Conducting a Synchronous Class

Preparing Synchronous Classes

Good teaching is good teaching, online or offline. The same principles apply when creating a lesson to deliver in a face-to-face class or in a synchronous session, with a few twists.

Pre-preparing

Courtney usually spends 3 to 5 hours per week preparing slides for one or two 50-minute synchronous sessions.
By the time she is ready to prepare a synchronous lesson, she will have already selected a curriculum, determined the applicable standards, figured out the learning objectives for the week, and designed the assignments for the module.
- She will be quite familiar with the concepts for the lesson.

Slide deck

When creating a slide deck, make sure it is carefully timed with extensive supporting notes.
This is an excellent time to include references to other assignments, including selected quotes from the online, written discussion board.
Teachers want to make sure that students know teachers are paying attention to their work.

Schedule

Staying on track when teaching online can be tricky, because teachers should demand students to participate at least once every 3 minutes and change slides every 5 to 10 minutes.
Courtney sometimes writes notes for herself to help, as exemplified next.

Schedule - Example

1The Teaching Online Handbook

1.1Common Online Assessments

1.1.1Guided Notes & Weekly Quizzes

1.1.2Deliberate Memorization 1

1.1.3Deliberate Memorization 2

1.1.4Hands-on Activities

1.1.5Journals

1.2Conducting a Synchronous Class

1.2.1Conducting a Synchronous Class

1.2.2Synchronous Class Discussions

1.2.3Challenges and Tips

1.3Scheduling the Work

1.3.1Scheduling the Work

1.3.2Repetitive Assignment Types

1.3.3Challenges and Solutions

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