Presenting Synchronous Content

Both fully online and hybrid class formats are less amenable to smooth and interactive class discussions. It is more difficult to identify students, for students to hear one another, and there can be a choppy flow to the discussion.

Recommendations

Please also refer to Presenting Slides During Class and Facilitating Class Discussions for additional guidance related to presenting synchronous content.

Recommendations

  • Do not pre-distribute lecture slides before the class session (make them available when the class starts or after the class is finished)
  • Pre-record (asynchronous content) that feels comfortable for you
    • Focus on “standard” material that does not require Q&A or discussion
  • Good use of synchronous class time is solving practice problems, discussing news articles on the topic, case discussions, answering questions students have to prepare before class
  • Ask students to discuss how their own background/context informs their thinking toward the concept
  • Actively re-direct conversation to less active participants (or pair less active students together)

Discussion Based Courses

  • Regroup after small group discussions and reassign discussion points based on output
    • “Team 1 says X. Team 2, develop an alternative solution/counter-argument”
  • Establish intrinsic motivation
    • Get buy-in: Ask students what they know now and expect to gain from the lesson
    • Tie concepts to students’ current knowledge base
    • Make concepts applicable to life today (as a student, learner, job-seeker, community member, etc.) vs. broad future application
    • Conduct exit polls to ensure satisfaction/suggestions for learning techniques/improvement (allow students to participate in the construction of their learning experience)
    • Encourage expansion/rephrasing to facilitate discussion
    • No wrong answers: Ask listener to explain the connection​
  • Scaffold from previous content​.
    • Explicitly recap relevant content from previous lessons​
    • Explain why previous concepts are critical​
    • Counter comments and encourage mistakes.
    • Use the phrases “advance” or “expand” to keep conversation on track
  • Cycle​
    • Move from lecture to small group then individual activities (I do, we do, you do)
    • Integrate many activities (lectures are pre-recorded) sections at 10 minutes
  • Schedule a break to hold attention and “chunk” content​
  • If Zoom crashes, see What To Do if Zoom Crashes

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Enables faculty to maximize live class session time by prioritizing discussion and idea sharing
  • Students are able to interact in all class discussions and/or small group discussions successfully regardless of location (online or in-class)

Cons

  • Admin support is needed to facilitate in-class to virtual idea sharing
  • Virtual students cannot participate in small group discussions with in-class students and vice versa