Virtual classroom etiquette

Faculty can benefit from setting expectations and norms for their virtual classroom, so students are both held accountable and respected in the online learning space. It’s useful to be proactive and suggest practices upfront that can improve classroom dynamics.  

• Consider asking students to keep their cameras on. If you do choose to ask students this, include a slide in your first class session that explicitly states this expectation.  However, do keep in mind that some students may have good reason to leave their cameras off. 

• Encourage students to use the “raise their hand” feature. Whenever faculty want to ask students a question or solicit feedback, they can invite students to use this feature. It allows faculty to have more structure in the Q&A and facilitate conversations.

You can share this Best Practices One-pager with your students to establish course norms and help them as they adjust to remote learning.