Ways to implement group work and our pedagogic model - example activities

This is a powerful way to bring on- and off-campus groups of students together.

At the end of a face-to-face session, set aside 10 minutes to make a short recording (you could use Panopto on a laptop, smartphone or similar device).

Explain at the start of the session that this will happen, and ask the students in the room to make a note of one or two key takeaways throughout the session.

Start the virtual postcard with the group saying “Hello” to those who can’t be on campus. Get the students to give their name and film their key take-away points.

Keep this fun and informal, use music and humour. Post the film to Moodle and encourage a response by ending the film with a question that can be answered in your Moodle discussion for that week.

This approach works if there are between 1–10 students in the cohort who are unable to come to campus.

You don't need to capture the whole face-to-face session for those who were unable to attend. Moodle and Panopto can help you provide suitable alternatives to face-to-face attendance.

A 5–10 minute summary is a sufficient replacement, alongside independent study tasks such as reading key texts/taking part in moderated, asynchronous discussion activities.

Ask the student groups whether they wish to choose a set time and day, each week, to connect with each other online in a Google Meet/Zoom or similar platform.

Each member finds a coffee shop near them (if possible) and the group then connect to discuss their week ahead. The time should be light/playful and focus on any set preparation work for the week. Encourage capturing of the event with social media.

Again, think about this at course level – maybe limit to one or two module groups.

Use the set groups as a basis for this micro-teach activity. Assign, to each group, 20–30 mins of a face-to-face session. Students who are unable to be on campus can pre-record content and/or join remotely via a laptop. The group is responsible for delivering the 20–30 minutes, which may include a pre-recorded presentation/discussion activities/game and must focus on the topic for the week.

To increase engagement this can be a formative exercise, which contributes in some way to preparation for the final assessment task. For example, it might focus on a key text/practical technique/skill each week, which the students summarise and critique.

Create a shared Google Doc for each week and share the link as part of the first section of your weekly Moodle page for the module.

(To open the document to collaborators, be sure to enable the setting for ‘Anyone with the Link Can View’. Up to 50 people at a time can collaborate on a Google Doc.)

At a basic level, students can take joint notes on the Google Doc and ask each other questions. Beyond this there are many possibilities; this document can take many forms and capture research activities that happen in class.

This is a good way to enable collaborative exercises in large socially-distanced classrooms. It is also a fantastic way to model live group editing.

Nearpod is a good choice of digital tool if you want students who are not on campus to be able to follow the face-to-face sessions live.

With a Nearpod classroom you can easily synchronize and control live lessons across all student devices regardless of the physical location. It will increase your prep time, but lessen the need for content capture activities in Moodle. You can do this for all or some sessions.

To manage the face-to-face element, include a group work task that can be completed via a shared Google Doc. You will need a microphone to record your audio.

Padlet is a virtual noticeboard where individuals can add a post with text/image/media. For any group tasks, either asynchronous (set up in Moodle) or synchronous (during face-to-face time), Padlet provides a creative way to capture outputs. Highly recommended.