Flex/Zoom Room Teaching Essentials

At DePaul, Flex teaching refers to teaching in Zoom-enabled Zoom+ and Trimodal classrooms that allow for on-campus and remote students to participate in class activities. There are different Flex course modalities based on specific requirements for on-campus and remote student attendance and participation.

On This Page

On this page are recommendations and resources for teaching courses in Zoom+ and Trimodal classrooms and Flex modalities.

• Recommendations
• Get acquainted with classroom technology
• Set expectations for equitable class participation
• Engage remote students and build community
• Use active learning techniques to engage students
• Build and organize asynchronous content in your D2L course
• How-To Guides
• Flex Demonstrations
• Additional Resources and Help

Recommendations

Get acquainted with classroom technology

Gather the information you will need to start a Zoom session, like your Zoom meeting ID, passcode, and host key. It is recommended to attend a classroom training session prior to the start of the term and visit your classroom to practice joining the meeting and using the tools you plan to use during your class sessions, like screen sharing, breakout rooms, and the whiteboard. You may also need to bring a laptop for additional features.

1. Review Flex classroom features

   Find out your room number and familiarize yourself with the Trimodal room layout to ensure that you are visible and audible over Zoom. Trimodal rooms are equipped with multiple cameras, a microphone, and TV monitors to display content.

2. Become familiar with using Zoom+ and Trimodal Rooms

   Review the technology guides on the Teaching Commons for steps on how to use the technology in your classroom. See the section on using the Zoom client in a Zoom Room for information on when and how to use a laptop within a Zoom session in a Flex class.

3. Share content during class

   Use the podium PC, an external device, or the document camera to share content during a Zoom session. Zoom sessions can also be set to allow other participants to share content.

4. Record class sessions

   Record your class sessions so that you can share with students later. Note: If you are teaching in a Flex modality, you will need to set up Zoom meetings to automatically record if they will be uploaded and shared with the class​.
   

Set expectations for equitable class participation

Create a syllabus that introduces students to the format of the course and sets guidelines for participation. You can help orient students to your Flex course by providing details on what you expect from them and being explicit about your expectations can help minimize confusion.

Engage remote students and build community

Engaging with students participating remotely can be more challenging than checking in with in-person students. These strategies will help you organize your classes and build opportunities for all students to interact, share knowledge, and build community and accountability.

1. Incorporate icebreakers

During the first week of class, provide all students the opportunity to introduce themselves and interact asynchronously. Send emails to acknowledge early participation in icebreaker and community-building exercises and check in with students who haven’t yet participated. Throughout the quarter, build in icebreakers to start class sessions and build community.

2. Assign peer buddies and peer working groups

   Grouping students into peer buddies or peer working groups will give students additional opportunities to interact and learn. In smaller groups, students may be more comfortable participating.

3. Consider backchannel communication options

   Backchannel communication tools can give students additional opportunities to share knowledge and ask questions. Backchannel communication can be an especially good option for remote students to easily participate during class sessions.

4. Encourage anonymous feedback

   Collect feedback from students that can be used to improve your class sessions and identify what is already working well.

Use active learning techniques to engage students

Identify learning activities that are best suited for synchronous sessions, such as polling, in-class writing, and small group work. Consider how some activities, like lecturing or problem solving, may be recorded and shared with students asynchronously. Use a course blueprint to aid your planning.

1. Facilitate discussions using a range of strategies

   Facilitate discussions using a range of strategies, such as setting clear expectations, using sufficient wait time, asking open-ended and redirective questions as appropriate, and breaking into small groups.

2. Use polling to engage your students

   Polling can be used to kick off a class discussion by asking students to respond to a thought-provoking question, to check understanding of difficult concepts, or to turn part of your session into a fun quiz competition. Compare Zoom polls with Poll Everywhere to decide which tool to use.

3. Ask your students to share their screens

   Ask for student volunteers to share their screens showing works-in-progress, or a particular problem they’re encountering, or in-class presentations that you’ve asked them to prepare for.  

4. Invite guest speakers to your class

   Inviting guest speakers can be an excellent way to integrate other professional voices, backgrounds, and opinions into your classes.

Build and organize asynchronous content in your D2L course

Provide readings, pre-recorded lectures, quizzes, and other asynchronous content as appropriate. Students can use these to prepare for your live class sessions and apply their learning after class.

1. Create a weekly module structure
   Use a consistent module structure to allow for easy access to class materials. Maintain your D2L course site to ensure that all students can find materials when they need them.  
2. Share your class recordings
   Students can use class recordings to catch up if they miss a session. They can also use class recordings to prepare for projects and exams, or to review key concepts through repeated explanation. Add a link to the Zoom tool to share all cloud recordings, or add links to specific recordings.
3. Create accessible content
   To ensure that course content is equitable for all students, follow the guidelines for accessible user design. Caption video content and/or provide a transcript of audio and video resources. This also allows students to benefit from video content even if their internet connectivity is limited or environmental distractions make videos difficult to hear.

How-To Guides