Eden Templates for Online Classes and Seminars

Scenario: this session could run following a recorded lecture. It involves whole group presenting from the class teacher, interactive discussion, a student presentation and feedback, and a group activity. It is intended for a group of up to 20 students.

Advance preparation:

• Class/seminar teacher - PowerPoint slides – perhaps 10-15 minute presentation and slides with questions for a plenary discussion
  • online poll or similar activity (to be run via Zoom or other polling software)
  • Series of follow up questions to guide discussion
  • Review the Eden advice on leading an online seminar

• Student presenter – slides for presentation. (These should be on the device that the student is using to join the Zoom session OR they should be emailed to the teacher in advance.)
• All students – do readings/problem sets/ and view relevant lecture; review online seminar instructions.

Opening 5-10 mins

1. Welcome students as they arrive in the Zoom discussion space. This could be a spoken welcome or via the chat facility in Zoom (see section 'At the start of the session' of the Getting started with Zoom checklist .
   1. Things to consider:
      1. Determine whether everyone will have cameras on or off. Having cameras on enables participants to see verbal and visual cues. Cameras off may be necessary if individuals have insufficient bandwidth.
      2. Determine whether you'll have all microphones off by default as participants come into the discussion.
2. Ask students to say 'hello' to the group and perhaps what location they are joining from, or a similar icebreaker. This will also give everyone an opportunity to ensure their equipment is working and to hear their voice. Speaking in an online discussion session can be daunting at first and an icebreaker will help students develop confidence.
3. Run through any housekeeping or etiquette points at this stage. For example,
   1. how will participants signal that they wish to speak (via the 'raised hand' option?).
   2. Will you encourage/enable participants to use the chat facility during the session as an alternative means of raising questions/making observations? Some teachers encourage this and others find it distracting unless they have a co-teacher helping them who can read what is coming in via the chat. The second colleague can then summarise or select a number of key questions/points which the session leader can address.
   3. Additionally, how will students signal to the group if they can no longer hear the presenter or see the slides? (Again, the chat facility can be helpfully used for this.)
   4. Is the session being recorded? This can be useful for students who cannot attend or who wish to use the session for revision. Additionally, if you choose to record, the recording can be paused and re-started if there are topics/discussions that you wish to omit. Remind participants the session will be recorded (if applicable) and that the recording maybe viewed by students/people who have not taken part in the session (if applicable).
4. Offer a clear outline of what the session will look like. Explicit signposting throughout the session can help participants understand how the concepts and tasks fit together, particularly given that some of the visual cues from the physical classroom are now absent.

Teacher presentation plus discussion: (10-20 mins)

5. Teacher 'shares' slides from their machine so that all participants can see. Then the topics can be explored in a such a way that participants either a) only see the slides and hear the teacher's commentary OR b) see both the slides and the speaker. During this segment, the teacher can pause for questions or comments and enable individual participants to speak by unmuting their mics or (if the mics are all unmuted) calling on those who have virtually raised their hands.)

Student presentation plus participant comments/questions (10-15 mins)

6. At this point, the teacher can hand over control of the session to the student presenter. The student can then 'share' the slides on their machine with the rest of the group and present their ideas. One possible activity during this period would be to ask the other students to each pose one question or offer one observation in the chat facility during the presentation. The teacher can monitor and possibly select several peer questions to a) either pose to the student directly or b) ask the person who typed the question to expand on it (by speaking into their mic) and then let the presenter respond.

Brief Activity (5 -10 mins)

7. Following the presentation and discussion, the teacher could lead the group in a short exercise. This could be a poll (using Zoom polling or your preferred polling software) soliciting brief responses to a question.

Plenary discussion (10 – 15 mins)

8. Building on the previous exercise, the class could move onto a discussion of a reading or method or case study. Here the teacher could pose a series of questions and after each one invite participant responses. Things to consider include:

a. It may be useful to have each question on a slide, so that participants can see and hear them.

b. It can be challenging to keep track of everyone who wishes to speak in an 'open' discussion of this nature. We suggest asking students to 'raise' their hands using the Zoom icon and calling on them in turn.

c. Another option is to enable students who prefer to type brief responses in the chat facility to do so, and the teacher can pause to scan these and respond to some or all of them.

d. Consider circulating the questions in advance of the sessions, so that students have time to think about possible answers.

Wrap-up (5 mins)

9. Offer a clear summary of key points from the session. Indicate what self-study activities students should do and discuss with them what the next virtual session will entail.

Additionally, you might wish to follow up the session with a quick email message or informal survey asking how they found the session and whether there are things that could be done differently.

Guide Created by Colleen McKenna