Teaching in a Virtual Mobility course
Online learning often has high drop-out rates. To counter this, it is crucial to keep students engaged during both synchronous sessions and in the asynchronous materials.
SYNCHRONOUSLY
ASYNCHRONOUSLY
Organize a test session
Set clear expectations
Encourage students to prepare for class
Keep VIDEOS brief
Provide Q&A facilities
Allow students to discuss
Schedule interactive moments
Activate students
Be aware of the different academic calendars of your students. When scheduling synchronous lessons, take into account the different time zones your students are in.
When in a hybrid setting (in which both physical and online students join the synchronous session), don’t lose track of the online students.
Keep VIDEOS brief
Keep recorded videos as brief as possible. Knowledge clips usually do not exceed five minutes.
Encourage students to prepare for class
What do you expect your students to know when they arrive in your class? Help them by setting them a preparatory assignment, such as reading a chapter, answering some questions or looking up an example.
Set clear expectations
Accompany your learning materials with specific instructions: what is it that you expect from your students? Give your students a clear schedule.
Allow students to discuss
Interaction among students and with the lecturer, deserve extra attention in an online setting. For example, give your students a timeframe to go through a chapter of learning materials and discuss it together. Many learning management systems provide a discussion forum. If you wish, the discussion forum can also be the place for students to post additional questions after class.
Activate students
Give your students problems to solve, for example in the form of a quiz, exercise or writing assignment in the asynchronous materials. This helps them to actively process the content.
Provide Q&A facilities
Use the chat for questions. It is useful if a second person (a colleague or a student who has been appointed for this) follows up on the chat and can interrupt you for important questions. Smaller questions can be answered together at a specific moment.
If there is no second person, plan question moments so that you do not have to lecture and keep an eye on the chat at the same time. Announce these moments at the start of the session. With certain tools (e.g. Mentimeter) your students can upvote questions.
If you cannot answer all questions during class, you can post the questions and answers on a discussion forum afterwards.
Balance asynchronous and synchronous learning activities
A fully online course typically includes a combination of asynchronous and synchronous learning activities. Asynchronous activities are those that students complete at their own pace, such as readings, pre-recorded lectures, knowledge clips, discussion forums, assignments, group projects, and quizzes. Synchronous activities, on the other hand, occur at scheduled times and include live lectures, discussions, and group work in breakout sessions. When designing the course, thoughtfully determine which learning objectives are best achieved through self-paced, asynchronous activities and which benefit from the interaction and real-time feedback of synchronous activities. Consider how to integrate these two types of activities. For example, you might use a flipped classroom model, where asynchronous materials introduce concepts, followed by synchronous sessions for deeper exploration and application. Alternatively, asynchronous discussion forums can be used to reflect on synchronous activities and provide ongoing feedback.
Schedule interactive moments
- Start with an icebreaker. Open with a question or poll to activate students’ prior knowledge. For example, show a photo and ask ‘What do you think this is? A ... / B ... / C ...’ or ‘Do you know the phenomenon ...? Yes/No.'
- Check if students keep up. Reading the room is harder in an online setting. Use status indicators or work with a “going-too-fast"-signal. You can also use regular multiple-choice questions to see whether everyone understood.
- Use break-out rooms. By breaking up the large group into smaller units, students can consult with each other, discuss specific concepts in a buzz group or work on an exercise.
- Ask questions. Collect students’ input on open questions with tools as Padlet or Ideaboardz, or let them answer multiple-choice questions through Mentimeter or Wooclap.
- Let students take the mic. If a student is up for it, let them clarify or explain a concept. You can also let them demonstrate something using an annotation tool.
- End interactively. Before students leave, let them summarize the class in three core elements of the class (e.g. by using a wordcloud in Wooclap). Another possibility is using a one-minute paper, where students write a short reflection to a question in a limited time. You can also let them submit the ‘muddiest point’ of the lesson: which part of the lesson was most difficult or unclear to them?
Interactive moments are also useful for you as a lecturer, as they give you confirmation that the technical aspects work well and that the students are following.
Organise a test session
Organise an introductory session at the beginning in which students can get to know each other and experiment with the digital tools. If you find that some students do not have access yet or are not comfortable with the tools, you can make (technical) adjustments or offer clarifications before they begin their work. Allocating time for students to learn about each other's backgrounds, is essential since they come from diverse (educational) contexts and only interact online.
In a hybrid setting
- Make clear arrangements for asking questions, both for online and on-campus students.
- Keep it quiet so online students can hear everything well. If a question is asked on-campus, repeat the question for the online students.
- Online students can use the chat for asking questions, not for discussions during the lecture. Students will get distracted by keeping up with a lecture and lively discussion simultaneously. Assign a moderator to keep an eye on the chat during the lecture.
- Digital tools like Wooclap, Mentimeter, Padlet or Miro can be used for interaction with both online and on-campus students.
Balance asynchronous and synchronous learning activities
A fully online course typically includes a combination of asynchronous and synchronous learning activities. Asynchronous activities are those that students complete at their own pace, such as readings, pre-recorded lectures, knowledge clips, discussion forums, assignments, group projects, and quizzes. Synchronous activities, on the other hand, occur at scheduled times and include live lectures, discussions, and group work in breakout sessions. When designing the course, thoughtfully determine which learning objectives are best achieved through self-paced, asynchronous activities and which benefit from the interaction and real-time feedback of synchronous activities. Consider how to integrate these two types of activities. For example, you might use a flipped classroom model, where asynchronous materials introduce concepts, followed by synchronous sessions for deeper exploration and application. Alternatively, asynchronous discussion forums can be used to reflect on synchronous activities and provide ongoing feedback.
Teaching in a Virtual Mobility course
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Created on October 15, 2025
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Transcript
Teaching in a Virtual Mobility course
Online learning often has high drop-out rates. To counter this, it is crucial to keep students engaged during both synchronous sessions and in the asynchronous materials.
SYNCHRONOUSLY
ASYNCHRONOUSLY
Organize a test session
Set clear expectations
Encourage students to prepare for class
Keep VIDEOS brief
Provide Q&A facilities
Allow students to discuss
Schedule interactive moments
Activate students
Be aware of the different academic calendars of your students. When scheduling synchronous lessons, take into account the different time zones your students are in.
When in a hybrid setting (in which both physical and online students join the synchronous session), don’t lose track of the online students.
Keep VIDEOS brief
Keep recorded videos as brief as possible. Knowledge clips usually do not exceed five minutes.
Encourage students to prepare for class
What do you expect your students to know when they arrive in your class? Help them by setting them a preparatory assignment, such as reading a chapter, answering some questions or looking up an example.
Set clear expectations
Accompany your learning materials with specific instructions: what is it that you expect from your students? Give your students a clear schedule.
Allow students to discuss
Interaction among students and with the lecturer, deserve extra attention in an online setting. For example, give your students a timeframe to go through a chapter of learning materials and discuss it together. Many learning management systems provide a discussion forum. If you wish, the discussion forum can also be the place for students to post additional questions after class.
Activate students
Give your students problems to solve, for example in the form of a quiz, exercise or writing assignment in the asynchronous materials. This helps them to actively process the content.
Provide Q&A facilities
Use the chat for questions. It is useful if a second person (a colleague or a student who has been appointed for this) follows up on the chat and can interrupt you for important questions. Smaller questions can be answered together at a specific moment. If there is no second person, plan question moments so that you do not have to lecture and keep an eye on the chat at the same time. Announce these moments at the start of the session. With certain tools (e.g. Mentimeter) your students can upvote questions. If you cannot answer all questions during class, you can post the questions and answers on a discussion forum afterwards.
Balance asynchronous and synchronous learning activities
A fully online course typically includes a combination of asynchronous and synchronous learning activities. Asynchronous activities are those that students complete at their own pace, such as readings, pre-recorded lectures, knowledge clips, discussion forums, assignments, group projects, and quizzes. Synchronous activities, on the other hand, occur at scheduled times and include live lectures, discussions, and group work in breakout sessions. When designing the course, thoughtfully determine which learning objectives are best achieved through self-paced, asynchronous activities and which benefit from the interaction and real-time feedback of synchronous activities. Consider how to integrate these two types of activities. For example, you might use a flipped classroom model, where asynchronous materials introduce concepts, followed by synchronous sessions for deeper exploration and application. Alternatively, asynchronous discussion forums can be used to reflect on synchronous activities and provide ongoing feedback.
Schedule interactive moments
Interactive moments are also useful for you as a lecturer, as they give you confirmation that the technical aspects work well and that the students are following.
Organise a test session
Organise an introductory session at the beginning in which students can get to know each other and experiment with the digital tools. If you find that some students do not have access yet or are not comfortable with the tools, you can make (technical) adjustments or offer clarifications before they begin their work. Allocating time for students to learn about each other's backgrounds, is essential since they come from diverse (educational) contexts and only interact online.
In a hybrid setting
Balance asynchronous and synchronous learning activities
A fully online course typically includes a combination of asynchronous and synchronous learning activities. Asynchronous activities are those that students complete at their own pace, such as readings, pre-recorded lectures, knowledge clips, discussion forums, assignments, group projects, and quizzes. Synchronous activities, on the other hand, occur at scheduled times and include live lectures, discussions, and group work in breakout sessions. When designing the course, thoughtfully determine which learning objectives are best achieved through self-paced, asynchronous activities and which benefit from the interaction and real-time feedback of synchronous activities. Consider how to integrate these two types of activities. For example, you might use a flipped classroom model, where asynchronous materials introduce concepts, followed by synchronous sessions for deeper exploration and application. Alternatively, asynchronous discussion forums can be used to reflect on synchronous activities and provide ongoing feedback.