Fostering Classroom Community
Remote instruction requires more than slides and discussions—it requires interaction and connectivity with students. The Boston University faculty panel shares their experiences teaching in a remote environment and offers strategies to strengthen classroom community. Topics include:
Using Slack to Foster Classroom Community
Engage, Challenge, Love
Zooming Through Office Hours
Strategies for Fostering Community Through Remote Teaching
Don’t Put Your Icebreakers Away
View the one-hour presentation above or access individual Fostering Classroom Community Lightning Talks below.
View the Fostering Classroom Community Presentation
Using Slack to Foster Classroom Community
Overview
With students scattered across the globe, staying connected has been a challenge. Integrated into the classroom, Slack, a communication platform, is the perfect tool for everyone to stay in touch. It also serves as a hub for resources, formal and informal communication, and collaboration.
Presenter
Josh Duttweiler, Lecturer, Graphic Design
BU College of Fine Arts
BU College of Communication
Engage, Challenge, Love
Overview
Teaching both in person and remotely requires a shared creation of an experience. The discussion centers on how providing structure, guidance, and organization—with the development of a relationship between faculty and the student, and the students amongst each other—faculty facilitate learning and personal growth.
Presenter
Sophie Godley, Clinical Assistant Professor
BU School of Public Health
Testimonial
“This talk exposed me to new ideas and technologies in a real-world context, and I found innovative ways to implement these strategies in the classroom.” – Fostering Classroom Community Lightning Talk Attendees
Online Office Hours
Overview
This Lightning Talk discussion will detail how an unscripted, freewheeling style of the office hours session will help build rapport and community among those students who become the regulars.
Presenter
Gregory Page, Senior Lecturer
BU MET Administrative Sciences Department
Building Community Online
Overview
The presentation will explore some strategies for building community online by attending to course design at the beginning and ending of class convenings.
Presenter
Dr. Shively T. J. Smith, Assistant Professor of New Testament
BU School of Theology
Icebreakers
Overview
This presentation addresses the challenges of maintaining an interactive Zoom classroom in which all students are acknowledged and motivated. After discussing icebreakers strategies, discussion focuses on the sustained use of such devices, including Instagram pep talks, in order to maintain a communal ethos and student morale during remote classes over the course of a full semester.
Presenter
Dr. Thomas A. Underwood, Master Lecturer
BU College of Arts & Sciences Writing Program
BU College of General Studies, Spring and Summer 2020
About the Moderator: Sam Myers
Sam Myers is a Master Lecturer in the BU College of Arts and Sciences Writing Program. She is also the recipient of the Innovate at BU IDEA Cup for Fall 2019 for a HUB Cross College Challenge class she co-taught with Professor Bob Weintraub from the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development.
About Boston University's Remote & Hybrid Teaching & Learning Lightning Talk Series
The Remote Teaching & Learning Lightning Talks Summer and Fall 2020 series, co-hosted by Digital Learning & Innovation and The Center for Teaching & Learning, is a reflection and learning forum where Boston University faculty and invited guests identify areas of challenge and opportunity and share strategies for engaging educational experiences in the remote-learning environment.