Connection: how can a teacher help students stay connected?

Abstract

This session will discuss the things I tried during 2020 to keep my students connected with each other, with the paper, and with me as their teacher during the transition to online learning and their sudden loss of physical connection on campus. I found that connection is the most important thing to learning - it is more important than transmitting material/information. If students do not feel connected they will not only stop engaging with the material, but their mental health will also suffer, then no learning will be able to take place. Lecturers can do some simple things to help students feel connected. I will use Xorro with my audience (assuming that they have their own device with them) to get them involved from the beginning of the session and to invite them to contribute their thoughts.