When teaching at a distance, it is important to have some form of personal contact to reduce student dropouts. It may be worth adding some resources such as regular "question hours" in Zoom or other e-meeting tools where students who want and need can ask questions and discuss ideas with teachers. This can contribute to increased motivation and reduced feeling of isolation.

Connect your students

Another way is to schedule student-café times in Zoom every day for example at 10 am and 3 pm where all students who want to can log in with a cup of coffee or tea just to talk to their peers.

If students are isolated in their home, it is important to help them create social contexts where they can share their experiences and perhaps study together. Students who process course content together and learn from eachother, in recurring studies, is proved to perform better in their studies. Therefore, enable for your students to connect during the course and also encourage them to create Zoom meetings themselves.

Guide for students on how to create Zoom meetings (Swedish)

Gudie for students on how to create Zoom meetings (English)

Text: Klara Bolander Laksov, Professor in Higher Education