Synchronous Online Teaching Resources

Every learning experience is different in terms of the quantity of students, instructional strategies selected, length of engagement, and type of content. Because of this, there is no definitive list of rules or recommendations for student participation in online synchronous learning or with hybrid classroom/online delivery modalities. While it is also seemingly impossible to exactly translate all in-person teaching techniques and practices to these online methods, we do have the ability to keep our core learning outcomes in mind when developing our curriculum strategies. Below are some best practices for you and your course teams to consider and adopt.

Increasing Engagement and Participation

Generally, student engagement and participation go together, in that one requires the other. In a virtual classroom, a fair amount of engagement can be lost through the lack of “face time” that can hold students’ focus in a brick-and-mortar classroom. Because of this, it’s important to push toward increasing active learning in the online learning environment for two reasons:

1. Better for students: Active learning requires that students have some level of class participation, as opposed to passively absorbing the content solely through lectures. Active learning strategies increase student’s learning by allowing them to think more deeply about the content and form connections between concepts.
    
2. Better for faculty: Faculty can utilize student engagement to gather important information about their teaching effectiveness and students’ content understanding. As an online learning environment makes it more challenging for instructors to gather information through sources such as non-verbal communication, active learning techniques provide the instructors with a wealth of information quickly and easily.

Active learning can take place in a variety of ways in the online classroom:

• Frequent breaks in lectures to ask open-ended questions of the class that spark discussion & refocus attention.
   
• Polling through using specific poll tools in Zoom or websites like Poll Everywhere OR more informal polling through asking students to respond in chat/ raise their hands.
   
• Presenting short videos and asking varied follow-up questions per video [Exs: “What would you do next? Did you see any problems in this scenario? In which areas did the nurse show strong communication with their patient?”]
   
• Utilization of case studies either in breakout rooms or the full class– step-by-step working through a real-life scenario in a way that connects the concepts presented throughout lecture.
  • Collaborative documents like Google Docs or Google Slides for small groups can further allow the small group to work on one material at the same time and submit that document to the instructor. 
     
• Hosting “debate” or reflection sessions where two students/ two groups meet together to argue for opposing viewpoints or positions, supporting their positions with material from the course content.
   
• Engaging the course in student-led mini-lectures on specific topics (assigned in advance)/ student-led review sessions (where students are responsible for reviewing a certain portion of the exam content with the class).
   
• Offering a reflective Question of the Day (QOD) at the beginning of class– posing a question to the students and asking for responses either in the chat or through the use of a form tool (such as Google Forms) or a word cloud creator 

Presenting an opportunity for reflection and evaluation at the end of a class session by use of an anonymous “Strongest Point/ Stickiest Point” form, where students reflect on the content with which they feel most comfortable and also the content where they feel they could utilize more explanation, clarification, or review

Defining Expectations

To best ensure that we can encourage students to actively participate in our online learning environments, we need to make it clear to students how we want students to participate. What does your version of participation look like?

While we have historically made student expectations clear in terms of assignment due dates, grades, and general communication plans between faculty and students, our classrooms may also benefit from clearly defined plans regarding in-class learning communication.

The When

It is valuable for faculty to establish student expectations on the topic of in-class learning communications either before the semester start (such as in the syllabus or through a pre-recorded video) or during the first class session. This early introduction will allow students to ask clarifying questions and present concerns. This also affords students adequate time to prepare and test their audio/ visual equipment (or acquire new equipment) if necessary. 

Occasionally, an early dialogue between students and faculty regarding in-class communication may lead faculty to reconsider elements of their policies. [In many ways, this is great, as it creates a sort of agreed-upon contract between learning parties!] In this case, early discussion allows instructors to make any necessary changes.

The What

Faculty have the autonomy and authority to determine how they would like their students to engage in the online learning environment. After all, faculty members are the best source of truth to answer the pivotal question– “How will I know that students are connecting with the content during our time together?” Because of this, each individual faculty member or course team has the opportunity to set online learning expectations. Some examples of these expectations may include answers to the following questions: 

• Attendance: Will faculty members take attendance each day? If so, how will this be tracked or identified? 
   
• Cameras: Should cameras be turned on the entire class or only when speaking or in small groups/ breakout rooms? 
   
• Microphones: Should microphones be muted when not speaking or consistently for quicker conversation (like in small classes or groups?) [Note: When possible, students should try to find quiet spaces when using their microphone and should investigate the use of headphones for the best audio experience.]
   
• “Raising” hands: Should students use the raise hand tool to signal that they have a question? Can they raise their hand at any time to ask questions or should they wait until a set point in the session?
   
• Chat function: Can students use the chat to ask questions? If so, should the questions be in the form of a whole-class message or a private message? Can students use the chat to comment on topics or communicate with their peers about the subject matter?
   
• Polling: If polls are utilized in class, will participation be tracked? Is there a consequence for not answering poll questions? 
   
• Breakout rooms: What sort of structure should students follow in their breakout room discussions? Will students be expected to “report back” to the full class? If so, is there a particular method groups should use to identify the speakers?
   
• Class recordings: Will class sessions be recorded? If so, what is the purpose of these recordings? How will they be stored or used? 
   
• Communicating needs: How should students communicate with faculty if something goes “wrong” with their technology or if the student needs to discuss an exception to the expectations? (ex: a student loses internet connection during a class session or cannot have their camera on due to a specific privacy concern.)

The Why

The adult learning classroom environment often benefits from transparency. Toward this aim, instructors can:

1. Clearly identify the rationale for participation expectations. 

2. Connect these expectations to either course outcomes or professional practice scenarios. 

These conversations allow expectations to seem carefully planned and constructed, rather than arbitrary or punitive. This contributes meaning to the expectations and allows students to assert control over this aspect of their learning.

Another discussion in explaining reasons for participation expectations centers strongly upon accountability. Faculty and students are equally accountable for online learning experiences:

• Faculty need to ensure that there are opportunities for interaction, varied instructional strategies, breaks, and opportunities for active learning. 
   
• Students should be accountable for blocking time and space for learning experiences and should not be doing things like driving, working, or otherwise distracted to the point that they cannot be engaged or safely participate. 

The How

Beyond these expectations on participation communication, faculty should also be aware of the technological requirements of engagement. 

• University “requirements”: At a minimum, participation in online classrooms typically requires a computer with internet access, a source of audio (speakers/ headset), a microphone, and a webcam. These requirements do align with the technology expectations of the university. Per the McGlynn Center, incoming students are required to possess a minimum level of technology access, including a webcam. Of course, this list does not take into account multiple student variables and faculty may need to work with students to determine a workable solution. [Ex: Students living in rural communities may literally not have access to internet service with high upload speeds.]
   
• Student technology loans:  In the case of temporary equipment needs, students can request IT equipment, such as a conferencing kit that includes a webcam, camera tripod, and combination microphone/ speaker. These kits are available for one week at a time. Occasionally, IT does also have computers available for borrowing. 
   
• Easing Camera Worries: Understandably, some students have concerns about utilizing a webcam during their class sessions. To alleviate these concerns, some of the following conversations may be beneficial: 
  • Faculty can identify the rationale for cameras, particularly if they are important for a specific learning experience (e.g. value of non-verbals if having sensitive discussions). This allows students to recognize that camera requirements are not arbitrary or otherwise punitive. 
     
• For students with privacy concerns, faculty can demonstrate how students can use backgrounds or blurring to effectively hide their environment in Google Meet or Zoom.

For a variety of reasons, many individuals struggle with seeing their image in the video-conferencing world. As a result, some students may find it helpful to turn off their “self-view” in Zoom. Faculty can also consider this when planning for their participation expectations and can build in camera “breaks” or request that students only toggle cameras on or off in certain situations (such as small group break-out work or when they are speaking.)

Allowing for Flexibility and Grace

Overall, it is important to remember that engagement and participation in higher education is a challenging subject matter. Particularly during COVID-19 and depending on a student's home, work, behavioral health, and technology circumstances, we need to be empathetic and flexible in order to reasonably accommodate their needs. [For example, instructors should be cautious about publicly “outing” students who may not have their cameras on or be participating in some other manner.] 

With that, faculty should also give themselves a modicum of grace and flexibility. Of course, it’s frustrating when something does not work as planned, but every instance of “failure” provides us with crucial data to keep building and expanding our instruction. Through this evolution of our expectations and engagement strategies, we have the unique opportunity to meet our students exactly where they are, while also providing the highest quality of education possible, regardless of the state of the world around us.