Teaching your Synchronous and Blended Online Course
Tips for Teaching in Zoom in your synchronous/blended course
- Use class routines. Jumping into a Zoom conversation can be challenging! Routines can help students feel comfortable, like "do now" activities at the beginning of class, ending class with "exit tickets" or polls, shifting to 15 minutes of individual work into the middle of class, or utilizing breakout rooms.
- Use structures that help a wider variety of students participate. For example, help students warm up by answering a question in writing, in the Zoom chat or via polls, before asking them to respond verbally. This allows them time to process their answers before sharing.
- Be smart with lecture. Avoid Zoom fatigue with these suggestions:
- Try to keep lectures short - no more than 20-25 minutes at a stretch.
- Break up lectures with interactive activities.
- Consider recording lectures for asynchronous consumption, saving live time for other activities.
- Take breaks! For long sessions, consider short breaks approximately every 45 minutes (helpful to move bodies, regain focus and rest eyes!)
- Be flexible around camera policies. Keep in mind that not all students are in situations where it feels comfortable, safe and technologically easy to turn their cameras on. We recommend that you invite, but do not require, students to have cameras on.
See Further Reading section below for more ideas.
Tips to connect with students in your synchronous/blended course
It's easy to feel somewhat disconnected in an online class. We lose a lot of the informal socializing time that we usually take for granted in in-person settings - time to meet classmates, get to know the professor, or ask questions in a semi-private way. Here are some ideas to help rebuild that sense of connection.
- Sign in to class a few minutes early and/or stay a few minutes late to answer questions.
- To help your students feel more comfortable interacting in the space (and with each other!), dedicate time in your live class for community-building - ask "getting to know you" questions, have a rotating "intro music DJ," or find other ways of checking in in the first 5-10 minutes of class.
- Send out weekly emails greeting students and outlining weekly tasks.
- Provide avenues for student feedback like weekly questionnaires, anonymous wellness check-ins, or community bulletin boards.
- Organize the Canvas aspect of your course by weekly Modules. Start each Module with a weekly overview page to help keep students on track.
See Further Reading section below for more ideas.
Technology for the modality
- Your course should be grounded in the Canvas system - learn more in Build your knowledge: Canvas.
- Zoom is SSU's recommended tool for teaching live classes. Learn more in Build your knowledge: Zoom.
- You may find other tools complimentary to your teaching, but none of these are a necessity. For example, Google Suite tools can be very supportive of live sessions or asynchronous interactive work, but you can certainly run an engaging, effective class without them! Learn more in Enlivening Live Sessions: Tools and More!
Further Reading
SSU articles and blog posts
- Designing Effective Synchronous Sessions
- Tips for Encouraging participation in Zoom
- Tip: Thinking About Engagement in Online Discussion Links to an external site. - What does attention look like without body language and eye contact? How can instructors & students be more fully present in our online classroom spaces?
- 5 Simple Strategies to Connect with Students and Create a More Humane Semester
- Links to an external site.Suggestions for Engaging and Effective Lectures
Digging Deeper:
- How to Create a Culture of Connection in Your Synchronous and Asynchronous Online Courses Links to an external site. . Podcast episode by Barbi Honeycutt, Ph.D. Lecture Breakers Podcast.
- Teaching Online with Zoom: How to Increase Student Engagement Links to an external site. - 30-minute podcast episode Barbi Honeycutt, Ph.D. Lecture Breakers Podcast.
- Why students do not turn on their video cameras during online classes and an equitable and inclusive plan to encourage them to do so Links to an external site. . Castelli, Frank and Sarvary, Mark. 2020/12/30. Ecology and Evolution
- OneHE Community Building Activities Links to an external site. - Website with sortable list of engaging digital activities.
- Active Learning while Physically Distancing Links to an external site. - Louisiana State University. Reviews multiple active learning strategies, along with implementation suggestions for online synchronous, asynchronous, and socially-distanced face to face.
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