Struggling with how to take your subject area online? Join this conversation to see how martial arts, Spanish, chemistry, choir, and more can be taught online. No perfect answer, but plenty of possible solutions. We'll focus our conversation through the lenses of equity and flexibility.

Join me in a "yes/and" approach to remote instruction: how do we approach the skill at hand from a new angle?

Sample Questions from My Course

But what about breaking boards?

How about sparring?

Teaching a language typically focuses on four skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. In an online context, we can easily assume practices for teaching the reading and writing. However, speaking and listening can be challenging. Moreover, with tools like Google Translate, we can be concerned for students doing their own language production and not relying on a tool.

At Penn State, we have a variety of tools that can help with this process: Zoom, Kaltura, VoiceThread, Canvas Quizzes, and so much more. I recommend using VoiceThread as a way to meet the students where they are: they may not always be able to make online classes or have the bandwidth (literally and metaphorically) to support synchronous engagement. Giving them the opportunity to post at their pace can help allay their fears as they work on the acquisition of a new language.

Yes, the above choir is not a real synchronous choir: each individual recorded their part separately and a third party created the end result. However, notice that the majority of the students are wearing headphones: this is demonstrating that they're listening to a track that is giving them the opportunity to recreate their part within the choir. Definitely not perfectly choir, but the end result is certainly splendid.