Time in Development: One Month

My Role: Learning Designer and Facilitator

Tools Used: Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Google Slides, Google Docs

Overview

This is a three part course on digital breakout rooms where adults learn how to use breakout rooms, implement them, and reflect on their use.

Challenge

• During covid-19 our adult learners in the building were teaching their students from home for around one and a half years. They wanted students to be able to complete group work as if they were in person in a classroom.

• During covid-19 our students were struggling with being engaged during virtual learning. We wanted to use breakout rooms to give them a way to have individual instruction, but also work with other students in their classroom.

Solution

• Adult learner feedback from last year indicated they wanted more time to implement new material from professional learning they attend. I created a three part series where they would learn, implement, and reflect on the use of virtual breakout rooms.

• For the first session I wanted to show the learner how to use the breakout rooms tools and functions in Teams and Google Meet. From there they got to experience a breakout room so they could understand what is looks like from the student perspective.

• For the second session I wanted the learner to come up with their own list of best practices for running breakout rooms. They were grouped and pushed into rooms were they had to assign themselves roles as if they were the student. The list they came up with was shared as a resource to the entire staff.

• For part three learners were asked to implement a breakout room with their students prior to the session, and then they used a reflection tool to discuss their success and improvements.

Result

• The adult learners felt empowered to use breakout rooms with their students virtually.

• The students were able to engage with each other in small groups. This led to them working on their communication and collaboration skills.