Online and Hybrid Classroom Education

The latest book in the TESOL Voices series (insider accounts of classroom life) is Online and Hybrid Classroom Education. As the editor of this book, I am very excited to share information about it with others in the TESOL profession. This book, along with others in the series, provide novel and varied perspectives of teachers and students.

This format provides readers with an inside account of life within an array of online and hybrid learning contexts. The authors in this collection present a diversity of authentic TESOL teaching and learning contexts utilizing online and hybrid instructional approaches. Each chapter is illustrated with a rich description of participant inquiry. The chapters are personal and engaging in a way that should inspire many other TESOL professionals.

This book begins with an introduction of current practices in online and hybrid classrooms, including a description of the variety included in these domains. As the introduction explains: Online and hybrid learning have been around for some time and many of us across educational domains have had experience teaching and learning in these contexts. However, not all online environments and practices are created equal. The breadth of these contexts today requires us to carefully reflect upon our practices to better understand the various ways that we can interact with one another in the pursuit of effective teaching and learning.

There is evidence that many factors may influence how technologies are implemented, including cultural norms and expectations. Similarly, the educational backgrounds of teachers and learners and their attitudes toward these approaches, and technology in general, can determine if a given technological intervention will have any chance of success. As we learn more about these online and hybrid contexts, we continue to develop a richer and more sophisticated understanding. The chapters in this volume have much to contribute to this discussion. This volume in the TESOL Voices series addresses reflective teaching practices and participant inquiry in online and hybrid teaching contexts.

This is a collection of insider perspectives that is geographically, culturally, and contextually diverse. The collection is divided into three sections:

1. voices of participants in online and hybrid TESOL teacher preparation contexts,
2. voices of participants in online ESL and EFL contexts, and
3. voices of participants in hybrid ESL and EFL contexts.

1. Voices of Participants in Online and Hybrid TESOL Teacher Preparation Contexts
This section is addressed by four chapters. These include different approaches to designing, delivering and reflecting upon innovative approaches to TESOL teacher preparation. These include the participative inquiry of both TESOL teacher educators and the graduate students in these courses. These are situated in the United States and as collaborations between the United States and Russia and the United States and Romania. Each chapter includes valuable recommendations for others interested in teaching TESOL courses online.

2. Voices of Participants in Online ESL and EFL Contexts
This section is addressed through three chapters. These include creative instructional designs to assist learners with their discourse writing and pronunciation through two very innovative online tutoring systems. They are situated in the United States and Japan. The voices of instructors and students present a rich reflection on the use of these systems in a manner that supports the creation of similar systems for our own teaching contexts. This section also includes reflection on the use of a learning management system at the center of an online English for Academic Purposes course, which concludes with recommendations for a framework for the design of such courses.

3. Voices of Participants in Hybrid ESL and EFL Contexts
This section is addressed through four chapters. These include two flipped learning classes: a videoconference-based class teaching English as an international language in Japan and an experiential reading and writing class in the United Arab Emirates. This section also includes two courses designed to reduce student anxiety around English use: a social network–based peer mentoring experience among students in Malaysia and a mobile video–based public speaking/presentation skills course designed to lower the anxiety students face in the unique context of Japan.

The book concludes with a final chapter in which I reflect upon the various voices throughout the book and explore current and emerging trends and opportunities related to technological and pedagogical developments. I consider the changing nature of teaching and learning across educational domains, including a dramatically changing nature of how we think about, integrate, and rely on technology. I offer suggestions for how we might contextualize emerging technologies in our teaching, including automated tools, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, and other emerging technologies that are certain to influence the classrooms of our future. I am so grateful for the authors and their contributions that I want to be sure to share that information. Here is the table of contents:

You can purchase the book at the TESOL Bookstore, and please read a sample chapter, “Collaborative Practice to Improve How ELLs Are Characterized in Online TESOL Methods Courses.”