10 Tips for Engaging Students in Synchronous Online Classes

This submission just in from Stefan:

"There is a common understanding that communication is based on words. Well, is it really? When we consider situations where we only have words, we realize that an awful lot is missing. When we don't see each other while speaking to each other (and even when we only see each others' faces), it is much harder to coordinate the contributions and to check if the other person understood what we wanted to say. 

Synchronous online classes are a typical situation where we face the challenge of communicating under such aggravated conditions. Here's a short list from Marie Norman with 10 ready-to-use tips for instructors who want to compensate for the lack of physical presence during an online classroom session. Her recommendations are mostly about being clear and binding. She also cites a book she has co-authored (Ambrose, S.A., et al., 2010: How Learning Works: 7 Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass)."