Student Panelists: Increasing engagement by letting students drive the conversation

This is a very simple and powerful way to increase student engagement in online classes. I have used it when we have guest speakers but you can really use it during classroom discussion or Q&A after a presentation.

Bring in 2-3 students to “join the panel” (which may just be you or also one of your guest speakers in the online class). Invite them in by name or seek volunteers to “join the discussion panel”. Ask them to put their microphones and encourage them to put their cameras on (though this isn’t absolutely necessary).

Then, bring them in during the discussion and, if it feels right, let them simply lead the discussion or Q and A. You can throw in a few comments or questions of your own, especially to get it started, but the more you can, step back and let them take over.

You can catalyse it with:

“So, Jen, what is your view of that…?

“What would you do in that situation, Nourah?”

“Do you agree or disagree with that, Benji?”

Over time you can invite different students to join the panel. If there is a guest speaker, the students become co-hosts with you, the teacher they can really lead the discussion or just be invited by you to comment –  you might ask each of them to ask questions or comment. It can last for as long as you want, but I’d suggest beginning it as a “slot” of 15 mins during an hour.

After doing this a few times it can become a normal part of online classes. You might even ask: “So who wants to be on this panel” and volunteers raise their hands.

When students join in more and have more of an investment in the class content, all students may engage more. Invite them, don’t comment them; gently seek volunteers. They key here is you break the relationship of one (you) to many (the stidents) and create a small panel where you and 2-3 students now co-host part of the class together, especially where there is a chance for discussion and Q and A.

You don’t need to call it a panel. You can just invite a few students to “join you” or “react and comment” or “take over the interview/Q and A”.