Table 2 Strategies to enhance educator presence in virtual debriefings
From: A practical guide to virtual debriefings: communities of inquiry perspective
Strategy | Descriptor | Benefits | |
|---|---|---|---|
Pre-debriefing | Conduct an educator rehearsal or training session | Session to provide educators’ opportunity to developed shared expectations and discuss how to manage technical issues | Circumvents or mitigates technical issues; provides an environment for reflective discourse |
Ensure educator is visible and check the sound quality | Educators should be clearly visible, in center of the screen, directly facing camera, and in a quiet, well-lit room, with clear sound | Optimizes educator’s ability to communicate through verbal and non-verbal channels | |
During debriefing | Co-facilitate with an educator | Involving a second educator to support the virtual debriefing | Facilitates cross-monitoring and divides up the workload |
Use gallery/grid view function | Provides a full view of all learners in a grid-like display | Most (if not all participants) can be seen on the screen all at once, allowing non-verbal cues to be detected by “scanning” the screen | |
Use the chatbox features | Enables text-based communication between educators (and/or learners) | Facilitates open (and private) communication between educators (to share thoughts or coordinate tasks) | |
Apply existing debriefing frameworks and conversational techniques | Frameworks help structure discussion, while conversational techniques facilitate analysis and consolidation of learning | Enhances reflective discourse while minimizing educator mental workload | |
Use debriefing tools | Scripts or cognitive aids used to support the application of debriefing framework or conversational technique | Enhances reflective discourse while minimizing educator mental workload |