10 Tips for Teaching Online Lessons
I’m somewhat of a grandfather of online teaching, having given my first lessons through my computer back in 2011. Ever since, I’ve supplemented my in-person teaching here in NYC with online voice and Alexander Technique lessons, averaging about one to a half dozen a day, with students all over the world. I’m grateful now during this pandemic that I have had time to master the art of remote teaching, as even my student who lives downstairs from me has in effect become remote with social distancing.
In the early days of Skype (the first online platform I used), the connection was unreliable and choppy, offering a jerky moving (and often frozen) image along with a distorted soundtrack that tended to fade in and out. Nowadays, we are blessed with technology that allows us to hear and see each other so well on our computers and mobile devices that you can sometimes forget that you’re not actually in the same room with your student. And we have myriad options of platform: a much-improved Skype, Zoom (my go-to), FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Instagram, and more.
As teachers everywhere scramble to convert their brick-and-mortar studios to online studios, there has been a proliferation of technical advice, so I’m not going to repeat that information here. You can do a Google search to figure out how to adjust your settings, light yourself attractively, and purchase the right mic and headphones. What I’d like to share here is more pedagogical: tips for creating the most vibrant online lessons based on the experience of a decade of online teaching and informed by two decades of teaching in general.
Don’t try to replicate your in-person teaching online. It’s a different medium altogether, calling for a different flavor of your creativity and different structures. Ever seen a movie that was just a film of a stage performance? It felt rather flat, didn’t it, in its disregard for the possibilities of cinematography. Think of how much it adds to the film version of The Sound of Music when we get to see footage of Maria twirling around in the actual Alps. In the same way, giving yourself over to the medium of online teaching will release new aspects of your teaching that might amaze you so much YOU will be twirling around in delight.
If you think of online teaching as a second-rate substitute for in-person teaching, you’re likely to teach second-rate lessons. Instead, allow your creativity to explore what can happen when you and your student connect online. This can be tough when you convert a former in-person student to online. You’ll both arrive with expectations of what has always been. Enjoy putting these expectations aside—and encouraging your student to do the same—and discovering together some fresh possibilities.
Take advantage of the focus. When you and your student peer into your screens, the outside world tends to drop away. We often see this effect as a detriment which disrupts our connection with our environment, but in the case of lessons, it can enhance our focus on the activity at hand. I have students with short attention spans in my studio who are able to maintain focus much better during online lessons. I’m also likely to be less distracted myself by stimuli in my real-world environment.
Revel in the enhanced observation. In real life, it would be creepy to stare at your students with unbroken gaze for extended periods. But in online teaching, you can stare unremittingly at whatever detail of the students’ performance you find useful—and they won’t even know what you’re looking at! I have noticed that most students are less self-conscious when we meet online. (The flip side of this is that people in your students’ real-world environments may also be watching or overhearing their lessons. It’s important to encourage students to find a time and place that they can work comfortably without unwanted third-party observation.)
Try a simple, spacious approach. An online lesson is an invitation to slow down from our normal pace of life. Out of this slowing down—physical, mental, and emotional—you and your students are likely to have insights and make connections that go by unnoticed at normal tempo. Online, you might allow more space between repetitions of an exercise, giving your students a chance to draw their own conclusions and gain agency in their learning process.
Observe yourself as well as your student. We Alexander teachers have made this a core aspect of our teaching. In attending to our own state of being, we are likely to notice more about the student as well and to become more effective at communication and connection. I have come to value my own image on the screen that is offered by most online teaching platforms. It provides a constant reminder to check in with myself and offers visual and auditory clues as to my current state via posture, facial expression, vocal quality.
Give yourself breaks. When I spend too much uninterrupted time teaching online, my system sends up signals. I become agitated, grouchy, stiff in my joints, blurry-eyed, head-achy. You might discover that you need to program in more recovery time between lessons than you are used to in live teaching. Fifteen minutes away from the screen can be a blessedly restorative interlude. Also helpful is giving yourself—and your students—permission to move during lessons. We can listen to our bodies to feel what they want and move accordingly. This tends to enhance, rather than detract from our ability to pay attention.
Explore group teaching. Once you’re online in a platform such as Zoom, it’s no big deal to invite more than one student at a time to the learning experience. Online groups are perfect for hosting master classes, group lessons, and discussion groups. And you can easily create a sense of community among your students, many of them perhaps not yet acquainted but probably sharing common interests and perspectives. What a blessing we can be when we bring folks together for nurturing connection in this time of social distancing.
Forget accompanying your student. The engineers are madly working on overcoming the lag that affects all current online platforms, but for now, you’re simply not going to be able to play or sing along with your students in real time. But this can become a boon to your teaching: freed from making your own sounds, you will be able to focus in more acutely on what your students are doing. You may be shocked at how much more you notice.
Feel the gratitude. I find that my best teaching comes out of the spirit of love. Contemplating what I am grateful for fosters this kind of loving presence. I am grateful for all the gifts that have come to me from my online teaching. I appreciate the connection with faraway students I might never have otherwise met. I appreciate being able to teach in my comfy (offscreen) pants. I appreciate the widening of my potential client base, allowing me to share what I’m passionate about with more people. I appreciate how the challenges of mastering another teaching paradigm have invigorated my curiosity and creativity and made me a better teacher, both online and in person. I wish for you a similar broadening of your horizons and expansion into greatness.
In love and song,
Michael
Note: My experience teaching privately has been greatly inspired by the collaborative teaching I’ve done with my colleagues at Total Vocal Freedom, in particular TVF Founder, Peter Jacobson. I suggest you check out our offerings if you want to observe highly effective online group and individual teaching in the context of a vibrant online community. And feel free to contact me or comment below if you have questions about how to bring your teaching brilliance into a new medium.