Step up your teaching game this summer! Five Tips for Engaging Students Remotely

There’s probably no better feeling as an instructor than when our students are deeply engaged with course content, with each other and with us. If you’ve experienced this in your face-to-face classes, you may be wondering how to continue this remotely. Spoiler alert: it’s not as hard as you may think! Here are five energizing, interactive, and productive strategies engage students in your courses this summer!

1. Create a welcome video. Start building that connection with students get them excited about the course by creating and posting a short welcome video in your Bb Learn course. Think of it as an invitation to join a community of learners! What are the big and meaningful questions they will ponder and be able to answer at the end of the term? How will you support them in this endeavor?

2. Show your face! Use your webcam in Zoom for your synchronous sessions and virtual office hours, in recorded video lecture segments, or in recorded video feedback on assignments. Encourage students to show their faces as well by explaining the value of seeing each other. However, be sensitive to the reality that students have varying living situations, access to technology, and comfort levels with being on camera that may cause undue stress. So encourage and nudge, but at this time you may not want to require it.

3. Make time for a quick social check-in. Open your Zoom session early and invite students in for informal chat or to let them ask questions and compare notes. At the beginning of class, take a minute to check in with them and foster personal engagement. How’s everyone feeling right now? What did you binge watch on TV? Who did you connect with this weekend? What’s something you did for self-care? What’s on your plate this week? Share a little about yourself as appropriate.

4. Use a variety of tools to present content. Only posting PowerPoints? Shake it up a little by integrating text, images, videos, and tables into Bb Learn. Better yet, record short video lectures and embed interactive questions using Drexel Streams. If you want to take it up another notch, consider using VoiceThread to allow students to post questions, comments, or engage with each other right on your slides.

5. Provide timely and effective feedback. Feedback is a critical component to students learning in the remote environment. Responding to students’ discussion posts by calling out good insights, encouraging them to ask probing questions, or asking peers to respond keeps the momentum of the conversation going. Using the polling feature in Zoom allows students to self-assess their understanding of course content and stay on track in synchronous meetings. Recording audio or video comments in the grade center can provide clear and personalized feedback on students’ assignments.