Teaching a course live online

Live online teaching requires participants to interact with the teacher and one another through a screen. Facilitation, varied activities and deliberate opportunities to respond help turn a presentation into a learning session.

Interaction and attention through a screen

In 2021, some adjunct medical-writer teachers received insufficient faculty support for virtual teaching. ¹ Even motivated professionals can lose attention after hours of video conferencing. ¹ Online teaching requires managing screen sharing, participants' reactions and chat while preventing microphone noise and feedback. ² Unmuting, typing and transmission delays can make willing participants appear unresponsive. ²

A 2021 teaching account identified particular interaction difficulties in groups larger than ten: reduced or unseen faces, missing gestures, loss of faces during full-screen sharing and camera positions that prevent apparent eye contact. ² Distraction and the extra concentration needed without non-verbal cues can drain attention; pandemic restrictions added exhaustion through reduced social contact and variety. ² Participants may also leave without notice. ² Interaction between learners can support learning, so a host needs to build connectedness, especially among people unfamiliar with one another. ²

Camera use can be agreed as a course or meeting rule where possible, alongside minimum technical standards; where cameras cannot be used, the host can still encourage other responses. ³ Cameras may be off for privacy or other reasons, including competing activities; interpretations differ over whether such multitasking is a particular online problem or resembles classroom doodling. ³

Ten strategies for participation

A 2021 teaching toolkit proposed ten strategies, particularly for day-long workshops or several hours of teaching across a week. ^{4, 3} Its examples used the Zoom and other digital-learning functions available at that time. ^{3, 5, 6}

1. Make the course personal and social. Have participants display their preferred names and address them personally so they can be identified and involved during activities.
2. Build connections at the start. In a small group, let one person introduce themselves and pass the turn to someone signalling a shared interest, with the host demonstrating first. For larger groups or cameras-off participation, use small breakout groups with clear tasks and timings—for example, three to five people finding three common interests in three minutes and reporting back; the numbers are illustrative. Encourage exchanging contact details. A shared notice board can collect introductions and connections that inform later groups.
3. Use frequent group activities. Use manually arranged breakout groups or form random groups during the meeting, give clear instructions and time limits, and visit or message groups as needed. Groups can also arrange their own meetings after class. Tasks can include discussing a controversial topic, summarising a lecture, considering solutions to a particular programme or reading aloud to practise pronunciation. Small groups can encourage participation and camera use.
4. Design interactive slides. Use more visual cues than words, build in questions and explain how to speak, chat or signal a raised hand. Yes/no reactions, multiple-choice annotations or stamps, and shared writing and drawing can keep participants active while the host shares a screen; responses can be anonymous where appropriate.
5. Allow enough response time. Do not assume a lag means unwillingness to answer. Repeat the question and response instructions, and say that answers are being awaited.
6. Use collaborative boards. Shared whiteboards and notice boards can collect writing, drawings and symbols; participants can also share their own screens if the host permits. The 2021 examples used Padlet and Flinga, then available free with host email registration and participant access by link or QR code without registration. Activities included moving anatomical labels to the correct body parts, compiling vocabulary and definitions from an assigned paragraph for later spreadsheet or PDF use, and summarising article sections with peer corrections and class discussion. Anonymity can reduce embarrassment about errors or corrections.
7. Include movement. Ask participants to stand and stretch, suggest exercises themselves, or discuss an issue by telephone while walking in pairs. Movement can provide a break and an icebreaker; giving instructions also practises imperatives and vocabulary in a language course.
8. Use quizzes. Announce them at the start and place them mid-session or at the end. They need not be long, difficult or graded: trivia can interrupt passive listening, course questions check understanding and reading quizzes start discussion. Learning platforms such as Moodle and Learning-Snack can provide immediate feedback, later review and individual or group assessment. The toolkit's Zoom polling example gave anonymous class results to a licensed host; participants could also write quizzes, and Quizlet Live offered individual or team competition.
9. Ask for daily feedback. A poll or annotated pace scale at the end of each day allows teaching to change during the course rather than waiting for final evaluation.
10. Stay available afterwards. Offer time online after the session for individual issues and requests; immediate feedback and one-to-one contact support personalisation and social interaction.

^{3, 5, 6}

Assessment and facilitation

Fair assessment is challenging online: even two cameras at different angles during a written examination do not guarantee that a student will avoid other online resources. ⁷ Open-book examinations can test analytical, critical and interpretative skills, but effective questions and objective marking are difficult to develop. ⁷ Portfolio assessment is an alternative, using completed written assignments, presentations and other activities as evidence of competence. ⁷

Teaching live online involves facilitating learning through interaction rather than only supplying information. ⁷ A slide presentation may serve an hour intended simply to inform, but a day-long learning session needs active participation. ⁷