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After the pandemic: four ways of using Zoom on a campus-based course

Photo of three people sitting at a table with a laptop, working and talking.

While many people are happy at once again being able to meet in physical classrooms, it would be a shame not to take advantage of the fact that the vast majority of all teaching staff and students have learned to use digital tools for teaching. How, for example, can you get the best out of Zoom knowhow in the new normal – apart from the obvious, such as inviting in guest lecturers from other parts of the world and the slightly dubious option of going hybrid if you have a cold? We have four ideas – feel free to give us yours!

Photo: Christina [at] wocintechchat [dot] com from Unsplash.com

Feedback meetings 

The slightly clumpy conversation style in Zoom can actually work very well for feedback meetings. There are merits to having one person speaking at a time while the others listen with their microphones muted until it is time to give feedback or ask questions.

Read the article about digital feedback – a few tips about peer feedback (in Swedish) – education.lu.se

Read the article, Giving and receiving feedback – campusonline.lu.se

Opening times for questions 

The lecturer can have opening times during a course, when they are available in their Zoom room to answer questions or discuss the content and structure of the course. For example, there might be fifteen minutes each morning when the lecturer can answer questions on the previous day’s lecture – or have a daily Q&A while students are revising for an exam or writing an academic paper. 

Pomodoro sessions  

A lot of the time, it is easier for students to have self-discipline while studying if the lecturer is available. You can spend 25-minute sessions reading or writing, and then make yourself available for questions in the breaks. This usually works particularly well during an academic paper/thesis writing course if the students are struggling to get going. 

Read more about the Pomodoro Technique on Wikipedia – en.wikipedia.org

Scheduled group work 

In many university buildings, there is a lack of group rooms available for students to book, which means that a lot of time is spent looking for somewhere to do the group work. Give students a time you think is suitable for them to do group work and divide them up into breakout rooms in Zoom at that time. You can then work on something else while they are busy in the rooms. They might of course also arrange Zoom rooms of their own, if it is of lesser importance when the group work is done. The important thing, of course, is that they get to spend a lot of time with one another and the contents of the course. 

Read the article, Effective online group work – campusonline.lu.se

Information about Zoom for students – campusonline.lu.se