In 2020, I transferred the Punctuation Show to Facebook Live and also visited lots of schools in a virtual sense through Zoom, Teams and Google Meet (see my comparison of those three platforms here - https://www.thepunctuationshow.com/articles/?post=zoom-ms-teams-or-google-meet-which-is-best-for-your-online-classroom.  I wasn’t sure it would work if I’m being honest, but the feedback I’ve had has been really encouraging.  This experience has put me in the position where I’ve learned one or two tips and tricks about online learning, which others might find useful.It’s often been said that as a teacher, you’re not a performer.  That’s true, but performance is one way you can attract attention and there can’t be any learning without attention. 

Tips From Social Media

Love it or loathe it, social media isn’t going anywhere any time soon.  As educators, we can take some tips from the various platforms. YouTube presenters have been doing this kind of presentation for a long while.  

Three key tips from the various YouTube videos I’ve researched on the topic:

They vary the tone of their voice (no one likes listening to a monotone, boring voice).They use gestures (you don’t need to flail your arms about like an idiot, but some movement is good).Be yourself.  Find your own style and allow your own personality to shine through.

Tips From Streamers

Streamers take this to a whole new level.  According to Social Media experts ‘Sprout Social’, viewers are four times more likely to watch a live video than a pre-recorded video https://sproutsocial.com/insights/facebook-stats-for-marketers/  The technology to help achieve this has reached staggering levels and I intend to do a blog post looking at this in the near future.

Top Tip: Check the Settings Page!

It’s also worth looking at and having a play with the settings of your online learning platform to see what tools they have to make your lessons more engaging.  Click on all of the settings to see what they do - in particular look for a ‘cog’ which will normally allow you to get under the hood to tweak your settings to exactly as you want them.

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