Are you teaching an online class and meeting with students via videoconference?
Interacting with students via videoconference is a great way to maintain a personal connection and make your online course engaging and interactive. Skype, Zoom, GoToMeeting, and Google Hangouts are all great options for hosting your videoconference, but keep in mind that videoconferences can be a disaster if you’re not prepared.
Here are 5 essential tips to keep in mind to avoid common videoconference lecture mistakes:
- Make sure you have a stable, robust internet connection while you run the videoconference. Otherwise, students will see you blipping in and out, freezing in awkward positions, or they might not be able to hear your voice clearly.
- Offer tech support for students throughout the semester in case they encounter technical difficulties. If you can’t solve their problems on your own, find out if anyone is available from your university to take care of technical issues. Guide students to where they can get help.
- Consider muting all students as soon as the videoconference opens. Otherwise, you’ll likely hear background noise coming from everyone’s microphones. If students have questions, you can unmute them individually.
- Run a practice videoconference session with students before the semester begins so that they can become familiar with the videoconferencing technology.
- Offer a call-in by phone option in case a student loses their own internet connection.
Keeping the above tips in mind, you can be sure that your videoconferences will be off to a great start.