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When planning your course, determine which online activities will happen synchronously or asynchronously. More presentation-focused activities, such as lectures or other forms of one-way communication, may be better suited to happen asynchronously. More interactive activities that require everyone to be actively involved, such as group discussions, may be better suited to happen synchronously.
You can structure your course so students are participating in asynchronous learning activities before coming to the synchronous session. For example, you may have students take a pre-assessment and watch a lecture video before coming to the synchronous session.
Making the most of synchronous sessions
The tools and techniques below can be used to facilitate active learning during online synchronous class sessions.
Warm up/Framing to start session
Consider how your synchronous class sessions will begin. During the beginning of the semester, you may choose to incorporate icebreaker activities to get the class more comfortable with each other, the synchronous learning environment, and the technology. Throughout the semester, you may incorporate other warm up activities to get students thinking about the course goals or content.
Verbal Class Discussions
A benefit of online synchronous learning is the ability to have real-time, interactive discussions with the entire class. Rather than spending the invaluable synchronous time lecturing, consider moving lectures to the asynchronous portion of the course in Brightspace and using the synchronous time to have students contribute to the conversation. For example, you may ask students to research a topic and then come to class prepared to discuss and share.
When preparing for verbal class discussions, consider classroom management principles. Some considerations include:
- do students need to use the "raise hand" feature before speaking?
- will all mics be muted unless speaking?
- can students use reactions or the chat while others are speaking?
- can students share content?
Breakout Rooms
Breakout rooms allow small groups to gather for lively conversation and brainstorming sessions. To help ensure effective use of breakout rooms, consider the following:
- Learn the features and options for setting up breakout rooms before your synchronous class meeting time
- Prepare an interesting and complex discussion topic, case study, or question for students to discuss in the breakout rooms
- Clearly communicate the purpose, task(s), instructions, and time frame to students
- If more structure is desired, assign or let students choose roles to occupy while in the breakout rooms
- Check in with each breakout room
Learn how to create and use breakout rooms in Microsoft Teams meetings.
Polls
Using polls during your synchronous classes can help keep students engaged and can provide real-time feedback to inform the teaching and learning goals for the synchronous session. Depending on your goals, you may implement a poll that focuses on a particular learning task, asks for background information on student preparedness or access to technology, or that asks for student feedback.
Chat
The chat tool can be used in a variety of ways in a synchronous learning environment.
- Waterfall - The Waterfall technique asks students to type their answer to a question in the chat, but they do not hit "send" until the instructor says so. This creates a "waterfall" of student responses in the chat, where all responses come in at once.
- Backchannel - A backchannel is an online conversation that happens as the synchronous class is occurring. This gives students a way to contribute to the discussion and ask questions throughout the synchronous session. With a backchannel, instructors can encourage students to ask questions, post reactions, communicate with their peers, and share resources.
- Student to run/monitor the chat - Selecting a student to monitor the chat can help ensure all comments and questions are addressed during the synchronous session. Consider having a different student monitor the chat each session.
Group Whiteboarding
Using the Whiteboard tool during synchronous classes can encourage collaboration with the whole class or within small groups. You may incorporate a whiteboard to provide a visual explanation, facilitate exit tickets, or to facilitate collaborative learning. Learn more about using Whiteboard in a Teams meeting.
Post-Class Discussion/Recaps in Brightspace
Consider ways that the synchronous conversation can be extended after class has ended. Incorporating an asynchronous post-class discussion board can give students a space to continue the discussion. Also consider how you might recap what happened during the synchronous session by using a text or video announcement to provide key takeaways, lessons learned, or next steps.