# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Read the Report
Want to share this report? Use our toolkit.

What does it mean to be a student in 2023, on the fading tail end of a global pandemic and in the midst of lingering uncertainty about the world? What do students still need from a postsecondary education, and where does technology serve as a fulcrum-for better and for worse-both opening and closing students' paths forward through their educational journeys?

In this report we draw on data from EDUCAUSE's 2023 Student Survey to offer higher education leaders and decision-makers key insights as they consider what these questions might mean for their particular institutions and communities.

The report explores findings across three main areas, each representing a key challenge (and opportunity) institutions are going to face now and in the future:

Supporting students on and off campus

The role of students as consumers in the educational marketplace

Equity and accessibility in teaching and learning

Read the Introduction >
Supporting Students On and Off Campus

Preference for On-Site Modality, by Residency

Residential choices are driven by life circumstances and preferences, and so too are learning modality choices.

Read more about supporting students on and off campus >

Empowering Students to Choose

Hybrid Course Satisfaction, by Student Choice of Engagement

The option of choosing modalities can go a long way toward improving hybrid course experiences for certain populations of students.
Learn more about empowering students to choose >
Accessibility in Teaching and Learning

Overall Satisfaction with Technology Supports and Services, by Reported Disability

For students reporting any of the types of disabilities or impairments we asked about, their assessments and experiences of the technology supports and services provided by their institution differed significantly from the experiences of other students, almost always in negative ways.
Read more about accessibility in teaching and learning >
Reflections and Next Steps

While institutions might take any number of steps to explore and respond to the reflections outlined in this report, several possible next steps may be more feasible and immediately actionable than others.
Read the reflections and next steps >

Read the Report

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
students and technology study educause student study 2023

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
2023 Students and Technology Report: Flexibility, Choice, and Equity in the Student Experience

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In this report, we explore supporting students on and off campus, students as consumers in the educational marketplace and accessibility in teaching a

# data[].attributes.headline
Tip #1: Use a combination of Formative and Summative assessments to engage students

# data[].attributes.subject
Tip #1: Use a combination of Formative and Summative assessments to engage students

# data[].attributes.body
Formative assessments are short, low-stakes activities that happen in-between major assignments. They focus on comprehension and analyzing. Examples include quick check quizzes, self-assessed rubrics, 1 min. exit polls, etc.

Summative assessments are higher-stakes assignments that occur at the end of a unit or course. They focus on synthesis and evaluation. Examples include mid-term and final exams, research papers, group projects and presentations.

# data[].attributes.headline
Tip #1: Establish a rhythm for Synchronous class sessions

# data[].attributes.subject
Tip #1: Establish a rhythm for Synchronous class sessions

# data[].attributes.body
Whether you choose every other class, or just the beginning, middle and end of the semester, make sure you establish a routine for announcing, accessing, and starting your online sync. sessions in a predictable way - and communicate that to students early and often!

# data[].attributes.headline
Tip #1: Determine what can be done asynchronously and what has to happen synchronously

# data[].attributes.subject
Tip #1: Determine what can be done asynchronously and what has to happen synchronously

# data[].attributes.body
Use Flipped Classroom strategies of "Before, During, and After Class" to make it clear when and how students should engage.

Before Class: Have students watch pre-recorded lectures and VoiceThread presentations.

During Class: Have students problem-solve in groups. Reserve live class sessions for robust discussions and group presentations.

After Class: Use Discussion Forums and VoiceThreads to extend understanding and continue engaging.

# data[].attributes.headline
Tip #2: Expect students will take an active role.

# data[].attributes.subject
Tip #2: Expect students will take an active role.

# data[].attributes.body
Foster a Community of Inquiry (CoI) to encourage cognitive, social, and teaching presence both for you and your students.

Tip: Assign revolving roles to students (or groups). Some to research, some to report, some to synthesize, everyone to question.

Tip: Create a Padlet so students can crowd-source good materials and examples from the internet.

# data[].attributes.body
Leverage the tools in Canvas to create sustainable, accessible Touchpoints.

Train students to go to Canvas for communication, interaction, assignments, subject matter and more.

Tip: Use Canvas not only for students, but also for you to organize and display your teaching materials, lessons, and resources.

# data[].attributes.body
Tip: Post a Question of the Day using the Zoom Whiteboard so students can chat about it when arriving.

Tip: Post class introductions in VoiceThread so everyone can “hear” and “see” from their classmates.

# data[].attributes.headline
Tip # 5: Rethink the Flip: Levels of flipping the curriculum:

# data[].attributes.subject
Tip # 5: Rethink the Flip: Levels of flipping the curriculum:

# data[].attributes.body
There are several levels of flipping the curriculum:

1. Flip the Pedagogy

1. Inductive vs. Deductive: Lower order moves to Higher order

2. Start with a Challenge, then move to content, create urgency to act; then students make a decision and are given feedback.

2. Flip the Delivery

1. Lectures online vs. lectures F2F

3. Flip the Time on Task

1. Students prepare online, problem solve/build in class, reflect and follow up on line

4. Flip Roles

1. Everyone is consumer: Instructor is facilitator, student is conveyor/creator

# data[].attributes.body
Magna Online

Presented by:

Barbi Honeycutt, Ph.D.

# data[].attributes.headline
11 Tips and Best Practices for  Asynchronous Video Conversations

# data[].attributes.subject
11 Tips and Best Practices for  Asynchronous Video Conversations

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A set of recommendations can help faculty get the most out of asynchronous video activities in their courses.

Credit: Merfin / Shutterstock.com © 2021

The sudden pivot from on-ground to online courses last spring left many faculty little time to identify and implement technologies that would enable them to continue to teach their courses. In most cases, tools such as web conferencing, discussion boards, and social learning platforms were hastily ramped up to bridge the transition. Among the solutions that many instructors deployed were threaded video conversation products that offer users the ability to create short asynchronous discussions using video and audio rather than text only. IGI Global defines these products as "an online discussion board that incorporates the use of video technology for students to create posts, listen to posts, and respond."

Among the products in this class, some have advanced features that support the integration of slide decks, games, and other interactive elements. EdSurge author Jeffrey Young points to Rutgers University instructor Joyce Valenza, who utilized video as a replacement for the traditional online discussion: "Students report that being able to watch videos of their peers makes them feel more connected to their fellow learners. 'In the course evaluations at the end of the semester they write that our class has really formed a community,' she says."

While this class of online course tools is still evolving, these products provide faculty a resource that promotes student engagement and presence, especially during the challenging shift to online formats. These new technologies also promote the notion of anchored discussion and social learning. Guzdial and Turns define anchored discussions as those course-based conversations that are (1) sustained and (2) focused on topics related to the learning objectives of the course.

When used appropriately, threaded video conversations may provide faculty an effective resource that complements their other course communication strategies. Although synchronous web conferencing has certainly been a vital resource this past year, most of those solutions do not offer the same affordances as asynchronous video. Meanwhile, discussion boards, which in many cases are the heartbeat of the course communication arsenal, suffer from many inherent challenges, including student-student plagiarism, weak or non-substantive posts, repetitiveness and boredom, and difficulty grading.

Threaded video conversations may address many of these challenges while promoting deeper online engagement. In a study conducted at Emporia State University in one large online course, student engagement-as measured by time on task-doubled when using threaded video compared to written discussion. Based on this study, we have developed this set of 11 tips and best practices.

1. Closely align video conversations with the stated module, course, and/or program learning objectives. Clearly indicate those alignments in the course outline.

2. Use the syllabus, an introductory course video, or a sample student video recording to prepare students in advance for this type of activity. Since many students will use their smartphones to record, provide information about best practices for creating quality video using a phone.

3. Some students are uncomfortable recording themselves. Depending on the product, consider offering alternatives such as an audio/mic-only mode, a text-only mode, or using a proxy image or avatar in the video.

4. Consider using threaded video conversations for course introductions to build a sense of humanizing the course. Michelle Pacansky-Brock supports the use of video conversations as an alternative to text. In her book How to Humanize Your Online Class with VoiceThread, she indicates that video tools maximize presence, a dimension of online connectivity to fellow students, the faculty, and the content. Research in her own courses found an increase from 25 percent to 75 percent in voluntary voice-video comments. This also helps form common goals and dispositions among students-dispositions are affective learning dimensions, such as motivation, attitude, persistence, empathy, and problem solving.

5. Reserve this technology for functions that may be difficult to replicate in written formats, such as problem-based activities or constructive criticism/critique-for example, demonstrating a website, a product, or discussing the results of an interview. When considering whether video is appropriate, ask yourself whether the activity is something that can be accomplished just as easily in writing. The University of Central Florida offers these specific ideas for implementation:

Evaluative discussion topic as a whole class or small groups (any discipline)

Informal check-in for a group project (any discipline)

Opportunities for students to practice objectives for a public speaking course

Formative responses for a foreign language course utilizing specific grammar or competencies

6. At Emporia State, students indicated that written discussions afford the ability to compose, edit, recompose, save and return, or delete before or after posting. This provided deeper reflection of the prompt. Video, they indicated, was less reflective and much more extemporaneous. Many students in our study considered making videos "busy work" that slowed their progress toward completion of the course and the degree. We also found that extemporaneous video responses tended to be shorter in length-often thirty seconds or less-and did not necessarily support the course outcomes. Therefore, we recommend providing students the ability to edit or rerecord their video responses but not delete them, as that may adversely affect the threaded videos as well. Encourage students to compose and/or outline responses before recording. Make available a "notes" utility that can serve as teleprompter and aid students as they record.

7. Be certain the product includes accessibility features. Automatic captions and transcripts, text-to-speech, keyboard accessibility, and other features are necessary. Be sure an accessibility statement regarding the product is included in the course and/or syllabus.

8. For activities that require longer record time than the software allows, consider allowing students to submit two or more videos. Alternatively, allow them to upload to a streaming service and simply link to the recording using the video conversation thread.

9. If the tool permits time limits, align the time allowed with the type of assignment. For example, use the shortest time allotment-often fifteen seconds-for activities such as elevator pitches; forty-five seconds to practice for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL); two minutes for students practicing for AP World Language exams; and ten minutes for short presentations.

10. If this function is supported, allow students to record their screens while presenting. This reduces the friction of having to record using a secondary product and then uploading.

11. Utilize grading rubrics that are constructed around the dimensions of video. Faculty may consider including a qualitative grading element that ensures the students approach these activities with a degree of preparation and professionalism. These rubrics might include the presentation quality, the presenters' communication skills, the ability to develop a cogent argument within the recording time constraints, and the constructive criticism from co-students.

We are excited about the possibilities of using video discussion during and after COVID-19. It has proven to be an excellent compendium for our online courses. Adoption has grown from a few pilot participants a year ago to well over one hundred adopters during the current term. This will undoubtedly continue to be a vital tool across nearly every discipline in the university long after the pandemic subsides.

Notes

1. From "What Is Video Discussion Board," IGI Global.

2. Errol Craig Sull, "Tips for Overcoming Online Discussion Board Challenges," Faculty Focus, September 6, 2012; "Making Good Use of Online Discussion Boards," The K. Patricia Cross Academy; and "Resources to Fix Common Discussion Board Problems," University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

3. "Learning Dispositions," New South Wales Government, December 6, 2019.

4. "Adjust the Max Recording Time for Student Videos," Flipgrid Support.

Rob Gibson is Director of Learning Technologies at Emporia State University.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
asynchronous video conversations: 11 tips and best practices

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Asynchronous Video Conversations: 11 Tips and Best Practices

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A set of recommendations can help faculty get the most out of asynchronous video activities in their courses. The sudden pivot from on-ground to online courses last spring left many faculty little time to identify and implement technologies that would enable them to continue to teach their courses.

# data[].attributes.headline
Tip #1: Connection is the Key to Engagement

# data[].attributes.subject
Tip #1: Connection is the Key to Engagement

# data[].attributes.body
Connect with students in multiple ways:  Announcements, Discussion Forums, Zoom sessions, Office Hours, Assignment Feedback, and Email.

# data[].attributes.headline
Tip # 2: Lead with the healthy mindset that "We're in this together".

# data[].attributes.subject
Tip # 2: Lead with the healthy mindset that "We're in this together".

# data[].attributes.body
Share your journey of persistence with something difficult.

Tip: Ask students to share memes, quotes, photos, etc.

# data[].attributes.body
At each break a different participant shares a photo or meme for the topic of the week: Travel, Sports, Culture, etc. Make it about the subject, or make it open subject.

# data[].attributes.headline
Tip # 2: Break up long class sessions into smaller “check-in sessions"

# data[].attributes.subject
Tip # 2: Break up long class sessions into smaller “check-in sessions"

# data[].attributes.body
For a 3-hour class, meet on Zoom for 45 min. at the beginning of the week, and 45 min. at the end of the week.  Utilize asynchronous Discussions or VoiceThreads in between.

# data[].attributes.headline
Eight Quick Tips to Spark Students’ Learning

# data[].attributes.subject
Eight Quick Tips to Spark Students’ Learning

# data[].attributes.body
Teaching strategies from Faculty Focus.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Most faculty would agree that having great content without a clear delivery processes is not good. So, here are a few quick tips/steps to guide, inspire, and spark your creativity about how to engage students in your online courses.

1. Provide lecture outlines

Students come into your online class wanting to know what's going to happen, and an outline is a helpful, courteous way to inform them. A course syllabus can include the course objectives, main subject points/ideas or perspectives, reminders of assignments and due dates as well as information about office hours, technical support contact information, and student support services. This can be condensed into a brief outline with clear links that navigate to each section of the syllabus it refers to. A lecture outline, however, is more than just your abbreviated lecture notes. It's a way to engage students and provide resources beyond the online classroom experience. This practice benefits students, faculty, and the institution by facilitating ongoing connections within and beyond time spent on an LMS (learning management system) or virtual class platform. Greater connection can be made by including a link to a two-minute, pre-class video covering that day's topic, a supplemental video covering aspects of the topic, sample "hmm" questions, and supplemental short reads about the topic, just to name a few.

2. Use pre-course videos and subject matter video constructively

Pre-course videos are an effective way to engage students as they provide a greater sense of ease regarding the subject matter. Log in at least 10 minutes before class and start the supplemental or required video related to the course objective. Then, as students enter class, they are engaged with informative content. Get your students thinking and allow them some time to settle into the learning space. Providing them with a complimentary online experience is a helpful way to tap into this aspect of the "traditional" higher education learning environment. Students may even show up early once they realize that there will be a pre-class video. When possible, locate videos that are created by students who reflect the diversity within your class, speak to the content of the course, and provides a transcript of the video for students who may need this modality to fully participate. Videos, such as TED-X, are great conversational videos that allow students to examine, reflect, and create questions that will be a great introduction to the topic.

3. Lecture in bursts

Any student will tell you that if you are talking to them nonstop for more than 10 minutes, they are not listening. And since most college professors are not Kevin Hart or Dave Chappelle, it's best to lecture in bursts. Break the monotony and provide students with opportunities to interact with each other with a short group activity and then reconvene as a class and report each group's findings (for example, you can use breakout rooms in your LMS or real-time video platform).

4. Have PowerPoint and other resources ready

Student engagement increases when they have multiple learning tools, such as PowerPoints that provide sketches, critical concepts/terminology, and key questions. Use the PowerPoint slides as a guide, however, and be selective about when you use them (i.e., not for the majority of the class meeting time, if at all possible-think about the level of your own engagement in webinars that followed a "PowerPoint Only" model). Provide copies of all PowerPoints inside your LMS and remind students that they can review slides later. Include key questions within the PowerPoint as these can shore up opportunities for interaction during the course and allow you to gauge student attention. Students also love short videos and recaps. Before uploading your slides, provide narration on each slide. Students will appreciate the engagement and the personal touch that narration brings to your course.

5. Poll while you lecture

We absolutely love this feature. If you have not used polling before, you may be surprised at how easy it is to implement. If you already have scripted questions inserted within your PowerPoints, adding a poll provides opportunities for students to actively engage with the material. You can ask on-the-spot questions or have them scripted (we may sound like a broken record here but just make sure your on-the-spot questions are presented in a way that allows students with visual or oral impairments to participate). Importantly, the poll can be published for students to view when it is finished. In addition to having information about who was engaged, you will have information about who was not-this can be key in your efforts to make sure students do not "check out."

6. Post shared notes

Any content that students must or should have can be provided to them in shared notes. Shared notes can be posted in the Chat, uploaded as an attachment, or if you have a shared notes feature in your LMS, provided for students to follow your lecture. These breadcrumbs let students know what you intend to cover and may lessen anxiety about sitting through a course with no idea of what's next. Again, accessibility is key here. Your institution's teaching and learning professionals and/or student accessibility professionals would love to assist you in ensuring that all of your students have a rich academic experience.

7. Plan scheduled breaks for student interactions

Facilitating a course online can be exhausting. A traditional lecture consists of you showing up with your materials, notes, and handouts, and then presenting/sharing knowledge about your subject matter and facilitating student feedback and discussions. However, in an online environment you are also a technical expert, managing multiple processes for student engagement. Therefore, be sure to schedule breaks before the course, mid-course, and even at the end of the course. Here's how that looks:

Pre-course: Get students engaged and excited by sharing a song, video, or other media resource. You can reserve your energy, excitement, and enthusiasm and channel that into the lecture.

Mid-course: Create group assignments prior to the course that allows students opportunities to showcase their work and perspectives.

Post-course: Encourage students to do a course wave. For example, if students have their cameras turned off during the course to conserve broadband, let them turn them on for a quick face meet.

8. Have fun and prepare to entertain!

I (Toni) am an entertaining professor-it's my true calling and I have student testimonials to support my claim. But for many of my colleagues who are not and know they are not, think about what truly makes you excited about your course...every instructor has personal (and perhaps even funny!) stories to tell that connects who they are as people with the content, which in turn can create connections with/and for students. I feel the need to provide a disclaimer before I go any further. This point is not intended to take away the serious nature of higher education, your role as a subject matter expert, or a serious scholar. With that said, just imagine you're the student. How would you feel about coming to your online class? That is the tough question you need to consider, especially if you are serious about engaging today's students. The answer should be that you realize how important it is for you to have fun and connect with your students. If you grew up when there were rotary phones with dial tones, electric typewriters, and beepers, just know this generation appreciates instructors who bring their whole selves to the classroom. If you have a knack for comedic delivery, use it! And, even if you don't, watching a few YouTube videos that highlight the basics of engaging an audience can be invaluable. The good news is if you grew up during the aforementioned times, you have a wealth of comedy and comedians-and academics to draw upon for tips on how to deliver content for entertainment. Still skeptical? As Levar Burton might say, "Don't take our word for it!" Instead, take a look at, for example, Kasha Patel's talk on the benefits of using comedy to explain science.

Tracey A. Carter is assistant professor of social science/human services and chair of the department at Allen University. She has taught online since 2018 and serves as a distance education trainer.
Heather M. Pleasants is an associate director in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness at the University of Alabama. She supports undergraduate experiential learning through working with faculty, many of whom teach online. Toni Sims Muhammad is associate vice president of academic affairs and distance education at Allen University. She has actively engaged in distance education research and practice for over 20 years.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Tracey A. Carter, Heather M. Pleasants and Toni S. Muhammad

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Student Engagement in the Online Classroom: Eight Quick Tips to Spark Students' Learning | Faculty Focus

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Most faculty would agree that having great content without a clear delivery processes is not good. So, here are a few quick tips/steps to guide, inspire, and spark your creativity about how to engage students in your online courses.

# data[].attributes.body
Use Canvas Announcements to give a preview of what's coming each week. Add links to important content or readings or current trends.

# data[].attributes.headline
Building Classroom Community Spirit Online

# data[].attributes.subject
Building Classroom Community Spirit Online

# data[].attributes.body
An article from Inside Higher Ed shows us how.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In the pre-COVID-19 days, the five minutes that my students sat quietly chatting before I put the first slide up on the screen were facilitating the smooth functioning of my classes. But I never realized that until the coronavirus hit.

My name is Zachary Nowak, and I'm a lecturer at Harvard University. In the pre-COVID-19 days, casual social bonds between students could develop without much intervention from instructors. Those few minutes before class, the walk toward the library afterwards, improvised study sessions and even crossing paths with someone from their course in another context: I have personally underestimated how important those informal, class-adjacent social interactions and the bonds that develop from them were for students to feel comfortable talking in front of their peers. My spring 2020 students had spent enough time together that I could leverage their acquaintance with each other after we went remote, but I knew many of my summer and fall students would never have met and were not going to develop that sort of acquaintance over Zoom. At least not organically.

It seemed clear to me that I would have to try to foster virtually something like what happens naturally for in-person classes. My response was to create a series of three assignments for students to do what I called "class-adjacent socializing." My first attempt was with the students in a summer 2020 class on urban agriculture I taught as part of Boston University's gastronomy program. I considered having students each come up with an online event to host but then discarded that idea, wondering what would happen if someone tried to hold, say, a short session on how to make kimchi and no one came.

Instead I decided I would put the students in groups of four and tell them they could talk about anything they wanted (i.e., not necessarily class related) as long as they chatted. It was all on the honor system; students would repeat the exercise twice more with randomized groups of four each time, and I would give them five points of their final grade for each meeting.

While the BU students were enthusiastic, they also pointed out the flaws in my original plan at the end of the summer term. I had not told students what digital platform to use to connect, assuming that they would just use Zoom -- and that because they could click on a Zoom link, they knew how to set up a meeting. The absence of a designated leader slowed the process of finding a time, and the lack of a specific conversation prompt on my part meant that the meet-ups were sometimes awkward. Over all, however, the students were positive in their evaluation of the assignment. It had made them, they said, more comfortable talking in front of each other because they had gotten to know each other a bit outside class.

I shared this feedback with Sarah Bramao-Ramos, the co-author of this piece and the head teaching assistant of my fall 2020 lecture course on sports history for Harvard students -- who, like the BU students, were also all remote. She and I tinkered with the instructions based on the feedback from my BU students, providing a longish, FAQ-style prompt for the class-adjacent socializing. TAs emailed groups of four students, all from the same hourlong discussion section, for each iteration of the assignment, naming one student the organizer.

We directed the students to use Zoom and provided links on how to set up meetings to the organizer for each group; the organizer also coordinated scheduling. We also added a deliverable: each organizer had to take a screenshot while everyone was on the call and send that to the TA later, with a brief (100-word) summary of the call. There would be three events, and the assignment as a whole was worth 15 percent, a significant enough portion of the grade for the students to see we were taking it seriously, we reasoned.

Rather than leaving the topic wide-open, we suggested a series of discussion themes. Among them were the following:

Do the typical first-day-of-class thing and introduce yourself, maybe telling your peers what year you are, where you are from and why you're taking this class.

Talk about why sports are important (or why they aren't) in your life -- do you have relatives who were athletes?

Describe your experiences playing on or rooting for sports teams.

Talk about what else you do at Harvard or, if you're a first-year, what activities/organizations you'd like to get involved in.

When you were a kid, what were your favorite TV shows?

What are some movies you've seen lately? Why did you like them or not like them?

Read any good books lately?

What's the best game you've played lately? Board games, online, etc.

We had to reiterate, several times, that these were intended to be class- adjacent events, not class- related events. The goal was not for the students to discuss the class material: the goal was to get them comfortable enough with each other that it would be easier to have those discussions when they met online.

We knew that we were setting the bar pretty low for the whole thing to be worth a grand 15 percent of their final grade, but we decided that even if some of the groups faked it, they would at least all have to get together and agree to the deception (which still required at least some acquaintance with each other). The three meetings happened in the first four weeks of the semester. To ensure these intra-discussion section connections, we also set up the breakout rooms during lecture so that students were always with people from their discussion section.
Fostering Community
The response this time around has been overwhelmingly positive. In the seventh week of the semester, we used an anonymous Google survey to evaluate students' feelings about the class-adjacent socializing, with 65 of the 99 students in the class responding. One student said the following in the open response question: "I really enjoyed the Class-Adjacent Socializing, and thought it was a very stress-free way to get to know the people in my section. I genuinely feel like I have met so many people in this class because of it -- way more than any of my other Zoom classes this semester." Another said something similar: "There is no comparison for my other classes; I truly feel as if I know my classmates as I would normally. Thank you for fostering a class community."

Not every student was a fan, of course. Some students thought it was just busywork -- yet another task to accomplish in an already-frenetic semester. Others wanted more direction, a task to complete, an activity to do, a movie to watch. A few wanted to use the activity to meet other students outside their section, asking the instructors to play matchmaker and connect them with other students based on shared interests. And some, even though they understood the goal, found the whole exercise rather pointless: "I understand the motivation for it; however, it felt tedious and just another touch point that I just didn't want to have to deal with." Another student, when asked if the activity should be repeated, simply wrote a dismissive "ehhh."

Despite the critiques in the open-response questions, the quantitative data was overwhelmingly positive. When asked "To what extent has the class-adjacent socializing activities helped you get to know your section-mates, compared to how well you know the people in section(s) in other courses you're taking online?" roughly 80 percent of the students said that they knew their section mates for my class better than the people in their other sections for other classes. And more than half of them specifically responded that they knew "the people in my HIST 1852 section much better than I know my section-mates in other courses."

For as long as we are online, all of us will face a decline in classroom community spirit because of the remote environment. We can, however, see this from the perspective of abundance: students have the tools to be able to meet up and get to know each other out of class, with our help. Even when the two of us return to in-person instruction, we will continue to actively foster these previously casual interactions. Students learning what sports, movies and ice cream flavors their peers like outside the Zoom classroom is a crucial component of good discussions later in that classroom -- something COVID has taught us.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Class-adjacent socializing can encourage student participation online (opinion)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the pre-COVID-19 days, the five minutes that my students sat quietly chatting before I put the first slide up on the screen were facilitating the smooth functioning of my classes. But I never realized that until the coronavirus hit. My name is Zachary Nowak, and I'm a lecturer at Harvard University.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Some students become busy, overwhelmed, or unmotivated by the middle of the semester. This phenomenon has become even more apparent with COVID-19 protocols. Which is why building a community of learners has become so important despite physical distancing, but it's also much more challenging. Below are six scenarios with strategies and ideas to encourage accountability and build in motivation from the start of the semester so the momentum continues until the end.

Scenario 1: Your student logs onto the synchronous meeting, but they do not move in or out of their breakout room, or they are still logged in after class has ended.
Accountability

Create a shared workspace for students (Google doc, virtual team story board, Microsoft Teams)

Tie participation points to the submission of an in-class activity

Assign a reflection piece about the activity, or have students' self-grade their effort on a learning activity and identify skills they can build

Embed hands-on activities or real-world relevance in which students are obliged to work together

Have students complete a writing activity after the class meeting to answer a question. To encourage academic integrity, phrase the question as a synthesis and have students connect previous class material, personal experience, or have them critically assess their reasoning or the steps they completed for the activity

If grading is burdensome, have students submit as a group assignment

Strategies

Assign roles to each student and rotate them during the semester to ensure an opportunity in each role

Let particular groups know beforehand you will call on them to share with the class

Let the class know you will randomly call on groups to share with the rest of class

Contact individual students with a kind email: "I noticed during the past few classes you are still logged onto the LMS when class finishes. I hope everything is okay. I am concerned that you are not engaged in the class and wanted to let you know that I have noticed." When I've sent these to students, I often receive a speedy reply. Students either explain what is going on or commit to make a better effort in the class

Scenario 2: You ask a question of the class and the inevitable cricket noise occurs.

During in-person classes, I am comfortable sitting in silence as part of my wait time. I usually frame it as: I personally need more time to process what I want to say (even though most do not wait more than three seconds for students to respond). This has not been working as well in the blended learning environment, where students may not "feel" the awkwardness. Sitting behind a computer makes it more comfortable for them to remain silent.
Accountability

Use chat comments or verbal contributions as participation points. Be explicit about how these are graded and what constitutes a substantial contribution

Create a discussion board before or after class. A discussion board before the meeting provides students with an opportunity to gather their thoughts and see what others are saying. During the subsequent class meeting, point out that everyone has something prepared. You can even go to the discussion board and share your screen to look at the comments as a group

If you ask students to complete the discussion board after class, ensure that you visit it before the next meeting. You could title the Discussion "Lecture Questions for [Topic]"

Strategies

Pause and ask students to explain in their own words the difference between two concepts just introduced, to connect concepts from theory to the real world, or to relate some concepts to their own experience. This can stimulate students' higher-order thinking abilities and check for understanding

Wait longer for students to type their answers in the chat box. Some students feel more empowered writing their answers rather than speaking spontaneously

Scenario 3: You ask students to complete a poll and there are eight students who are not voting.
Accountability

If the polls are not anonymous, provide participation points for replies

Create a summary of answers for the next meeting and address misconceptions

Call on students to explain why their answer is correct or where they found it in the course content

Strategies

Depending on the polling platform you can identify the students: "We are still waiting for Sina and Carissa to decide"

If the polls are anonymous, I joke that those eight students are in the midst of an epic Minecraft or Pub G battle. Adding humor is effective and the students usually vote

Scenario 4: There are many students who are not doing well in the class. You contact them and ask that they attend office hours. Now you have 25 appointments in one week.
Accountability/Strategies

Have students sign up in slots. Ask them to review their current grade and identify the areas they need to improve. Have them prepare five ways they can improve their grades and offer extra credit points for office hours attendance. You can then move them into breakout rooms to talk individually if needed.

Scenario 5: There are several students who have multiple missing assignments, despite the fact that you send frequent reminders and have increased communication in your class.
Strategies

Define the connections between topics in class, the assignments, and student learning. Have them apply their learning and make those connections themselves. Transparency in why you are asking students to complete the assignments and how their work contributes towards achieving the learning outcomes can be a motivational tool to help students recognize the value of their effort

Let students have choice and some control over their learning. Offer options for types of assignments (video, slide show, writing, etc.) or assessment (essay question choices, project types, papers, or presentations)

Build in oops tokens or free passes where students can re-submit assignments they did poorly on

Drop a certain number of quizzes or activities, or count them as extra credit

Finding out student knowledge and interest can help you design learning activities in which students who are experienced and inexperienced with the topic can contribute

Build in make up work as part of your course options for all students. Allow a certain amount of resubmissions for some key, low-stakes work. This will promote self-regulated learning. Set a time limit for accepting the resubmissions

Scenario 6: Attendance was great at the start of the semester, but by midterm, students stop attending in person or synchronous conferencing.
Strategies

Use responses from assignments to clarify misconceptions and point out excellent work. Collate the discussion posts or connections made in the assignments and share these (anonymously) in class

Design tasks that engage emotions to increase motivation and spark participation and engagement. Set up ground rules and prepare for a lively discussion

Identify the relationship between online components and synchronous sessions. Use synchronous meetings to extend and apply concepts rather than repeat content that is already online. Interactive tasks can provide an opportunity to apply, contribute, and develop understanding

Model the amount of effort you want your students to invest in the course. Provide quality content and resources. A well-designed and interactive course can reduce barriers to engagement and encourage students to participate. Students realize the care and effort you have in their learning through your course design

Lastly, sending a survey can assist with all of these issues. It can gauge student perception of the class, the materials, the teaching methods, and their effort. A survey can also help you redesign learning activities, assessments, or content. It has the added bonus of showing that you care and are committed to improving the educational experience.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Encouraging Student Engagement During Synchronous Meetings: Preventing Midterm Drop-Off | Faculty Focus

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Some students become busy, overwhelmed, or unmotivated by the middle of the semester. This phenomenon has become even more apparent with COVID-19 protocols. Which is why building a community of learners has become so important despite physical distancing, but it's also much more challenging.

# data[].attributes.headline
Increasing Student Engagement During Synchronous Online Classes

# data[].attributes.subject
Increasing Student Engagement During Synchronous Online Classes

# data[].attributes.body
This Faculty Focus article provides a practical list of ideas to try at the beginning of class, during breakout rooms and for formative assessment.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Online learning-sometimes referred to as "distance learning" or "e-learning"-nowadays refers to any form of education delivered via the Internet. In the pre-Covid era, online earned a mixed reputation for several reasons. Criticisms leveled at online courses included:

inequitable access to technology,

online courses were text-heavy,

students were offered minimal opportunities to respond,

and online courses provided minimal opportunities for students and faculty to engage and build community.

Online and onsite courses differ in the level of interaction between students and instructors. As a result, educators are constantly looking for ways to engage students online and enhance learning techniques. Online classes can present barriers to traditional student engagement and learning, amplified by the actual distance between the learners, their peers, and the instructor.

Online learning delivers content in two ways:

Asynchronous content can be accessed by students at any time, 24/7. Asynchronous content typically consists of videos, graphics, readings, slide decks, discussion boards, discussion boards, and third-party apps.

Synchronous content must be accessed at a specified time. In online programs that offer live classes, the live classes are synchronous content. Live classes are typically recorded so students can watch them later.

Students who desire to learn online sometimes require flexible class schedules and may be attracted to asynchronous classes over synchronous. However, neither synchronous nor asynchronous courses are without pain points, for instance, with checks of understanding and descriptive feedback. Additionally, instructors have to proactively avoid students feeling isolated and not feeling a part of the learning community.

Student engagement is a broad construct that encourages contact between students and faculty-questions on student course evaluations often solicit information about learner engagement. Engagement also includes a meaningful connection between the student and the course content. Consequently, to realize greater student satisfaction and more profound learner outcomes, instructors are motivated to make their courses as engaging as possible. Moreover, student engagement involves several elements, including active and cooperative learning. Instructors are often encouraged and, in some cases, mandated to provide prompt descriptive feedback and communicate high expectations while recognizing and respecting learner diversity. They are guided by Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning (CRTL) principles and Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

When UDL and learner-centered teaching and learning paradigms are prioritized in course development, the instructor is no longer solely focused on pushing foundational knowledge. Rather than prioritizing new content, the instructor incorporates new learning and social, emotional connections.

For example, concerned about the lack of interaction between students and the material during face-to-face lectures, an instructor provided additional engagement by introducing community-based service-learning requirements and collaborative work.

Another instructor was concerned that students appeared disengaged in high-level discussions. Consequently, the instructor provided students opportunities to engage with the material through action and expression by giving extra credit for student-submitted handwritten notes in the form of graphic organizers. In addition, the instructor included videos, student presentations, and simulations to provide multiple means of representing course content and information processing.

Frequent and purposeful interaction between students and instructors helps increase the online educational experience quality and improve student outcomes and satisfaction. In the absence of face-to-face interactions, instructors can do more than adamantly require students to turn on their cameras. Instructors should try a different approach that increases motivation in classroom activities and assignments-shifting the role of the instructor in synchronous classrooms to a moderator and centering student's voice. Furthermore, the instructor can take advantage of technology's ubiquitous nature to help students create emotional connections to the content wherever and whenever they want.

The following are a few strategies instructors can use to increase student engagement during synchronous online classes.

Beginning of the class
Building relationships with a joining question

What is filling your bucket today? What is emptying it?

What is inspiring your life these days?

What have you been reading/listening to/viewing lately?

What made you smile today?

How did you use yesterday's learning?

What is one interesting fact about you?

Have there been changes in how you are feeling?

Are you open to sharing roses or thorns from the previous week?

Provide students with ample participation cues

If you have a question or contribution, write it in the chat.

Please come off mute to share your response.

Give me a thumbs up when you are ready for the next step.

Give me a green check if you are ready to move to the next step.

Raise your hand when you are ready to share, and I will call on you.

Show me with a fist to five...

If your camera is off, please respond in chat.

Structure breakout rooms

Cue participants with language such as, "Open the digital tool by clicking the link in the chat."

Assign roles (Speaker, Notetaker, Time Manager). POGIL is an acronym for Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning. It is a student-centered, group-learning instructional strategy and philosophy developed through research on how students learn best. The POGIL method helps instructors effectively assign roles and deliver engaging learning sessions.

Let participants know how to ask for help in breakout rooms and allow participants to return to the main room at any time.

Checks for understanding
Assign straightforward tasks and do not forget to use protocols

Four Corners: Tell students that there are four stances they can take: strongly agree, agree, strongly disagree, and disagree. Give students time to think and make a choice. Students type their stance into the chat. Place students into breakout rooms based on their chosen stance (intermixing different stances).

Meet in the Middle: This activity will illustrate all the different ways people in the group are similar or agree on certain things. With all of the students in the main meeting room, select one speaker and encourage listeners to turn their cameras off. When listeners find common ground with the speaker's point of view, they turn on their cameras and join the conversation.

Mindful Minute: When using conference applications such as Zoom, Teams, Blackboard, and Connect, exhaustion is real. Mindful minute is a quick and straightforward tool, literally bringing change to your emotional state and cleaning your mental palette in one minute. Extend with periodic breaks

Review and Respond: These check-ins allow you to ask clarifying questions, build on students' ideas, and observe.

Social emotional connections

Break up long lecture sessions with water breaks or stretch breaks.

Before jumping into teaching take time out for social emotional check ins and self-assessments.

Neria Sebastien, EdD, is an assistant professor of special education in the college of education at Seattle University. He has a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Concordia University. He also earned a master's in special education from Fordham University and an undergraduate degree in elementary education from the City University of New York's Brooklyn College. Neria also served as an adjunct instructor of educational technology at Moreland University.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Increasing Student Engagement During Synchronous Online Classes | Faculty Focus

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Online learning-sometimes referred to as "distance learning" or "e-learning"-nowadays refers to any form of education delivered via the Internet. In the pre-Covid era, online earned a mixed reputation for several reasons. Criticisms leveled at online courses included: inequitable access to technology, online courses were text-heavy, students were offered minimal opportunities to respond, and online courses provided minimal opportunities for students and faculty to engage and build community.

# data[].attributes.body
One professor's honesty gained his student's trust and encouraged community spirit in his synchronous class.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Nicola O'Leary, a lecturer in the department of criminology and sociology at the University of Hull, prepares a remote learning session for her students in York, northern England, March 5, 2021. (Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images)

I'm one of those teachers who plays off the energy of the crowd. I'm constantly checking my students' faces to see how they're following - when they're interested, when they're overloaded or bored. Their faces inform a constant stream of micro-decisions, telling me when to speed up, slow down, maybe tell a stupid joke to shift the mood. I want to see them startled by an unexpected question. I'm a philosophy professor, and I basically live for the sight of a new idea dawning over a student's face.

All that changed during the pandemic. My university switched to remote learning, and I was left desperately trying to figure out how to make my classes work in this new environment. I was hardly alone. My Facebook feed was suddenly full of teachers posting advice, pleas for help - and some pretty heated debates about student camera use, in particular. Some argued that forcing students to keep their cameras on during class constituted a clear invasion of privacy. I was convinced by that argument. My role was to be their teacher, not some behavior-enforcement officer peering into their personal space. So I told my students that I had no problem with them leaving their cameras off. The result, in retrospect, was entirely predictable: Every single student chose that option, and I ended up lecturing to a sea of black squares. This turned out to be exhausting, isolating, miserable, and my teaching suffered badly. I hadn't even realized how much my teaching - and the joy I get from it - depended on that facial feedback. Without it, I became just a guy, alone in his basement, shouting into a blank laptop, hour after hour, day after day.

So I tried opening up to my students. I didn't want to place too much pressure on them, but I also felt they deserved to know that too many black squares on Zoom created an unhappy and floundering teacher. The result both radically improved my teaching on this medium and reconnected me with the students. Faces began to reappear, and not just temporarily. In the end, we reached a workable equilibrium - and the success of this mutual effort was a rare bright spot in a very difficult year.

Yes, balancing work and parenting is impossible. Here's the data.

Last year, even as I realized that the cameras-off norm was making me miserable, I wasn't sure how to proceed. I didn't want to impose a strict policy, because I could see how wildly different people's lives were in the pandemic and how little I understood about those differences. There are so many reasons students might not want to go on camera, from difficult housing situations to poor technology. Students are having to hold children and sit with sick parents. Some are worried about having their faces recorded by other students. The utter novelty of the pandemic makes it hard for anybody to grasp one another's circumstances. (A small irony: One of my classes is literally on this very topic. We explore "social epistemology," which includes questions about the limits of our mutual understanding.)

At least one teacher I deeply respect argues that, even without an official policy, exerting any kind of emotional pressure - even the slightest bit - on students to turn their cameras on is a bad practice. And there's a part of me that wants to be enough of a teaching saint to follow that advice. But I'm also a person; isolation is taking its toll on me, too. And that toll rose when I tried to be a fully engaged teacher getting zero response from the other end.

So this semester, on the first day of class, I gave honesty a shot. I told my students that I totally understood their privacy concerns and that they were free to turn off their cameras - either all the time, or occasionally. There were hundreds of good reasons for doing it, I said. They didn't need to explain themselves.

But I also told them that, as more cameras go off, my teaching inevitably suffers, and I gave them my best estimates about the effects: When fewer than a third of students have their cameras off, there is no impact. When the blank screens start to reach the 50 percent mark, I begin to lose my feel for the class. And once the proportion of turned-off cameras hits two-thirds, I feel profoundly cut off from the feedback I need to do even a vaguely decent job.

Some students told me they had never thought about what it was like to teach remotely. (I knew that I had trouble putting myself in their shoes.) And they listened. This semester is light-years better than the last. On most days, I can see somewhere between half and two-thirds of my students. No policy, no further comments from me, no enforcement or pleading. I think I see some self-regulation at work in our pedagogical ecosystem. Whenever the ratio of black squares drifts up toward the two-thirds mark, a few students will turn their cameras back on.

Our kids are still at home while universities reopen? That's backward.

I feel so much more alive and engaged. And I've heard from some of the students that they feel more invested in the material when they can see the reactions on other students' faces, even as they appreciate the freedom to vanish when they need to. I suspect that many people have only a mild preference for disabling the cameras - and now some of these students have forsaken that preference to further the communal good.

In the end, I see this as a question of informed choice. Given who I am, it's very predicable that my teaching will get worse as more cameras go off. Students deserve to know that, and take that into account, in their own choices. I suspect that honesty is the best we can do right now.

This experience has also changed how I behave when I'm on the other side of the exchange - in the audience of an online lecture. In that situation, I would almost always prefer to turn my camera off. But now I go camera-on most of the time, because of my understanding of the impact of my decision on the speaker.

Right now, our knowledge of one another's lives is slim, gathered as it is through impoverished channels like Zoom. When our connections are so tenuous, a little trust can go a long way.

Myanmar's junta hunted and tortured me. Now it's crushing a new generation.

'Kids in cages' is a distraction. The real problem is a lack of migrant housing.

YouTube still hosts extremist videos. Here's who watches them.

Today's Headlines

The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning.

By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Perspective | Zoom classes felt like teaching into a void - until I told my students why

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I'm one of those teachers who plays off the energy of the crowd. I'm constantly checking my students' faces to see how they're following - when they're interested, when they're overloaded or bored. Their faces inform a constant stream of micro-decisions, telling me when to speed up, slow down, maybe tell a stupid joke to shift the mood.

# data[].attributes.body
Jenny Holte, Adjunct Faculty, School of Engineering
I love using paper clickers with my in-person students and needed a way to extend that to students joining remotely. I made all my course meetings a recurring Zoom meeting, and created polls which I attached to the meeting.  One of the polls matches my paper clickers.

With papers clickers I can ask the students something like “Is the torque A, Clockwise or B Counterclockwise“.  Students show me their response by holding the paper clicker in front of their chest. (No one else sees their response. Everyone has to answer.).  Remote students can use the poll. I do not project the poll to the in-person students. That way no one is swayed to pick the most popular answer.

I love paper clickers because they allow responses to be hidden from classmates, but known to me, so I can get a sense of which students are struggling and might need encouragement.  If incorrect answers are scattered around the room, I can say turn to your partner and discuss.  If incorrect answers are all on one side of the room, I know that will be less effective, so I’ll call on a student instead.

I get less of this personalized information from the remote students, but the students alternate days in the classroom.

I will see if I can attach the files for the clickers and polls in the comments.

# data[].attributes.headline
Index cards help randomize student participation

# data[].attributes.subject
Index cards help randomize student participation

# data[].attributes.body
Sherry Jordon, Associate Professor and Assistant Chair, Theology
While in Zoom, I have students' names on index cards and I flip through the cards to call on them.  I also tell them that this is a "no shame zone" and if they don't have an answer, we just move on.  It helps to avoid long silences and it keeps everyone engaged.

# data[].attributes.headline
Teaching: How to Make Breakout Rooms Work Better

# data[].attributes.subject
Teaching: How to Make Breakout Rooms Work Better

# data[].attributes.body
Chronicle of Higher Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
So, not long ago, I asked readers for suggestions on how to design effective breakout rooms. I heard from many of you. But before we get into the strategies for success, I think it's useful to recap the reason for students' complaints. I should point out that the rest of us don't much like breakout rooms, either. My initial post was prompted by a Twitter thread noting that people were fleeing them at an online conference.

Rebekah Eklund, an associate professor and chair of the theology department at Loyola University Maryland, helpfully provided a list of what her students told her. She polled them at the beginning of the semester and was surprised to find that they were resistant to breakout rooms. Here are a few of the reasons:

Nobody talks, which is really awkward.

Classmates turn their cameras off or just walk away.

The professor sometimes gives the groups too much time.

When students aren't prepared, it feels like a waste of time.

If students are unsure what they're supposed to do or don't understand the assigned reading, then everyone just shuts down.

OK, so what can you do? The answers I got from Eklund and others are consistent and straightforward. And they address the same underlying problems. Without clear roles, specific tasks, and limits on time, chances are many of the above problems will surface.

Assign roles: Don't put students in a room together and expect them to sort out who does what. Assign one person to be a group leader, to keep everyone on task. Another could be the note taker. And another could be the one to report on what the group did when the entire class reconvenes.

Several readers said they like to make these assignments based on something random, like who lives farthest from campus, has the longest hair, drives the oldest car, or has the nearest birthday. These kinds of designations can also serve as conversation starters, so students can chat a bit before diving into the work.

Mix things up: Opinions are varied on whether groups should be changed up often, or whether they should stick together for several weeks so students can get to know one another. If you do keep students in the same breakout rooms for a while, some professors felt it was important to switch roles to give everyone a chance to take the lead on something.

Use shared docs: This was probably the most common suggestion among readers. Asking students to work with a Google Doc or something similar serves several purposes. It requires them to document their work, so they have to participate. It allows them to compare their work with that of other groups. And it gives the instructor a way to follow along.

That last point is particularly important. Several readers noted the awkwardness of "popping in" to breakout rooms and unintentionally stifling conversations. Yet it's hard to know how well groups are functioning if you can't observe them. Shared docs solve that problem by allowing the instructor to follow along without being intrusive. Then, if a group seems to be going off track, you know it's time to join in and help out.

"The cool thing I've learned from this is that I can participate in all of the conversations without being in the room, by following the Google Doc. I can add to the discussion ... and also participate in all the discussions simultaneously," wrote Jay Lunden, a faculty developer at the University of Delaware who is teaching a night course at Haverford College this semester.

Cotter Christian, who teaches in design studios at the Parsons School of Design, in the New School, uses Google Docs, Google Slides, or Miro whiteboards in his classes. However, he has the whole class use the same document. "That way I can see what's happening in real time, and the students are also able to see how the other breakouts are responding," he wrote. "We'll then use that document or Miro board when we reconvene together."

Keep it short: Some faculty members said that assigning a couple of tasks that take five to 10 minutes makes for an effective experience. "I'll give them all very clear directions about only one or two tasks to do in the breakout room," wrote Sarah Nichter, who teaches freshman remedial writing at the University of the Cumberlands and is director of its Center for Teaching and Learning. "Keeping it focused like that helps."

Except when it's useful to go longer: The exception is when you're asking students to work on a more complex assignment. Kelly Amsler, a senior lead learning specialist at the University of Arizona, described a project she used in a voter-education unit of a freshman student-athlete success course. The students worked together to answer questions designed to emphasize the civic importance of voting.

"The purpose of the breakout rooms in this case worked out very well, because it allowed students to connect with each other and work in small groups, but they weren't just forced to have three minutes of conversation and never talk again," she wrote. "They spent [about] 35 minutes working on this assignment together, and it was something the whole class was able to engage in and have an end result from that collaboration."

Here are some other readers' thoughts on maximizing the value of breakout rooms.

Find the right group size: Several instructors said they prefer groups of two to five to make sure everyone is engaged. But another reader pointed out that assigning groups of up to 10 helps keep conversation going even if some students don't show up or participate.

Give each group a different assignment: One professor noted that varying the assignments can counteract the tedium of hearing several groups of students talk about the same thing when class reconvenes and teams present their findings.

Put everything in writing: Several faculty members said it's helpful to share instructions for the breakout-room assignment in writing, in advance of the class session, and to keep the instructions in a place that students can refer to during class. This avoids the problem of students who didn't pay attention and enter a breakout room not knowing what to do.

Some professors share a link to a Google Doc, along with basic instructions, before class starts to give students a heads-up. You can do that through email or putting a link in the videoconference chat box.

Give students agency: Julia Kregenow, an associate teaching professor in the department of astronomy and astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University, says she has gotten more buy-in from her students by explaining to them why she sees breakout rooms as a powerful learning tool. She allows them to opt out on days when they'd rather not participate. And she provides an "escape hatch," in which a student can ask privately to be reassigned to a different room, no explanation needed.

Create connection: Breakout rooms work better when students feel comfortable with one another. So consider starting the session by asking them to discuss a question that's not specifically related to classwork, but will get them to share something about themselves. Or create breakouts solely for the purpose of sparking conversation.

"After several weeks, I learned that the students were using the breakout rooms to catch up with each other rather than discuss the task at hand," wrote Jill Grigsby, a sociology professor at Pomona College. "So I started to institute short (three-five-minute) breakout rooms at the beginning of class and the end of class with no specific assignments, to 'simulate' the beginning and end of in-person class, when students chat with one another. During these times, I was available in the main room to answer questions or arrange a longer appointment."

Dealing With Burnout

A couple weeks ago, I asked readers if their campuses had come up with ways to address faculty burnout. Mangala Subramaniam wrote in to describe some of the work she's been doing at Purdue University, where she is director of the Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence.

One issue that has come up in conversation about burnout is measuring the ways in which the pandemic has affected faculty members' research, teaching, and service work. What's the best way to do that, and how can it be done without adding to your already overloaded schedule?

Subramaniam put together detailed lists of the ways in which faculty members - both tenure track and - can document the impact of Covid-19 on their work, as well as some tips on how to do so efficiently. In her overview, she noted that underlying structural issues have led to disparate impacts on women and faculty of color, something that many academics have worried about. But she said that's why it's all the more important to document exactly how people are being affected. You can find these and other at the center's website.

ICYMI

Feeling overwhelmed? So are your students, says Cathy Davidson, a professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. In this Twitter thread, she shares some of the ways faculty members are ending the semester by lowering the stakes for students while still keeping them engaged in their learning.

In this Chronicle advice piece, Aisha S. Ahmad, an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto, encourages faculty members to use the forthcoming break to rest and recharge, not catch up on work.

In a forthcoming Chronicle forum, Beckie will talk with a panel of experts about how student-success programs are adapting to the online environment. You can sign up to join live or download to watch later.

Thanks for reading Teaching. If you have suggestions or ideas, please feel free to email us at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com or beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com.

-Beth
Learn more about our Teaching newsletter, including how to contact us, on the Teaching newsletter archive page.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching: How to Make Breakout Rooms Work Better

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
So, not long ago, I asked readers for suggestions on how to design effective breakout rooms. I heard from many of you. But before we get into the strategies for success, I think it's useful to recap the reason for students' complaints. I should point out that the rest of us don't much like breakout rooms, either.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A few ways to set up formative and summative assessments that provide an accurate picture of what students know.

The question of how to authentically and fairly assess distance learners is one that educators, administrators, and school districts have been struggling with since the spring. In my district, a list of suggested methods of online assessment was released after significant pressure from teachers, but few of them were very specific or plausible. My guess is that many teachers are in the same boat regarding a lack of direction in regard to assessment and have been left to work it out on their own.

Below are four assessment strategies that I've tested in my digital/physical classroom. Although every subject area has unique assessment needs, I think most teachers will be able to find something in this list that could work for them, whether they are teaching in person, online, or in a hybrid format.

1. One-on-One Conferences

I'm a huge fan of conferencing as an assessment tool both in class and online. Essentially, a conference is a prescribed conversation with a student or students on a topic you'd like to assess. Holding one-on-one and small-group conferences is a good way to build relationships, and it provides an opportunity for immediate correction of errors or reteaching of material if students need it. Conferencing can also raise an early red flag regarding student progress, allowing you to respond to a problem immediately, rather than at the end of a unit.

The central assessment benefit to conferences in hybrid and distance learning is finding out exactly what students know and what they can do-there's no internet or parent to give them hints, so you can get a clear snapshot of students' knowledge and skills.

To make conferencing work, you need to have a goal in mind. What skills are most critical at this moment? What skills are your students struggling with the most? Having a purpose that is clear to you and the students will make your conferences truly effective.

2. Higher Order Thinking Assignments

I've found that asking students to apply higher order thinking skills from Bloom's taxonomy, like analyzing, evaluating, or creating, allows for more student engagement and authentic assessment of both in-class and distance learners.

In my language classroom, assessments that have worked well for both types of learners include: analyzing and creating media products using principles of persuasion, practicing self-evaluation of literacy skills and goal setting through metacognition, and creating digital stories using WeVideo.

Each of these rich assessment tasks pushed students to use higher order thinking skills, but also allowed my assessments to be multidimensional. I wasn't focusing on one skill-the interdisciplinary nature of the assignments allowed for a balanced assessment in a variety of categories. This saved me time in terms of assessing one final submission instead of multiple smaller tasks, allowed me to work through the creative process with students, and allowed for a variety of assessment strategies (conversation, observation, product).

3. Digital Quizzes

I use Google Forms to create both formative and summative assessments. The quiz feature allows teachers to control how the questions are presented, and you can program a lock screen to start once an assessment begins so that students cannot open or connect to any other windows. (This works only with students using tech devices managed by your school network.)

Another nice feature of Google Forms is that it will grade multiple choice answers, and release grades to students via email once you've marked their written answers. With distance learning students, I use Google Forms in conjunction with Google Meets: I set up each of my distance learning students with their own Google Meet, then ask them to share their screen and turn on their camera throughout the entirety of the assessment.

Using Google Forms and Meets together allows me to assess all of my students at the same time. I keep a window open for each of my distance learning students and minimize it so that I can have multiple windows open on my screen at the same time and observe them for the duration of the assessment. This practice has worked so well in various classes at our school that we just decided to use it as a method of assessing distance learners for final exams.

4. Digital Writing Discussions

Google Docs lets you observe the progress of, and comment on, student written assessments in real time or asynchronously: You can retrieve past versions of a document and see who has contributed to it by using the version history feature.

For written assignments, I use all of these features, reviewing assessments as students are working on them and using the comment feature to provide feedback if appropriate. When supporting students in the classroom or online, this feature allows me to check in on them and share feedback in real time, by using the comment or editing tool as long as they have shared their document with me and allowed editing privileges.

Once a document is submitted, I will also often check up on the version history. This is especially useful when students are working in a group situation, and allows me to see who has contributed to a document, and in what context. It's also a great way to ensure that students' written work is authentic, and not copy-and-pasted from another source or created by someone other than the owner of the document.

If I'm assessing students summatively in a testing situation, I also use Google Meets in conjunction with this application, just as in quiz situations, and I ask that students not only allow me editing access but also project their screen and keep their camera on while completing the test.

Finding strategies to consistently and fairly assess distance learners is paramount to ensuring equity and legitimacy in our new classroom environments, whether they be online, in class, or a combination of both.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
4 Assessment Strategies for Distance and Hybrid Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A few ways to set up formative and summative assessments that provide an accurate picture of what students know. The question of how to authentically and fairly assess distance learners is one that educators, administrators, and school districts have been struggling with since the spring.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In my last article, I wrote about ways that we can get to know our students in virtual and hybrid courses. I also did a webinar on building a community online. You can watch it on replay here. One of the best ways to build relationships is through frequent one-on-one check-ins. In this article, we explore ideas for how to make the most out of these quick check-ins so that students feel known and understood, even when they are working at a distance.

Listen to the Podcast

If you enjoy this blog but you'd like to listen to it on the go, just click on the audio below or subscribe via Apple Podcasts (ideal for iOS users) on Stitcher (ideal for Android users), on Amazon Podcasts, or on Spotify.

https://johnspencer.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Power-of-Checkins-2.mp3

The Power of a Check-In

During the pandemic, many students described feeling lonely and isolated as they shifted into online environments. So much of the classroom experience is designed around face-to-face experiences. However, without the in-person interaction, students often felt like they were no longer connected. In some cases, students began to check out.

This isn't surprising.

Over two decades ago, researchers Anderson and Garrison demonstrated that success in an online course depended on the relationship between the student and the content, the student and the instructor, and the student and classmates. When students fail to connect with their instructor or with their classmates, they disengage. This disengagement results in lower attendance, lower assignment completion, and lower achievement. In other words, by every metric imaginable, students learn less and perform worse when they aren't connecting with others. On a more human level, students need to connect relationally to their classmates and their teacher.

When schools shift to remote learning courses, certain students who would normally do well in person end up struggling to manage their time and get started on their learning. They get distracted and fail to develop deep work habits that can lead to success. Here, students might even fail to show up to class video conferences or respond to emails. They turn in work significantly late and at a lower quality than they would if they were in a physical classroom. Without the teacher present and the reminder of accountability, these students disengage. In other words, they fail to connect with the content, with their classmates, and with the teacher. However, distance learning doesn't mean we have to be distant on a relational or social level. As teachers, we can be intentional about creating a sense of presence with our students through short check-ins.

These check-ins might focus on social-emotional elements, such as wellness, emotional status, and social connected-ness. This type of check-in can be as simple as a "How are you doing right now?" or "How are you doing with distance learning?" It might even begin with a short conversation about a student's life, such as, "How is dance going for you?" or "What video games are you into?" These little questions can send the message that you care about your students and you want to know how they are doing. Other times, it might be a more in-depth check-in with a student, a caretaker, and the school counselor or psychologist.

Other times, the check-in might have a more academic focus. You might ask students questions about their hybrid learning experiences, including how they are navigating their courses, how they are managing their time, and how they are handling the workload. This is often when you address issues of late work or a lack of engagement. In these moments, it's important to listen first and then help students develop a plan of action. In some cases, you might ask students about the social elements of school, including how they are getting along with their group members or how well connected they feel to the classroom community.

In some cases, these academic check-ins might relate more closely to the class assignments and projects. You might provide some targeted help for students who are struggling. You might need to clarify misconceptions and provide students with additional resources or scaffolds. You might also help students set and track specific academic goals.

We can conceptualize these check-ins on a continuum with the social-emotional check-ins on the more personal side and the targeted tutoring on the more academic side.

In general, teachers tend to focus on the personal elements first and move toward the more academic approach later. However, some students are doing well emotionally and really want a check-in to be academically focused. It's why there's no single right way to approach this. In some cases, a conversation begins on an academic level and then shifts toward a more social-emotional side as students share how they're actually doing. Ultimately, this is where you are the expert as a teacher. You know how to connect with students and parents or guardians in a way that is approachable but also professional.

Nine Types of Virtual Check-Ins

Here are a few ideas that I've found helpful:

1. Social-emotional pulse check: You can do this as a warm-up activity in your video conference / class meeting. You might begin with an open-ended question like, "How are you handling hybrid learning?" Students might meet with small breakout rooms or share their answers in the chat. Other times, you might create a more structured pulse check with something like, "Tell me two wins for the week and one disappointment." It can even be creative, where you have students create a superhero name or a band name. Some teachers have done emoji check-ins where students share an emoji to represent how they are doing. Others have created emotions chart with pop cultural references. Still others have had students sketch what's on their mind or what's on their heart by drawing inside of a mind shape or a heart shape. This really depends on the age, the class culture, and the subject you teach.

2. Video updates: This starts with a teacher-created video. In the first week, you can do an on boarding video of the course and explain how it will work. But after that, you can create a weekly short video with a preview of what students will do. Although prerecorded, these short, unstructured videos create a sense of presence for you as a teacher. You can then ask a specific check-in question and have students send an email or fill out a survey.

3. Video check-ins: While it helps to create videos for students, we can also encourage students to create their own video reflections and either post them to Flipgrid or email them directly to the teacher. You might give students a specific prompt or provide options of multiple prompts and encourage each student to select their own prompt. Video check-ins allow students to share how their doing with body language and voice. However, the fact that they can re-record a video allows them to have a sense of control over the process.

4. Small group check-ins: Here, you can schedule small group meeting and use video conferencing to meet with groups and look at their progress. You might have students engage in the mastermind group format as a way to share their academic goals or project progress. Other times, you might create small groups that function as a peer advisory / check-in.

5. Email check-ups: You can send out a whole class email with expectations, deadlines, etc. You might also send a short email to each student asking how they're doing. If you have 180 students in a class, rotate with 18 per day and make sure each student gets an individual email every other week. While this can feel overwhelming, you can create a template and personalize it.

6. Short text check-ins: With this option, you can ask students to use the chat function to send questions or comments as they work on various projects. Some classes might even use an option like Slack or Voxer so that the check-ins remain largely asynchronous.

7. Surveys: Ask students to fill out a course survey each week where they share what their experiences have been in a distance learning or hybrid course. These surveys tend to center on student course experience but you can also include a few questions that deal with social-emotional learning. It's important to avoid survey fatigue, so you might want to limit the surveys to 3-5 questions.

8. Scheduled conferences: You can schedule one-on-one video conferences with students where you guide reflection and do quick social-emotional learning check-ins. I love doing short five-minute conferences and allowing students to select between feedback conferences (where I provide help), reflection conferences (where I ask reflective questions), or assessment conferences (where I give feedback on mastery).

9. Phone calls: This is my least favorite option because I'm an introvert and generally dislike talking on the phone. However, given the challenges students sometimes experience with internet connectivity, sometimes the best option is a simple phone call to see how a student is doing.

At this point, these options might feel overwhelming. This is why it helps to experiment with the process until you find your groove. It also helps to ask students about their preferences for check-ins.

Poll Students for Ideal Check-in Processes

As an educator, you can honor student agency by asking them their preferences for check-ins. Students can submit their answers in an online form or in a short interview that you do a the beginning of the year. After students have submitted it, you can look at the spreadsheet and divide up your primary way of communicating with each student. This process sends the message that you value each student's input in their preferred approach to communication. As a result, they have a greater sense of control over frequency and method of communication. This can also free up your time to be more efficient with your communication. Not every student wants daily or weekly personalized check-ins. Some students prefer a short 3-question survey in a weekly email. Other students might need a phone call every other week.

The following questions can help guide the process:

How can I help you? What are some areas where you might need support? What are some challenges you might have in remote learning?

When is the best time to reach you?

How often do you want me to communicate with you?

What is your preferred method of communication? Do you prefer email? Chat? Phone call? Video conference?

What type of feedback do you prefer on your work? Video feedback? Audio feedback? Comments that are typed?

What is something former teachers have done that helped you feel known and appreciated?

What is something former teachers have done that helped you stay on track in your course?

However, this is also a two-way process and you might need to help students clarify expectations. You might send an email to a student affirming their desire for frequent communication but also explaining that daily one-on-one communication might be unrealistic.

Communicating Your Availability

Although it's important to take the initiative as the educator, it can also help to encourage students to take the initiative as well. We want to empower students to be self-advocates. As the instructor, you might provide the ideal process for asking questions, giving feedback, and reaching out to you with questions. When crafting a course syllabus, you can create a category for communicating with the teacher or professor. This category can include reasonable methods (an email, online form, office phone number), reasonable times, and expectations for when you will get back to students.

For example, as a professor, you might have the following:
Please feel free to reach out if you have questions. I am glad to help. Office hours are by appointment only. Please schedule video conference office hour meetings using the online Google form in our LMS. Please feel free to email me at any time. I will be sending email updates to check in on you and I want you to feel free to let me know if you have any questions. You can also use the chat feature in Slack or the Voxer walkie-talkie app. You can generally expect a response to an email, chat, or message within twenty-four hours. I generally end my day at 5 pm, so I will likely respond to a late-night email the next morning or afternoon.
However, if you are a fifth grade teacher, you might include a communication explanation in a newsletter you send to students and families:
Please feel free to reach out if you have questions. I am glad to help. Please schedule video conference office hour meetings using the scheduling link in our LMS (Canvas platform). If your parents or guardians would like to schedule a meeting, they can use the same form or they can send me an email or message me directly through Remind. You can generally expect a response to an email or message within twenty-four hours. If you have questions on an assignment and it's due the next day, please remember that you can always resubmit assignments after I have given feedback. Also, we will have virtual study hall sessions available to the entire class. I will be sending you a weekly check-in and it will be really important that you read and respond each time.

Notice how both paragraphs communicate availability but also boundaries. They make it clear that you are present but they also ask students to initiate conversations. It also sets the tone for future communication. Students can expect check-ins.

It's About Empowerment

Ultimately, the issue of student engagement is an issue of self-direction. When students fail to show up or turn in their work, they are often failing to be self-directed in their learning. As teachers, we can empower students to own the learning process. However, this begins with building relationships and checking in on students. When students feel known and respected, they are more likely to engage in meaningful projects that build on voice and choice. These check-ins can help build student agency and a sense of belonging in the larger community. In my last article, I wrote about how we can get to know students in virtual and hybrid environments. However, I also have a virtual learning hub with resources, articles, and webinars. I'm also working on the finishing touches on a book about empowering students in distance and hybrid learning. I can't wait to share it with you!

If you want to take a deeper dive into empowering students in distance learning, please check out my course. It's fully self-paced and on-demand, which means you can work on it at your own pace. It's packed with videos and practical resources. The course is designed to take 15 hours and I offer district and school bulk license discounts. My friend A.J. Juliani also has a great course about online and hybrid learning. As an affiliate, I get a portion of his course sales and I also have access to the 20% off coupon code. Simply type Spencer at checkout and the 20% off will be applied automatically.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Power of Student Check-Ins During Distant Learning and Hybrid Courses

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In my last article, I wrote about ways that we can get to know our students in virtual and hybrid courses. I also did a webinar on building a community online. You can watch it on replay here. One of the best ways to build relationships is through frequent one-on-one check-ins.

# data[].attributes.body
Mary Slack, Clinical Faculty, Opus College of Business

I kick off the class with a question of the day using Zoom's annotate feature. (How are you relieving your stress? What are you streaming?)

Having non-class members attend as guest speakers.

Ask the students to problem solve around how they would handle things.

Have breakout groups where they work on a document/ activity together that they bring back to the class.

# data[].attributes.body
If you have an idea/resource to share:

1. First - choose an appropriate column/category.

2. Second - Click the plus sign  at the top and choose which type of content to share.

3. Third - Write, upload, capture or post your idea or resource.

4. Fourth - Add a Column to suggest another category

5. Vote Up or Down  the ideas you resonate with.

6. Share the Padlet link with others so they can contribute.
https://padlet.com/USTSTELAR/bng10p03cu6u

Learn more about Padlet by watching one of the videos below.

# data[].attributes.body
(A very thorough explanation of doing all basic things with the free account.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Tips and Tricks for Teachers Educating on Zoom

# data[].attributes.headline
Thinking Beyond Zoom: Using Asynchronous Video to Maintain Connection and Engagement During the COVID-19 Pandemic

# data[].attributes.subject
Thinking Beyond Zoom: Using Asynchronous Video to Maintain Connection and Engagement During the COVID-19 Pandemic

# data[].attributes.body
Article about using asynchronous video to build connections with students and subject matter.

# data[].attributes.body
I have had great success with asking students to both keep their cameras and their microphones on throughout the lessons – unless they are in a really noisy environment or eat Japanese Noodle Soup...

# data[].attributes.body
One professor greets everyone by name when they join zoom. This seems to lead to more cameras being on!

# data[].attributes.body
Gino Giovannelli, Distinguished Service Faculty, Opus College of Business
When I do random breakouts I have everyone get on Zoom whether they are in class or not (in class people start out on mute to avoid feedback).  Then I create the automatically generated breakout rooms.  Once students go into their breakout rooms they unmute themselves and talk to whomever they are in the room with.  It can get noisy if there are a lot of students in class but most of the students in class wear ear buds to minimize the noise and the potential of feedback.