Social presence in an Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) in English during Covid-19

Many educational institutions had to move their face-to-face modality to online modality in a sudden way due to coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). Following the principles of qualitative research, on this reflection a foreign language teacher describes his social experience in an Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) when he moved his face-to-face classes to online ones. Based on Rourke et al.'s (2001) and Swan's (2019) social presence, three elements were found on his online experience: cohesive teaching strategies, affective teaching strategies, and interactive teaching experiences. Asking about students' mental health, giving advice, and keeping the video on were some of the strategies used. Conclusions suggest that it is vital to present people as human beings and touch their own realities during pandemic times. Recommendations involve not only including evaluation practices such as take-home exams, self-assessment and peer-assessment, but also monitoring the ongoing process during emergency times.