COVID-19- Reflections on teaching and learning through remote teaching

By Nafisah Graham-Brown – NATECLA co-chairLast week I attended the first of the NATECLA webinars to support ESOL teachers during this period of online teaching. The webinar was Wellbeing for ESOL Practitioners and one of the slides Rachel had presented was taken from an NHS training slide published on Twitter. The first line read: "You are not 'Working from Home', you are at home, during a crisis, trying to work'. (Working Remotely- COVID-19 Principles*)" I was struck by this. We had been working and teaching remote for two months. Managers and tutors alike had been working hard trying to re-create physical learning experiences online, or by phone, for ESOL students. As colleagues, we had been trying to maintain work relationships as the reality of the workload associated with doing things online/remotely started to sink in. I have said more than once that anyone who thought that online learning meant less workload, was more efficient, and costed less was severely uninformed and had probably not considered subjects such as ESOL, English or Functional Skills! What I saw was that remote teaching was taking up much more teacher time, required smaller groups, shorter and more frequent sessions, and more administration. This was before looking at the issue of accessibility, not just for the applicants and students, but also for teaching teams and organisational IT systems. Framing working during COVID as 'trying to work during a crisis period' allowed us to acknowledge that we could all only do our best in the situation. That being said ESOL teachers have been trying to deliver the best learning they can, evidenced through participation on twitter (#ESOLchat), online forums (ESOL Research Network) and organisational teacher communications.Last week Sam Shepherd, NATECLA's previous Language Issues editor, posted an article online called The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning**. I found this article really interesting and have been mulling over its content. As the authors point out, online learning is a learning practice in itself, with key principles. What we're probably doing right now in ESOL teaching is not quite 'online learning' but more akin to what the article described as 'emergency remote teaching' (ERT). Predominantly aimed at HE, the article explains the differences between the two (lead-time for development and preparation, the creation/existence of an ecosystem of online support to go with online learning, lecturers who are confident in delivering online etc). The main point is that online learning is well-thought through, developed with time and consideration for pedagogy related to learning, and not simply repackaging a curriculum for online delivery.Thinking of current online teaching as ERT is important, as we need to be kind to ourselves for the sake of our wellbeing to be able to carry on through what may be a long process of re-opening. The article goes on to suggesting how we might evaluate our ERT. Although the idea of 'monitoring' or 'inspecting' of teaching is definitely not one I would advocate at present, I think it is really important for us to reflect, review and in doing so evaluate what's working in ERT and what we need to think about to do our best for our learners at least over the next six months, possibly up to a year. The article suggests a CIPP model (context, inputs, process, and products) which I think is helpful for teachers and managers to use as a framework to discuss current organisational practices. There are a number of suggested implications for organisations. To me the most important part is supporting the reflection and feedback by students, teachers and staff involved in supporting the delivery of ERT. With the likelihood that we will continue to have to deliver learning through remote means, I feel that we owe it to our students to start thinking about how to improve the online learning experience, even if we don't have the lead-in time of 6-9 months that bona fide online learning programmes do. This may require honest conversations about our students' IT and data needs and how organisations might make plans to help them; how staff remote-working conditions might need to improve (e.g. appropriate devices for tutors, assessment of desk/chair heights etc for health and safety); training needs for staff who may not be as confident using online tools; CPD by online learning specialists about what is effective; and real conversations about the accessibility of VLEs for ESOL students who have low or no IT and English skills (possibly doing some user experience work).I think organisations will need to put pressure on the government rethink funding rates for FE under the single activity matrix (which have not increased since 2013/14). If under social distancing rules we are now only able to have a maximum of 10-12 students in a classroom (depending on size), what will that mean to the viability of running a programme if colleges previously required 20-25 students for a class to run? (One solution suggested was that there could be a rota system, with one half coming in on one day and the other half learning remote, switching later in the week. However, it would probably be impossible for a teacher to teach both online, and in person at the same time.) What might the implications be on funding if some learning has to remain online, and other sessions-in-person? What are the implications on future course design and attendance (e.g. asynchronous courses to enable students to join at different times)? What are the implications on staffing? We need courses that are well-funded so we can have the teachers and tech we need to develop good online teaching or blended learning courses.Over the past 6 years, with the lack of funding for ESOL, there are many voluntary ESOL programmes across the country. Voluntary ESOL provision has enabled many people to access ESOL where there aren't places on courses run by paid teachers. Most of these are additional activities that can supplement and run alongside formal ESOL provision. There are some programmes that engage volunteers to teach ESOL due to lack of funding eligibility or availability due to geographical spread***. Voluntary ESOL programmes rely on the goodwill of volunteers. At a time when ERT is required, volunteers need to be supported so they are able to get training to deliver support online/via remote means. This means additional funding and support for those organisations running voluntary ESOL programmes. The requirements of online and remote contact with students are much higher than when in face-to-face interactions, and it is important for us as a profession to recognise this.Coming back to the article, the final section highlighted that the ability to move to ERT could be considered a necessary skill set in our uncertain future. It has been amazing how fast ESOL teachers reacted to the situation back in March and moved classes online or worked quickly to provide remote support. We should not forget the steps we had to take, stages we had to go through and materials we have had to produce to enable us to quickly move to ERT. As part of contingency planning, we will need to be realistic about the possibility of future climate and health related crises. As a profession I am confident that through the online support I have seen over the past couple of months, we can retain, reflect and share, and develop this knowledge together. NATECLA's regional branches are hosting forums to enable ESOL practitioners to come together and support each other. We have a series of webinars, the next one being 'Remote ESOL teaching with little or no technology', on the 4th June 2020, and we will be hosting a virtual conference on the 4th July 2020. We hope you can join ESOL practitioners across the country at our forums and CPD events.Book here for Remote ESOL teaching with little or no technology Webinar. *the original author of the COVID-19 principles for remote working is Jonathan Lundberg Twitter: @techjonathan)**Authors: Charles Hodges, Stephanie Moore, Barb Lockee, Torrey Trust and Aaron Bond Published on Educause.***Volunteers who are teaching ESOL (and doing the job of a paid ESOL teacher) should be paid for their teaching, a position that NATECLA has always advocated for.