Zoom can be used for more than just delivering or connecting a class meeting. You can leverage Zoom to connect with your students beyond the classroom and scheduled class time.
Virtual Office Hours
As an interactive platform, Zoom works well for small group discussions of ideally no more than 10 people. Many more than that, and it becomes difficult to keep track of participants, and speaking in turns can become challenging. Curiously, this seem to be the same constraints of in-person office hours as well without the added burden of finding enough chairs. Zoom can easily replicate standard in-person office hours, right down to the person who shows up to listen but rarely says anything.
Study Sessions
Zoom makes it easy to set up targeted small-group sessions to cover specific topics/assignments/problems with which students are struggling. A Canvas announcement might look something like this:
Hello class! I understand that some of the chapter sections are giving you more trouble than others. Join me on Zoom this Wednesday, and we’ll go over the following sections/exercises:
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- Wednesday 4-4:30: Chapter 7.2, Exercises 7, 8, 9
- Wednesday 4:30-5: Chapter 7.4, Exercises 14, 16, 17
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A Note: A targeted study session is an event you may wish to record so that students who are unable to attend are also able to benefit. Follow the recording guidelines shared elsewhere in this module.
Building Community
One of the most difficult things about virtual and online courses is replicating the community that is built when students and faculty interact face-to-face. We miss out on the before class chatter, the topical in-class discussions and small group work, and the after class lingering to continue the conversation. While we can’t replicate this entirely, there are ways that Zoom can help. You will learn more about building community in Module 7: Creating Student Engagement by Building Relationships.