Отзывы о Upgrade Your Online Teaching Skills Course

"Having practically no previous experience in online teaching, which is becoming more and more popular these days both for individual and group teaching/learning, I grasped the opportunity timely provided by BKC-ih and embarked on the 6 Feb – 2 Apr 2024 course “Upgrade Online Teaching Skills” delivered by Heather Belgorodtseva, Director of Studies of the BKC Teacher Training Centre. At the beginning, I was concerned about possible technical problems that might have hindered the progress with the course. However, all the needed help was quickly provided either by the Trainer herself or the BKC technical team. The course exceeded all my expectations! It was very well thought-over and structured. The Trainer prepared the whole wealth of video tutorials on how to use different online platforms for successful online teaching. At the two most widely used platforms – Zoom and Teams – we looked more thoroughly in practice. During the first sessions Heather showed us and we practised such important online functions as sharing the screen, showing reactions, using the whiteboard, using the group chat, using breakout rooms. Then we were shown how to use various online Tools like Wordwall, Jamboard, Quizlet, Miro and Nearpod. It was very creative and fascinating! Then followed online teaching techniques of the four language skills and nuances of teaching online in comparison with teaching offline. During the course we were expected to actively participate in discussions, ask questions, express our ideas and opinions. The Trainer was very friendly and supportive. There were eight weekly sessions, three academic hours each. A gap of one week was sufficient to digest the given material and do the homework. It was also helpful to have a Telegram group chat, so that if you had a question or needed some help from the Trainer or your co-student, you could easily do that. The last course session was devoted to the Practice Test / Assessment. My advice: do try to practise using online functions of Zoom with a group of co-students beforehand. You need to know 100% what you are doing technically, so that it will not distract you from delivering the teaching material itself. To be teaching online you really need to be “Jack of all trades”, as there are multiple tasks to deal with! In conclusion, on behalf of our academic group, let me extend our gratitude to Heather Belgorodtseva on her high expertise of the subject, her patience, willingness and ability to pass her knowledge to teacher- colleagues and a cheerful, and lively manner of teaching. The time of the course passed very quickly and with great interest. The course supplied me with a lot of tools and knowledge to be able to get to grips with online teaching. Highly recommend it!"

It has been a great pleasure to attend this splendid course, tons of extremely valuable information that one may make use of to make classes more interactiva and  catchy, together with a fabulous trainer it is a real finding ! Heather is absolutely amazing! The course is worth taking, for sure, just enroll and enjoy:)

It was amazing! The tutor has splendid methods of presenting material. The course is VERY useful.

The course was very interesting, effective and informative! I enjoyed every session which was interactive and the time passed so quickly that I wasn’t able even to get tired. Everything was explained so carefully and in details! I want to thank our tutor Heather for her patience and making early the atmosphere between the participants so friendly!

I found Upgrade Your Online Teaching Skills Course effective and efficient in terms of optimally teaching with apps. Now I can plan and deliver even more interesting and involving English online lessons. The course was a valuable experience and I am glad I had the opportunity to do it at BKC-IH.