Support for online teaching
Ubindi helps you manage all your classes, whether they happen in a real venue or in a virtual place online. It works with Zoom or almost any other live meeting software you have set up for yourself — handling all the admin so you can focus more on actual teaching!
It's free.
Ubindi is not a video classroom application. Rather, it will help you with whatever you already use (Zoom, GotoMeeting, Skype, Facebook, ...) and take the headache out of admin and organization. Virtual classes do bring their own challenges: how to deal with reservations, class passes, credits, and taking attendance? How to limit class size, or prevent students from sharing your class links on the internet? Ubindi helps you manage all of that:
Lots! You can:
- grow and maintain your student list
- identify active or inactive students, track no-shows,
- group students and use tags to stay organized
- email students based on tags and communicate easily with clients
- get insights about your earnings potential and revenue
- offer passes & packages and let Ubindi track everyone's credits
- accept online payments and subscription revenue (coming soon)
In a nutshell: Ubindi empowers independent instructors with ridiculously simple tools to manage their business.
It really is free.
What's the best live video platform for teaching online?
There are hundreds of tools and products out there that let you run live virtual classes using video and chat. Most are free, some cost a little, some cost a lot... but for the best interactive experience when you have 5 to 30 participants, we highly recommend Zoom.
Zoom is what most of the freelance teachers out there are using, and for good reason: the quality, reliability, and ease-of-use is superb. And a basic account is free.
5 Basic tips for teaching live online classes
Yoga, cooking, language... different kinds of classes call for somewhat different set ups .And of course, every teacher is unique. But there are some general guidelines and best practices that are universal when it comes to taking things into the virtual class room.
1. Make sure your tech is working & you know how to use it
Before running a live class with real students, do a trial run. Get a friend to join a test class, and make sure they can see and hear you well, the lighting is good, and there are no technical hick-ups.
2. Have all your logistics in place
Know how you'll send out links to your class, take reservations, handle payments, and deal with attendance. Maybe you'll want to limit class size, too. If you use Ubindi, this is all handled automatically when you create your virtual class, of course!
3. Use your voice and verbalize more
If you normally demonstrate a lot (common in yoga, dance, etc)., keep in mind that people don't see you super well when you're on a small computer screen. Some people might even be joining your class on their tiny phones! So: speak more and use extra words to instruct and describe as much as possible. And forget about playing music in the background!
4. Get students to interact
In a virtual class, each student will be in a different room. All of you will feel less connected in a video meeting, and class can seem mechanical and less "real". Compensate by encouraging students to interact with you and the class. Stimulate discussion!
5. Ask for feedback and learn from it
You'll want to make your online class as similar as possible to an in-person class, but there will be differences — not just for you, but for your students. After your first couple of classes, ask students to talk about their experience and how things could be improved. You're on your way!
What are you waiting for?