Let's zoom in!
Welcome to a new issue of The Educationalist. Seven months into the pandemic-driven surge of online learning I decided I should probably write something about using online synchronous interaction (aka Zoom sessions) when teaching online. I am a big fan of asynchronous learning activities as they illustrate the flexibility and inclusiveness of online education. However, carefully planned and effectively run live sessions can contribute to building a sense of community, that is so important these days. You can read some of my reflections below, complemented by a few resources I foud very useful for designing and managing engaging synchronous sessions. Hope you find this useful, and as usual I am looking forward to your comments. Have a nice week!
If you want to use live sessions as a part of your online course, here are five things I think can help you create a consistent and enjoyable learning experience:
1. Take a moment to zoom out on your course. From this bird's eye perspective, think about which learning goals can be best achieved through synchronous interaction. Be honest and resist the temptation to answer "all". Conversely, think of what parts of your course could be asynchronous. You can read more about designing each type of learning in this article by Dr. Catlin Tucker and about the necessary balance between the two in this piece by Colleen Flaherty.
2. An effective live sessions has clear objectives. They usually focus around the idea of immediacy. Here are some possible ways to use the synchronous setup, but of course the list is not exhaustive:
Discussion of preliminary reading (seminar-style): plenary / small groups;
Q & A on a specific topic (complex concept, process);
Feedback session (peer and instructor feedback);
Group work;
Regular checkin/ community-building.
One important aspect is communicating the objectives of the session and your expectations to your students clearly, including any required preparation time and materials.
3. Now zoom in and start planning the session. Decide on a clear structure but also try to provide some degree of flexibility. Think of it as structured and unstructured time. Reflect on the duration and sequencing of the activities and try to ensure a degree of variety and a balance between passive and active learning. Provide activity templates when possible. Last but not least, remember to think about how to embed the live sessions in your courses; make the links between the live session(s) and the other learning activities in the course explicit, communicate the role of the session clearly and try to leep enough time at the end of the session for feedback and de-briefing, as this is an integral part of the learning process.
Here are some great resources on how to engage students in breakout room activities and virtual discussions:
Non-boring Zoom breakout groups: a crowdsourced collection of breakout group activities curated by Robin DeRosa;
Improving Breakout Room Discussions in Online Teaching by Using Collaborative Documents;
How to Make Your Virtual Discussions Engaging, Effective, and Equitable in Eight Steps.
Futurelab Thinking Guides: various templates you can use for discussions.
4. Moderation plays a great role in live sessions. Using parallel interaction channels (audio/ chat) can be enriching but also very demanding. A co-moderator focusing on chat can be very helpful. If you don’t have the luxury to have a co-host, think about co-opting students for this role, it can be a great skill training that can benefit them in their future professional life.
5. Make sure you take time before the session to familiarise yourself with the platform you'll be using. Even if you are a long-time user, do log in early and ask students to do that too, just to ensure no time is wasted. Always have a plan B in case technology is failing.
Here are two detailed guides on using Zoom for teaching online:
In-depth Guide: using Zoom to teach online class sessions (Harvard University)
Zoom: Teach Online Class Sessions (University of Minnesota)
Let's try to use synchronous interaction to its strengths, to scaffold students' learning and create a community learning space. Let's be respectful of everyone's time and inclusive in the tools we use. Synchronous and asynchronous learning should not be in opposition but part of a learning continuum.
