Class Modalities

On-campus: 

These courses are taught in a traditional classroom, face-to-face.

Online: 

No in-person requirement. These online courses are taught completely through Immaculata’s learning management system, Moodle; these courses do not meet on a certain day or at a certain time unless a synchronous online meeting has been scheduled by the instructor.

Remote Synchronous: 

These courses are offered remotely, with scheduled set meeting days/times.

Hybrid: 

These courses offer part online or virtual instruction and part face-to-face instruction in a classroom, with instructors letting students know which days they will meet on campus.

Effective Online Classroom Management Tips

Test the Technology Beforehand

Nothing will derail your online lesson faster than fumbling with the your slideshow or your video conference. The most important thing is your video conferencing app (Google Meet or Microsoft Teams), followed by your presentation app (Google Slides or PowerPoint). 

Make sure you know how to mute a student. And if you’re planning to use breakout rooms, try them beforehand with colleagues. It’s tricky to transition everyone into their breakout rooms and bring them back at the same time. Be extra careful about muting myself while changing rooms. 

Establish Norms

Set the ground rules for classroom management at the beginning of the course.  You’ll want to set norms that make you feel comfortable, while also creating the best environment for learning. If students have a say in creating the rules, then they will be more likely to follow them. Students often come up with many of the rules you may have come up with anyway. In fact, they’ll point out some issues you wouldn’t have expected. Consider a break-out session in the first week of class giving students guiding questions for their conversations. What is appropriate dress for online meetings? When and how should we ask questions? Will we use hand signals?  Once the classroom norms are established, post them in your course. 

Emphasize Engagement

If we can’t engage our students, then they may stop showing up. And if they stop showing up, we may never get them back.

Students working online have access to endless sources of information. They don’t need a teacher to explain something for 45 minutes. Minimize straight lecture and keep whole-group sessions short. Use this time to prepare students for a hands-on activity. 

Let students know that you’re there for them, make a few announcements, and send them off to complete their activities. Students learn more through activities and problem-solving than they do by absorbing information.

This is true even in an in-person classroom. But it’s especially true during online learning. If we can engage our students in our lessons, then online classroom management almost takes care of itself.

Create Connections using Small Groups

Students are starved for personal connections in the classroom. Whole class meetings can help create a sense of normalcy, but it’s hard to have meaningful online conversations with 30 people. Make sure to schedule some time with small groups of students. They don’t even need to be lessons per se. Get to know your students. Encourage them, and listen to their frustrations about learning online. Maybe even share your own (with a positive spin).

Just don’t turn the online experience into a correspondence course. Students need human connection.  The human element will make your students more motivated.  Click here for more instructions on Managing Groups in Moodle.

Start Slowly

• The way to get the most out of our students when teaching remotely is to take a step back. Let them have fun. Let them make mistakes. Make them feel ok, no matter how much work they are getting done.

• It will take some students longer than others to adjust. But we will get better results with a supportive and understanding approach than by trying to force things. 

• Be open to the possibility that our students will learn more responsibility, develop social-emotional skills, and master more content than they would in a live classroom.