is a key characteristic of good learning design. Variety gives students ways of tapping into their own varied skills and abilities.’

In 2020, the Education Endowment Foundation carried out a rapid evidence assessment, which ‘aimed to investigate methods that schools could use to support remote learning during school closures caused by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19). The review sought to find the best evidence behind the wide array of approaches that schools might choose to use during the crisis.’ One key finding was that ‘peer interactions can provide motivation and improve learning outcomes’. Group and paired activities can be included online as frequently as they would in a physical classroom. Peer work can also act as a transition into group work. For example, a pair of learners can join another pair of learners for the next task.

Once learners have had an opportunity to work together on something, perhaps in a breakout room or with instructions away from the screen and in contact with each other, they can be given an opportunity to present their findings to the rest of the class. Not only will this increase their confidence, but it will also allow you to formatively assess their understanding. Also, lessons are often more engaging when ideas are presented by a variety of different voices, rather than it always being the teacher. For example, teachers can ask students to present or teach a particular topic to the rest of the class.

Before you continue to learn about ways to foster engagement and collaboration in an online environment, watch this video to hear some more ideas:

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Celebrate the joy of learning

One of the most important roles of the teacher is to encourage a love of learning, whatever the subject. Praise given by a teacher is not always about academic achievement – it should also encourage enthusiasm, resilience and self-esteem.

Online lessons can include verbal and written praise that publicly or quietly acknowledges the learning attributes of students. You can either voice this praise during the lesson, present it on the screen or in the chat feed, or perhaps email a parent to praise a learner’s work or conduct.

When learners work well together in a breakout room, ask an insightful question or specifically praise the work of their peers, acknowledge this positively in a way that teaches them the sentiment at the heart of any subject: it is not always about what you are learning, sometimes it is about what kind of learner you are.

Accessibility

Any lesson – online or in person – should be designed with accessibility in mind. Many learners may not engage fully because they cannot access information or instructions. Online material must keep to the accessibility guidelines agreed by your school and not overwhelm learners.

From the start, you should consider how to include all learners, not just the ‘average learner’ with added special arrangements for some individuals. Making the learning accessible to everyone is a better and fairer approach and will save time in the long run.

Here is an example of how you might reflect on how content is presented in your online lesson.

• Are the line breaks of all titles and texts well judged?

For instance, it is best to avoid one word being left to sit on the next line. Similarly, try to break up sentences onto a new line when there is a natural opportunity.

• Is there a manageable amount of text on each slide?

Too much written text on a screen at once can often overwhelm learners.

• Is the text positioned carefully?

It is often helpful to align written text to the left of the screen, rather than down the centre or on the right. Also, make sure that the text and images are not crowding each other.

• Is there a manageable amount and combination of colour and images on each slide?

Some combinations of colours cannot be accessed on a screen. Also, when text is presented on top of or surrounded by images, it needs to be positioned carefully so that it can be easily read.

• Are the fonts accessible?

Make sure that your school agrees on a range of font sizes, as well as a bank of font styles that you agree are accessible for all learners.

It is also worth checking the software you use to create resources to see if it includes an accessibility checker.

• Encourage parents to get involved

In any learner’s education, parents and carers play a vital role. In online teaching and learning, when schools involve parents and carers in understanding what children are learning, and report on when children are succeeding or struggling in a particular area, it can have a positive effect. It is helpful to regularly tell parents or carers about assignment topics and deadlines and provide them with links to curriculum and revision content. You could also invite them to attend a webinar in which teachers and school leaders can outline the expectations they have of parents and carers and the support available to them.

Communication between teachers and parents is important and beneficial, but teacher workload and parent demands should always be considered. Also, although online education offers the opportunity for some parents to be present in lessons, it might be overwhelming for this to happen too often. So, telling parents or students when and how often this is helpful is a good idea. For example, parents can be invited to attend a specific online lesson to watch their child take part in an activity, but they would not be expected to attend. Class blogs or web pages are also a good way for parents and carers to be involved in their children’s education.

Inevitably, when children learn online, they will be less active than if they were making their way to and around school. You need to deliberately build movement into or around learning time and give parents guidance on how to help. This might include walks from the doorstep, exercise routines, stretches or active playtime. It is just as important for parents to check that their child’s working area at home is set up correctly. Children should be able to sit in a correct posture, reach everything comfortably and have the top of their screen at their eyeline.

Always consider the physical and mental health of teachers and learners

Research has shown that the wellbeing of teachers and learners is central to performance and academic achievement. Wellbeing is about how we feel and function, which is related to the opportunities we are given to succeed, our motivation and our sense of self-worth. In any school context, there should be a ‘whole learner’ approach to understanding academic outcomes, which includes learners’ social and emotional state.

Here are some strategies you can use online to support the mental and physical wellbeing of teachers and learners:

Socialisation – provide informal opportunities for staff to interact with each other, as well as for learners to interact with each other in and outside of lessons.

Screen time – monitor the workload and working hours of teachers and learners so that they are not at their workstation or device for long periods.

Diet – give parents, teachers and learners advice about healthy lifestyles and educate them about the importance of a balanced diet, exercise, daily routine nutrition and staying hydrated.

Physical activity – include breaks in the online school schedule so that learners can  get some fresh air and do some physical activity.

Posture – encourage learners to maintain a healthy posture, so that their eyesight, joints and muscles are not put under strain by them staying in the same position for too long. Also think about your own posture.

Growth mindset – make sure that an online environment is a safe place to ask for help, make mistakes and enjoy learning. Praise, working together and effective feedback all play a vital role in increasing the motivation of both learners and teachers.

Policy and practice – develop a whole-school policy on looking after each other’s wellbeing, and regularly evaluate what is going on in practice and its effect on learning and teaching.

You can find more information in our education brief on learner wellbeing.

Online assessment

Online schools should have procedures in place for formal, end-of-year or end-of-unit assessments, otherwise known as summative assessments. However, formative assessment, involving checking for understanding and helping learners to progress, takes place continually throughout online lessons in a variety of ways.

Quick checks

Formative assessment takes place in small ways throughout lessons and activities, often as effective questioning, quizzes, correcting an answer, a show of hands or work, or helping a learner overcome a problem. All of these familiar classroom activities help you assess how learners feel about a task, which learners might be struggling, and which learners are ready to advance further. They can also be done online.

Online polling can also be a great way to check the understanding of the whole class, uncover misconceptions and help you plan for the next lesson. You can do this by a simple hands-up and number count, using the number of ‘likes’ on a chat comment, or using a software polling tool.

Formative assessment online

Formative assessment plays an important role in teaching and learning. You can find guidance on this in our ‘Getting started with’ guide and education brief on assessment for learning. Online, you can use formative assessment effectively, through online tools, diagnostic testing, self-assessment, peer assessment, success criteria, breakout rooms, chat tools and effective questioning.

These strategies can also help you set the level to pitch the lesson at, by collecting learners’ responses about the tasks. If a task is too easy, learners will become disengaged. If tasks are too challenging, learners may feel overwhelmed or lose the motivation to persevere. We can notice the response of learners and adapt tasks, either at the time or when planning future lessons.

Submitting work

Routines and clarity are important when it comes to submitting work online. You should  give learners instructions about how to submit their work, with clear deadlines. Ideally, this should be through one portal (whether this is an assignment submission tool or just email). This will help you to manage your workload, too. It avoids having to manage several forms of contact, and it also makes it clear how and when learners can contact you online.

From the beginning of the first assignment collections, you should have in place a record-keeping system that builds a picture of learners’ organisation, attainment and progress.

Providing feedback

How effective any kind of verbal or written feedback is often depends on how clear the  initial expectations are for the task itself. You should always make sure that you clearly display expectations on-screen and repeat them verbally before learners begin a task, whether it is a whole-class, group or individual task. Therefore, when you or other students give feedback, it can relate directly back to the success criteria, providing learners with specific ideas for improvement.

According to Ross Morrison McGill in Mark. Plan. Teach (2021), ‘feedback should improve the learner, not the piece of work.’ So remember that the feedback we give to learners should be focused on their attitude to online learning as well as the quality of the work they produce.

Watch this video to hear some reflections about assessing in an online environment:

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Glossary

Accessibility

The quality of something being made easy to understand or use.

Asynchronous

Online learning that the learner accesses according to their own schedule, rather than attending live.

Blended

All students doing their learning  partly in the physical classroom and partly online.

Breakout room

A meeting area for learners to work together in a small group online, separate from the rest of the class but still able to be accessed by the teacher.

Chat feed

The record of written responses contributed by learners during an online lesson.

Chat tool

An area, often at the side of the screen, for learners to contribute written responses throughout an online lesson.

Growth mindset

The ability to accept challenges and setbacks as valuable opportunities to learn and grow.

Hybrid

Lessons that are attended by some learners physically in the room and by others online at the same time.

Oracy

The skills involved in using spoken language to communicate effectively.

Pedagogy

The methods and practices of teaching and learning, including how the educational environment is managed, the resources and activities provided, and the type of educational interactions which take place.

Polling

An online function that enables the quick collection of views and opinions in the form of a table or graph.

Safeguarding

The actions taken to promote the welfare of learners and protect them from harm.

Synchronous

An online lesson attended by the teacher and learners at the same time, in the same virtual meeting place.

User analytics

Information (often in the form of data) that shows the extent to which learners are engaging with online content.