We spoke to one of our teachers about her experience teaching online classes, and how she thinks they compare to classes in-person. Check out what she had to say! 

1. What are the benefits of doing an online class from your perspective as a teacher?

Learning online is a great opportunity given that students are able to make the most efficient use of their time: they are able to be calmer since they are in their own environment either at home, the office, or anywhere else. They also have more time to think and look at their notes without feeling pressure from other students in the room. And why not learn one of the most beautiful and most spoken languages in the world while in pajamas?

2. How do you teach the class online?

We use various platforms, either Skype, Whereby or Zoom. Whereby is a very easy platform to use: the teacher invites each student to join the class through a link, and the student simply needs to click that link and they join automatically. It’s very practical since it permits us to work with different resources like YouTube, in order to share videos, songs, websites in Spanish (such as Campus Difusión), and we can even have a virtual blackboard. The image and audio both work very well too. 

3. Are classes still interactive when online?

Yes, the classes are still interactive since we are able to use the video platform. This is fundamental for language classes to be effective for students.

4. Do you think students can still improve their Spanish through online classes?

I’m very sure that learning via online classes has the same effect as the in-person classes, it all comes down to the attitude and motivation of the individual students, which is the same for in-person classes.

5. How are the online classes structured, are they the same as the classes in the school, or are they different?

The online classes are structured in the same way as classes in the school, but I believe the advantage of online classes is that the teacher uses even more resources since they are using the internet throughout the class. This is something that we are currently taking advantage of. 

6. What type of materials are used during the class, and do students need to turn in any assignments?

For the online classes, we use online books, YouTube, songs, websites specifically for learning Spanish, and materials created by the teachers themselves. The Euroace teachers are used to using different Spanish books, movies, songs, games, etc. for all classes since we never stick to one book for a class. This level of creativity is currently helping us transition from the classroom to a virtual classroom with ease.The students need to turn in their homework, yes, but more than anything we continue focusing on conversation during the class. 

7. How do online classes compensate for the differences of face-to-face classes?

Since there are more resources available to make use of when everyone is online, I think that is how the online classes compensate for the in-person classes. I would say they are simply two different methods of learning the language, but they are equally efficient.

For more information about Online Classes, check out more info on our courses here!