Since the beginning of May I have been teaching English online and by far one of the most useful resources I have found are the interactive videos available on ISLCollective. These videos have been a life saver for me as my classes are two hours long and I am solely responsible for the content of each lesson (with a list of grammar points to work from being my only guide).
The reason I love these video lessons so much is that they are the most engaging way I’ve found to test the students knowledge at the end of a lesson. The usual way to do this in class would be to sit them down with a worksheet, possibly in a pair, and let them work through it but I don’t find this useful in online lessons. I still use short worksheets and gap-fill exercises in my online classes but not in the same way I would in a regular class. With these interactive videos the students are invested in getting the answer correct because they have the option of playing in casino mode. Each question if worth a certain amount of “money” and so they really don’t want to lose out on the chance to win. They don’t just have to be for testing for comprehension at the end of a lesson either; they also make a great break out activity and, because they can be on any topic you choose, they can also be used to introduce an idea to the class. Best of all is the fact that the students love them, especially if you find a way to incorporate their favourite characters into the lesson!
If you want to know how to create an interactive video then I made a video explaining how, which you can watch below:
I honestly can’t praise these videos enough and they will definitely be a staple of my online lessons going forward and may even make it into my in-class lessons when everything opens back up again. If you have any tips for teaching online then please leave a comment below, I would be very grateful for any new ideas!
For more TEFL tips check out one of my previous posts:
- Warmers and Coolers for an topic
- My favourite games to play with middle schoolers
- How to set rules in the classroom
To make an interactive video on ISLCollective follow this link:
Well Travelled Lass 
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