Types of interaction you can make use of
A few solutions you can take into account in order to develop meaningful interactions of students with each of the 3 (student-teacher, student-student, student-contents) could be:
- Student-teacher interaction - make sure you give particularised feedback; be authentic, don’t try to have all the answers (even challenge students to find answers to the questions even you can’t answer) and use your sense of humour. Underline key theory points. Prepare presentations that are visually attractive and insert interaction moments in them.
2. Student-student interaction - support them in learning how to work in a team, in a breakout room; assign roles; underline successes in group work, and especially guide students through the process of forming a functional team; create moments of peer feedback (even try sending them in pairs in breakout rooms for this).
3. Student-content interaction - think of various ways in which students can explore concepts and contents; underline practical benefits of completing assignments; create a good balance of “getting it right” and “having the courage to make mistakes” and be ready to clarify what is not clear.
This way of thinking about the different interactions a student has during the online lesson can help you design a dynamic and useful lesson, also releasing the pressure you might feel on yourself. It might be challenging at the beginning, but as you and the students get used to the various methods used for each type of interaction it will get easier.
Also, in what regards you as the main driver of communication and interaction, there are 3 elements + an extra ingredient that will support a better interaction with students:
→ Element 1: Be yourself - authenticity will get you closer to students; use your sense of humour, acknowledge and make fun of your small tech mistakes, encourage jokes and creative responses, help them all to feel comfortable.
→ Element 2: Off-topic chat - you might want to avoid it, but save some space for general topics of interest; even if students only share in the chat their opinions, if they are related to subjects they are interested in this will create a sense of togetherness.
→ Element 3: Self-disclosure - make it a bit personal, ask how their day was, tell them stories that touch them at personal level and also encourage them to share personal stories related to the subject you are teaching.
→ The extra ingredient: Ask for feedback - not all feedback will be constructive, but for sure it will contain ideas for improvement, not to mention that students will be happy you asked their opinion (if you are not doing it already). Ask them what they liked, what they would do differently, what they would like to experiment more of. Next, you can even flip and let your students conduct a part of the lesson, as teachers.