As in PLA #8 – One Word, The Exit Ticket is an activity you do at the end of an activity, lesson, unit, project, presentation, midterm, or course. It’s a way to get students to critically reflect in some way that you decide, but it also pushes every individual to give you a response. Unlike

One Word is a very simple exit activity. It’s designed to give your learners just a little extra time to process the lesson of the day. It’s also scalable, as it can be used to process a single activity, or a summary after presentations, or a quick reflective nod to a group project. It requires

Mindmaps are great for outlining content, brainstorming ideas, and making connections for many different concepts. Mindmaps can and should be colorful, reflecting the depth and complexity of linking ideas together. The process is simple: Have learners draw a central image of the concept or topic to be explored. Words can be used, but drawing a

Welcome to this series on the Top Ten Participatory Learning Activities (PLAs). Each week, I’ll describe PLAs that are effective to use online. Your use of these PLAs will foster better learning and higher motivation in your learners. Each PLA contains an illustration that contains four elements: The name of the activity. Which one of the four types the activity is (that’s

Doing group work is of great benefit to you and your learners. It keeps everyone active on a task. It promotes team building and learning roles. Maybe most importantly, it gives you the chance to focus on a smaller group of learners and engage them in formative feedback, discussion, and coaching, depending on the task

A concern when transitioning from face-to-face to online delivery, which is driven by campus closures, is that the required speed of transition may negatively impact the learning experience. This is due to faculty needing to re-think their learning activities and to upskill themselves to succeed in an online model. This adjustment takes time. However, delivery