Tips and Tricks for Teaching Online: Best Practices
A Morbid Anatomy Educator Meet-Up was held where ideas where shared and explored to create a more engaging, supportive classroom and learning environment.
Thank you to all who participated and for allowing us to record and share it here.
Here’s a synopsis (h/t Selena!) with links to the discussion (and below this you’ll find the content shared in the meeting):
Introductions and community building @ 0:00
The meeting began with participants introducing themselves and their roles within the Morbid Anatomy community. There was a focus on building connections and understanding each other's teaching backgrounds and approaches.
Strategies for engaging online students @ 4:08
The group discussed various techniques for keeping online students engaged, including varying activities, using icebreakers, facilitating pair/group work, and encouraging student agency. There was a emphasis on creating a positive, supportive learning environment.
Balancing synchronous and asynchronous content @ 27:04
Participants shared their experiences with students attending classes live versus watching recordings later. Some favored live participation, while others found value in asynchronous content. The group explored ways to accommodate both synchronous and asynchronous learners.
Fostering vulnerability and community agreements @ 1:02:08
The conversation turned to creating a safe space for students to be vulnerable and share personal reflections. The group discussed establishing community agreements to set norms around respect, openness, and emotional support.
Incorporating reflection and metacognition @ 1:17:49
Towards the end, the group emphasized the importance of providing opportunities for students to reflect on their learning process. Techniques like asking open-ended questions and engaging in metacognition were highlighted as valuable teaching practices.
Educator resources and next steps @ 1:23:44
Bryan shared information about the Morbid Anatomy educator portal, which contains resources and best practices. He also offered to share the meeting transcript and recording with the group for future reference.
Cultivating a Positive Learning Environment
Varying activities to re-energize participation
Ice breakers
pair/group work
Flexibility
Encouraging student agency
Allowing time for student self-discovery
Valuing students’ communication styles
Content Delivery: Scaffolding
Multi-modal delivery
Step-by-step instructions
Modeling (instructor first, then student-led)
Re-casting and spiraling information (Recycle key terms throughout the lesson/class)
Checking for Understanding
Breaking Down Tasks: Complex assignments are divided into smaller, more manageable steps to reduce the cognitive load.
Engaging a University Level Text/Skill
Provide specific pre-reading/making tasks
Anticipate unknown vocabulary and cultural challenges
Discuss the purpose of the text/skill
Plan each class lesson with Learning Goals in Mind: begin with clear learning objectives and design the instructional activities and assessments around those goals.
ESA Teaching Model (this three step approach is an excellent way to ensure students are engaging with your content)
ENGAGE: gain students’ attention and involve them emotionally
STUDY: the focus is on the specific content/skill point and how it functions
ACTIVATE: the use and practice of the specific content/skill point
Leading a Full Class Discussion
Create more in-depth homework assignments, turning material that we would have covered in class into homework. Use the Zoom sessions to focus on comparing findings and discussing questions. (I think this is how most classes are already taught at Morbid Anatomy, but feel it’s important to state its importance and efficacy. You might even try varying your teaching where one week is in depth lecture and content exploration with little homework…and the next week homework is given and the zoom session is only student discussion (facilitated by you)...and see how these two approaches differ.
Getting started
Free-write on specific questions first
Activate students’ schema with an image
Elicit students’ interest/understanding/questions
Offer guiding questions or have students write these
Pair/group work preceding the discussion
Reflection: digesting Content when wrapping up a key point, or at the end of a project or class
Provide Reflection Opportunities: build in activities that allow students to process new information, reflect on their learning, and connect it to prior knowledge. *I cannot emphasize enough the importance of reflection. Most of our students already hold one or more degrees…giving them time to reflect on what you’ve taught them gives them time to digest what they’re learning and connect it to previous learning. Reflection in this manner is referred to as metacognition (thinking about thinking) and is considered higher ordered thinking and learning. It’s really important that we provide these opportunities to our students so that our classes are not only passive learning experiences.
Make meeting with students one-on-one, outside of class, an option
While this is not necessarily a requirement at Morbid Anatomy, we encourage you to offer it.
I always encourage my students to reach out via email and also offer to hop on zoom if it’s easier to connect. What I’ve discovered with the Morbid Anatomy community thus far is that few take me up on it. However, those who do reach out, I’ve noticed it creates relationships in the best possible way. I’ve also noticed that those students engage more when we meet in zoom. And, who doesn’t love an engaged student?!
Community Agreements
Again, not a requirement but something many feel helpful. Community Agreements are a great way to create and set a safe space in your classroom. These are usually shared with the class in the first meeting. Here are a few examples.
This course Community Agreements and Guidelines to Learning Together are:
Respect and communication
"Step Up, Step Back": Be aware of speaking time in discussions. If someone tends to speak a lot, step back to create space. If someone is typically quiet, challenge themself to step up and share their perspective.
Use "I" statements: Speak from personal experience rather than generalizing for others. For example, "It has been my experience that..." instead of, "People think...".
Practice active listening: Listen to understand, not just to respond. This includes giving full attention, seeking clarification, and paraphrasing what has been heard before offering thoughts.
Critique ideas, not people: Disagreements should be with concepts, data, or arguments, not personal attacks against classmates or the instructor.
Acknowledge intent and impact: Remember that a speaker's intent and the impact of their words are not always the same. If someone expresses that words had a negative impact, listen and take responsibility, regardless of intention.
Challenge assumptions: Engage with others to understand their perspective rather than making quick judgments based on identity or viewpoint.
Learning and growth
Commit to learning, not debating: The goal is to better understand a topic and different perspectives, not to "win" an argument or convince others to change their minds.
Agree to disagree, but do not disengage: Class conversations are not meant to achieve unanimous agreement. When there is disagreement, listen respectfully and remain committed to engaging with the topic.
Embrace discomfort as part of growth: Pushing out of one's comfort zone is often necessary for learning, especially when engaging with complex or challenging topics related to identity and social justice.
Acknowledge that mistakes will be made: Everyone, including the instructor, will say the wrong thing sometimes. Approach these moments with grace and a shared commitment to learning from them.
Privacy and identity
"Stories stay, lessons leave": Personal stories and sensitive information shared within the classroom will be kept confidential. However, the insights gained from those stories are meant to be carried with you.
Respect privacy and confidentiality: Do not share personal information about classmates outside of the classroom without their explicit consent.
Share your pronouns (and use others'): If comfortable, state pronouns when introducing yourself. Always make an effort to use the correct name and pronouns for classmates and the instructor.
No one speaks for their entire group: Do not ask a classmate to represent the views of their race, gender, nationality, or any other group. Instead, ask them to speak from their personal experience.