Recording Lectures

Despite the challenges of “Zoom fatigue, difficulty getting to know classmates, and lack of opportunities for serendipitous chats with professors” students still reported positive feelings toward Zoom instruction. The aspect of Zoom instruction most valued by students was that lectures were recorded and posted. The availability of recorded lectures made it possible for students to revisit key points as many times as needed. Students also appreciated professors who took advantage of the virtual platform by inviting guest speakers and experts to speak during class. Finally, students remarked that seeing their professors in their home environment made it easier to connect with them as real people. 

Whether you are teaching via Zoom or not, it is possible to leverage existing tools to harness the potential positives of Zoom instruction. With lecture capture, which is available in almost every LSA room, you can record your lecture and post it immediately to Canvas. To ensure students must be present in class to fully participate, consider incorporating active learning strategies into your lecture. Activities such as group discussions, live polling, and hands-on activities make it necessary for students to be physically present to engage fully in class. The ability to invite guest speakers and experts to join class virtually is another advantage of the hybrid technology available in most LSA classrooms. Hybrid capabilities also allow students to join class virtually if extenuating circumstances necessitate this accommodation. 

Multiple Modes of Communication

During the pandemic, students who self-identified as shy or introverted remarked on how transformative the chat feature in Zoom proved to be. Using the chat was not as intimidating as unmuting and sharing verbally with the entire class, increasing the likelihood that all students would participate in class discussions. For instructors who found success using the Zoom chat, it is possible to recreate “the chat” outside of Zoom. MS Teams is a chat tool available to every U-M community member. Instructors can create a Team from existing MCommunity groups. Once a team has been created, both instructors and students can add channels to organize conversations and enable group communication. These chats can be utilized during a live class. Students in large lecture halls can use a Q and A channel within Teams to ask clarifying questions. If you have a teaching assistant, they can moderate the chat, or you can take breaks to check the Q and A, making it possible to address misunderstandings in real time. Other backchannel chat tools include Slack, Canvas Chat, and Google Chat. 

Plan Breaks

During remote teaching, many instructors, sensitive to the challenges of Zoom fatigue, broke up long instructional blocks with breaks. The transition back to in person instruction doesn’t remove the need for mindful breaks. Intentionally placed breaks give students the chance to process information before moving on. Instructors can encourage students to get up and move during a break. Movement helps the brain retain information and build connections. Intentional social breaks in the form of icebreakers can help build a supportive classroom culture, a necesssary condition for collaborative learning. Instructional breaks also provide natural transitions to learning activities. Before moving to a group discussion, an instructor can plan a “coffee break” with group members. During this time, members of a small group can share a bit about themselves before beginning an academic task to increase the likelihood that all students will feel comfortable participating.

Keep Group Work

Many instructors used Zoom breakout rooms for group work while teaching remotely. Group work on zoom proved successful, and there’s no reason to abandon groups now that most classes are back in person. There are many strategies for forming groups that will allow you to do so regardless of the challenges posed by your classroom layout. For larger auditoriums, consider having two students turn around to face the two students in the row behind them, forming a small group of four. If you would like to elicit student input in a large class, have row leaders gather responses from every student in their row and then report out to the entire class. In smaller student groups, you can randomly group students with most LSA supported tools like Canvas, Yellowdig, Perusall, etc… If you are organizing a short term group activity in class, you can have students self-select into groups by posting questions around the room and allowing students to move to the question they are interested in discussing. You can also do something as simple as having students count off by the number of groups you want to form. 

Integrate Technology

Moving back to a physical classroom doesn’t have to mean a move away from technology. Technology makes content more accessible, allows students the flexibility to learn in their preferred learning style, provides opportunities for collaboration, and gives students access to feedback. Housing course materials on Canvas is a practice that supports all students, but especially those who require assistive technology. Posting a virtual agenda that students can reference during class or chunking materials in Canvas reduces students’ cognitive load, making it easier for them to process course content. Instructors can use grading tools such as SpeedGrader or Gradescope to provide timely feedback to students. This gives learners the opportunity to pinpoint gaps in their understanding and seek support before high stakes assessments. Overall, technology has the potential to free up instructors’ time so that they can push student thinking and facilitate robust learning experiences. 

Humanity First

During the pandemic, many students experienced increased flexibility and understanding from professors when academic expectations could not be met. Faculty were aware of the tremendous challenges students faced and responded with understanding and kindness. Responsiveness to student needs should persist in the “new normal”. Reach out to the Learning Teaching Consultants to discuss leveraging technology to create supportive learning environments in whatever teaching modality you have chosen.