In light of the overwhelming response to our Twitter polls on the successes and challenges of virtual learning, we’ve decided to compile and share these insights before launching our weekly MedEdTwagTeam tweetorials on Virtual Teaching Tips, with my colleague Dr. Geoff Stetson, MD. 

From a teacher’s perspective, 70% of respondents identified the lack of interaction as the most significant challenge in virtual teaching. In our upcoming tweetorials, we will share a plethora of tips and tricks to enhance interaction in a virtual teaching environment.

Additional difficulties highlighted included the inability to “read the room” and pick up on non-verbal cues from learners, the unsettling quietness of teaching with everyone else muted, and concerns about competing with students’ other distractions, such as email or internet browsing.

Several helpful tips were shared by our participants, such as using the “whiteboard” feature, particularly through an iPad, engaging with students via chat, encouraging students to use videos, utilizing breakout rooms, and conducting polls. These functions and more will be explored in our forthcoming tweetorials. For immediate assistance, you can refer to the quick YouTube tutorial I created for Emory Dept of Medicine.

Taking into account the perspectives of our learners is critical, especially when implementing new strategies. A poll and subsequent discussion revealed some common difficulties with virtual learning. Learners missed the connections with other students, the one-on-one time with lecturers, and the structure and routine of physical classrooms. They struggled with the dynamics of small groups, particularly with knowing when to talk, and found that too many consecutive hours on Zoom without a break was exhausting.

Our learners had a few suggestions for teachers as well. They urged educators to make sessions interactive using polls and breakout rooms, have students answer questions via chat or breakout rooms rather than audio, understand that not all students can turn on video, and most importantly, to start and end sessions on time, with a break in between.

Over the next few weeks, we will be presenting tweetorials on various topics, including optimizing Zoom settings and screen layout, creating an engaging virtual learning environment, effectively using the whiteboard, fostering interaction through polls and breakout rooms, and identifying the best tools for different teaching formats. We welcome suggestions on other topics you’d like us to explore.

GStetsonMD and I have formed the MedEdTwagTeam (credit to Kimberly D. Manning, MD for the concept) to bring you weekly tweetorials aimed at enhancing the virtual learning environment. Stay tuned for our first tweetorial next week, where I will be discussing how to optimize advanced Zoom settings.