Tips for Teaching Out-of-Country International Students

Some students may have slower internet that may pose difficulty in turning on the camera. In most parts of India, the monsoon season (rainy season) begins from late May to September. During raining season, there can be frequent power outages. Thus, some students may not submit the assignment on time or sit for the live examination. Power outages and slow internet are real issues. So, when a student brings these issues to your attention, believe in them in good faith and create additional support for them.

Be considerate of students’ time zone when you deliver a synchronous session. If your students are in India, your afternoon class in Canada will take place at midnight in India. Students will be confused about the deadlines of the assignment submission as well. Remind the students about these time zone differences. If your students need to do group work outside of the class time, and if the group has students from various time zones, actively offer supports to solve the problems. You may help them to decide on a common time which works for all of the group members. Alternatively, you can survey the students’ time zone and form groups based on the time zones. This time zone is also crucial while setting an exam schedule.

In the first two/three weeks, offer office hours and make sure that you meet all the students at least once during the first two/three weeks of the course begins. This is an investment that you will make to create an authentic bond with the students.

You can be their window to get a glimpse of Canada. For example, each week, you can share one photo from Canada or your life and discuss the context with the students. Once, one of the Professors shared that he uses pictures of poutine, snow, Niagara falls, kayaks etc., as his virtual background. Students feel curious, and they tend to ask questions about the virtual background. In the in-person classrooms too, you can show them some pictures from Canadian culture and history once in a while. These types of activities can build good trust between you and your students. 

Icebreakers carry tremendous value in creating trust between the students and with you as well. Icebreakers may or may not be directly linked to the course content. Take this opportunity to laugh together and develop a relationship of trust. 

Most of your students may not have used eConestoga before. Students might feel lost while using this platform. This is not unusual when we use anything for the first time. Please be patient and help them to navigate eConestoga. A little hand-holding will take your students further. Make it a practice to share a screen from eConestoga when you want to talk about the instructional plan, teaching materials, assignments etc. This will bring more clarity to your teaching as well. 

In an in-person classroom, students whose native language is not English often will ask each other in their native language. If you are teaching on Zoom, in the absence of an in-person environment, they do not have a chance to make those whispered conversations. Create small breakout room opportunities for the students where they can ask questions to each other. You can give prompts, such as, “list two points that I just discussed and decide a question that you want to ask me.” You can use collaborative documents in this task. In this way, you will have a chance to check students’ understanding as well.

Does not matter what type of class you are teaching, offer your guidance. Sometimes, you can bring your life experience to the classrooms while explaining professionalism. Instead of telling, “you should do this or should not do this”, tell a story. You may want to share a story from your life and let them understand the value of it.