Live class sessions are commonly incorporated into online and hybrid courses, and they provide the interaction that students find fundamental to their CEU experience. However, synchronous sessions can also be the most challenging aspect of the course to facilitate, as they require a great deal of planning and coordination. Additionally, synchronous sessions can create equity issues, which is why it is essential to record seminars and provide multiple ways for students to engage in the session (Flynn & Kerr, 2020).
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Planning Live Class Sessions
As you are planning synchronous sessions, think about your learning goals. Then, consider what students might already know and which learning activities can support them in reaching the goals you’ve specified. Breaking a 100-minute session into several segments, with longer blocks for more substantial activities, can help include a range of activities and interactions in each class period. This helps to sustain student attention and motivation.
Plan activities that support the learning goals. Vary the format of sessions and activities to sustain student attention and motivation.
Anticipate technological challenges. Think about areas where technology may interfere and have a backup plan. At the course start, let students know what to do if they experience technical difficulties throughout the term.
Share an agenda and discussion questions in Moodle. Giving students time to prepare and reflect can lead to more fruitful discussions and collaboration, and can support remote students
| Before the Session |
Consider learning goals. Think about what students should know or be able to do after the session and how these connect to larger course goals. Plan activities that support the learning goals. Vary the format of sessions and activities to sustain student attention and motivation. Anticipate technological challenges. Think about areas where technology may interfere and have a backup plan. At the course start, let students know what to do if they experience technical difficulties throughout the term. Share an agenda and discussion questions in Moodle. Giving students time to prepare and reflect can lead to more fruitful discussions and collaboration, and can support remote students. |
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| During the Session |
Check-in with students at the beginning of the session. This can build community and counter feelings of isolation. Students can get to know their peers, who can support each others’ learning and motivation. Review concepts through quizzes, polls, or collaborative activities. This encourages students to make connections between what they already know and what they are learning. Plan breaks and transitions. Both remote and in-person students benefit from time to take care of physical needs, especially if they have back-to-back classes. This also gives you an opportunity to check the chat and prepare for the next activity. Provide multiple means of engagement. Create different channels for students to participate and share their ideas, including chat, backchannels, and collaborative documents. |
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| After the Session |
Post recordings or a recap. If students have consented to a recording, post the video on Moodle so that students can re-watch and review difficult concepts. Assign reflection activities. Build in low-stakes discussion forums, journals, or posts that encourage students to reflect on what they have learned and their experience with the hybrid environment. Remind students of office hours and other opportunities to review content, ask questions, and connect in smaller groups. |
Student Engagement in Live Sessions
Varying how students participate in hybrid class sessions can provide greater opportunities for meaningful interaction. In addition to verbal discussion, Zoom and Microsoft Teams come with built-in features that enable students to chat, answer polls, and share reactions. Other interactive tools, such as Microsoft Forms, can be used for polling, Q&A, and word clouds.
Live Chat
Students can use the chat feature as a backchannel, which is a digital conversation that runs simultaneously with a lecture, presentation, or whole class activity. This provides students with a space to actively contribute to the discussion and ask questions (OTL University of Guelph). Back-channelling can also build community and increase participation opportunities for students who might not regularly speak in class.
At the beginning of the course, let students know that they are encouraged to use the chat and co-establish norms and expectations for participation. What will the chat be used for? What should or shouldn’t be posted? You might ask a rotating student or a teaching assistant to monitor the chat and to bring questions or comments from the chat to the larger group. Also consider whether the chat will be projected on one of the large screens in the front of the classroom, or if students should view it on their own devices.
Polling
Polling can be a quick and engaging way to test students’ comprehension of course concepts, gather student perspectives, and take a pulse on how students are feeling. If you would like to use polling in your course, ask on-campus students to bring a laptop or cell phone to class so that they can participate. They will log into the call along with remote students and can answer questions on their personal devices. Be sure that on-campus students do not join audio, or you may experience audio inference.
The key to effective polls is crafting good questions that promote learning. Derek Bruff (2009) recommends several different question types:
- One-best answer questions require students to select the one “best” answer among competing alternatives by weighing evidence for and against each answer.
- Student Perspective questions ask students to share their opinions and personal experiences, therefore connecting material to students’ lives.
- Misconception questions surface and address common student misconceptions about particular topics.
Q&A and Small Group Sessions
Students have shared that they appreciate informal opportunities to connect and seek live support. You might consider offering a combination of in-person and online office hours, individually-scheduled consultations, or small group Q & A sessions. It is not necessary to offer more office hours than usual, but useful to plan these meetings strategically where students might need the most help (Lowenthal in Darby & Lang, 2017). For example, you or your teaching assistant could offer an online Q &A session just before a project due date and post the recording for students who could not attend.
Resources
IT SharePoint site: Technical guides for using CEU-supported tools for online and hybrid class sessions [CEU login required]
View the Elkana Center's pages on Lectures, Discussions, and Assessment for more about online and hybrid teaching at CEU.