15 Student-Student Interaction

Why does student-student interaction matter?

While remote learning offers flexibility and convenience, it can sometimes feel isolating. To combat this and cultivate a more engaging learning experience, fostering student-to-student interaction becomes even more crucial. By encouraging students to collaborate, share diverse perspectives, and learn from each other, they not only deepen your understanding of the material but also develop valuable communication and collaborative skills, preparing them for success in academic and professional environments.

Student Collaboration

Online instructors can leverage various strategies to encourage collaboration and foster a sense of community in their remote synchronous classrooms:

Structured Collaboration Activities:

• Breakout Rooms: Utilize built-in breakout rooms within Zoom/Class. Assign specific tasks or discussion prompts for students to work on together in smaller groups.
• Think-Pair-Share: Pose a question, allow individual thinking time, pair students to discuss their ideas, and then share key points with the larger class.
• Jigsaw Technique: Divide the learning material into smaller sections, assign each student a section to become an expert on, and have them form temporary expert groups to share their knowledge and complete a joint project.
• Collaborative Documents: Use shared online documents like Google Docs or collaborative whiteboards (e.g., Miro, Jamboard) for students to brainstorm, create mind maps, or collectively write answers to open-ended questions.

Building Community and Encouraging Participation:

• Icebreakers and Team-Building Activities: Dedicate a few minutes at the beginning of the semester or throughout the course to fun, non-academic activities that help students get to know each other better and build rapport.
• Icebreaker Examples: Two truths and a lie, virtual scavenger hunts, “Would you rather?” questions.
• Role-Playing and Simulations: Assign different roles or scenarios for students to act out in small groups, encouraging them to collaborate and present their findings to the class.
• Promote Positive Interactions: Utilize features like emojis, thumbs-up, or short text messages to acknowledge student participation and foster a positive learning environment.
• Peer Review and Feedback: Implement peer review activities where students provide constructive feedback on each other’s work, fostering communication and collaboration skills.

The toolkits found in the FSW Ed Tech Toolkit page that can be beneficial for student collaboration and interaction include but are not limited to the following:

• Peardeck
• Kahoot
• Persuall
• Packback