Active Teaching & Learning in Online Synchronous Sessions

Beyond the basics

ACTIVE LEARNING INSYNCHRONOUS

ONLINE SESSIONS

Faculty Jim Leaman, FacultyBusiness & Econ Dept, Eastern Mennonite University

Steve Webster, Adjunct FacultyBusiness Dept, Bluffton University

Facilitator Brian Gumm, Online Education Design Specialist

Eastern Mennonite University

DISCUSSION PARTNERS

Advantages to synchronous online sessions

The learning curve & early lessons learned

Growing painsBest Practices & Protocols

TOPICS

Building a case

ADVANTAGES TO SYNCHRONOUS

DiscussionBest view of peoples’ facesText chat

Guest speakers from anywhere in the world

Polling - Many ideas shared at once, from everyone!


Recorded/Archived SessionsAbsent students, recorded mini-lectures/flipped

Group Annotation/WhiteboardingMulti-modal engagement (chat, polling)Convenient and cost-saving

location, time, connecting with tutors



Our tool: Zoom.us (or simply “Zoom”)Maximum participant capacity: 50Simple user interfaceSuperior audio/video call quality


Three possible modes: speaker view, gallery view, share-screen Gallery View (we’ve found this most helpful for dynamic

discussion) Everyone sees everyone’s face – halo around active speaker Raising hands either electronically or physically in video feed Chat feature gets more students involved and provides an additional channel

Quieter students are more likely to use chat; everyone has ways to express themselves

Dual-channel discussion, with each informing the other channel (adds extra dimension)

Chat log saved for later review; I use this help guide subsequent coverage/classes Allows guest speakers to join from anywhere!

Zoom sessions can be recorded and archived for re-viewing


Early lessons learned

THE LEARNING CURVE

Faculty have tendency at first to try to replicate onsite style to online

There may be a requisite period of adaptation

Technology tools make a difference Find products best suited to specific needs (Zoom, Socrative)

Internet bandwidth makes a difference DSL connections are workable, but marginal (accommodation)

Audio is the most vexing and nagging problem to solve Headsets with boom, noise-cancelling mics Mics always in the open position (unmuted)

THE LEARNING CURVE

An adjustment for everyone (faculty & students)Skepticism acceptance excitement

Training and orientation Period of gaining comfort Shifting paradigms, understanding, methods Redesigning course content and pedagogy New technologies shuffle the deck…next round

THE LEARNING CURVE

Continuing to improve

BEST PRACTICES & PROTOCOLS

Identify & solve technology problems early Ensure adequate hardware and bandwidth, and

test itEstablish “netiquette” for sessions

Eye contact: Looking directly at camera No eating Minimize/eliminate background noise

Provide non-active content (lectures) into recorded format, keep live/synchronous time active


Encourage multi-modal discussion (text chat, live discussion)

Plan a mix of activities: 15-20 minute segmentsTake breaks in long sessionsCultivate a community of learning

Small group breakout sessions “Water cooler time” during breaks or “Happy hour” after class


Any others that you would add?Email or comment!

[email protected]@OnlineEd_EMU

emu.edu/now/online-ed