4B. Types of Online Activities

Different modalities, different activities

If you are designing an online or hybrid course, creating the three types of interaction discussed above requires careful planning. While there are a large number of resources discussing possible options (and a curated list is provided below), some of the most common include:

• Interaction with content: Have students complete a short formative assessment (e.g., quiz or minute paper) to check for understanding during or after an assigned reading or video.
  • Automated quizzes Links to an external site. can be set up so students must re-take a quiz until they get 100% (or some set score) before they can move onto new content
  • For asynchronous assignments, PlayPosit Links to an external site. allows for in-video quizzing
  • iClicker Links to an external site. questions can be deployed during synchronous Zoom lectures
• Interaction with the instructor: In addition to traditional feedback on assignments or discussion boards, use the Canvas or Blackboard course site and Zoom to communicate regularly with students.
  • Use Zoom for synchronous office hours or review sessions
  • Send a weekly email to students with reminders of upcoming deadlines, clarification of material, questions to seed their curiosity ahead of assigned readings, etc.
• Interaction with each other: Two collaborative activities that can be scaled to classes of any size are 1) having students respond to each others' posts in discussion boards and 2) having students peer review each other's work. See links below for best practices.

Resources with suggestions and best practices for online activities:

• Student-Centered Remote Teaching: Lessons Learned from Online Education Links to an external site. (Educause)
• Planning and facilitating quality discussions Links to an external site. (ACUE)
• Engaging students in readings and microlectures Links to an external site. (ACUE)

Exploring Your Options

One challenge for instructors who are new to online teaching is that it can be hard to think about appropriate activities if you do not already know the range of possibilities. If you would like to get a broader sense of available tools for online teaching, you are encouraged to explore these two resources: 

• The Padagogy Wheel Links to an external site. provides tons of food for thought, largely organized by levels of Bloom's.
• The SAMR (Substitution Augmentation Modification Redefinition) model Links to an external site. provides a useful framework for thinking about the various levels of integrating technology with teaching. At lower levels (substitution and augmentation) the technology does not really impact the pedagogy but provides a different form for completing activities (e.g., students turn in electronic copies of papers instead of hard copies); at higher levels (modification and redefinition), the technology becomes a more integral part of the learning process, allowing instructors and students to engage in activities that would be impossible without the technology (e.g., students create a multi-media website on a course topic). The Teaching and Learning section Links to an external site. of that site then provides additional suggestions of options for achieving various learning goals.