Research Article: A Teaching Intervention that Increases Underserved College Students' Success (2016)
Study Smarter Templates by Jose Antonio Bowen
Breakout Rooms - Supports student choice and small group interaction. However, it's a good idea to have directions for the breakout room on a Google Doc, Slide deck or in the LMS, so students know what to do in the breakout room.
Stop and Reflect - This is an opportunity for students to 'prethink' before joining into a conversation. This gives them time to formulate some ideas before being asked to share. Letting students first discuss their ideas in pairs or small groups ensures everyone has something to say/contribute when you discuss as a whole group.
Debriefing - Once students have done an activity, be transparent in how that activity relates to thinking and learning - Explain the 'why' of the activity as it relates to the course outcomes.
Chat apps are a great way to have low bandwidth connection with students and stay connected (especially through a mobile device. But consider how adding a new communication pathway will impact (positive or negative) you and your students' time and management of another platform. Below are some things to consider.
First, it is one more thing to 'check' for you and students, so consider what you might replace with chat (i.e. Q&A Discussion Forum, Announcements, etc) and communicate this clearly with students.
Is it easily accessed from a computer AND mobile?
Does it require a data to download?
Is it something students already have?
What are your expectations for yourself in managing this space?
Average response time?
Ground rules for interaction and what is 'shared'?
Communication Channels/Groups that might focus conversations?
Since we are mid semester:
Explore the tool and see how 'easy' it is to use. Try it from both a computer and a mobile device.
Find a colleague and test out communicating with each other
You might ask students if this is something they'd be interested in using.
Ask for a small group of student volunteers to 'pilot' the chat app and get their feedback (try it for a week)
Consider beginning with a 'chat office hour' and be prepared to get the conversation started or be accessible via Chat at the same time as your Zoom office hour
Zoom Chat (you and students already have this)
Slack (Free and easy to use)
We know it can feel defeating to teach to a screen of black squares, but there are humans behind the squares. Yes, we know some students may take advantage of the 'off camera' option to engage in non academic behavior. But what about the students who have their camera off for other reasons (bandwidth, distracting background, having to join from a less than ideal location). We can engage students behind the screen, but this will take some different approaches.
We also have to consider that we are all in a different frame of mind - these are not normal times, and we are all balancing a lot and trying to forge ahead with teaching and learning.
Below are some resources to consider as you teach beyond the black screen: