How to teach online

Key takeaways:

• Focus on creating a reliable teaching setup before investing in expensive equipment.
• Choose a virtual classroom that combines video conferencing, a digital whiteboard, file sharing, lesson recordings, and virtual breakout rooms.
• Use interactive tools to ensure your students are engaged.
• Participation, feedback, and collaboration matter most for online teaching.

Online teaching involves hosting live lessons over the internet through a virtual classroom. These platforms allow online teachers to communicate, present materials, and interact with students. A webcam and microphone are usually enough to get started. However, beyond having the right technology, effective online teaching also relies on synergy, discussion, and hands-on learning. 

Here’s how you can get started as a beginner, from setting up your very first virtual classroom to using tools to keep your students engaged. 

How to start tutoring online

You don’t need an elaborate home office or expensive software if you’re learning how to start tutoring online. Most successful online educators start with little more than a stable internet connection, a webcam, a headset, and a virtual classroom.

Before your first lesson, it helps to prepare your teaching materials in advance. You might upload the worksheets, presentations, or PDFs that you plan to give your students to your virtual classroom beforehand. This way, you won’t need to search through different computer folders while they wait.

Beyond the lessons themselves, it’s also important to standardize the administrative side of your tutoring business. Consider how you’ll organize your resources, share homework, schedule sessions, and communicate with students/parents between lessons. A consistent, repeatable routine is what makes every lesson feel professional. More importantly, it helps both you and your students know what to expect every time.

The fundamentals of how to teach online remain the same, regardless of what kind of sessions you host or what subject you teach. The bottom line is to make joining easy, to minimize technical distractions, and to create as many opportunities for your students to actively participate as possible.

Best tools for online teaching

The ability to host a video call alone isn’t enough for effective online teaching. A student has the best chance of retaining information from a lesson if they can see concepts demonstrated, collaborate with their classmates, and interact with lesson materials. 

This means going above and beyond simply presenting the lesson material. To achieve this, online tutors will often use a combination of different tools within their lessons. These include, but are not limited to:

• Live video and audio conferencing
• A digital whiteboard
• Screen sharing
• File uploads
• Recordings
• Polls 
• Quizzes
• Breakout rooms
• Attendance tracking
• Classroom management features

However, instead of switching between multiple apps during the lesson, most educators prefer to use an all-in-one virtual classroom that contains all of these tools in one place. Pencil Spaces is one of them: it combines video calling, whiteboards, recordings, resource libraries, attendance tracking, and breakout rooms inside a single browser-based classroom. 

The right platform will ultimately depend on your unique teaching style. But overall, the best tool will be the one that best encourages your students to engage with the lesson, with you, and with their classmates — not just to passively observe.

How to use a whiteboard when you teach online

Digital whiteboards are the single most valuable tool when learning how to teach online. This is especially true for educators who specialize in subjects like math, literacy, or science, as these regularly rely on diagrams, equations, annotations, or visual explanations.

Instead of sharing static slides, whiteboards let tutors work through lesson material step-by-step. Students can see their tutors write, draw diagrams, or highlight important information; in turn, they get a visual idea of their tutor’s thinking process. This is vital for making online lessons feel as close as possible to in-person teaching.

Digital whiteboards become even more powerful when students can write on them at the same time as their teacher, as this is part of active learning. Tutors should invite their students to solve problems, annotate reading passages, brainstorm ideas, or complete graphic organizers on the board together.

Pencil Spaces includes an infinite collaborative whiteboard that makes it easier than ever for teachers and students to work on the same whiteboard simultaneously. And because the boards remain saved between lessons, students can easily revisit their work from previous lessons to continue unfinished activities and build on earlier concepts.

If you’d like to learn more, read our guide to what an infinite whiteboard is and how it supports online teaching.

How to use virtual breakout rooms

Virtual breakout rooms allow teachers to divide large classes into smaller groups. This is useful when teachers want to facilitate group discussions, collaboration, and independent practice within a larger group, but without the need to leave the current virtual classroom. 

Breakout sessions give students a dedicated space in which they can work together before returning to the main classroom. This feature is essential for tutors who want their students to engage in:

• Group discussions
• Peer tutoring
• Reading groups
• Role-playing activities
• Group projects
• Differentiated instruction

To get the most out of every breakout session, it’s useful to set clear expectations for the breakout room activity before sending students on their way. Give students written instructions on a shared whiteboard or worksheet so that they always know what they’re expected to accomplish.

It can also be helpful for tutors to visit each room periodically to answer questions and ensure discussions are on track. Setting a time limit and bringing everyone back together for a class discussion afterwards helps reinforce what each group learned.

Pencil Spaces includes built-in virtual breakout rooms that allow teachers to quickly divide students into smaller groups, while maintaining access to whiteboards and class resources throughout each activity. 

For more ideas, visit our complete guide to using virtual breakout rooms for online learning.

Online teaching tips

Like any skill, online teaching gets easier with time, practice, and the establishment of good habits. The following pro tips are a surefire way to make your online lessons feel more engaging and productive.

Keep your classroom organized

Store your lesson materials consistently, and ensure you prepare your resources before class begins. A well-organized virtual classroom will minimize how much time you spend searching for files.

Break up long explanations

Avoid lecturing students for extended periods of time whenever possible. Instead, switch between explaining concepts and having your students do activities relevant to the concept. Frequent interaction keeps learners focused while also allowing you to assess their understanding.

Use visuals whenever possible

Drawing diagrams, referring to images, making annotations, and working through examples are much more effective for communicating ideas than spoken explanations alone.

Give students something to do

The best online lessons surround students’ activities rather than the teachers’. Always make time for your students to actively write, draw, solve problems, or discuss their ideas.

Plan collaborative activities

Whenever appropriate, use breakout rooms to create opportunities for discussion and teamwork. Even a short breakout session can promote participation and help your students learn from one another.

Ready to start your online teaching journey? Try Pencil Spaces for free or book a personalized demo to see how a purpose-built virtual classroom can simplify online, hybrid, and in-person teaching.