Student collaboration can be a valuable part of any learning experience. Whether you are teaching a synchronous online course or seeking asynchronous student collaboration options in Canvas, there are a variety of synchronous and asynchronous tools you can utilize to get students working together and learning from each other. These online tools can help make student collaboration clear and effective for students and instructors.
Synchronous Student Collaboration in Zoom
Breakout Rooms
Breakout rooms in Zoom can separate students into small groups. Breakout rooms are a great tool for fostering collaboration on an in-class problem or project or just to encourage small group discussion. Breakout rooms can be set up before the Zoom meeting begins or assigned randomly during the meeting. It can often be helpful to assign a group member to serve as the designated scribe and take notes on the breakout room session. Articulating their work helps make the small groups’ work visible to the instructor and keeps the groups on task.
Polls/surveys
Polls and surveys in Zoom can create active learning opportunities during instruction. They can be prepared before the Zoom meeting begins or created on the spot. Polls and surveys are an effective way to assess students’ comprehension, get anonymous feedback and insights from your students.
Whiteboard Notes
The Zoom whiteboard can be a valuable tool during live meetings. Instructors can use it to demonstrate problems or equations to their students. It can also be a powerful brainstorming tool for instructors or small groups of students. Many users can edit the same whiteboard through text, sticky notes, diagrams, and more. After the Zoom meeting, the whiteboard is saved to the host’s account and can be saved or shared with students through a link.
Asynchronous Student Collaboration in Canvas
Student Groups
Instructors can easily assign students to different groups within a Canvas course. Each group receives its own mini-Canvas space where students can collaborate and create Canvas pages. When creating groups, you can allow students to sign up for groups themselves, assign them to specific groups, or have Canvas assign them randomly based on the number of students or number of groups the instructor wants to make. Creating Canvas groups can be a powerful step towards larger group assignments in Canvas.
Peer Review
Canvas makes peer reviews easy to create and manage. Peer reviews can be used for a variety of topics and provide a valuable opportunity to foster student engagement and collaboration. Peer reviews are a setting instructors can enable while creating a Canvas assignment. Instructors can also assign point values to peer reviews, which will appear in the Gradebook. Canvas has recently updated and providing more peer review settings for instructors. Learn more about the updated Peer Review setting options here!
If you are interested in learning more, watch the full training video here!
Have questions about online student collaboration? Schedule a consultation with a member of ODLT here!
ODLT – Upcoming Events
Workshop Wednesday: Best Practices for Designing a Welcoming Canvas Course
August 26th, 1:30-2:30 pm
Facilitated by Millie Tullis, Digital Learning Strategist
Join this session to learn more about welcoming Canvas course design! This presentation will provide helpful tips and techniques to make your Canvas course inclusive to a wide variety of learners. When registering, please include any questions you have about this training topic.
Workshop Wednesday: AI-Resistant Assessment and Student Motivation
September 2nd, 1:30-2:30 PM
Facilitated by James Butler, Digital Learning Strategist
Join this session to learn more about developing AI-resistant assessments and increasing student motivation around online assessments. This training will cover strategies for increasing student motivation and engagement, and host a discussion about how to make individual assessments more resistant to AI misuse. When registering, please include any questions you have about this training topic.
Click here to register for both workshops!
Ffind more events on our website.
Contact Millie Tullis with any questions regarding these sessions.
Office of Digital Learning and Technology – Where Tech and Teaching Meet
