Virtual Non-verbal Cues

Utilize non-verbal feedback (e.g., emojis) to visually show when students are ready, need more time, have questions, etc. The teacher can also set different reaction emojis as a different response that they can communicate visually throughout the lesson. This strategy allows students to quickly communicate in a safe and fun way.

APPROXIMATE TIMING: 1-3 MINUTES

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Key drivers around effective learning:

  • Icon of team holding hand up
    Socially Connected

    Peer learning and collaboration

  • Icon of lightbulb with a gear around it
    Growth Oriented

    Progress monitoring and reporting

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The Why

Non-verbal feedback is a low-risk way for students to show a reaction to what someone just shared during class without interrupting the flow of the lesson. For example, students can use 🎉 and 👏 to celebrate their own accomplishment, or an accomplishment of one of their peers or a group of students. 😂 and 😮 can express that a student is laughing or surprised about what someone just shared. These reactions are especially helpful if students have turned off their cameras so teachers and other students cannot see their facial expressions. Educators can also use non-verbal feedback to gauge a variety of things like how much time students need, how they are feeling, and what they think their level of mastery is by associating different cues for different answers. This allows non-verbal conversations to occur in a low-risk setting and in minimal time.

The Feature:

Nonverbal Feedback and Meeting Reactions

The reaction feature allows students to communicate without disrupting the flow of the class. When a student selects a reaction, the emoji shows up in the student’s video panel and stays there for ten seconds. The reaction also shows up besides their name in the participants list and teachers, as the host, can see a summary of how students are reacting.

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Woman on a Zoom video call

The Implementation

When implementing non-verbal data using the reactions feature it is important to first:

  • Set expectations for students on when (and when not) to use the reaction features. Have students come up with times it would be appropriate to use each reaction (e.g., appropriate use: 🎉 a student shares an accomplishment; inappropriate use is a student shares about their pet passing away).

  • Have students practice using the reactions in low stakes scenarios (e.g., have students practice the Yes, No reaction in a fun way by asking get to know you questions like “Basketball is my favorite sport” and “I have a sibling”).

Once students are comfortable using the feature, and are clear on expectations, students can use these emojis throughout class to respond to teachers and to their fellow students for a variety of different activities. Some ideas for ways to collect non-verbal data include.

Developed with The Learning Accelerator



 

 

 

The Learning Accelerator