At times, students can feel lost on remote placements, especially in the early few weeks. By giving them deadlines and specific tasks to complete, this will help them get started and find their confidence. Initially you can't simply suggest things, you need to be specific about what you expect from them. In your first supervision make sure to complete a contract of expectations.
Encourage an open dialog from the start. Share your hopes and fears and encourage the student to do the same. This might be a new way of working for both of you and its good to acknowledge this.
Ask if the student has any specific learning needs/requirements or anything else that might impact on placement. Encourage them to suggest ways to cope with these.
At the start of the placement, agree a clear structure for supervision, e.g. ongoing projects, handover of case study progress, weekly goals, weekly reflection. This will help the student prepare each week. Students have feedback that they often didn't know how to use supervision to get the best out of it, make sure they use the time wisely and encourage them about what to prepare. Hopefully after a few weeks they will be able to be more organised and autonomous with this.
Make a set time for regular supervision and be clear about who takes notes, how you will meet (microsoft teams/zoom/phone) and who will arrange/ initiate the session. For example, is it an expectation that the student sets up the 'room' and invites the educator?
Some students don't like to bother their educator as they know you are busy... other students will feel pressure to contact everyday so the educator knows they are working. You might prefer the student to check in with you everyday either through your work phone or by email. Make the boundaries clear from the start.
Nothing ever quite goes to plan in practice and this can affect the placement and the student's experiences. Have some back-up projects that the student can work on if things change last minute, these can be guided by the student but they must be easy enough for the student to work on at home if necessary.
If the placement doesn't allow for certain elements of the assessment grid to be easily met, get creative and make some opportunities. For example, students can write notes and reports even if the placement doesn't support it, for example on extended scope placements, they might be able to engage in group activities and then write anonymised notes to give to the long-arm educator for feedback. Or students could record themselves interviewing each other or using a specific assessment tool or intervention.