5.2 Synchronous online lectures

Synchronous lectures refer to presenting lectures in real-time using synchronous tools such as Zoom. Synchronous lectures require all participation at the same time. Synchronous online lectures are a good way to include interaction and active learning activities with your course content because students have immediate access to peers, instructors and other knowledge experts. You can also use breakout rooms so multiple students can interact and share ideas with one another concurrently.

Benefits of synchronous online lectures

Creates a sense of teaching presence.
Provides a sense of normalcy (similar to course lecture) and predictability.
Helps with accountability and time management, by having set class meetings.
Allows for the integration of active learning practices.
You can adapt the complexity of materials in real-time based on learner feedback.
UBC students have reported synchronous activities provide interaction and a sense of normalcy (McPhee & Lyon, 2020 [pdf]).

Effective practices for synchronous online lectures

If you will be using synchronous online lectures, there are a few things you can do to make them more conducive to the online learning environment:

Reduce length. Reassess the length of your lecture. Because video conferencing requires more concentration than in-person communication, it can be challenging for students to be attentive for long synchronous lectures. Consider ways that you can teach shorter synchronous online lectures, break up your lectures, or replace some synchronous content with asynchronous content.
Encourage interaction. Including interaction and active learning in synchronous online lectures can help students engage with the material and improve their learning. Some methods for including interaction include:
- Using breakout rooms to have students solve problems, answer discussion questions and collaborate.
- Polling frequently during the lecture to gauge learners' understanding of concepts and to pose problems. Both Zoom and Collaborate Ultra have built-in polling tools.
- Having the class annotate images or diagrams together using the annotation function that is built into Zoom and Collaborate Ultra.
- More ideas are available in 4.4 Engaging students through active learning techniques in Module 4.
Use non-verbal communication. During in-person lectures, we use visual cues to help determine our pacing, identify areas of confusion, and monitor engagement. When teaching synchronous online lectures use built-in non-verbal communication tools like asking students to indicate whether they agree or disagree with ideas by using the “thumbs up” feature.
Direct student focus. When using virtual synchronous tools like Zoom, students can be distracted with all of the different functions. Help students navigate these applications by telling them where to focus their attention. For example, when facilitating a whiteboard activity ask students to focus on the whiteboard and not the chat.
Take question breaks. Online sessions may move fast; reduce the amount of content that you are teaching in this environment and use frequent pauses to allow students to ask questions.
Include real breaks. If you’re teaching a session longer than an hour, your students may appreciate a 5 minute break to stretch, run to the washroom, or just rest their eyes. You may find this break helpful too!
Set expectations for participation in advance. Share with your students how they will be participating in the synchronous session. Will they be using breakout rooms? Are they expected to virtually raise their hands before asking questions? Will they be annotating during the session?
Develop fluency with the synchronous platform. Dedicate time to learning about the platform that you will be using to give your synchronous online lecture. As you become more fluent with the platform, you will be better able to ‘read’ non-verbal communication and engage your students. You may find it helpful to try a test run with colleagues.

Constraints of synchronous online lectures

Some constraints of synchronous lectures include:

Students might be physically located in different time zones, which can make participation difficult.
Students may not have access to technology such as computers with webcams or a fast, reliable internet connection making it difficult or impossible to participate fully.
Students may have different personal responsibilities to manage. For example, they may be caring for children or other family members or have work responsibilities that make it difficult to attend course meetings at specific times.
UBC students have reported that required attendance in synchronous lectures and online forums can be a major challenge (McPhee & Lyon, 2020 [pdf]).

Integrating synchronous online lectures into your course

Spend a few minutes and think about the course you are adapting for the online environment and how you might integrate synchronous lectures.

What content from a standard lecture is best delivered by a synchronous online lecture?
What content is foundational/background knowledge or revision that might be better shifted to pre-readings or other activities?
What content might be better consolidated as post-lecture readings, extension materials, self-paced formative activities, low stakes assessments, small group discussions, or facilitated seminars and Q & A sessions?