Zoom has become an invaluable tool in online teaching. However, distance learning presents its fair share of additional challenges. The most common challenge faced by educators is maintaining active learner engagement. A lack of face-to-face accountability makes it easy for students to lose motivation and feel an increased sense of isolation. Follow these simple tips to boost engagement and increase satisfaction in your online class:
Set Expectations
- Ease entry through clear communication
- List etiquette and expectations for participation
- MODEL the behavior
- Example: Please mute microphone and use chat feature for questions
Orient the Learner
- Provide an agenda, give the learner an idea of how the class will progress
- Make it easy for the learner to follow along
- Narrate flow of experience
- Send agenda prior or screen share a slide at the beginning
Use the Tools
- Use the Zoom tools to encourage collaboration (i.e. polling)
- Start simple; practice using tools in advance
- Don’t forget to monitor the chat feature
- Learn more about tools: www.support.zoom.us
Encourage Participation
- Acknowledge and reinforce contributions
- Address people by name
- Demonstrate gratitude and appreciation
- Example: “Kate just asked an excellent question in the chat.”
“John, thank you for bringing that up.”
Embrace the Pause
- Take a moment after asking a question to allow learners to unmute
- Acknowledge that user-experiences are not uniform
- Use prompts to address potential errors
- Example: “If you are muted, we are unable to hear you.”
Have Fun!
- Add humor
- Give grace
- Remember: We’re all in this together!