7 Steps Group Activity

We all are trying our best to carry on with our life in this pandemic. We are also worried about the learning disruption of our children and our students. So we are constantly trying to motivate them and engage them in the study and in different physical activities. Most of the teachers are conducting online classes to keep their students up-to-date with their studies. They are using different applications, online platforms, and websites such as Skype, Google classroom, Zoom, Microsoft teams, and so on. However, ensuring interactive learning through these platforms is challenging especially in case of group tasks. Compared to brick and mortar classrooms, assigning group work in virtual classrooms may be difficult but not impossible.

There is a feature called ‘Breakout Room’ in Zoom which will enable you to create groups in an ongoing online session. Let me explain how it can be done using these 7 steps –

Step 1 Enable ‘Breakout Room’: Before starting the class you have to enable the ‘Breakout Room’ option in your Zoom account. For that you need to access your Zoom account and to do so you have to open your Zoom account using any browser. Then click on the ‘Setting’ button of your Zoom account and then find the ‘Breakout Room’ option. Finally, enable the option by clicking on the button beside it. Now, you will be able to see a ‘Breakout Room’ option in your Zoom window.

Step 2 Inform Students:

The breakout room option takes students into a different window with their assigned group members for a specific length of time, after which they come back to the main class session. So before splitting students into breakout rooms it is important to share with them some instructions such as:

1. Total number of groups and the total number of members in each group.

2. Allocated time for the group work.

3. Assigned topic with discussion questions and time frame.

4. Expected outcome from the group work which can be a presentation.

Step 3 Create ‘Breakout Room’: Now click on the ‘Breakout Room’ icon in your Zoom window. Depending on the number of students, put a group number in the ‘Assign participants into’ box. If you want each group to have a mix of all types of students then you will need to select the ‘Manually’ option and click on the ‘Create Breakout Rooms’ button to create groups.

Step 4 Managing Groups: After creating ‘Breakout Room’ you can select each student to assign them in different groups or ‘Breakout Rooms’. If you see anyhow all the quick learners fall in the same group then you can move them to another group or swap them with other students from a different group by clicking ‘Move to’ and ‘Exchange’ buttons beside their names.

Step 5 Time Management: There should be a time limit and it can also be mentioned in the option area. The ‘Breakout’ session or group work duration depends on the class time and the activity itself.

Here, you can also set a countdown timer for the students, which will give them some time to wrap things up before joining back in the main session.

Step 6 Start and Follow Up: After carefully selecting and adjusting the necessary options you can click on the ‘Open all rooms’ button to start the group activity.

As a teacher to ensure effective learning you should visit each group and facilitate their discussion. To do so you can click on the ‘Join’ button beside each group or ‘Breakout Room’.

Also, if you want to send any message to all the groups just click on the ‘Broadcast a Message to all’ button, type your message and send it.

Step 7 Share and Reflect: When the ‘Breakout Room’ session is over and all the students come back to the main session you can give them some time to summarize and share their work. One representative from each group can give the presentation in 2 to 3 minutes and they can also submit their discussion in written format. You can also ask other groups to give feedback after a presentation this way students can get the scope to reflect on their work.

‘Breakout Room’ is a great way to conduct group activities within the class time frame. This enables you to keep your online classes more interesting and productive. It also bridges the communication gap between students while they are learning from home.

Written by:

Patricia Trishna Gomes is the Program Manager and Trainer at Alokito Hridoy Foundation. She loves to read books with a hot cup of tea. Her motto is to spread knowledge.

Edited by:
Azwa Nayeem, Chairperson, Alokito Hridoy Foundation