Tag: sync sessions

Best Practices for Synchronous Sessions

by Jun 19, 2017

Introduction You’ve built engagement into every corner of your online course. You’ve got ways for students to interact with you, the instructor, through video and audio, assignment feedback, and discussion posts. Students interact with each other in large group discussions and small group projects. Don’t stop there! Even with a robust engagement strategy in place, some students in online programs may still feel disconnected from their instructors. One way to combat this is through the use of synchronous sessions. I know what you’re thinking. How will working students have the time to join a sync session every week? It is

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Amping Up Your Sync Session with a Guest Presenter

by Mar 27, 2017

[This post was originally titled “Amping up Your Blue Jeans Session with a Guest Presenter.” As of June 15, 2020, Blue Jeans is no longer a supported web conferencing platform at Northwestern University.] A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post on Active Learning Strategies for the Online Classroom. This week, I’m continuing that discussion by focusing on how to make sync session presentations more active and authentic. One way to accomplish this is to invite a guest presenter from your vast and ever-growing network of awesome professionals, alumni, and friends. Benefits to Students There are several ways students

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Maximizing Your Synchronous Sessions – Part II: Agenda

by May 16, 2016

In the School of Professional Studies, most students are busy adult professionals who have to carefully carve time out to focus on coursework. This post is part two of a series on how to make the most of synchronous time, or time when all students in the course and the instructor are online at the same time. Part I focused on technology: how to choose an appropriate web conferencing tool, provide connection information to students, and give students the opportunity to test the technology prior to the session. This post provides three strategies to assist you in planning a synchronous

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Maximizing Your Synchronous Sessions – Part 1: Technology

Apr 18, 2016

Online courses at the School of Professional Studies make use of a limited amount of synchronous sessions – where students and the professor are all online at the same time – to build community and reinforce key course concepts. All faculty are required to host at least one synchronous session per quarter; the majority host between one and four throughout the ten weeks. In this two-part blog post series, I’ll explain how to make the most of synchronous time. This post will focus on technology, while next month’s post will discuss the session agenda. The technology involved in meeting live

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