How to run an engaging online session

How to run an engaging online session

Techniques, strategies and key principles of learner engagement in online teaching BLCC Academy Teacher Toolkit February 2025

Overview

Click on an image to go to the relevant section.

Strategies for engagement

Groups vs individual classes

Understanding engagement

Introduction

01

What's your biggest challenge when teaching online?

Reflect on this question.

What does this Toolkit cover?

• Understand key principles of engagement in online teaching.

• Highlight tools and techniques to foster interactivity and learning.

• Explore strategies tailored for small groups and individual classes.

Understanding engagement

Engagement is ...

Cognitive The mental effort learners put into processing, understanding, and applying new language concepts.Emotional Learners’ motivation, confidence, and feelings towards the learning process.Social Interactions with trainers and peers to practice communication in professional and other contexts.

What does an engaged online learner look like in your experience?

In February 2025, we asked our trainers who attended the BLCC Academy workshop to answer this question. Here are some of their answers. Take a moment to reflect on this question yourself and try to keep this image as a reference!

Strategies for engagement

Strategies for engagement: general

• Divide class into clear lesson stages: warm-up, input, practice, feedback.

• Have clear lesson objectives: what are we doing and why.

• Vary activities often: choose those that encourage communication, are interactive, and student-centered.

• Make sure all learners are engaged at the same time: do they all have a clear and active role in an activity?

Strategies for engagement

Cognitive Challenge: Challenges include navigating jargon-heavy materials, learning technical vocabulary, and applying language skills under (time) pressure. How to engage: Requires interactive, problem-solving tasks: case studies, simulations, and real business scenarios.

Strategies for engagement

Social Challenge: Learners often experience anxiety about making mistakes in professional settings, impacting participation. How to engage: Personalised and peer-to-peer feedback, gamification, and relevant materials that resonate with learners’ professional backgrounds.

Strategies for engagement

Emotional Challenge: Online environments can make spontaneous discussions difficult. How to engage: Role-plays, collaborative projects in breakout rooms, collaborative tools like Padlet, and peer-to-peer feedback that mirrors workplace communication.

Tools highlight

Breakout rooms Polling tools (e.g., Mentimeter, built-in poll on Teams and Zoom) Whiteboards & collaborative boards (e.g., Miro, built-in whiteboards, Padlet) Games (e.g., Kahoot and Quizlet).

Go to Padlet

Small groups vs individual classes: differences in engagement

Groups vs individual classes

• Assign roles in group activities (e.g., presenter, note-taker/scribe, timekeeper).

• Use peer feedback to promote collaborative learning and authentic communication.

• Focus on personalization.

• Use real-time feedback to maintain engagement.

Before we let you go ...

Think about one strategy for engagement that you will use in your next class!

Thank you!

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