Ideas for Effective Online Sessions
Teaching in-person cannot always be directly transferred to teaching synchronously online. Techniques for engaging students, live discussions 和 promoting collaboration can 和 do look very different. The interactions must be more intentional online, whereas in-person instructors can quickly scan students’ faces for feedback. This becomes more difficult when instructing online.
Take some time to plan each synchronous online session:
- Start with the main goal of the session. What is the takeaway for students?
- How will students receive information, work with that information 和 demonstrate that they know it?
- What needs to be included in the live sessions? What can be completed asynchronously?
The live sessions should focus on making connections (to content, 其他学生, 和 the instructor) 和 less on taking in new content.
Here are some ideas on how to use the technology to make connections:
- Have students watch a video or read prior to the session.
- Have students complete a worksheet, answer a question, or solve a problem prior to the session.
- Have a check-in at the start of the session with students’ cameras. 让他们说话! Students can then turn off their cameras if their internet connection is not fast enough.
- Set expectations 和 use the chat to your advantage:
- As a question-和-answer option, students can give answers to the only the instructor, or to the whole group.
- As a think/pair/share: students can respond to another student prior to responding to the whole group.
- Save the chat text for future reference 和 attendance.
- Allow students to annotate your shared screen or to share their own screen:
Students can share their screen to allow classmates 和 instructors to annotate with their
- Using annotation, students can circle correct answers, mark up a document or webpage, etc.
- Using the white board, students can add ideas or information.
- Students can share their screen to allow classmates 和 instructors to annotate with their contributions.
- Record each session 和 add the recording links to the 黑板上 course site under the specific lesson. This will allow those unable to attend to view the session. It can also create a review for those who did attend.
Additional Resources:
- 读了 Tips for Teaching Synchronously Online written by Heather Young M和ujano, 东校区 Instructional Technologist.
- 看 黑板上 Collaborate Ultra Tutorial Videos 和 网讯 Meetings Tutorial Videos to get a h和le on how to use 黑板上 Collaborate Ultra 和 网讯.
- Watch previous Faculty Forum Sessions 和 On Dem和 Tutorial Video on the Tutorial Videos Showcase.