There is no definitive approach to a video conference/hangout lesson. Some teachers treat it like a tutorial, while for others it looks much more like a structured traditional lesson. You will need to decide on the approach that fits your needs and you are comfortable with, but there are some things to keep in mind. It is important to keep in to use the session to do the things you can’t do outside of it. It is an extremely good opportunity to develop conversations and that point of connection which face to face learning offers. We now have two main ways of holding synchronous sessions – through a google hangout, or if accessing a course from a north island VLN cluster then a polycom video conference unit.

Some tips

• Be very organized. You cannot ‘wing it’ in a video conference/hangout session. Students should receive a plan of the lesson well in advance so they know what to bring, what their role will be and what will be covered. You need your students prepared and if a plan of the lesson is sent out there are no excuses. You will find your students will come to appreciate this.
• Don’t be a talking head. Every now and then it might be necessary (prep for assessments and exams perhaps), but the VC/Hangout is an important opportunity to connect your students. Students new to VC/Hangout will often be unwilling to get involved in discussion, but they will soon get used to it. Make sure almost every lesson has time set aside for the students to interact.
• Do the things in the VC that you can’t do with the students online. Don’t try and go over all the work covered in the week, it just won’t be possible. Pick the key aspects based on the learning of the students. What difficulties have they been having? Is there a key part of the work that requires some reinforcement? Is there a chance for some practical work? Think very carefully about how you will use your lesson, because that time is valuable.
• Don’t let the students sit there passively, because many of them will if you let them. Learning is best in when it is active so use names to call on specific students to answer a question or to give their thoughts. Don’t just wait for anyone to answer or a few will dominate discussion. It’s a good idea to let students know what their specific role will be before the lesson.
• Ask students to keep the mute button off (unless it is an especially large class). Though you might get some annoying noise in the first few lessons, students will soon learn how to reduce this. Having the mute button on allows students to disconnect from the lesson far too easily.
• Make the lesson varied. Don’t spend all your time on one task or activity. Change it up.
• Use the lesson as a way for students to demonstrate their learning/knowledge. Get them to do short presentation or seminars. I have found this works extremely well.

Asking and Answering Questions

• Asking and answering questions is at the heart of much of the interaction that takes place in an educational context. When taking place via video conferencing it can be a little harder to get discussion going.
• Ask various types of questions – planned and spontaneous, high and low-level.
• Remember to pause long enough to give them a chance to consider their answer AND reply.
• Answer the person who has asked the question directly (and by name).
• Remember that you need to direct your answer to the camera – in view.
• Answer concisely using spontaneous writing or other visuals if they help.
• When asked a question, instead of answering immediately you could ask questions to see if they can answer it themselves.
• Try and get a discussion going between sites to obtain an answer.
• Turn to another site and ask a student there to help.
• It is important to find something positive in every answer so the experience of communicating via the link may be encouraging rather than off-putting.
• You may find that you cannot tell who asked a question if it came from the remote site. Don’t be afraid to ask!

You are an important visual image!

A number of rules apply:

• Try not to think of yourself as being on camera, just behave and talk naturally.
• There is a tendency to make sessions very formal but they will be enjoyed more if you smile and crack the occasional joke.
• There is no need to shout or even raise your voice.
• Your normal appearance is fine for video conferencing but small patterns, checks or fine stripes and so on will make your image appear blurred..
• Show you are listening when the remote students talk. Some useful techniques include leaning forward, nodding your head, looking at them by looking at the camera. Facial expression is an invaluable tool!

Effective Strategies in the Video Conference Lesson

(Collaborative document developed by eTeachers)

• Get students to demonstrate learning by getting them to do a seminar on a topic of their choice. Could be supported by a slideshow. Encourage other students to ask questions. Advantage is that students are prepped beforehand and know what is coming. No hiding.
• When checking “homework” activities, select a student to answer the first question and have that student select a student from another site to answer the next question (this strategy is very good for engaging students and students get to know names and where students are from very quickly) – builds good working relationships in the class
• Encourage students to discuss the topic in line or in context with their ‘local environment’ (this strategy encourages them to view the world around them and link their knowledge)
• Similar to above but also send them a list of questions on something and then throw the questions into the group randomly choosing, so they don’t know which question you are going to ask.
• Pre-quiz on points from the last session at the start of the lesson. General or randomly targeted.
• Post-quiz on the end of a lesson on what’s been covered. Especially on what is required for the next lesson or what and when for next deadline.
• Question basic concepts. e.g. What causes a shift along a demand/supply curve? Define Market Demand. What is Ceteris Paribus? etc. (L1 Economics)
• Quick quiz on topic terminology/features. Backed up by viewing a video clip and writing down where the terminology/features appear (sometimes watching clip through twice). Discuss what students saw, where and how it was used. (L2 Media Studies)
• Send out vocab game cards by email and play games like “I’ve got ….whose got ….. to start the VC lesson – but remember to bring a master sheet along to cover any absences
• Students can build models in their class time but bring them to demo in VC class
• Get students to show what they are interested in: play music, show art works, etc. This enables other students to see and share interests.
• Direct questions … so all students have to provide an answer …
• Ask students to communicate non verbally occasionally, e.g. Place yourself in relation to your seat to indicate how comfortable you are with this topic/skill/concept (might sit on it or move to edge of camera view); if more than one student in a location may use a similar activity for pairs.
• Share an image of the above in the review of the topic to show progress with humor, or repeat the activity.
• Point to specific parts of a model as part of a demo (see 11) or feedback test (e.g. parts of the student’s own body in anatomy, or model)
• Choose 1-2 students per session for teacher to bring in something that is personalized to each one from other parts of the course, web presence etc. Over time cover whole class systematically without making it too obvious or taking up too much time.
• I try to use the VC sessions as a university style tutorial – so students are expected to have completed the work prior to VC sessions. To cope with this my VC week runs from Wednesday to Tuesday.
• Role playing – for example in languages choose one person to be the waiter and ask the other students what they would like to eat or drink, and then repeat their order back to them.
• Hot Seat – like role play, one of the students is assigned a role for example a famous person in history, the students have to ask him/her questions to find out their identity. Alternatively the student in the hot seat doesn’t know their identity and has to guess who he/she is by asking questions of their classmates

It is important to remember to ask yourself some important questions when determining whether a lesson should be delivered live:

1. Is the lesson uniquely suited to synchronous learning? Or can it be  effectively delivered via dissemination of a document, a post or even a recorded lecture?
2. Is there agreement among the participants that every effort will be made to contribute meaningfully to the experience? This includes awareness by all parties that everyone’s time is valuable and that their time together should take advantage of that fact.
3. Does the lesson replicate traditional, instructor-led activities, or does it take advantage of new avenues of exploration in teaching and learning? An uninspired slide show lecture delivered face to face will be similarly unappealing (if not more so) in the online environment, where the opportunity for distraction is greater (Finkelstein, 2006).