August Teacher Series – Episode 3 with Joslin Romphf Dennis.
The idea behind the teacher series is to showcase teachers who have already expanded online, what they’re doing, why they chose to make those decisions and all that fun stuff. This episode is with Joslin Romphf Dennis, a voice teacher who is in the process of launching her first online group program.
I would love your feedback on this episode, so connect with me on Instagram @jaimeslutzky and book a call with me http://callwithjaime.com
Joslin started teaching online, much like most of the online music teachers, in March of 2020, because of the global pandemic. She lives in British Columbia, Canada ( probably only 10 minutes from my brother and 25 minutes from my childhood home!)
Already looking at what we did in March 2020 she thinks “wow, we really did a thing, we made that happen and did it without a lot of the new stuff that's come out now and the amazing tools and resources that are available.” The online landscape has evolved so much since then, with niche software options (we get into what Joslin uses later) and adaptability and creativity.
Joslin really enjoys teaching online even though it was not something she ever thought about doing before it was thrust upon her. She is a classically trained teacher and (with a bit of music theater thrown in) where online was not considered optimal and most people, if they had a choice, wouldn't take it.
She is not ready to go back in person yet and is planning on staying online for the long term. To do this,she is keeping up with the tech as much as possible. There are a couple of new apps that she’s using in addition to Zoom. And she’s hoping to eventually move away from Zoom entirely. Not because it’s a bad product, but because it wasn’t built for what she’s using it for -- that’s really a key for me, I want to make sure we are using the best right tools for the tasks at hand!
The pandemic forced an educational revolution in the music education space. I think across the board but particularly with the preconceived notions of what makes a music lesson good :) We have been able to prove without a shadow of a doubt that music can be taught and received and improved upon without being required to be in the same physical space.
According to Joslin, the online space is magical ~ it's something that everybody (well, a large majority of people) has access to some kind of device that will allow them to interact online. She teaches people all over the world -- in Hong Kong, Montreal, California, Victoria, and all over the Vancouver area.
With her upcoming group program, she already has three students from different parts of BC and she knows she wouldn't be able to serve those kids if she wasn't online. Distance and travel time are completely eliminated online, the only thing we need to account for is timezone and internet speed.
You can have high quality voice instruction in the format of your choice, either 1-1 or in a group setting without leaving the comfort of your own home. And Joslin cannot stress enough how much more enjoyable her life is because she can teach without leaving the comfort of her home.
The tech behind her business
Joslin started her online teaching, like I mentioned above, on Zoom. Most people adapted to it quickly, there was a bit of hand holding at the beginning, but everybody jumped on it fairly easily. She uses Acuity Scheduling software for booking sessions which integrates with Zoom and sends reminders with those links -- super easy for the students.
For her students, she asks that they are on a laptop to gain access to the full feature set of Zoom and also have an external microphone to get the best quality sound, which enhances the lesson. High quality internet connection is a huge bonus as it reduces lag time and helps with creating a good classroom environment.
Jos
