Engagement and interactivity
Instructors must consider how to keep students engaged synchronously and asynchronously when they present bi-modally to students on campus and remote. Instructors can prepare bi-modal connections by asking: "What are the core experiences of in-person learning and interaction that need to be translated online?" Educators need to invest in the live lecture experience to ensure it's as personal for the remote student as for the student in the physical classroom. Instructors must ensure learners are active participants rather than consumers.
Active participation
Various strategies ensure all students are active participants.
- Break students into small groups to solve problems, discuss concepts, or debate topics. Students joining remotely work with in person students in the discussions.
- Provide hands-on activities that practice or visualize concepts. Use everyday items that remote students have so they can participate. Communicate the items to collect and have at their workspace before class begins so students are prepared. If special items are required, create take-home bags that students pick up.
- Give students time to process and practice concepts individually. Be mindful about finding time in a class meeting for students to reflect on what they're hearing and to practice what you demonstrate.
Evaluate comprehension
Instructors need to implement strategies that quickly evaluate students' comprehension during synchronous sessions. Strategies include:
- Require everyone to reflect on a question and not allowing anyone to raise their hand to answer until everyone - both in-person and remote - shows a "thumbs-up." In-person students can physically indicate they're ready to move on with a thumbs-up; remote students can add a thumbs-up emoji in the chat window.
- Ask students to change their Microsoft Teams status to red if they're still working or are having trouble with a concept. Change status to green when they're finished working or feel confident with the concept. In-person students use a note card with a red dot on one side and a green dot on the other side to show the appropriate selection.
- Create a touchpoint such as a quiz in @forms or Polly poll, a Pear Deck or Nearpod presentation, or a Kahoot or Quizlet activity and ask all students to participate.
Workload
Educators need to examine coursework demands to ensure students don't experience the two extremes: undue stress from tasks that are too challenging or boredom from tasks that aren't challenging enough. Both situations cause students to disengage. Instructors must consider students' Zone of Proximal Development to create more accurate estimates of—and then monitoring—student workloads.
Considerations for primary learners
Primary learners need control of their learning. Workflow consistency is also important. Some techniques that work well in a face-to-face classroom, such as think-pair-share, don’t work as well online. Engage primary learners with consistent practices effective in online instruction such as adding videos, audio, and text directions to ensure students have multiple ways to access directions and to submit responses.
Considerations for intermediate learners
Consider learning experiences that captivate the intermediate learner's zeal for knowledge construction, foster active learning, and help them make connections across their learning. Educators can engage learners by:
- Designing lessons, activities, and experiences around students' interests
- Providing choice to students
- Enabling autonomy over the learning process
- Offering opportunities for peer collaboration
- Communicating with students about their work and progress
To sustain learning in the intermediate classroom, educators need to acknowledge that student wellbeing impacts engagement and the strategies for ensuring a safe, comfortable, and impactful learning environment varies for each child. Employing social-emotional learning activities for students independently and as a class is essential for intermediate educators.
Considerations for adolescent learners
Educators must consider how to ignite and deepen student engagement across multiple dimensions for adolescent learners in a hybrid environment. Add interactivity to live lessons, connect students to their interests, and provide students with choice. Student wellness has a direct impact on student engagement. Integrating social-emotional learning (SEL) activities for students to complete individually and as a class are essential course routine. It's important to ask students if they prefer low-tech or high-tech options and to recognize students may need different options at different times. As adolescent students are constructing their meaning of self, it's important to provide opportunities for them to explore their interests and make connections to course content.