How to Use Webinar (Video Conference) for Teaching

The conversion of the physical teaching to online formats has caused many teachers at SUND to look towards the webinar as an online teaching room. It is technically manageable, but what does it require in terms of preparation and implementation? 

Dansk version.

In many ways, a webinar as a teaching room is reminiscent of student activating teaching or lectures – just in an online version. Students participate in a given subject, and one or more academic presentations may be held followed by discussions or other participatory activities. For example, group work, quizzes and question time.

A webinar is held in a video conferencing system and takes place 'live', or synchronously, as some call it. Because it is 'live', the webinar may be a good alternative to physical meetings or teaching and may help to create structure and reference points in the home studies of the students.

Webinars are less suitable for long, streamed lectures without the possibility of dialogue or other interaction along the way. Therefore, it is recommended to divide the lectures into smaller chunks of, for example, 10-15 minutes.

The preparations for a webinar are very similar to the preparations for student activating teaching and lectures.

Planning, Example

1. Note down the learning objectives and the agenda for the implementation of the webinar.
2. Choose which video conferencing tool you want to use (see options at the bottom).
3. Test your technical setup from the location and with the computer setup you want to use. It should be in a quiet room, with a good internet connection. Use the built-in microphone in the computer or a headset if the quality from the computer microphone is too poor. Preferably use the webcam. Sit so that the light falls on your face.
4. Create the meeting room for the webinar and practice implementation, for example, with a colleague or student assistant, and consider whether you need an assistant to oversee the technique during the teaching session so that you can focus on the content and the dialogue with students.
5. Adjust the technical setup.
6. Set up a link to the webinar in Absalon together with the learning goals and agenda for the students. In this way, the students will get a clear picture of the webinar structure. Is it possible, for example, to ask questions and discuss, work in groups, or do they just listen and take notes? Do they have to prepare in advance, for example, by reading articles, chapters, watching videos or answering quizzes?
7. Decide if you want to record the webinar and, if so, why? And how do you want to distribute it? And to whom?

Implementation, Example of Various Teaching Activities:

1. Say welcome and describe the guidelines for the webinar, for example, that the students have to 'mute' microphones and turn off the camera if there are sound quality problems. And what do you do if you have questions, or there are discussions? Inform the students if the webinar is being recorded, and how it will subsequently be shared.
2. Introduce the agenda.
3. Academic presentation. Share your screen with, for example, PowerPoints and/or pre-produced video/audio presentations.
4. Answer selected questions from a list of questions asked via chat or audio/video, depending on the number of students.
5. Divide students into smaller groups, called ‘Breakout rooms’ in some video conferencing systems. Here, the students can discuss in slightly smaller forums, making it easier for the individual to get ‘airtime’ and be in contact with fellow students.
6. Recap on group work.
7. Academic presentation. Share your screen with for example PowerPoints and pre-produced videos.
8. Quiz for students via a Student Response System, for example ShakeSpeak or Socrative.
9. Round off the webinar of the day, possibly last questions from the students? And introduction to the next session.

Which Video Conferencing System is Best?

The University of Copenhagen has a license for several video conferencing systems, including Zoom, which offers screen sharing, chat function, the possibility of dividing into groups and video and audio sharing with larger groups. In addition, UCPH also has Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams, both of which are integrated into Outlook, if you upgrade your Office version to Office 365. Be especially aware that Skype for Business is best suited for smaller groups, while Zoom and Teams can be used for up to 300 students.

In addition, Absalon has a built-in tool called the Big Blue Button, BBB, but it is not currently recommended.

Find inspiration for didactic principles and practical guidelines for distance learning and UCPH's video conferencing systems.

Contact the Centre for Online and Blended Learning for more information and assistance with the technical setup and didactic considerations. Send an email to: absalon@sund.ku.dk.