Becoming a Learning Magician

Abstract

A teacher adapts classroom session materials for a first-time online Zoom training session. The introduction and background give insights into traditional BBC education methods and producer experience. The transcripts of the session are analyzed for discrete themes which contain solutions to the teacher's problems. These include the physical setup: placing a 'teacher's desk' in front of the computer screen at an angle of 45 degrees. The themes are highlighted with extracts from the dialogue and additional notes. Together they capture the process of how a teacher can make their own creative classroom ideas work online. The original Zoom videos are available to the reader and show the process in real time. The author suggests that it is time to take the long view; online teachers are reported to find remote teaching does need a different approach. The approach was discovered by BBC Education producers of analogue radio broadcasts in the 1970s and refined over the next 20 years.