Based on the number of participants and the desired amount of interaction in a course, the following implementation variants for online meetings usually result. The transitions are fluid, but the larger the group, the more challenging it is to design an online meeting interactively.
The group is still small enough for the participants to have a direct interaction with each other via sound and possibly video – moderated by you as the lecturer.
- possible for seminars, exercises, tutorials, group work (up to 20 – 30 participants)
- a high amount of interaction possible through direct audio/video communication, chat and screen sharing to show each other something
Interactive Design
Even if the technical possibilities and the smaller number of participants theoretically allow a high amount of interaction, participants are often reserved if the interaction is not specifically encouraged and moderated.
Here is a selection of several methods:
- Use of whiteboard or temporary work in group workrooms (possible with the web conferencing systems Adobe Connect and Zoom (via breakout sessions))
- Involvement of further online tools, for example:
- for live voting
- for collecting information (Padlet , ),
- for mindmapping (Mindmeister )
Online meetings conducted in a presentation format are usually characterised by a low level of interaction. This is often caused by a larger group size, where a direct interaction via audio/video is no longer workable. Communication between participants is usually limited to chat.
- possible for small to medium-sized lectures (up to 300 students)
- presentations are usually shown via screen sharing
- meeting room settings should be set so that participants are muted when they enter and their video is switched off
With increasing teaching experience and knowledge of the web conferencing system, the level of interaction can also be increased in this format.
Possibilities for more interactivity and variety:
- More than one person presents an input (there should be a moderator for this setting).
- Students can write questions in the chat, these are collected and the lecturer responds to them at certain times (here, too, a moderator is advisable who monitors the chat and collects the questions).
- Targeted question sessions via the chat or the report function, i.e., the lecturer asks a question and the students should answer via the chat or the raise hand feature. Then their microphone is actively switched on.
- Include live voting to encourage students to “think and stay tuned”, just as in a face-to-face lecture (live voting systems or polls in the web conferencing systems can be used for this).
- Interrupt the presentation format during the lecture and include phases that are more seminar-like, e.g., by having the large group work temporarily in group workrooms (possible with Adobe Connect and Zoom (via breakout sessions)).
- Creative implementation of activating didactic methods also in larger courses – take a look at our collection of ideas to encourage interaction .
Alternative to online meetings in presentation formats
Alternatively, the presentation-oriented knowledge transfer can be outsourced to pre-produced videos that are made available on the Learning Management System . In addition, you can offer smaller online meetings (e.g., supported by tutors), which are more interactive in the form of seminars to enable a direct interaction and to discuss questions.
You can also encourage interaction in the asynchronous learning phases via the Learning Management System to give students a feeling of social inclusion. This is often a neglected but important success factor for the learning process and a challenge in larger courses, especially online.
Recording online meetings
In principle, it is also possible to record online meetings in presentation format – as a backup and to make them available to students (who could not participate) later via the Learning Management System.
You should generally ask for the consent of the participants! – This is particularly important if individual participants are recorded via audio/video contributions or by name in the chat.
Especially for courses with a large number of participants, there is also the technical option of offering them as a live stream.
Live streams can be implemented with the web conferencing systems Zoom , DFNconf, and with the video content management system Panopto .
The live stream of a lecture is an option for very large numbers of participants and means a 1-to-N transmission, mostly without a discussion channel, i.e., zero interaction. It has a lower data load than an online meeting, which means that a more stable connection can be expected. However, setting up a live stream can be technically challenging.
Students access the live stream via link (distributed by the lecturer in advance). But they do not join the online room. This means that you as the lecturer do not see any participants at that moment.
Tips and Hints:
- You can still provide moments of interaction for your students by conducting live votings and it creates a feedback channel that makes the participants visible.
- You can also record streams – as a backup and make them available to students later via the Learning Management System.
- An alternative and technically much simpler and more secure solution, but without a “live moment”, is the pre-produced lecture recording , which is made available to the students on the Learning Management System at certain times.
