How To Train Teachers for a Virtual Classroom

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The coronavirus pandemic has prompted educators around the world to step up their commitment to students, seeking new ways to provide online instruction and support. From universities to yoga studios, educational institutions are increasingly turning to free virtual classrooms for online teaching and learning. This move to remote learning requires remarkable agility from administrators and leaders, who in many cases are scrambling to train a large group of teachers very quickly for the transition.

At Manhattan Prep, we’ve offered online courses and tutoring for the past fifteen years, and we’ve taught on Zoom for the past two. Still, when the coronavirus struck, we needed to act fast. Many of our instructors taught exclusively in person, and we wanted them ready to teach online as quickly as possible. From that experience, we’ve developed some guidelines for anyone looking to quickly train a large number of faculty members in online teaching (particularly through Zoom, which offers free virtual classroom platforms).

Planning the Training

We know you want to act fast, but planning is still your best friend. Your teacher training program will be more efficient and effective if it closely matches the needs of your instructors. Here’s what you can do:

  • Assess your instructors’ readiness. Survey your instructors to determine their experience with the virtual classroom platform you’ll be using, their tech setups are like, and their concerns with online teaching. For example, what devices will your instructors be using to teach—tablets, PCs, or Macs? Platforms sometimes have different interfaces for different operating systems. Do any of your instructors have dual monitors? These can be extremely helpful in providing extra real estate while teaching online, but you’ll also want to know how to guide these instructors. 
  • Plan for differing needs. Some of your instructors may need to be able to stream audiovisual content, while others may want to use online writing tools, such as Google Docs. Learn about your instructors’ typical teaching methods, and consider the easiest ways to mimic those with virtual tools.
  • Find your experts. You’ll need tech expertise, of course, but you’ll also benefit from the perspectives of folks who’ve done some online teaching or remote learning. Bring in your best online teachers to help design your training and serve as mentors to less experienced teachers. If you don’t have any experts, you might invite a few tech-savvy teachers to act as “pioneers,” experimenting with the platform informally and reporting back to other instructors. 
  • Plan the content of your training. It’s natural to focus on the tech aspects of teaching online, but you’ll also want to consider issues like effective teaching strategies  (link to Jonathan’s post), classroom management (link to Ally’s other post), security, and access for students.
  • Choose your format. Use the needs of your instructor corps to guide your choice. Consider:
    • A video training, followed by a live training: An efficient “flipped lesson” allows individuals to learn the basics on their own. Then, they can use the live training for clarifications and troubleshooting.
    • Small group training sessions: If your instructors have diverse needs, you may wish to create a few separate training sessions for different groups. For example, one training might be designed for math instructors, while another is designed for P.E. instructors. Or you might differentiate by level, providing a “basic intro” as well as an “advanced training.”
    • Mentorship Model: Consider training a small group of supportive, tech-savvy instructors, then partnering them with other instructors to provide 1:1 tutorials.
  • Create an accountability check. How will you know that your instructors are ready to teach online? Consider creating a quiz or skills check, like a recording in which the instructors demonstrate their ability to use virtual tools.

Implementing the Training

It can feel overwhelming to train a large group of teachers on a tool that you may have only incomplete mastery of yourself. Keep in mind that you should:

  • Be prepared to say “I don’t know.” It’s okay if you can’t answer every question immediately. Record the questions that you don’t have an answer to and develop a plan for follow-through. Let your instructors know that you’re learning along with them.
  • Set the right tone. Keep in mind that some instructors will find the switch to online courses intimidating (Can we link this to Misti’s blog post?). Remind your instructors that what makes a good teacher in-person will also make a good teacher online. If their students can hear them and see them, they can deliver useful instruction, even if it’s not quite the same as an in-person class. 
  • Make your training interactive. No matter how thoroughly you plan, it will be hard to perfectly anticipate everything your teachers will need. Make sure there’s room for teachers to ask questions, whether that’s through a Q & A in a live training or through an “Any Questions?” item on a training quiz.

Follow-Up

A one-time training won’t be enough to meet all of your instructors’ needs. Once everyone’s received basic training, consider some follow-up measures:

  • Create opportunities to practice. Encourage teachers to get together to use the platform informally, and provide them with checklists of web-based teaching tools they should master before their first online course.
  • Offer coaching. Whether they come from a peer or a supervisor, observations and coaching can help instructors know what’s going well in their online teaching and bring to light improvements they could make to be more effective teachers. 
  • Create support systems. Email threads or regularly scheduled small-group meetings can allow instructors to seek advice on challenges as they come up.
  • Plan additional training sessions. Keep your instructors’ enthusiasm strong by planning advanced training sessions and collaborative meetings that allow them to showcase their online teaching moves.

Need additional support? Reach out to Manhattan Prep!

Ally Bell is a Manhattan Prep Instructor who lives in San Francisco, CA. Ally served as a public school teacher for nine years, teaching primarily middle school English, history, and reading. Along the way, she earned a master’s degree in Reading Education from University of Virginia, served as the department chair in two schools, and presented at the National Council for Teachers of English annual conference. She now uses her experience as a teacher leader in her roles as the Manager of Training Programs and Instructor Manager at Manhattan Prep.