The first time I was a participant in a Zoom call, I was so impressed. It felt so futuristic. I thought highly of it and was excited to do another.

Covid however, like with many things we treasure, wiped out this euphoria. Zoom calls sprouted up everywhere. I grew to dread the dreaded Zoom call invitation. Here are some reasons why:

• They’re too many participants.
• They’re not engaging.
• They’re too long.
• Most are time and place bound.

In this episode, I’ll offer a remedy to each of these problems. Here are four objectives that I follow in my engaging Zoom call quest:

1. small intimate experiences
2. highly engaging preparation and discussion prompts
3. 30 minute call limit
4. recorded and made available to non-participants

I’d like to take each of these objectives and go into a bit more depth.

Small Intimate Experience

I’ve been on calls that had over 50 participants. In these experiences, only the organizers were talking. Granted, questions were raised in the chat feed, but there were few of those and they did not command much attention. I, like many of the participants, muted my video feed and worked on other things while the call droned on in the background. The participants in this scenario are more an audience. That’s not what you want. I say limit the number of participants to 4 or 5. 

Highly Engaging Preparation and Discussion Prompts

Engaging topics is an obvious key to a successful Zoom call. I accomplish topic engagement in 2 ways: 

1. I make certain that participants consume outstanding preparation material prior to the conversation. 
2. I inspire call participants with great prompts during the call. 

30 Minute Call Limit

This is just common sense. Keep the call short. I was recently on a 90 minute call. After 30 minutes, I couldn’t wait to get away from my computer.

Recorded and Made Available to Non-Participants

I have 20 students in my class. My Zoom calls generally consist of 4 participants. Zoom gives you the option to record the call, which is awesome! One major drawback to Zoom calls that consist of the entire class is trying to get everyone in front of their computers at a certain time which is outside the class meeting time. A smaller participant Zoom call can be recorded and then be delivered as an on-demand resource to the remainder of the students. They can then watch in their own time and at their own pace. I then prompt the non-participating students to submit a written reflection inspired by the prompts in the Zoom call. 

In this episode, 3 students Bernard Johnson, Christian Manna, and Emily Montgomery will describe their experiences with my Zoom call template, both as a discussion participant and watching the recorded convo and writing a reflection. 

This interview also mirrors one of our Zoom call discussions, because it’s a Skype Team Chat and all of us are in different locations. 

Episode Template

The Problem:

Zoom calls need to be more engaging.

The Solution:

Apply the 4 objectives described in this episode

Your Next Steps:

• Find 4 student volunteers willing to engage in a Zoom call
• Find an engaging topic, assign the students a resource to consume prior to the chat, and then create some provocative prompts based on the resource.
• Record the chat and then make it available to the other students in your class.
• Challenge the non-participating students to write a reflection based on the recorded call.

Conducting engaging virtual class discussions is an essential skill in modern education. You may as well get great at it! 

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