Introduction

The following seven tips are based on my own experience, both as a tutor and a student, of things not going to plan.

Chat

Depending on your temperament, whether you have a colleague assisting, and how engaged the class is, the Chat area can be either a vibrant source of questions and discussion, or a major distraction. So, decide whether to encourage its use or not. If you’re happy for people to use the chat, decide whether it is possible for them to address the class, you, individuals, or all three.

Freezing

To reduce the likelihood of people “freezing”, and to deal with it if it arises, ask people to turn their video off.

Noise

To reduce the likelihood of extraneous noise, ask people to mute their microphones, or do that for them if you have the necessary set of permissions.

Questions, discussion, reactions

Decide whether to encourage discussion and questions as they arise during the lesson, or build in discussion breaks or encourage the use of “Reactions” or Chat.

Screen sharing slides

Use Presentation mode, not Edit mode, for maximum visibility and minimum distraction.

Too much tech

The more technology you use, the more complicated things become, and the greater the likelihood of things going wrong. Instead, adopt what I call the MVT – Minimum Viable Technology – as discussed in Converting An Offline Course To An Online One

Too much to cover

If you have loads to cover in the time, it would be better to cover less but thoroughly, making sure people have understood, than to race through it superficially. You can always refer the class to videos (perhaps ones you’ve made in advance), handouts, and useful websites.

Concluding remarks

I hope you find these suggestions useful. If things do go wrong, take a deep breath, even give the class a five minute break while you sort it out, or do something else. We’re all learning how to be as effective as we can in a relatively unfamiliar area, and most students, most of the time, are pretty forgiving.