Your first class meetup sets the stage for your entire course. Take the time to encourage social interaction among your students early.

Prior to your first class, invite students to introduce themselves online and include one thing they think they already know about the subject matter. Make sure there is a word limit and a due date (before your live class). This encourages students to engage even before entering the classroom while also giving you the opportunity to get to know students and their previous experiences with the course content. 

During the first class, faculty can highlight thoughtful student work. For example, an instructor can reference a student’s post in an online discussion forum or an exemplary response in the Zoom chat. Personalize the class by incorporating 1-2 student comments into your mini-lecture.

Looking for ways to make your remote class feel personal and inclusive for your students? Here are four ways to start creating a virtual class community. 

1. Use the forums to get to know your students. Create a topic where students can introduce themselves, tell you where they’re based, why they’re taking this class, and what they’re interested in learning more about. 

2. Reference students by name, especially in Zoom sessions. It’s never been easier to remember your students’ names as they're displayed below their video feed. 

3. Use a survey to set up working groups. If you’d like to have your students form groups for collaborative projects, consider putting together a survey to help identify shared interests or complementary skills. 

4. Use “warm calling” to initiate live discussion. It can be helpful to encourage all students to participate through the chat before you prompt individual students to respond live when asking a question. This will help avoid awkward silences or confusion around who should be speaking and also gives those students who are more hesitant to speak a more explicit way to engage.

When students feel connected to us and to each other, they learn better and persevere more. If you are live and synchronous with your students, use at least some of the time to fuel their learning with humanity.

Incorporate Video

Instead of having students write responses, you could ask them to upload 2-minute videos. They can make their recordings via the NYU-supported Kaltura Capture tool and share them. Set the tone by uploading a video yourself. 

Utilize Small Groups

Incorporate Breakout Rooms into your live classes for small group discussions, problem solving, idea generation, etc. You can create random groups or design them based on teams or some other criterion.  

Assign Group Projects

Encourage students to work in teams and collaborate on projects. Your students are able to organize their own meetings outside of class time with their NYU Zoom accounts. They can also collaborate using Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Incorporate a confidential peer-feedback survey (Here’s one you can copy: Peer feedback template) for students to rate how each member of the team contributed.