Keep Teaching: Virtual Library Instruction Resources

Advantages:

• Engagement and Interaction: Synchronous instruction allows for immediate personal engagement between students and instructors, which may create greater feelings of community and lessen feelings of isolation. 
• Feedback: Synchronous instruction allows for responsive exchanges between you and the students, which can help you to identify misconceptions or misunderstandings that students might have and provide immediate feedback. 

Disadvantages:

• Accessibility & Equity: It is more challenging to schedule shared times for all students and instructors.  Not all students may be in circumstances that allow them to easily attend live sessions. For example, students may be sharing devices with other family members, or may not have broadband internet access. Live sessions may be less accessible to students who need accommodations.
• Managing Live Zoom Sessions: It can be challenging to manage student interactions in a live session. Multiple students may attempt to speak at the same time, for example, and others may feel that they do not have the opportunity to share. And, it can be difficult to pay attention to comments or questions in chat while giving a lecture or presentation. For more information, see Student Participation in Live Zoom Sessions. 

For more discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of synchronous instruction, see the Consideration for Instruction and Outreach. 

Visual

• Sit in a well-lit space
  • Lighting should come from in front of you or from the side
  • Avoid being backlit from windows or a lamp
• Pay attention to your clothing and background
• Put your camera at eye level or higher

Audio

• Utilize the best microphone you have, it may surprise you but the headphones from your smartphone may be it.
• Try to stay away from background noise
• Test your Audio/Video before a meeting
• If you are worried about sounding natural, make sure your surroundings put you at ease, have a beverage of choice nearby. If you have some, put on headphones with a microphone to allow you to zone into the project. 
• You are not an audiobook narrator, so don’t stress about perfection, students just want to be able to hear you clearly.

Technical

• Test how to share your screen if you plan on it. Closeout all extra windows to ensure the privacy of you and your students.
• Find a mostly quiet place when you are ready to record, be sure to turn your phone on silent. Nothing is more frustrating than having almost finished your final video and your phone is suddenly bombarded with alerts. 
• Have your notes or outline printed or on another screen in eyesight while recording. 
• Learn the shortcuts, most recording software uses the space button as a quick way to pause, use the pause button to recollect your thoughts if need be and then un-pause to continue your recording at ease. 

Per the University's Digital Accessibility Policy, online class meetings for regular academic courses (offerings in the course catalog) do not need proactive live captioning. Enrolled students who have opted to share that they require accommodations for their academic coursework can work with Student Life Disability Services to meet their specific needs. However, not all students choose to reveal their need for accommodation.

To ensure your synchronous session is accessible, it is recommended that you provide instruction materials (PPTs, handouts) to students in advance, and share a recording, with transcript, after the session. For more information, see:

• Accessibility
• Using Audio Transcription with Cloud Recording 
• CarmenZoom Live Transcriptions
• Accessibility in CarmenZoom