Make Distance Learning (DL) Classrooms Personable – on Both Sides of the Connection

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”Students on the far side were bored and grumpy at first, until I taught on the other campus a couple of times. Now they are as engaged as the students who are in the room with me. I plan to go back and forth as much as I can, because it makes such a difference to the students.” – CAS faculty member

NYIT has videoconferencing classrooms, referred to as “Distance Learning” (DL) classrooms. Students in these classes who are on the “far” side of the connection from the professor report being dissatisfied with the level of connection they feel, and as a result are less engaged in the course. I spoke with Professor James Dunne, one of NYIT’s master teachers in the department of Hospitality Studies, School of Management. He shared some specific, easy-to-implement strategies that make a big difference to his students.

Before class starts:

  1. Ask your students in both rooms to cluster together in the center of the room, so they form a square. In other words, have students sit in multiple rows, but in the center of the room. Zoom in on the group in each room, so students are as large on the screen as possible. This creates a more intimate atmosphere where students feel like they are all together as one group.
  2. Zoom in on yourself as much as possible. The more students can see your face and your gestures, the more they feel connected.
  3. Make a conscious effort to comment on ‘little things’ in the other room, like what a student is drinking, a shirt they are wearing, or saying “bless you” when someone sneezes. These things may seem insignificant, but they let the students in the remote classroom know that they are noticed, acknowledged, and equally part of a single class and collective group of students.
  4. Take care of the logistics in advance: log into the computer and Blackboard, zoom in, and adjust the volume before starting your lecture. Confirm with a student in the remote class that the volume is sufficient.

During class:

  1. Dedicate at least 60% of your time talking to students on the far side of the connection. It’s critically important to make eye contact directly with the camera. Spend the rest of your time looking at the students in the room you are in and, if necessary, your monitors. It is vital to keep the students in the other room engaged.
  2. If you see a student raise their hand in the other room, immediately acknowledge them by saying, “I see your hand raised, John,” even if you then go on with your lecture to finish your thought. In a traditional classroom, you could acknowledge them with a head nod or a gesture, and finish your thought. In the DL room you can not. If you do not immediately acknowledge the student in the other room, they will feel frustrated, ignored, and seated in a 'far off land.’
  3. If you are using one display to show something from the computer or document camera and a student asks a question, be sure to Stop Presentation. Switch the display to show the classroom from where the student is speaking. You always want students in both rooms to see the student speaking. Restate the comment or question to make sure everyone hears it.
  4. Solicit input from students by calling on them if necessary, even if this isn't your traditional classroom style. If students know that they will to be called on frequently, they are more likely to stay engaged.

Classroom management:

  1. When asking students if they have questions, always ask the students in the other location FIRST. If a student on your campus has a question, always defer to the other campus. The goal is to never have the students in the other room feel ignored. Go out of your way to engage them, banter, etc.
  2. Use Blackboard as much as possible. Homework submissions, lecture handouts, and other course materials can be distributed and collected that way. Use Blackboard for testing and assessment whenever possible, and consider project-based assessments in addition to, or instead of, exams.
  3. Be kind to the Academic Computing staff (ACS) by respecting their time. They are knowledgeable and supportive, and as a result are pulled in many directions. If you use Blackboard to distribute and collect materials, you won’t need to ask the ACS to come in and out of your classroom, which distracts the class … especially in the room you are not in. If laptops aren't necessary to the lecture content and class activities, encourage students to hand-write notes. Anything that diverts their attention from engagement with the other room distracts them, as well as the students seated around them in their room.
  4. Print your roster NYIT Connect with ID photos of each student. Enlarge the font and image size to help you recognize students, and call on them by name.
  5. Do a fast daily roll call so you get to know student names. It is so important to the DL experience. Students need to know that you know who they are and you are not just someone they are watching on TV.

Contributor:
James Henry Dunne, J.D., M.A., B.A., A.A.S.
Professor of Hospitality Studies
NYIT School of Management

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