What is virtual synchronous coworking? Rising in popularity, it’s as simple as creating an online space to work together in real-time. In addition to my work as a Learning Designer in the School of Professional Studies at Northwestern, I’m a coworking streamer on Twitch! I’m excited to share some background behind the practice and how it may be implemented by instructors as a means of engagement for students in online courses.  What is Coworking?  Let’s start with a quick overview. As students pursue more online and blended coursework and more professionals choose work-from-home and hybrid options, they seek community and

Discussion boards are a great way for online students to interact and network with each other. However, sometimes participation can lag. While this can be based on many factors, one of the reasons could be that students might be afraid to go against the rest of the class and simply agree with many of the posts. If this is the case in your course, you might ask yourself what you can do to bring the spirit of debate back into your discussions. Have no fear; Discussion Hero is here to help revitalize your discussions!  What Is Discussion Hero? Discussion Hero

Introducing A Policy Change While synchronous sessions have long been a part of online instruction at Northwestern’s School of Professional Studies, their potential impact on student engagement and community building has been underestimated. Now, administrators and lead faculty have developed a revised policy on holding sync sessions. Significantly, new information regarding assignments, material, and concepts integral to the course can now be shared during these live sessions. Previously, this was not the case, which may have contributed to a sense that sync sessions were purely optional social events. As the pandemic progressed, many of us faculty felt that sync sessions