Zoom Room Practices

Zoom Room Instruction can be similar to teaching face to face or used in conjunction with a Hy-Flex class.  In the past, remote classes were taught using ITV or interactive television.  For ITV instruction, classes were taught remotely over television where students and teachers could see, hear, speak and interact live in the classroom from a distance.  ITV instruction has now been replaced with Zoom Room Instruction which essentially allows for the same interaction live in the classrooms from remote sites.  The added benefit of Zoom Rooms is that students may also choose to login from a location other than the classrooms such as from home.  Allowing students options for how they attend class is what results in a Hy-Flex Learning Environment.  As the instructor, you can choose which options you allow for student attendance, but make sure you clearly articulate what options are available to students and set your parameters for attendance at the beginning of the course.  Below are a list of ideas, techniques and best practices for successful Zoom Room Instruction.

Organization
When teaching via Zoom, you will need to first create a Zoom Meeting Room.  This works best if you create a new room and link for each course.  You can reuse the room and link from semester to semester but again each class should have its own unique link to avoid confusion.  You need to make sure that this link (and password if you choose to use one) is shared with the students as well as the IT staff (usually in a master document) so that students in all locations can successfully access the class.  It is best to make sure that you post this in D2L and in your syllabus.

Course Management
Since you will be teaching remotely to many locations, it is best if you use Brightspace – Desire to Learn (D2L) to organize these classes.  This is the easiest and most efficient way to distribute materials to students and collect assignments from students using the Assignments feature.  Instructors sometimes choose the discussion feature to have students interact within the class as well as the quizzes feature for class assignments and to assure attendance.  Finally, the Gradebook feature is always a student favorite so they can track their grades in the course.  Instructors are encouraged to use the Gradebook for all classes and especially those that are meeting over a distance.

Instructional Tips
One of the most difficult aspects of teaching over a distance is not having all the students in the room with you.  To promote engagement, try to learn the names of the students in the other locations and interact with them on a regular basis.  You will want to have some sort of attendance check.  Some instructors do attendance activities where students submit the results of an activity to indicate that they were actively engaged in class on a given day.  Many instructors make a point to visit the remote sites at least once during the semester.  You are not required to do this but it certainly helps build student relationships and promote student engagement.  Finally make sure that you switch viewing modes throughout the class.  In other words, make sure students can see you and not just your computer screen in order to encouragement interaction.

Testing
Testing can be challenging when you are not in the room with the students.  You may choose to use “take home tests” or put your tests online.  The quizzes feature in D2L is always a good option for testing.   If you are worried about academic integrity then you may choose to use a combination of methods such as online testing and proctored testing.  One model is that you use online testing for chapter of smaller pieces of information and proctored testing for midterms and final exams.  The Minnesota West LARC can help facilitate proctoring.  Please contact them if you need assistance or have questions regarding proctoring options.

Test Proctoring
See test proctoring policy.

Technical Issues
As with most technologies, there will be issues from time to time with the technology itself.  Please be patient and set expectations with the students.  Let them know how to contact the IT person on their campus in order to get help.  Have phone numbers of the IT personnel on your home campus and the remote campuses available so that you can ask for help.  Let students know that if the technology is not working correctly, they need to try and let you know and that you will work through it best you can.  One of the advantages to Zoom Rooms is the record feature so if students are unable to login during class, you can always record your class and make it available to them to watch so they don’t miss out on the entire class.

Recording
Again, Zoom allows you the option of recording the class.  It is up to you as to whether you choose to utilize this feature or not.  Make sure students know that class is being recorded if you choose this option.  Most recordings only record the instructor and the screen being shard so students will most likely not be visible on the recording. Many instructors choose the recording feature as an option for a Hy-Flex class where if students are unable to attend in person, they can watch recordings at a more convenient time.  Again, it is your choice as the instructor as to which features you choose to utilize and your requirements for how students may attend class.

Final Thoughts
If you are new to Zoom Room Instruction, please reach out to a more seasoned faculty member for tips and tricks.  Most will be happy to help you as you start teaching in this format.