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How to be a great online learner

Toolkit: How to be a great online learner

Do you use the free online resources on the TeachingEnglish website to support your professional development as a teacher?

This printable poster, which is part of our professional development toolkit, helps you get the most from your online learning. It offers a checklist of points to follow based on five key principles for effective learning – empowerment, purposefulness, resourcefulness, interaction and reflection.

Download poster – How to be a great online learner

Watch the video below to find out more about how this checklist will help you get the most from your online learning.

Watch how to be a great online learner

Transcript – How to be a great online learner

NARRATOR: How to be a great online learner. [Uplifting background music] [On screen: How to be a great online learner]

As teachers, you facilitate learning every day. But what about your own professional development? Let's look at how TeachingEnglish can help you learn online in a way that works for you. Whether you have five minutes or five hours, we have options that will suit your needs. Use TeachingEnglish to help you follow five key principles for effective online learning [On screen: 5 key principles Morris, 2019; Louws et al., 2017].

Be empowered [On screen: Be empowered]. Make decisions about what you learn by identifying your professional development needs. Then choose a pathway that suits you and the time you have.

Be purposeful [On screen: Be purposeful]. Choose what to learn based on what you need in your teaching [On screen: How can I use AI in my lessons?]. Use the TeachingEnglish search tool to find relevant teaching and learning resources.

Be resourceful [On screen: Be resourceful]. Save resources that resonate with your needs and interests. Keep a reminder of events or important dates.

Be interactive [On screen: Be interactive]. Connect with other educators, get support and share your learning in one of our online communities. Ask questions [On screen: How do I manage large classes?] and share your own experiences [On screen: In my class in Nigeria, I put my 80 learners into smaller groups.].

Be reflective [On screen: Be reflective]. Check in with yourself [On screen: What went well and what didn't?] and what you're learning [On screen: What did I learn?]. Use a reflective cycle to apply new ideas, assess their impact and adjust your approach. TeachingEnglish supports you to become a great online learner: empowered [On screen: Empowered], purposeful [On screen: Purposeful], resourceful [On screen: Resourceful], interactive [On screen: Interactive] and reflective [On screen: Reflective] in your professional development. Because great teachers never stop learning [On screen: Great teachers never stop learning].

Poster text

How to be a great online learner

To be a successful online learner, you need to be motivated, organised and able to manage your own learning. Use the checklist below and TeachingEnglish resources to help you follow five key principles for effective learning.

Empowerment

I am able to make my own decisions about what I learn.
I know when and how I learn best and plan accordingly.
I have the confidence to change my plan if needed.

Purposefulness

I have clear learning goals that match my teaching needs.
I am aware of current TeachingEnglish themes, courses and events and how they fit with my interests and priorities.
I set small goals, like reading one online article or finishing one course module.

Resourcefulness

I use at least three learning resources, like courses, articles, or online communities.
I plan my study time and set myself deadlines.
I evaluate my learning tools every three months to see if they still help me.

Interaction

I take part in online discussions or communities of practice.
I share my learning with an online community or teachers in my context.
I ask for feedback from other teachers or my learners at least once per course.

Reflection

I check my progress every month and change my learning plan if needed.
I write down important things I learn from articles, webinars, courses, etc.
I keep a learning journal and update it regularly.

I want to be a good English teacher from online

I want to me more empowered, purposeful, resourceful, interactive and reflective in my teaching profession.

How do I start online teaching?

Hi AmeenaAhmad

Thanks for your comment.

If you are a teacher interested in starting teaching online, you might find these resources useful:

An article on getting started in online teaching:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/teachers/using-digital-technologies/remote-teaching-guidance/getting

Some remote teaching tips:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/publications/resource-books/remote-teaching-tips

And some guidance for teaching online in different contexts:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/teachers/using-digital-technologies/remote-teaching-guidance/lesson

You might also want to take a look at our new free training course, Digital competences for teaching English, which looks at the use of digital technology in teaching - you can find out more and sign up here:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/training/courses/digital-competences-teaching-english

I hope you find these resources useful!

Thanks,
Cath

TeachingEnglish team

I am O level pakistan studies teacher and have 20plus years experince of teaching physical and online .Now, I am passionate to start my purposeful career by teaching online O level English subject teacher .
How can I achieve my this valuable aims and objective to become successful online teacher .

Hi XOROX

Thanks for your comment - I'll share with you the same resources for getting started teaching online:

An article on getting started in online teaching:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/teachers/using-digital-technologies/remote-teaching-guidance/getting

Some remote teaching tips:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/publications/resource-books/remote-teaching-tips

And some guidance for teaching online in different contexts:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/teachers/using-digital-technologies/remote-teaching-guidance/lesson

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/training/courses/digital-competences-teaching-english

I hope you find these resources useful!

Cath

TeachingEnglish team

Really I interested so much in reading all the topics in professional Development toolkit, l read many things that thought how to empower and reflecting the resources, besides study and evaluating classroom and learners.

I am the same as you and teaching EFL online in personalized classes, successes.

t’s great to connect with another teacher doing personalized online EFL lessons! Have you found any useful tools from this platform to design your custom classes

I totally understand your aspiration. This toolkit is really helpful for teachers who want to improve themselves, as it covers all key skills including self-directed learning and learner assessment

Hello everyone, I'm an online EFL with personalized classes, so very interested on these marvellous courses, training, tools, as they're quite useful in my tasks. Thank you.

I share the same feeling with you. These resources really bring great convenience to online EFL teachers who provide customized lessons

How to Be a Great Online Learner
To be a great online learner, three key points matter most. First, self-discipline is the core—stick to a study routine, create a quiet space and resist temptations to keep efficient. Unlike offline classes, online learning needs more self-management to avoid procrastination. Second, be actively involved in every course

Your analysis of online learning is very thorough. I’d like to add the third key point you haven’t finished: we should take the initiative to communicate with teachers and classmates through online forums. Timely discussion can solve learning confusion in time, which greatly improves our learning results. Apart from self-management, regular self-review is also essential for online learners.

Hello everyone! It is a big and amazing pleasure to be part of this enormous family around the world and improve always my teaching skills and professional development. Hugs

This article is very helpful to me. I had already put in to some platforms and I am rounding up a 3 months internship with a company.
Thank you for these wonderful tips!

Hi everyone, i am new on this plattform and i want to work on my accent {English}. I want to take the job of an English teacher, but fisrt and foremost i really need to work on my accent which is the main reason of taking this online course. Please, where do i start from?

I love this article because, I want to know how I can help my learners.

I have learned a lot during the process of course. Glad I've found this site!

Hi Keziah
We're happy to hear that - we hope you find out other resources useful!
Cath - TeachingEnglish team

To be a good teacher,you have to be a good learner,and learning online is a way to improve when you take those 5 steps.....Thanks for the article it was educative and reflective.