Adding Interactivity During an Online Lesson

When teaching online through Blackboard Collaborate Ultra it is essential to keep your students engaged with the lesson. It is easy for an instructor to simply conduct a traditional lecture, but this won’t keep your students’ attention and they may log in and walk away. To ensure that they are paying attention and understanding the content of the lesson, instructors need to create interactive moments in their online lessons.

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Tools Available in Collaborate Ultra

1. Chat

Ask students questions and have them respond in the chat or have them ask each other questions about the content.

2. Whiteboard

Have you students brainstorm ideas on the whiteboard or have a few students race to solve a math problem.

3. Polling

Poll your students about their knowledge level on the class content or get their opinion on a topic being discussed.

4. Breakout Groups

Put your students into smaller groups for discussions and collaborations.

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Additional Tools for Collaborate Ultra Sessions

Below are some simple tools apart from Blackboard Collaborate and Zoom that you can use to create these interactions and ensure that learning is actually happening.

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Nearpod

Nearpod is super easy to use, you can simply drag a PowerPoint directly into Nearpod and add activities or additional content, like YouTube videos, between the slides. This will help break up your lesson and ensure that your students stay attentive. You monitor your students’ progress as you work through the lesson. You can also repeat activities or skip content as needed.

Create your First Nearpod Lesson!

Request Access to HCT’s District Nearpod License

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Kahoot

Kahoot is a great way to increase the energy in a class and create some healthy competition by quizzing your students on the content delivered. You can even add YouTube videos or single content slides for them to review before you ask them a question about it. And it’s not just multiple-choice questions you can create, you can also add poll, open-ended and puzzle questions. Mix it up and keep your students on their toes.

How to Create a Kahoot – Tutorial

Request Access to HCT’s Premium Kahoot License

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Office 365

If you need your students to collaborate together on a document or PowerPoint, then Office 365 is your go-to solution. You can create a folder that you share with your students. They can then create documents, excel sheets and/or presentations that are instantly available for all students in the class to work on. If you need the students to focus on their work in small groups, put them in Breakout Groups. You can move from room to room ensuring they are not facing any difficulties while at the same time monitor the contributions of all students in each of the live documents.

Sharing Files and Folders with Office 365

All HCT Students, Faculty and Staff have access to Office 365. Just log in with your HCT Credentials.