Ideas for interactive learning in synchronous teaching

Some possible recipes for dialogue and feedback as part of an online webinar

These ideas use simple tools like the built-in voting, breakout groups and discussion boards. You can do much more with additional tools like Mentimeter and Padlet (see the separate materials on tools and designing learning sequences).

These are just suggestions, and you may be able to come up with your own. They go from very simple to more involved. What works is always context dependent eg:

  • who are your students?
  • how confident are they?
  • how many of them are there?
  • what are you trying to teach them?

The simpler engagements are quick and easy. The more complex ones put more onus on the students, and involve more engagement with the topic.