Don't Let Your Students Zoom Out

As we enter the second week of the eLearning Training Institute, I wanted to share a really good article about the limitations of Zoom meetings. As we navigate what our fully online courses will look like in the fall, it is important that we not lose sight of the need for active learning. Any "lecture" of 15-20 minutes needs to be followed by interaction but it also needs to be varied. Think about your participation in Zoom meetings. Do you find yourself losing interest or being distracted? Breana Bayraktar has some good suggestions here on how you can keep students engaged.

Take a Moment for Some Humor

In this brave new world, one of the things we may be losing is our sense of humor. It is easy to do because this pandemic is a very serious and dangerous situation. Will we return to normal? What does the new normal look like? Will we ever go back to our classrooms? When will all of this be over? In the middle of all of our questions, one thing we may all agree on is how resilient we and our students are. The Zoom meetings that allow us to engage with students and colleagues are also a window into our worlds away from BRCC. Are you brave enough to go live with your video? How many times did you move your computer to get the right background? Some of us have decided to just put a picture of ourselves on the screen. Even that comes with anxiety. Which shot do I use? Should I create a new shot just for my courses? Wait, where did this all start? Oh yes, with some levity. Take a look at Kristie Kaiser's blog post about teaching online. Her message is on point but she also remembers to bring the humor in at the end.