1. Prepare links to your materials and share with your students in advance. This ensures students have what they need and can revisit resources later if needed. Also, this step can preempt any challenges that would otherwise come up during class.
2. Utilize a small group feature to get folks talking and engaging during class. As the facilitator, you can pop into different groups–just like walking around your classroom–to join in.
3. Use technology to see and respond to student thinking (through polls, chatbox, etc). There are many options out there for this type of prompting and you don’t need to be an expert in all of them. Find the tools that work for your class!
4. Pre-plan complex directions in advance and provide them verbally and in writing. When possible, model multi-step tasks via screen share. Before releasing students to work, check for understanding by asking them to roll back the directions.
5. Establish a norm for how participants should ask questions and participate. While others are working, a chat might be the best to alert the instructor without interrupting others. During other moments, students might raise hands or unmute themselves.