creative online assignments for college students

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Getting Started with Creative Assignments

Creative teaching and learning can be cultivated in any course context to increase student engagement and motivation, and promote thinking skills that are critical to problem-solving and innovation. This resource features examples of Columbia faculty who teach creatively and have reimagined their course assessments to allow students to demonstrate their learning in creative ways. Drawing on these examples, this resource provides suggestions for creating a classroom environment that supports student engagement in creative activities and assignments.  

On this page:

• The What and Why of Creative Assignments

Examples of Creative Teaching and Learning at Columbia

• How To Get Started

Cite this resource: Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (2022). Getting Started with Creative Assignments. Columbia University. Retrieved [today’s date] from https://ctl.columbia.edu/resources-and-technology/resources/creative-assignments/

The What and Why of Creative Assignments  

Creative assignments encourage students to think in innovative ways as they demonstrate their learning. Thinking creatively involves combining or synthesizing information or course materials in new ways and is characterized by “a high degree of innovation, divergent thinking, and risk-taking” (AAC&U). It is associated with imagination and originality, and additional characteristics include: being open to new ideas and perspectives, believing alternatives exist, withholding judgment, generating multiple approaches to problems, and trying new ways to generate ideas  (DiYanni, 2015: 41). Creative thinking is considered an important skill alongside critical thinking in tackling contemporary problems. Critical thinking allows students to evaluate the information presented to them while creative thinking is a process that allows students to generate new ideas and innovate.

Creative assignments can be integrated into any course regardless of discipline. Examples include the use of infographic assignments in Nursing (Chicca and Chunta, 2020) and Chemistry (Kothari, Castañeda, and McNeil, 2019); podcasting assignments in Social Work (Hitchcock, Sage & Sage, 2021); digital storytelling assignments in Psychology (Sheafer, 2017) and Sociology (Vaughn and Leon, 2021); and incorporating creative writing in the economics classroom (Davis, 2019) or reflective writing into Calculus assignment ( Gerstle, 2017) just to name a few. In a 2014 study, organic chemistry students who elected to begin their lab reports with a creative narrative were more excited to learn and earned better grades (Henry, Owens, and Tawney, 2015). In a public policy course, students who engaged in additional creative problem-solving exercises that included imaginative scenarios and alternative solution-finding showed greater interest in government reform and attentiveness to civic issues (Wukich and Siciliano, 2014).

The benefits of creative assignments include increased student engagement, motivation, and satisfaction (Snyder et al., 2013: 165); and furthered student learning of course content (Reynolds, Stevens, and West, 2013). These types of assignments promote innovation, academic integrity, student self-awareness/ metacognition (e.g., when students engage in reflection through journal assignments), and can be made authentic as students develop and apply skills to real-world situations.  

When instructors give students open-ended assignments, they provide opportunities for students to think creatively as they work on a deliverable. They “unlock potential” (Ranjan & Gabora and Beghetto in Gregerson et al., 2013) for students to synthesize their knowledge and propose novel solutions. This promotes higher-level thinking as outlined in the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy’s “create” cognitive process category: “putting elements together to form a novel coherent whole or make an original product,” this involves generating ideas, planning, and producing something new. 

The examples that follow highlight creative assignments in the Columbia University classroom. The featured Columbia faculty taught creatively – they tried new strategies, purposefully varied classroom activities and assessment modalities, and encouraged their students to take control of what and how they were learning (James & Brookfield, 2014: 66).

Dr. Cruz changed her course assessment by “moving away from high stakes assessments like a final paper or a final exam, to more open-ended and creative models of assessments.”  Students were given the opportunity to synthesize their course learning, with options on topic and format of how to demonstrate their learning and to do so individually or in groups. They explored topics that were meaningful to them and related to the course material. Dr. Cruz noted that “This emphasis on playfulness and creativity led to fantastic final projects including a graphic novel interpretation, a video essay that applied critical theory to multiple texts, and an interactive virtual museum.” Students “took the opportunity to use their creative skills, or the skills they were interested in exploring because some of them had to develop new skills to produce these projects.” (Dr. Cruz; Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning , Season 3, Episode 6). Along with their projects, students submitted an artist’s statement, where they had to explain and justify their choices. 

Dr. Cruz noted that grading creative assignments require advanced planning. In her case, she worked closely with her TAs to develop a rubric that was shared with students in advance for full transparency and emphasized the importance of students connecting ideas to analytical arguments discussed in the class. 

Watch Dr. Cruz’s 2021 Symposium presentation. Listen to Dr. Cruz talk about The Power of Blended Classrooms in Season 3, Episode 6 of the Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning podcast. Get a glimpse into Dr. Cruz’s online classroom and her creative teaching and the design of learning experiences that enhanced critical thinking, creativity, curiosity, and community by viewing her Voices of Hybrid and Online Teaching and Learning submission.

As part of his standard practice, Dr. Yesilevskiy scaffolds assignments – from less complex to more complex – to ensure students integrate the concepts they learn in the class into their projects or new experiments. For example, in Laboratory 1, Dr. Yesilevskiy slowly increases the amount of independence in each experiment over the semester: students are given a full procedure in the first experiment and by course end, students are submitting new experiment proposals to Dr. Yesilevskiy for approval. This is creative thinking in action. Students not only learned how to “replicate existing experiments, but also to formulate and conduct new ones.”

Watch Dr. Yesilevskiy’s 2021 Symposium presentation. 

How Do I Get Started?: Strategies to Support Creative Assignments

The previous section showcases examples of creative assignments in action at Columbia. To help you support such creative assignments in your classroom, this section details three strategies to support creative assignments and creative thinking. Firstly, re-consider the design of your assignments to optimize students’ creative output. Secondly, scaffold creative assignments using low-stakes classroom activities that build creative capacity. Finally, cultivate a classroom environment that supports creative thinking.     

Design Considerations for Creative Assignments 

Thoughtfully designed open-ended assignments and evaluation plans encourage students to demonstrate their learning in authentic ways. When designing creative assignments, consider the following suggestions for structuring and communicating to your students about the assignment. 

Set clear expectations . Students may feel lost in the ambiguity and complexity of an open-ended assignment that requires them to create something new. Communicate the creative outcomes and learning objectives for the assignments (Ranjan & Gabora, 2013), and how students will be expected to draw on their learning in the course. Articulare how much flexibility and choice students have in determining what they work on and how they work on it. Share the criteria or a rubric that will be used to evaluate student deliverables. See the CTL’s resource Incorporating Rubrics Into Your Feedback and Grading Practices . If planning to evaluate creative thinking, consider adapting the American Association of Colleges and Universities’ creative thinking VALUE rubric . 

Structure the project to sustain engagement and promote integrity. Consider how the project might be broken into smaller assignments that build upon each other and culminate in a synthesis project. The example presented above from Dr. Yesilevskiy’s teaching highlights how he scaffolded lab complexity, progressing from structured to student-driven. See the section below “Activities to Prepare Students for Creative Assignments” for sample activities to scaffold this work. 

Create opportunities for ongoing feedback . Provide feedback at all phases of the assignment from idea inception through milestones to completion. Leverage office hours for individual or group conversations and feedback on project proposals, progress, and issues. See the CTL’s resource on Feedback for Learning . Consider creating opportunities for structured peer review for students to give each other feedback on their work. Students benefit from learning about their peers’ projects, and seeing different perspectives and approaches to accomplishing the open-ended assignment. See the CTL’s resource Peer Review: Intentional Design for Any Course Context . 

Share resources to support students in their work. Ensure all students have access to the resources they will need to be successful on the assigned project. Connect students with campus resources that can help them accomplish the project’s objectives. For instance, if students are working on a research project – connect them to the Library instruction modules “ From Books to Bytes: Navigating the Research Ecosystem ,” encourage them to schedule a consultation with a specialist for research support through Columbia Libraries , or seek out writing support. If students will need equipment to complete their project, remind them of campus resources such as makerspaces (e.g., The Makerspace @ Columbia in Room 254 Engineering Terrace/Mudd; Design Center at Barnard College); borrowing equipment (e.g., Instructional Media and Technology Services (IMATS) at Barnard; Gabe M. Wiener Music & Arts Library ). 

Ask students to submit a self-reflection with their project. Encourage students to reflect on their process and the decisions they made in order to complete the project. Provide guiding questions that have students reflect on their learning, make meaning, and engage their metacognitive thinking skills (see the CTL’s resource of Metacognition ). Students can be asked to apply the rubric to their work or to submit a creative statement along with their work that describes their intent and ownership of the project.

Collect feedback from students and iterate. Invite students to give feedback on the assigned creative project, as well as the classroom environment and creative activities used. Tell students how you will use their suggestions to make improvements to activities and assignments, and make adjustments to the classroom environment. See the CTL’s resource on Early and Mid-Semester Student Feedback . 

Low-Stakes Activities to Prepare Students for Creative Assignments

The activities described below are meant to be scaffolded opportunities leading to a larger creative project. They are low-stakes, non-graded activities that make time in the classroom for students to think, brainstorm, and create (Desrochers and Zell, 2012) and prepare them to do the creative thinking needed to complete course assignments. The activities can be adapted for any course context, with or without the use of technology, and can be done individually or collaboratively (see the CTL’s resource on Collaborative Learning to explore digital tools that are available for group work). 

Brainstorming 

Brainstorming is a process that students can engage in to generate as many ideas as possible related to a topic of study or an assignment topic (Sweet et al., 2013: 87). As they engage in this messy and jugement-free work, students explore a range of possibilities. Brainstorming reveals students’ prior knowledge (Ambrose et al., 2010: 29). Brainstorm activities are useful early on to help create a classroom culture rooted in creativity while also serving as a potential icebreaker activity that helps instructors learn more about what prior knowledge and experiences students are bringing to the course or unit of study. This activity can be done individually or in groups, and in class or asynchronously. Components may include:

• Prompt students to list off (individually or collaboratively) their ideas on a whiteboard, free write in a Google Doc or some other digital space. 
• Provide formative feedback to assist students to further develop their ideas.
• Invite students to reflect on the brainstorm process, look over their ideas and determine which idea to explore further.

Mind mapping

A mind map, also known as a cognitive or concept map, allows students to visually display their thinking and knowledge organization, through lines connecting concepts, arrows showing relationships, and other visual cues (Sweet et al., 2013: 89; Ambrose et al. 2010: 63). This challenges students to synthesize and be creative as they display words, ideas, tasks or principles (Barkley, 2010: 219-225). A mind mapping activity can be done individually or in groups, and in class or asynchronously. This activity can be an extension of a brainstorming session, whereby students take an idea from their brainstormed list and further develop it. 

Components of a mind mapping activity may include:

• Prompt students to create a map of their thinking on a topic, concept, or question. This can be done on paper, on a whiteboard, or with digital mind mapping or whiteboard tools such as Google Drawing.
• Provide formative feedback on the mind maps.
• Invite students to reflect on their mind map, and determine where to go next.

Digital storytelling

Digital storytelling involves integrating multimedia (images, text, video, audio, etc.) and narrative to produce immersive stories that connect with course content. Student-produced stories can promote engagement and learning in a way that is both personal and universal (McLellan, 2007). Digital storytelling contributes to learning through student voice and creativity in constructing meaning (Rossiter and Garcia, 2010). 

Tools such as the CTL-developed Mediathread as well as EdDiscussion support collaborative annotation of media objects. These annotations can be used in writing and discussions, which can involve creating a story. For freeform formats, digital whiteboards allow students to drop in different text and media and make connections between these elements. Such storytelling can be done collaboratively or simply shared during class. Finally, EdBlogs can be used for a blog format, or Google Slides if a presentation format is better suited for the learning objective.

Asking questions to explore new possibilities

Tap into student imagination, stimulate curiosity, and create memorable learning experiences by asking students to pose “What if?” “why” and “how” questions – how might things be done differently; what will a situation look like if it is viewed from a new perspective?; or what could a new approach to solving a problem look like? (James & Brookfield, 2014: 163). Powerful questions are open-ended ones where the answer is not immediately apparent; such questions encourage students to think about a topic in new ways, and they promote learning as students work to answer them (James & Brookfield, 2014: 163). Setting aside time for students to ask lots of questions in the classroom and bringing in questions posed on CourseWorks Discussions or EdDiscussion sends the message to students that their questions matter and play a role in learning. 

Cultivate Creative Thinking in the Classroom Environment

Create a classroom environment that encourages experimentation and thinking from new and diverse perspectives. This type of environment encourages students to share their ideas without inhibition and personalize the meaning-making process. “Creative environments facilitate intentional acts of divergent (idea generation, collaboration, and design thinking) and convergent (analysis of ideas, products, and content created) thinking processes.” (Sweet et al., 2013: 20)

Encourage risk-taking and learning from mistakes . Taking risks in the classroom can be anxiety inducing so students will benefit from reassurance that their creativity and all ideas are welcome. When students bring up unexpected ideas, rather than redirecting or dismissing, seize it as an opportunity for a conversation in which students can share, challenge, and affirm ideas (Beghetto, 2013). Let students know that they can make mistakes, “think outside of the box” without penalty (Desrochers and Zell, 2012), and embrace failure seeing it as a learning opportunity.

Model creative thinking . Model curiosity and how to ask powerful questions, and encourage students to be curious about everything (Synder et al., 2013, DiYanni, 2015). Give students a glimpse into your own creative thinking process – how you would approach an open-ended question, problem, or assignment? Turn your own mistakes into teachable moments. By modeling creative thinking, you are giving students permission to engage in this type of thinking.

Build a community that supports the creative classroom environment. Have students get to know and interact with each other so that they become comfortable asking questions and taking risks in front of and with their peers. See the CTL’s resource on Community Building in the Classroom . This is especially important if you are planning to have students collaborate on creative activities and assignments and/or engage in peer review of each other’s work. 

Plan for play. Play is integral to learning (Cavanagh, 2021; Eyler, 2018; Tatter, 2019). Play cultivates a low stress, high trust, inclusive environment, as students build relationships with each. This allows students to feel more comfortable in the classroom and motivates them to tackle more difficult content (Forbes, 2021). Set aside time for play (Ranjan & Gabora, 2013; Sinfield, Burns, & Abegglen, 2018). Design for play with purpose grounded in learning goals. Create a structured play session during which students experiment with a new topic, idea, or tool and connect it to curricular content or their learning experience. Play can be facilitated through educational games such as puzzles, video games, trivia competitions, scavenger hunts or role-playing activities in which students actively apply knowledge and skills as they act out their role (Eyler, 2018; Barkley, 2010). For an example of role-playing games explore Reacting to the Past , an active learning pedagogy of role-playing games developed by Mark Carnes at Barnard College. 

The CTL is here to help!

CTL consultants are happy to support instructors as they design activities and assignments that promote creative thinking. Email [email protected] to schedule a consultation.

Ambrose et al. (2010). How Learning Works: 7 Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. Jossey-Bass.

Barkley, E. F., Major, C. H., and Cross, K. P. (2014). Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty . 

Barkley, E. F. (2010) Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty.

Beghetto, R. (2013). Expect the Unexpected: Teaching for Creativity in the Micromoments. In M.B. Gregerson, H.T. Snyder, and J.C. Kaufman (Eds.). Teaching Creatively and Teaching Creativity . Springer. 

Cavanagh, S. R. (2021). How to Play in the College Classroom in a Pandemic, and Why You Should . The Chronicle of Higher Education. February 9, 2021.

Chicca, J. and Chunta, K, (2020). Engaging Students with Visual Stories: Using Infographics in Nursing Education . Teaching and Learning in Nursing. 15(1), 32-36.

Davis, M. E. (2019). Poetry and economics: Creativity, engagement and learning in the economics classroom. International Review of Economics Education. Volume 30. 

Desrochers, C. G. and Zell, D. (2012). Gave projects, tests, or assignments that required original or creative thinking! POD-IDEA Center Notes on Instruction. 

DiYanni, R. (2015). Critical and creative thinking : A brief guide for teachers . John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. 

Eyler, J. R. (2018). How Humans Learn. The Science and Stories Behind Effective College Teaching. West Virginia University Press. 

Forbes, L. K. (2021). The Process of Play in Learning in Higher Education: A Phenomenological Study. Journal of Teaching and Learning. Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 57-73. 

Gerstle, K. (2017). Incorporating Meaningful Reflection into Calculus Assignments. PRIMUS. Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies. 29(1), 71-81.

Gregerson, M. B., Snyder, H. T., and Kaufman, J. C. (2013). Teaching Creatively and Teaching Creativity . Springer. 

Henry, M., Owens, E. A., and Tawney, J. G. (2015). Creative Report Writing in Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Laboratory Inspires Non Majors. Journal of Chemical Education , 92, 90-95.

Hitchcock, L. I., Sage, T., Lynch, M. and Sage, M. (2021). Podcasting as a Pedagogical Tool for Experiential Learning in Social Work Education. Journal of Teaching in Social Work . 41(2). 172-191.

James, A., & Brookfield, S. D. (2014). Engaging imagination : Helping students become creative and reflective thinkers . John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

Jackson, N. (2008). Tackling the Wicked Problem of Creativity in Higher Education.

Jackson, N. (2006). Creativity in higher education. SCEPTrE Scholarly Paper , 3 , 1-25.

Kleiman, P. (2008). Towards transformation: conceptions of creativity in higher education.

Kothari, D., Hall, A. O., Castañeda, C. A., and McNeil, A. J. (2019). Connecting Organic Chemistry Concepts with Real-World Context by Creating Infographics. Journal of Chemistry Education. 96(11), 2524-2527. 

McLellan, H. (2007). Digital Storytelling in Higher Education. Journal of Computing in Higher Education. 19, 65-79. 

Ranjan, A., & Gabora, L. (2013). Creative Ideas for Actualizing Student Potential. In M.B. Gregerson, H.T. Snyder, and J.C. Kaufman (Eds.). Teaching Creatively and Teaching Creativity . Springer. 

Rossiter, M. and Garcia, P. A. (2010). Digital Storytelling: A New Player on the Narrative Field. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. No. 126, Summer 2010. 

Sheafer, V. (2017). Using digital storytelling to teach psychology: A preliminary investigation. Psychology Learning & Teaching. 16(1), 133-143. 

Sinfield, S., Burns, B., & Abegglen, S. (2018). Exploration: Becoming Playful – The Power of a Ludic Module. In A. James and C. Nerantzi (Eds.). The Power of Play in Higher Education . Palgrave Macmillan.

Reynolds, C., Stevens, D. D., and West, E. (2013). “I’m in a Professional School! Why Are You Making Me Do This?” A Cross-Disciplinary Study of the Use of Creative Classroom Projects on Student Learning. College Teaching. 61: 51-59.

Sweet, C., Carpenter, R., Blythe, H., and Apostel, S. (2013). Teaching Applied Creative Thinking: A New Pedagogy  for the 21st Century. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press Inc. 

Tatter, G. (2019). Playing to Learn: How a pedagogy of play can enliven the classroom, for students of all ages . Harvard Graduate School of Education. 

Vaughn, M. P. and Leon, D. (2021). The Personal Is Political Art: Using Digital Storytelling to Teaching Sociology of Sexualities. Teaching Sociology. 49(3), 245-255. 

Wukich, C. and Siciliano, M. D. (2014). Problem Solving and Creativity in Public Policy Courses: Promoting Interest and Civic Engagement. Journal of Political Science Education . 10, 352-368.

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• Teaching Tips

20 Interactive Classroom Activities for College Students [Plus: Free List of 45+ Activities]

Planning to use interactive classroom activities intentionally can really transform the learning dynamic. Here are 20 activities to get you started.

Top Hat Staff

How interactive are your classroom activities? Do you have less energy for class than you used to? Do you find student grades declining? And are the teaching methods you’ve always relied on not working as well as they once did? We spoke to two college instructors, Chris Merlo and Monika Semma. Their strategies for interactive classroom activities will energize your class and get the discussion moving again.

Table of contents

• Why are interactive activities important in college?

6 community-building activities

5 communication activities for college students, 3 motivational activities for college students.

• 6 team-building activities for college students

Interactive classroom activities, in short

Why are interactive classroom activities important.

Merlo, a computer science teacher, says that interactive classroom activities are not new to students, and one main reason why teachers have trouble connecting is that they fail to adapt to their students’ perspectives.

“My six-year-old son doesn’t find iPads amazing; to him, they’ve always just existed. Similarly, to a lot of students today, experiences like team exercises and flipped classrooms, while foreign to many instructors are not new.

“If we care about reaching today’s students, who seem to have a different idea of student responsibilities than we had, perhaps we have to reach them on their terms.

“In my thirties, I could still find a lot of similarities with my twenty-something students. But now, in my forties? Not so much. What I’ve started to realize is that it isn’t just the little things, like whether they’ve seen Ghostbusters. (They haven’t.) It’s the big things, like how they learn.”

Semma, a humanities TA, found that the chalk-and-talk approach failed on her first day in front of a class. “It was a lot like parallel parking in front of 20 people,” she said. “I looked more like a classmate. I dropped the eraser on my face whilst trying to write my name on the board. One of my students called me ‘mom.’”

“I chalked it up to first day jitters, but that same quietness crept its way back into my classroom for the next tutorial, and the next tutorial and the next. While nearly silent in class, my students were rather vocal in the endless stream of emails that flooded my inbox. That way I knew they wanted to learn. I also knew that I had to find a way to make tutorials more engaging.”

From these experiences, Merlo and Semma now share some interactive classroom activities for students and for teachers that can turn a quiet classroom full of people unwilling to speak up to a hive of debate, making the student learning experience more collaborative for everyone.

Energize your college classroom and get discussions flowing. Download The Best Classroom Activities for College Courses to engage and motivate students.

1. Open-ended questions

Chris Merlo: Open-ended questions don’t take any planning. All they take is a class with at least one student who isn’t too shy. I remember a class a few semesters ago that started with nine students. Due to a couple of medical conditions and a job opportunity, three of the students had to drop the semester. The problem was that these three students were the ones I counted on to ask questions and keep the class lively! Once I was left with six introverted people, conversations during class seemed to stop.

By luck, I stumbled on something that got the students talking again. I said, “What has been the most difficult thing about [the project that was due soon]?” This opened the floodgates—students love to complain, especially about us and our demands. This one simple question led to twenty minutes of discussion involving all six students. I wasn’t even sure what a couple of these students’ voices sounded like, but once I gave them an open-ended opportunity to complain about an assignment, they were off to the races. A truly successful classroom activity.

2. What’s wrong with this example?

Chris Merlo: Students also love to find a professor’s mistakes—like me, I’m sure you’ve found this out the hard way. When I teach computer science, I will make up a program that, for instance, performs the wrong arithmetic, and have students find the bug. In a particularly quiet or disengaged class, you can incentivize students with five points on the next exam, or something similar.

If you teach history, you might use flawed examples that change a key person’s name, such as “King Henry VIII (instead of King John) signed the Magna Carta in 1215,” or match a person to an incorrect event: “Gavrilo Princip is considered to have fired the first shot in the Spanish Civil War (instead of World War I).” Beam these examples on the whiteboard, and let the students’ competitiveness drive them to get the right answer before their classmates.

3. Let students critique each other

Chris Merlo: This can go badly if you don’t set some ground rules for civility, but done well, classroom activities like this really help open up collaborative learning. One of my colleagues devised a great exercise: First, give students about half of their class time to write instructions that an imaginary robot can understand to draw a recognizable picture, like a corporate logo, without telling students what will happen later. Then assign each student’s instructions to a randomly chosen classmate, and have the classmate pretend to be the robot, attempting to follow the instructions and draw the same logo.

After a few minutes, introduce a specific student who can share their results with the class, then ask their partner to share the initial instructions. This method gives students a chance to communicate with each other (“That’s not what I meant!”) and laugh and bond, while learning an important lesson.

This exercise teaches computer science students the difficulty and importance of writing clear instructions. I have seen this exercise not only teach pairs of such students meaningful lessons but encourage friendships that extended beyond my classroom.

Get students participating with these 45 classroom activities

4. Pass the “mic”

Monika Semma: As an instructor, it’s amazing how much information you can gather from a student-centered review session. Specifically, if you leave the review in the hands of your students, you can get an easy and thorough assessment of what is being absorbed, and what is being left by the wayside. The more you encourage participation, the more you’ll see where your class is struggling and the more comfortable students will become with course material. Here’s how to transform a standard review into one of your more popular classroom activities:

• A week before the review, ask students to email you two to five key terms or theories that they feel they need to brush up on. Take all that data and compress it until you have a solid working list of what students want to review most.
• In class, provide students with visual access to the list (I found writing all the terms on a chalkboard to be most effective). Instruct the class to have their notes out in front of them, with a pad of paper or blank Word document at their fingertips, and encourage them to take notes as the review is in progress.
• A trinket of sorts (I highly recommend a plush ball), used as a “microphone,” helps to give students equal opportunity to direct the review without putting individuals on the spot too aggressively. The rules are simple: she or he who holds the “mic” can pick one term from the list and using their notes, can offer up what they already know about the term or concept, what they are unsure of, or what they need more elaboration on.
• Actively listen to the speaker and give them some positive cues if they seem unsure; it’s okay to help them along the way, but important to step back and let this review remain student-centered. Once the speaker has said their piece, open the floor to the rest of the class for questions or additional comments. If you find that the discussion has taken a departure from the right direction, re-center the class and provide further elaboration if need be.
• Erase each term discussed from the list as you go, and have the speaker pass (or throw) on the “mic” to a fellow classmate, and keep tossing the ball around after each concept/term is discussed.

Students will have a tendency to pick the terms that they are most comfortable speaking about and those left consistently untouched will give you a clear assessment of the subjects in which your class is struggling, and where comprehension is lacking. Once your class has narrowed down the list to just a few terms, you can switch gears into a more classic review session. Bringing a bit of interaction and fun into a review can help loosen things up during exam time, when students and teachers alike are really starting to feel the pressure.

5. Use YouTube for classroom activities

Monika Semma: Do you remember the pure and utter joy you felt upon seeing your professor wheel in the giant VHS machine into class? Technology has certainly changed—but the awesome powers of visual media have not. Making your students smile can be a difficult task, but by channeling your inner Bill Nye the Science Guy you can make university learning fun again.

A large part of meaningful learning is finding interactive classroom activities that are relevant to daily life—and I can think of no technology more relevant to current students than YouTube.

A crafty YouTube search can yield a video relevant to almost anything in your curriculum and paired with an essay or academic journal, a slightly silly video can go a long way in helping your students contextualize what they are learning.

Even if your comedic attempts plunge into failure, at the very least, a short clip will get the class discussion ball rolling. Watch the video as a class and then break up into smaller groups to discuss it. Get your students thinking about how the clip they are shown pairs with the primary sources they’ve already read.

6. Close reading

Monika Semma: In the humanities, we all know the benefits of close reading activities—they get classroom discussion rolling and students engaging with the material and open up the floor for social and combination learners to shine. “Close reading” is a learning technique in which students are asked to conduct a detailed analysis or interpretation of a small piece of text. It is particularly effective in getting students to move away from the general and engage more with specific details or ideas.

If you’re introducing new and complex material to your class, or if you feel as though your students are struggling with an equation, theory, or concept; giving them the opportunity to break it down into smaller and more concrete parts for further evaluation will help to enhance their understanding of the material as a whole.

And while this technique is often employed in the humanities, classroom activities like this can be easily transferred to any discipline. A physics student will benefit from having an opportunity to break down a complicated equation in the same way that a biology student can better understand a cell by looking at it through a microscope.

In any case, evaluating what kinds of textbooks, lesson plans and pedagogy we are asking our students to connect with is always a good idea.

Brainwriting

Group size: 10 students (minimum)

Course type: Online (synchronous), in-person

This activity helps build rapport and respect in your classroom. After you tackle a complex lecture topic, give students time to individually reflect on their learnings. This can be accomplished through guided prompts or left as an open-ended exercise. Once students have gathered their thoughts, encourage them to share their views either through an online discussion thread or a conversation with peers during class time.

Concept mapping

Collaborative concept mapping is the process of visually organizing concepts and ideas and understanding how they relate to each other. This exercise is a great way for students to look outside of their individual experiences and perspectives. Groups can use this tactic to review previous work or to help them map ideas for projects and assignments. For in-person classes, you can ask students to cover classroom walls with sticky notes and chart paper. For online classes, there are many online tools that make it simple to map out connections between ideas, like Google Docs or the digital whiteboard feature in Zoom.

Group size: Groups of 5–10 students 

Propose a topic or issue to your class. Group students together (or in breakout rooms if you’re teaching remotely) according to the position they take on the specific issue. Ask the groups of students to come up with a few arguments or examples to support their position. Write each group’s statements on the virtual whiteboard and use these as a starting point for discussion. A natural next step is to debate the strengths and weaknesses of each argument, to help students improve their critical thinking and analysis skills. 

Make learning active with these 45 interactive classroom activities

Compare and contrast

Group size: Groups of 5–10 students

Ask your students to focus on a specific chapter in your textbook. Then, place them in groups and ask them to make connections and identify differences between ideas that can be found in course readings and other articles and videos they may find. This way, they can compare their ideas in small groups and learn from one another’s perspectives. In online real-time classes, instructors can use Zoom breakout rooms to put students in small groups.

Assess/diagnose/act

This activity will improve students’ problem-solving skills and can help engage them in more dynamic discussions. Start by proposing a topic or controversial statement. Then follow these steps to get conversations going. In online classes, students can either raise their hands virtually or use an online discussion forum to engage with their peers. 

• Assessment: What is the issue or problem at hand?
• Diagnosis: What is the root cause of this issue or problem?
• Action: How can we solve the issue?

Moral dilemmas

Group size: Groups of 3–7 students 

Provide students with a moral or ethical dilemma, using a hypothetical situation or a real-world situation. Then ask them to explore potential solutions as a group. This activity encourages students to think outside the box to develop creative solutions to the problem. In online learning environments, students can use discussion threads or Zoom breakout rooms.

Conversation stations

Group size: Groups of 4–6 students 

Course type: In-person

This activity exposes students’ ideas in a controlled way, prompting discussions that flow naturally. To start, share a list of discussion questions pertaining to a course reading, video or case study. Put students into groups and give them five-to-ten minutes to discuss, then have two students rotate to another group. The students who have just joined a group have an opportunity to share findings from their last discussion, before answering the second question with their new group. After another five-to-ten minutes, the students who haven’t rotated yet will join a new group.

This or that

Course type: Online (synchronous or asynchronous), in-person

This activity allows students to see where their peers stand on a variety of different topics and issues. Instructors should distribute a list of provocative statements before class, allowing students to read ahead. Then, they can ask students to indicate whether they agree, disagree or are neutral on the topic in advance, using an online discussion thread or Google Doc. In class, use another discussion thread or live chat to have students of differing opinions share their views. After a few minutes, encourage one or two members in each group to defend their position amongst a new group of students. Ask students to repeat this process for several rounds to help familiarize themselves with a variety of standpoints.

6 team-building classroom activities for college students

Snowball discussions  .

Group size: 2–4 students per group

Assign students a case study or worksheet to discuss with a partner, then have them share their thoughts with the larger group. Use breakout rooms in Zoom and randomly assign students in pairs with a discussion question. After a few minutes, combine rooms to form groups of four. After another five minutes, combine groups of four to become a larger group of eight—and so on until the whole class is back together again.

Make it personal

Group size: Groups of 2–8 students

After you’ve covered a topic or concept in your lecture, divide students into small discussion groups (or breakout rooms online). Ask the groups questions like “How did this impact your prior knowledge of the topic?” or “What was your initial reaction to this source/article/fact?” to encourage students to reflect on their personal connections to the course concepts they are learning.

Philosophical chairs

Group size: 20–25 students (maximum)

A statement that has two possible responses—agree or disagree—is read out loud. Depending on whether they agree or disagree with this statement, students move to one side of the room or the other. After everyone has chosen a side, ask one or two students on each side to take turns defending their positions. This allows students to visualize where their peers’ opinions come from, relative to their own.

Get more interactive classroom activities here

Affinity mapping

Group size: Groups of 3–8 students 

Course type: Online (synchronous)

Place students in small groups (or virtual breakout rooms) and pose a broad question or problem to them that is likely to result in lots of different ideas, such as “What was the greatest innovation of the 21st century?” or “How would society be different if  _____ never occurred?” Ask students to generate responses by writing ideas on pieces of paper (one idea per page) or in a discussion thread (if you’re teaching online). Once lots of ideas have been generated, have students begin grouping their ideas into similar categories, then label the categories and discuss why the ideas fit within them, how the categories relate to one another and so on. This allows students to engage in higher-level thinking by analyzing ideas and organizing them in relation to one another. 

Socratic seminar

Group size: 20 students (minimum)

Ask students to prepare for a discussion by reviewing a course reading or group of texts and coming up with a few higher-order discussion questions about the text. In class, pose an introductory, open-ended question. From there, students continue the conversation, prompting one another to support their claims with evidence from previous course concepts or texts. There doesn’t need to be a particular order to how students speak, but they are encouraged to respectfully share the floor with their peers.

Concentric circles

Group size: 20 students (maximum)

Students form two circles: an inner circle and an outer circle. Each student on the inside is paired with a student on the outside; they face each other. Pose a question to the whole group and have pairs discuss their responses with each other. After three-to-five minutes, have students on the outside circle move one space to the right so they are standing in front of a new person. Pose a new question, and the process is repeated, exposing students to the different perspectives of their peers.

Making your classes more interactive should help your students want to come to class and take part in it. Giving them a more active role will give them a sense of ownership, and this can lead to students taking more pride in their work and responsibility for their grades.

Use these 45 classroom activities in your course to keep students engaged

A more interactive class can also make things easier for you—the more work students do in class, the less you have to do. Even two minutes of not talking can re-energize you for the rest of the class.

Plus, these six methods outlined above don’t require any large-scale changes to your class prep. Set up a couple of activities in advance here and there, to support what you’ve been doing, and plan which portion of your class will feature them.

The reality remains that sometimes, students do have to be taught subject matter that is anything but exciting. That doesn’t mean that we can’t make it more enjoyable to teach or learn. It may not be possible to incorporate classroom activities into every lecture, but finding some room for these approaches can go a long way in facilitating a positive learning environment.

And let’s not forget, sometimes even an educator needs a brief departure from the everyday-ordinary-sit-and-listen-to-me-lecture regimen.

Recommended Readings

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A 6-Step Exercise for Discussing AI In Education

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6 Interesting Assignments to Engage Online Students

• February 28, 2021
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For students, nothing is more boring than mundane assignments. They are a real motivation killer as well as a mood killer. You were a student once, too, so you’ll agree that education should be exciting and inspiring.

Online educators face increasing difficulties with keeping their students motivated and engaged because they do not meet in person. They cannot identify whether someone starts to lose motivation and try to help.

To help you avoid that in the first place, we have collected a number of fascinating online assignments that can really help engagement and motivation to learn.  

A Meeting with a Prominent Individual

This one is designed to increase motivation by using creative skills of the students. The main idea of this assignment is simple: find a person, interview them, discuss certain topics discussed in the class, and enjoy the experience. Although any person can be selected for an interview, it could be even better if that person was a politician, a philosopher, an author, an athlete, or somehow prominent individual.

This assignment works great in increasing engagement, especially if you give the students all freedom in selecting the person for the interview. Also, it would be fascinating for you to read all those interviews as well! So, assign a deadline and make sure they focus on discussing class topics!

Here are some helpful resources for your students to prepare for this assignment.

• 25 Questions To Ask People To Draw Them Out
• 50 Brilliant, Original Questions to ask an Author
• Commentary: Interviewing athletes is easy, just follow these instructions

Group Discussion

The fact that you’re a teaching an online class should not stop you from nurturing the sense of community. Of course, your students may not know each other and they will probably never meet in life but group activities foster collaboration skills.

If your online learning environment has a discussion forum, let’s begin to take real advantage of it. Create a threat with a controversial topic and ask your students to discuss it and take specific stands. For example, if you’re teaching an astronomy class, you could ask whether humanity should colonize the planet next to ours, Mars.

Some of your students will support the idea of colonization arguing that it’s too dangerous to leave all life on one planet. On the other hand, others will take an opposing position, suggesting that we should fix our planet first and don’t contaminate other worlds. Just imagine how fascinating a discussion like this could be!

Here are more discussion topics for your class:

• Do celebrities earn too much money?
• Do curfews keep teens out of trouble?
• Is human activity a substantial cause of global climate change?

See How It’s Done

A direct observation of working process and practice are critical elements of effective education. In addition to a great opportunity to learn outside an online learning environment, the students can actually see how the knowledge is applied in real-life settings. This assignment works well for most professions.

For example, if you are teaching the history of English language , arrange a visit to a prominent history site and give the students the opportunity to speak with real scientists who make discoveries. As the result, they will get some valuable advice as well as great experience.

Ask your students to prepare a report and reflect on the visit.

A Random Photo Creative Assignment

You don’t have to be a photography teacher to use this incredible assignment. You know what they say: a picture is worth a thousand words. Use the power of a photo to convey some concepts and ideas from your subject.

It can be done in two ways: taking a random photo (works best for philosophy classes) or a photo of a specific object or a person (works well for sociology and history). Ask to characterize the photo using models, theories, or knowledge learned in the class.

As the result, your students have an opportunity to practice their creative skills as well as critical thinking skills. Check out these resources your students could use for this assignment

• How to Convey Meaning in Your Photos
• How to Take Good Pictures With Your Phone (for those who will use phones)

An Urgent Paper

This assignment is perfect for evaluating the knowledge retention of your students. The idea is to write a paper that summarizes the learning session in only one minute without preparation. It can be really challenging to beat the clock and complete a good paper, so your students will be tested for a real knowledge.

This one-minute paper can be assigned right after the end of a learning session or anytime you want. Just make sure that the amount of information is reasonable for this time limit. If you feel like you should provide more time for completion, feel free to expend the time to five and even ten minutes.

A Teacher for a Lesson

The last item on our list is another simple but powerful assignment. Here, you should ask your students to perform your duties for a little bit by grading the works of each other. For example, have them write an essay and send ungraded papers back to the class. Each student will read and grade the work of another learner.

As the result, the students become teachers for this lesson. Their feedback will demonstrate the effectiveness of their critical thinking skills and could be really helpful for others to identify some mistakes and shortcomings in their work.

The following resources will help your students to improve their feedback skills:

• Using Peer Review to Help Students Improve Their Writing
• How to Write Helpful Peer Review Comments
• Steps to Make Essay Writing Easy for Students

Final Thoughts

There are many fascinating assignments for online students that can help increase their motivation and engagement. Feel free to give a shot to the ones described in this article because online classes should not be boring but fascinating and exciting! Let these tips be helpful to you to keep your students engaged and thanks for reading!

Thanks to Diana for this post –  Diana is an ESL Teacher with 5 years of successful work experience in teaching English as a second language, interactive teaching, and initiating supportive online lessons for ESL students. Feel free to follow Diana on Twitter

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Teach.com / Resources

Online Teaching Tuesdays: Interesting Online Assignments to Engage Online Students

January 20, 2017 

Got Wi-Fi? Online Teaching Tuesday is a series of resources for teachers who want to transfer their skills to an online classroom setting. Whether you’re interested in full-time or part-time online teaching, explore this rapidly growing field with us every week!

Online education  is a fast-growing industry worldwide, with over  6.7 million students  enrolled in at least one course in 2011. More  recent U.S. statistics  provided that 5.8 million people were learning online last year, which means that the international number grew to at least 10 million.

This increasing number of online students suggests an important shift in the higher education landscape, where more and more people choosing to learn using this option. In turn, the educators are faced with a number of challenges with online students due to a lack of traditional interaction, such as creating  effective  and engaging assignments. As the result, it might be more difficult for them to engage these students because they do not meet with them regularly.

There are some innovative techniques that online educators can use to accomplish this task, though. Let’s discuss them below.

Assignment #1: The Interview

Have a discussion with your students about the people who inspire them. The results of this discussion will provide the instructions for the  interview assignment, which will have them constructing an interview with the people they choose. The interviews can be tied to specific subjects, such as history, sociology, biology, and many others.

If you have the control over the course of the interview, provide specific topics for discussion. By using this assignment, you could evaluate critical thinking of the students, awareness about the topic, and allow them to use the interviewer they wish.

Assignment #2: All About Me

You can use this assignment to increase the student engagement right from the beginning of the school year. Ask the students to produce a short video about themselves where they could tell the other students and you about interests and benefits expected from the course. Also, you should encourage them to share information about the future goals and aspirations, job history, family, and previous education.

These projects will help to create more engagement and create the feeling of the community in the virtual classroom.

Assignment#3: Two Lies and a Truth

This assignment is actually a variation of All about Me task described above. This time, you should ask your students to provide three statements in their video introductions: one of which should be true and the other two should be lies. These statements should involve some facts from the background of students that are unknown to others students.

Inform about this and ask to guess which statements are true and which are lies. This assignment generally leads to a lively and interesting conversation because it is always great to trick the classmates and try to guess which is true and which is false.

Assignment #4: Picture

You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. This saying perfectly illustrates the essence of this assignment. Instruct your students to take a picture themselves and describe it in the way that blends into the recent discussions you had in the class. Also, you can specifically instruct to use some theories and other concepts in order to evaluate the skills of using them.

This assignment is popular among those who learn philosophy because it allows them to speculate of their perceptions of reality.

Assignment #5: One-Minute Paper

This is a widely popular assignment that challenges the students to complete a difficult task within a short period of time. It is generally used at the end of the class but you can use it at the end of discussions as well. Ask your students to write a short paper on what they learned during the class or discussion or some points that they found the most interesting and significant. However, you can extend it a little bit if you feel it is necessary and make it a 5-minute paper. You can find sample form and other instructions about making this assignment  here .

Assignment #6: Peer Feedback

One of the most important real benefits of online assignments is instant feedback from multiple classmates that can be saved and reviewed. This benefit should be used to develop the skills of constructive criticism and proper feedback in the students. Have them complete a written assignment and read the works of each other to provide the feedback later. This way, the students can have the opportunity to engage in a discussion of their works.

Need more help on this task?  Here  is the sample peer assignment example for you.

Construct these assignments clearly to prevent the conversations and discussion from going flat. Eventually, they will help you to improve the engagement of online students by providing a new portion of lively discussions and fascinating tasks.

Diana Clark is a high-school educator with 5 years successful working experience in digital and blended learning, modeling effective professional learning and enhancing teacher leadership. She is covering different topics concerning higher education, educational technology, and career development. Feel free to contact her at  Facebook .

• Utility Menu

Harvard College

The Honor Code

• Alternative Assignments: Creative and Digital

Goals for student learning:

• Combine, curate, or interact with course materials and information in original ways
• Develop skills that college courses don’t often teach

Be aware that:

• Creative or digital assignments may require extensive preparation for students to complete and faculty to evaluate.
• Student facility with tools can mask weak mastery of content.
• Students may not understand the ethos--or mechanics--of citation in digital media or creative work.
• Digital assignments may tempt students to “cut and paste” from online materials without proper attribution.
• Anticipate that students will want to apply the skills they learn in other endeavors; discuss source use guidelines to follow in work they’re doing on their own. 

To encourage active, deep, and honest engagement:            

• Don’t assume students are technology natives; prepare students to work in the media that is assigned. 
• Get help from experts. Even if you're familiar with certain media, you might ask someone who produces art or digital media professionally to train your students and provide support for the assignment.
• Consider whether a digital or creative assignment accomplishes your learning goals  better  than a traditional assignment. If your assignment is about making an argument or engaging with print sources, then a written paper or oral presentation might be more effective than a digital or creative project. 
• Require students to cite faithfully and appropriately, which may include submitting a bibliography for a digital assignment.
• Share your discipline’s debates on originality and source use with your students.

Assignment types and examples:

• Movie-making
• Art-making (drawing, painting, assembling, collage, etc.)
• Creative writing
• Performance
• Digital annotation; mapping

Resources for faculty: 

Academic Technology Group, “ Technology for Teaching, Learning, & Research ” The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, " Grading and Responding to Student Work " (scroll down to Creative Assignments) The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, " Assignment Modalities " Office of the General Counsel, “ Copyright and Fair Use: A Guide for the Harvard Community ” Digital Arts & Humanities at Harvard Digital History at Harvard Tomorrow’s Professor, “ Projects, Tests, or Assignments that Encourage Original or Creative Thinking ”

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• For Students

Creative Ways to Design Assignments for Student Success

There are many creative ways in which teachers can design assignments to support student success. We can do this while simultaneously not getting bogged down with the various obstructions that keep students from both completing and learning from the assignments. For me, assignments fall into two categories: those that are graded automatically, such as SmartBook® readings and quizzes in Connect®; and those that I need to grade by hand, such as writing assignments.  

For those of us teaching large, introductory classes, most of our assignments are graded automatically, which is great for our time management. But our students will ultimately deliver a plethora of colorful excuses as to why they were not completed and why extensions are warranted. How do we give them a little leeway to make the semester run more smoothly, so there are fewer worries about a reading that was missed or a quiz that went by too quickly? Here are a few tactics I use. 

Automatically graded assignments: 

Multiple assignment attempts  

• This eases the mental pressure of a timed assignment and covers computer mishaps or human error on the first attempt. 
• You can deduct points for every attempt taken if you are worried about students taking advantage. 

Automatically dropped assignments  

• Within a subset or set of assignments, automatically drop a few from grading. This can take care of all excuses for missing an assignment. 
• Additionally, you can give a little grade boost to those who complete all their assignments (over a certain grade). 

Due dates  

• Consider staggering due dates during the week instead of making them all due on Sunday night.  
• Set the due date for readings the night before you cover the material, so students are prepared.  

Requirements  

• If we want our students to read, then make a reading assignment a requirement of a quiz. 

The tactics above might be applied to written assignments, too. An easy way to bolster a student’s interest and investment in these longer assignments is to give them a choice. This could be in the topic, location of study, or presentation style. For example, if you want them to analyze the susceptibility of a beach to hurricane threat, why not let them choose the location? In this way, you will also be gaining a lot of new information for your own use. 

With a small amount of effort, we can design our classes, so students concentrate on learning the subject matter rather than the logistics of completing the assignments. 

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30 Virtual School Activities That Students & Educators Love

Written by Laney Kennedy

Save time, engage your students and offer differentiated learning online with Prodigy Math game!

• Teaching Activities
• Virtual learning games & apps for online learning
• Traditional learning activities to bring online
• Fun virtual field trips to try
• Virtual first day of school activities

More ways to make virtual school fun

As a teacher, you know better than anyone how much the past year has transformed learning. And although our circumstances will continue to change, virtual learning is still a reality for many students and teachers.

No matter what teaching looks like this year, building a sense of community is so important for you and your students, especially if they’re learning at home . 

But with hundreds of virtual teaching platforms to choose from, how do you make sure your students are getting the best resources to learn and grow — and have fun while doing it?

We’ll help you narrow it down with a complete list of 30 virtual school activities for students of all ages. Whether you teach elementary school, middle school or high school, this list has your remote learning needs covered!

Try these virtual learning games & apps for online learning

Learning outside of the classroom can be easy and fun with these virtual school must-haves. Use these free virtual resources to engage students online and make your virtual classroom feel like home.

1. Prodigy Math Game

Price: Free. The optional Premium Membership provides extra in-game features for students and additional tools for parents, starting at $4.99 USD per student, per month. 

In or out of the classroom, math games are a great way to keep students excited about learning math — even when it comes down to tricky concepts. 

With Prodigy Math Game , you can keep math class fun wherever students are!

As your students create unique characters, explore virtual worlds, collect pets and enjoy all the fun in-game adventures Prodigy offers , they’ll also answer curriculum-aligned math questions . Plus, Prodigy’s adaptive algorithm is built to meet students where they are, so they’ll receive questions that match their progress level.  

Use your free teacher account to create a classroom and:

• View in-depth data on student and class progress 
• Create Assessments that align with your lesson plans
• Differentiate in-game content based on individual student needs

Parents can also sign up for their own account to view and support their child’s progress and motivate them even more!

Ready to make math an adventure this year?

P.S. Check out these free resources to help you use Prodigy in your virtual classroom!

• How to use Prodigy to fight summer learning loss
• How to use Prodigy in your everyday virtual teaching strategies
• How to benchmark student progress with Prodigy’s Test Prep tool

Price: Free or paid versions, with education plans for schools and classrooms. 

In the past year, Zoom has become a close friend to many of us. And it’s no wonder! 

Zoom is a reliable and accessible way to engage your class with virtual teaching. Use it to:

• Host online classes with video and screen sharing
• Engage your classroom with online polls, breakout rooms and virtual chats
• Host zoom games where students can join the fun from home or at school!

P.S. Want to add some pizzazz to your next online lesson? Try one of these custom Prodigy Zoom backgrounds !

3. Flipgrid

Price: Free

Come up with discussions that really get your class talking! Flipgrid offers over 35,000 conversation starters to spark student creativity. Students can respond to each prompt with their own videos, which are displayed on the response board for the rest of the class to see.

The best part? It’s filled with fun editing resources so students can add animations, emojis and text to create fun videos they can be proud of.

TEDEd was specifically designed to celebrate student and teacher ideas. 

You’ll find free online lessons in tons of subjects — including Earth School , where students watch videos, answer quizzes and complete quests to learn more about the natural world. 

Plus, the TEDEd program lets students create their very own TED talks to share what they’re passionate about with the rest of the class!

5. Google Classroom 

Encourage virtual teamwork with your one-stop-shop for lessons, assignments and class discussions. 

Google Classroom provides access to:

• Google Meet — Host video lessons and presentations online. 
• Google Forms — Host surveys and quizzes for your class to fill out.
• Google Calendar — Keep track of lessons and give students insight into the structure of their day. 
• Google Slides — Present lessons in a presentation format and include visuals to keep your class engaged.

Price: Free for the basic plan, with optional paid teacher or school plans starting at $10 USD per month. 

Start meaningful conversations and encourage student engagement with the online platform that “creates a powerful learning loop between students, teachers, and families.” 

With Seesaw, students have a digital space to share their thoughts and give you insight on how they’re learning. Plus, you can keep families in the loop with an exclusive space for home-to-school connections. 

7. YouTube Kids 

Price : Free

The good old days of TV stands on wheels are long behind us. Now, students can watch fun, educational videos no matter where they are!

YouTube Kids was built with kids in mind. This means the video content you choose to share with your class will always be safe and appropriate for their age group. 

Have students download the app or watch directly on their browsers, then assign them videos on art, science and everything in between!

Price : Free for the basic plan, with optional subscription plans starting at $8 USD per member, per month. 

See new ideas spark and virtual collaboration happen right in front of your eyes — and add a pop of color to make the day a little brighter.

Miro is an online whiteboard that lets your class collaborate through tables, flowcharts, sticky notes and more. Perfect for brainstorms or team projects ! 

Virtual learning can never be dull when you have this many fun effects and templates to choose from! 

Whether you’re using it for lessons or encouraging students to create their own, Prezi makes online presentations easy and fun with plenty of design resources and a user-friendly interface. 

Create presentation decks, videos, infographics, maps and more. Let student creativity take over and see the amazing results!

Ready to make learning an exciting adventure?

Boost engagement in your classroom with two captivating standards-aligned learning games for math and English!

6 Traditional learning activities to bring online 

In today’s digital world, virtual learning is more prevalent than ever. But that doesn’t mean we should say goodbye to our favorite in-class activities!

Here’s how to transform classic school activities into online activities that are perfect for distance learning. 

1. Digital escape rooms

No room needed! Bring this classic team-building activity online and transform your classroom or students' homes into haunted houses, pirate ships or even the North Pole! 

Try these: 

• Virtual Escaping rooms
• 20+ Free digital escape rooms 
• Build your own escape room through Google Forms

2. Two Truths and a Lie

Put a spin on this classic icebreaker game through online polls, presentation decks, or quiz platforms like Kahoot! . Compile student submissions into a quiz format. Then have them vote on each other’s options and see the submissions on-screen right away.

You can also use this game to supplement lessons. For example, add two truths and a lie questions during activities that review science concepts or historical figures. 

3. Virtual journal writing

Instead of daily journal entries on paper, encourage virtual journal submissions through an online platform like Google Docs. 

Or, take it to the next level and start a classroom blog . Students can compile their entries and reflect on each others’ submissions, then look back on their great work at the end of the year.

4. Virtual Scavenger Hunt

Create a checklist to bring your scavenger hunt online. Then have your students submit pictures to check items off the list.

Your list can include:

• Items they can find around their home ( find 3 items that have stripes )
• Information they can find online ( when was the telephone invented?)
• Information about one another ( find a classmate who is left handed )

Host one big scavenger hunt, or provide one daily checklist item for them to find by the end of the day.

5. Read aloud videos

Record yourself reading a book out loud, then send the video to your students and have them listen during class time. Or find author read alouds that introduce students to the authors of their favorite books, so they can hear the stories straight from the source. 

6. Virtual brain breaks

Brain breaks are an effective way to keep kids energized and ready to learn more. And there are so many options for online brain breaks! 

• Videos that encourage activity (like an action song or yoga video ) 
• Online games (try assigning five minutes of Prodigy time between class tasks)
• Fun discussion topics that prompt online chats (Ex. What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?)

Take one of these exciting virtual field trips

Even if they don’t happen in person, field trips can still be informative, exciting and hands-on! In fact, virtual field trips may be even better, because you can visit places that are hundreds or even thousands of miles away! 

Here’s how to encourage classroom community building and bring your students to brand new places, without ever leaving your home or classroom. 

1. Virtual zoo or aquarium

Lions and tigers and bears … and penguins and sharks and monkeys! Oh my!

A virtual zoo visit is super fun for younger students, or a great way for students of any age to learn more about animals and their habitats. 

• Videos from the San Diego Zoo
• Live cams from the Monterey Bay Aquarium
• 3D animals to turn students’ homes into their own zoo!

2. Virtual national park tours 

Your class can visit some of the most famous parks and learn more about nature without even stepping outside! Use Parks Through Your Screen to explore different parks and see them from a brand new perspective.   

3. Virtual walking trails

Let your class explore mountains, trails, forests or even the pyramids! These virtual walking tours from across the globe provide an exciting online escape along with plenty of learning opportunities.

4. Ellis Island tour

Provide students with a hands-on history lesson through this interactive online tour of the historic Ellis Island . They’ll find stories, photos and notable facts at each stop. 

4. Museums and art galleries 

Some of the most well-known galleries in the world offer amazing online exhibits anyone can enjoy. 

• The Louvre online tours 
• Google arts & culture collections
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art online

6 Virtual back to school activities for the first day of the school year

Back to school is the best time of year! And there are so many ways to make your first day of school activities welcoming and fun, whether they’re online or in person. 

1. Play virtual ice breaker games 

On the first day of school, it’s important for classmates to get to know one another, and for you to get to know them! 

Ask icebreaker questions through online chats, play virtual games (like two truths and a lie) or have students create quick online profiles that feature fun or important facts about them. 

2. Set expectations

Whether learning is remote, hybrid or in-person, it’s important that students know your classroom expectations and where to find everything they need. 

Make sure to: 

• Share your digital class schedule
• Let students know the best way to ask questions online
• Communicate classroom rules (try using Bitmojis to keep things light and fun!)

3. Send fun virtual questionnaires

Give students fun questions that will help them find out what they have in common and build community for the rest of the school year. 

Ask questions like:

• What’s your favorite movie?
• What’s your favorite thing about school? 
• What’s one thing you want to try this year?

Send them through fun online questionnaires through Google Forms, or create storyboards in Miro to display responses. Don’t forget to share your answers too!

4. Design virtual lockers 

Use a fun Bitmoji template and have students create virtual lockers to display their personal style or show off their favorite things. To take it a step further, create a whole virtual classroom where students can customize their own space.

5. Share summer stories

Encourage your class to get creative and talk about what they did during the summer in whatever way they’d like. 

This could be:

• Digital art
• Presentations

Or anything else they can think of!

6. Send out student learning surveys

Once you’ve shared your expectations for them, let students share theirs, too!

Send an online survey to each student asking questions like:

• How do you learn best?
• What’s your favorite way to learn?
• What questions do you have for me? 
• What do you want to learn the most this year?

We couldn’t forget these activities! Here are a few more ways to make your online classroom awesome. 

1. Encourage socialization 

Social emotional learning is critical for student success. 

And the best way to help students practice their social emotional skills? Provide them with plenty of opportunities to socialize and collaborate in fun, easy ways. 

• Assign social emotional learning activities online
• Have frequent breakout rooms for students to socialize in small groups
• Create a collaborative class playlist on Spotify or listen to music as a class
• Hold regular discussions with the whole class and allow students to use chat functions or speak out loud

2. Hold virtual morning meetings

Have a daily check-in with morning meetings where you and your students can share feelings, thoughts and ideas for the day. Then go through your schedule and make sure everyone has all the online resources they’ll need.

3. Host theme days

Have regular theme days where the class wears a certain color or accessory, or dresses as a specific character. 

For example, create a “color of the week” where every Friday, students wear as much of a specific color as they can find. Then let them show off their outfits in your online classroom! 

Get the most out of your virtual classroom

Online teaching can be a tough balance. But with such a wide range of virtual school activities to choose from, there’s no shortage of fun your class can have while they learn! 

Add a few of these activities to your online lesson plans to help students learn, play and collaborate — no matter where they are!

Looking for an online activity to supplement your math lessons?

Prodigy can help make learning math fun! 

Assign curriculum-aligned math questions that match learning progress and grade levels , easily track student data , and provide your students with a fun way to practice math online — all while they embark on new adventures and battle friends to win rewards! 

Create an Assessment for your Prodigy classroom today to keep students on track and differentiate for individual learning needs. 

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• Engaging instructional activities

Engaging Online Instructional Activities

Long gone are the days of creating an online learning experience simply by posting a series of recorded lectures, documents, and assignments on Blackboard for students to review then “testing” their compliance via auto graded quizzes and exams.  Research 1 demonstrates that a positive online learning experience is related to three factors: (a) connectedness with the instructor; (b) a sense of community with classmates; and (c) engagement in learning. And these three factors interact - students who feel a sense of connectedness are more likely to engage in the class, improving the learning experience. 2,3  

Collaborative learning, peer feedback, learner choice, and sustained discussion that includes personal stories, perspectives, and experiences can all encourage higher order learning while also creating a positive learning community. Below is a list of recommendations for creating positive online learning experiences. Consider using multiple strategies; refer to the section on Universal Design for Learning for more information about how multimodal approaches support learning and engagement. 

Recommendations for Developing Engaging Instructional Activities

Create “sites” for interaction.

When a class has few or no opportunities for in-person interaction, we have to intentionally create spaces for students to interact and collaborate. Think of these as ways of creative virtual sites for interaction:

• Discussion threads.  One of the most common methods for fostering interaction among students is to use Blackboard’s discussion function. Many instructors ask students to post both an initial response and an expected number of substantive follow up responses.  Less experienced students will benefit from concrete examples of initial and follow up posts (to avoid the “I agree” or “This happened to me too” responses) and a timeline for engaging (initial post no later than Wednesday, three follow up posts by Sunday). Instructors should “pop in” and engaging the students with posts, to spur a lively exchange, provide informal feedback, and create a sense of instructor presence.
• Voicethreads:  Voicethread also allows for group discussions, but can increase engagement and student choice by allowing students to contribute through multiple modalities, including text, voice, and video.
• Student created blogs . Another creative way to engage students in discussion is through student blogging assignments. Each student creates a post and peers comment on one anothers’ posts. Derek Bruff, Director of the Center for Teaching at Vanderbilt University, has written extensively about the student blogging assignments here .
• Shared virtual workspaces.  Wikis or shared docs in Teams allow student groups to work collaboratively at a distance by giving the ability to share and edit content over the Web.
• Student-made “podcasts,” videos, or vlogs . brief, 3-5 minute, media clips allow students to relay information, highlight significant individuals, or coach classmates.  These work equally well with synchronous or asynchronous courses. A guide for creating podcasts is available here . 

Use Icebreaker Activities

One feature lost in a transition from face-to-face to online instruction is the valuable snippet of time individuals have before the scheduled starting time.  Much can be learned about one’s fellow participants in these moments of casual exchange.  Trust and camaraderie can be established in increments.  Friendships can form.  Intentional ice-breaker and getting to know you exercises can serve as substitutes for these impromptu conversations. Some examples (see  this website for more ideas) :

• “Getting to know you” questions . Consider using the discussion board in an asynchronous class and ask everyone to post a response to your questions (consider asking students to submit questions to you as well).  Good questions will go beyond the type of demographic information common to roll calls (name, home town, major, year in school, campus affiliations, etc.) which can lead students to form impressions based on stereotypes or inherent biases.  The best questions will encourage a deeper dive by adding “and why” to get to the story below.
• Student introduction videos.  Both the instructor and students can post brief introduction videos, sharing a few things they want their classmates to know about them as well as their hopes for the class experience.
• Virtual Nametag Assignment . Students create and post a virtual nametag in which they share some of their characteristics, experiences, and interests  and then look at their classmates’ nametags to identify commonalities and differences.  Look here for more details . 

Give students some control

Give students a sense of ownership with learning activities by providing some options for learner choice and perhaps even engaging students in the design of some components. In addition to encouraging engagement, engaging students as partners can build a sense of trust, and gives students, including those who may experience significant barriers to learning (online access, socioeconomic issues, learning differences, time constraints, etc.) an opportunity to weigh in with their capacity. For instance:

• Find out what students want to learn, and use their goals to help shape the class.
• Develop learning activities/ assignments that allow students to choose topics or the modes of expression.
• Share your learning objectives for a particular unit or module and ask students what types of learning experiences and assignments they would like to engage with. Less experienced students may require examples of what past classes have done. 

Connect with a related class

Create a more integrated and engaging experience for students while lightening the design load for any one faculty member or instructor. Examples:

• Connect assignments across classes. For example, students in one class could become the audience for those in another class.
• Common problems. Address a common problem or “grand challenge” in multiple courses. Students begin to see what different courses or areas of the discipline bring to that problem, and instructors collaborate in some aspects of the course design.  
• Shared modules. Many core concepts and skills in a discipline are addressed, by design, in multiple courses. Instructors can collaboration on the design of some shared or common modules, and students can benefit from a more scaffolded opportunity to transfer their understanding from one course to another.

Leverage the online medium

Some especially engaging approaches to online teaching learning involve leveraging the unique affordances of an online environment. For example:

• Bring in guest speakers or distinguished alumni panels (who might not otherwise be available for an in-person visit)
• Use social media or other high immediacy tools (e.g., Teams chat) to have students connect what they are learning to the world around them and share their learning while it is happening. In this In this example from Derek Bruff’s Leading Lines Podcast , Margaret Rubega of the University of Connecticut describes how in her large enrollment ornithology class, she asks students to post about birds on Twitter as they see them in daily life. The goal is to support transfer: getting students to apply what they are learning in the class in other contexts. Transfer is a sign of robust learning, but must be intentionally scaffolded through course and assignment design. But ultimately, this is what we all want out of our courses, right?

Support difficult and necessary conversations

Discussions of challenging and potentially heated topics can help students develop important skills, in meaningful discourse, evidence-based critical thinking, perspective taking, and listening.  See this page for  guidance about how instructors create a positive climate for class discourse about difficult or divisive topics, whether in a live interaction OR asynchronous discussion forum (e.g., discussion board, chat channel, email, or VoiceThread). 

Foster deep reading

Faculty members frequently express concern about students' ability to read critically, and that concern is heightened in a digital environment. See this page for recommendations for fostering deep reading in a digital environment . 

Some Examples of Engaging Online Activities

Case studies. Give students an opportunity to consider and discuss a real or fictional case that incorporates theory or concepts.  Provide guiding or reflection questions to encourage a richer dialog whether students interact synchronously or via a discussion thread.  Provide an opportunity for individual reflection at the end, such as through the Journal tool in Blackboard. After exposing students to example case studies, you might even ask students to write and analyze their own case studies to illustrate key themes in the course.

Debates . Provide students with a situation or argument, divide them into two (pro/con) or three (pro/con/third way) groups, provide some time to formulate an argument, and let the exchange begin!  Again, providing an opportunity for structured individual reflection at the end is helpful.  Here is an example of a full assignment with a reflection guide, developed by Amy Leyerzapf for her leadership studies course.

Fishbowl discussions . These are most useful for synchronous class discussions (online or in person). Large class discussions can be intimidating, particularly if enrollment numbers exceed the number of screen tiles that can appear on Zoom at once.  Consider breaking the class into two or more groups and conduct a fishbowl discussion.  A guide to get you started, with several variations, can be found here .  

Jeopardy or other “game show” Q&A’s – for courses where students need to master quantities of objective content, trivia-style Q&A’s are a good way to test knowledge.  Instructors of asynchronous courses may want to consider inviting students to a special exam review or office hour via Zoom for a few rounds.  A reliable template in either Powerpoint or Google Slides is available for download here . 

Living history presentations . Students may enjoy researching significant figures related to the course and presenting their findings in character either live during a synchronous class session, or by video or podcast as an asynchronous activity.

News of the day. Assign, or allow students to choose, a course topic or important construct.  The student can present a current event in the news and connect the event to the featured concepts, and share in one of the course interaction tools (e.g., discussion board or student produced blog), or to start off a synchronous class meeting (consider assigning different students to different class periods).

Peer consultations. Pairing students for feedback, particularly on major assignments, can reduce uncertainty, build community, and ultimately make for higher quality assignments and easier grading.  Structure helps here.  Consider pairing students rather than allowing them to choose their partners and conducting multiple rounds of feedback over a longer period of time (the last 20 minutes of class, one meeting a week over three weeks for example).  Provide students with a copy of the grading rubric to guide their critique.  Breakout rooms work well for synchronous courses, while students can collaborate outside of asynchronous courses via Zoom, Teams, or other video conferencing or document-sharing platforms. 

Spark some ideas for your own course(s) by checking out these examples of Engaging Ideas for Flexible and Online Teaching from KU Faculty members  in Spring 2020 : instructional activities or assignments that were especially successful in engaging and stimulating students, were fun to implement, or took advantage of the online environment in ways they had not discovered before. Also What Worked Well: Bright Spots from Fall 2020 , a collection of essays showcasing the many innovative and inspiring ways in which KU instructors overcame Fall teaching challenges. 

• Online Courses

8 Ideas Designed to Engage Students In Active Learning Online

I’ve spent the last four months working with teachers all over the country (virtually, of course) as they navigate the uncharted waters of online and blended learning. The majority of teachers I have spoken with did not enjoy their initial experiences with distance learning. A big issue for many teachers was a general lack of student engagement online. I cannot say I am surprised given the lack of clarity about expectations for participation online, the “no harm” grading policies adopted by many districts during school closures, and issues around equity and access.

This fall, students will likely be learning, at least in part, online. Given that reality, I wanted to share a collection of strategies designed to engage students in active learning online.

1. Sort It Out

This is a digital spin on a traditional concept mapping exercise. Sort it Out challenges students to think about how key concepts in a unit, lesson, or chapter relate to one another. Students can work independently or in pairs on a Google Drawing to complete this digital concept mapping activity. The directions ask that they combine text and visual media to show the relationship between concepts.

Teachers can ask students to complete these online asynchronously then share them during face-to-face sessions (blended) or in video conferencing sessions (online).

2. Online Fishbowl

The classic fishbowl activity splits the class into two groups. While one group engages in a discussion or attempts to solve a problem, the second group observes and captures their observations, questions, and comments. If teachers are hosting small group virtual sessions, this strategy can be adapted for a virtual conferencing session. Prior to the video conference, the teacher will split the students into two groups–group A and group B. I’d suggest sharing your screen and having the students’ names clearly listed in a two-column chart.

Once students know what group they are in, the teacher presents group A with a discussion question or a problem to solve and sets the timer (e.g., 5 minutes). The students in group A will unmute and engage in a discussion or talk through the problem. While they engage with one another, group B will watch and observe. Their job will be to post their observations in the chat window or on a shared Google Document.

When the timer goes off, the teacher can invite members of group B to unmute and share their thoughts. What did they notice as they observed their peers? What questions do they have? What suggestions would they make? After group B has had the opportunity to comment, the groups switch roles and group B engages in a discussion or problem solving task while group A observes.

3. Expert Group Investigations

Teachers are going to have less time for direct instruction if they are working with students on a hybrid schedule or if they are entirely online. This is an opportunity to have students become the experts responsible for conducting research and curating online sources. Instead of using precious class time to tell kids everything we know about a topic, why not put them into expert groups and let them lead the learning?

Teachers can group 4-5 students on a shared Google Slide presentation and ask them to spend some of their online learning time investigating a specific topic or concept with the goal of becoming the experts on that topic or concept. They will need to work collaboratively to pull their information together in a cogent and visually compelling presentation that mixes text and visual media.

Teachers can ask students to present during their face-to-face time (blended) or during a video conferencing session (online).

4. Collaborative Annotations

Teachers can make annotating a piece of reading, which is typically an individual endeavor, and make it more engaging by simply grouping students on a shared document to annotate collaboratively. Teachers can insert a two-column chart into a Google Document then copy and paste text in the left-hand column. Students can highlight keywords and phrases in the text and capture their annotations in the right-hand column.

As they work they can use the chat feature inside of the document to discuss the reading if they are working synchronously or insert comments with questions for the other members of the group to answer asynchronously. This adds a social component to the learning task, which can help students who are working on the assignment at home feel connected to their peers.

5. Google Map Adventures

Finding fun ways for students to surface their learning is critical for increasing engagement online. The more creative the assignments, the more likely students are to lean into the learning. Google Maps is a versatile tool that can be leveraged for learning in all subject areas. Students can chart the path of a story on a map, they can connect the historical information they are learning to the geographic location where events took place, and students can use maps to design creative mathematical challenges. The possibilities are limitless!

Students can create their own maps or collaborate on shared maps, drop pins with text and media in specific locations, and share their maps as evidence of their learning. Click here to learn more about My Maps .

6. Spotify Playlist

Encourage your students to get creative with their review. At the end of a chapter or unit, challenge pairs of students to work collaboratively on a shared Google Document to identify the main ideas, concepts, and/or themes from the chapter or unit. Then ask them to create a Spotify playlist . The goal is to use music, something most kids enjoy, to inspire them to think more deeply about the ideas, concepts, or themes covered in a text or unit.

7. Scavenger Hunts

Scavenger hunts are a fun way to encourage students to research and explore. If teachers are struggling to “get through” content given limited face-to-face time, they can create an online or offline scavenger hunt.

Scavenger hunts can encourage students to do a close read of a text or conduct informal research to answer questions when they are learning remotely. This strategy makes it possible for teachers to identify relevant information that students will need to know while making the experience of finding that information engaging and fun. Teachers can use Google Documents or Google Slides to create their scavenger hunt activities, making the tasks individual or collaborative.

8. Online Discussions

Online discussions are a staple of any online course. They create a space for students to connect online, explore issues related to the course, ask questions, and make meaning in collaboration with their peers. Teachers looking for strategies designed to engage students and drive higher-order thinking should make online discussions a regular part of their classes.

If teachers are working with young students who do not have strong keyboarding skills, they can use FlipGrid videos to engage students in video-based discussions. Padlet is another option that allows students to post their ideas on a virtual wall and comment on each other’s posts. For teachers working with older students, the Google Classroom question feature or the discussion functionality in a learning management system will work well to engage students in text-based asynchronous discussions.

If teachers give students time to think about a question, craft a response, read the responses posted by their peers, and reply to their classmates, in-class conversations are more likely to be substantive and start at a much deeper level.

This summer is the perfect time to explore and plan. I hope these strategies will inspire teachers to think creatively about how they can engage students in meaningful learning activities online. If you have an activity that you have used to engage students online, please take a moment to post a comment and share it!

70 Responses

Hi Catlin – Thank you for your wonderful blog. I am a first grade teacher and am looking for online/hybrid strategies to engage young students, as well, including non-readers. If you know of strategies for 6- t0 7-year olds, I’d be grateful to read anything you write! Thanks again.

I will work on an elementary version!

I’m also a first grade teacher. These are excellent ideas and I plan to share them with my colleagues. Thank you!! I’d also love to see your version that engages primary age students.

Thanks for these great ideas! I’d love to see suggestions for quick summarizers for synchronous virtual classes. Thanks!

You’re welcome, Karen!

These are some great, creative ideas! I’d love to hear ideas for k-1 when reading level and typing ability and ease of online access is more of a challenge. We’re struggling to find good systems for our littlest learners through an online format, especially when it doesn’t seem right to have so much screen time for this group to begin with, and they need so much adult support (which they do not always have, especially in their target language). Thank you!

I will prioritize an elementary version in an upcoming blog. I know that reading level and keyboarding skills can be a hurdle for younger learners.

I am a Principal at a Primary School (grades K & 1). Do you happen to have any suggestions on strategies for K-1 students for distance learning? Or can you point me in the right direction? Thank you in advance!

That is on my list of blog topics to come out soon as I have gotten several requests for elementary resources.

These ideas are really good. Very practical and doable. Will surely take it to class.

Love the ideas especially the Spotify playlist. How would you tackle students who are too dominant Catlin? As in being too active thag it makes others shy away.

That is a legitimate concern, Kee-Man.

It is hard to make sure a single student doesn’t dominate the process. I can imagine doing one of three things if you were worried about this. 1) Ask students to add their contributions to the playlist in a particular color to track their contributions. 2) Make this an individual activity or task. 3) Tell students they will be assessing their partner’s participation at the end of the process.

Take care! Catlin

Hi Kee-Man, This is late, but another idea that may be applicable is to assign roles as appropriate, then take turns in the diff roles. Ex. manager, reader, recorder, runner, editor etc. Explaining / showing the roles might be helpful too – ex. Things that managers might say… “What do you think we should do next?”, “What do you think about that?”, “Do you have anything to add”… etc.

Thank you so much for these amazing ideas! We’ve spent the summer reading your books in order to be ready for the school year. Your Blended Learning models have provided the structure and inspiration we need as we approach the new school year. The ideas you included in this post will be so helpful.

That’s wonderful to hear, Chris! I’m so glad my books and blog have been useful resources as you prepare for next year.

Take care. Catlin

What is the best video conferencing app that has interactive features. Voting, sharing info, ability to “like” others’comments

I prefer Zoom, but I am sure everyone has their favorites. Many schools use Google Meet or Microsoft Teams as it is already part of their online environment. You can add functionality to Google Meet with Chrome Extensions, which is nice. Maybe others will chime in with a different preference.

Online engagement of students during online classes is a real challenge. This article is really helpful. Please add, tools like Sli.do, MindMaps, Invision Sketch as well. These are also very helpful.

Hi! I am a Humanities Prof (Grades 12 -14) in Montreal, Quebec, and the co-founder of http://www.linkreducation.com . linkr is built to support active online learning- I’d love to get your feedback on the way the platform can engage students in online publishing and international or local collaboration. It’s free for teachers and students and already has educators from over 30 countries using link to make online coursework more engaging. Thanks for your useful suggestions in this post!

Great suggestions. Wondering if you can track discussions by student using Google Classroom?

I’m not sure what you mean when you say “track.” If you are thinking about stats on the number of replies, then I do not think so.

Hello Catlin–I work in the adult education arena in KY, helping students acquire a GED. Keeping students actively engaged is troublesome as adults have may other responsibilities. Any and all retention strategies you could provide would be most helpful–thank you!

Hi Michelle,

Have you heard of the book Powerful Teaching ? It has some great ideas for retrieval activities to improve retention.

Hii Catlin!! These strategies are really very good 👍 thanks for sharing. I’ll apply them with my students.

Love these ideas. What are your thoughts for Preschool and Kindergarten?

Catlin, Thank you so much for sharing these practical strategies! I love the Spotify Playlist, so creative! Thank you for sharing your time, treasures, and talents! Inspiring as always! Meg Ormiston

You are so welcome, Meg! I’m thrilled these ideas are useful!

I provide resources to our non-profit science teachers organization in Tennessee through the website. These ideas would be very helpful to teachers. May I share a link to the article? Tsta.wildapricot.org

Yes, you are welcome to share links to any of my blog posts, Sharon.

I have started your course: Preparing for Fall 2020! Blended and Online Learning. I am enjoying your helpful tips thus far. As an elementary teacher, when following all of the steps and instructions throughout the course I have chosen to focus only on math, when completing each module/lesson. Is this acceptable? I read some comments from other elementary teachers asking for more info concerning lower grades. I too am looking forward to this. I just want to clarify that it is acceptable for elementary teachers to be tailoring the course toward one subject area. Thank you so much for your sharing all of your hard work with us!

Yes, you are welcome to focus on a single subject if it is helpful to narrow your focus. Hopefully, as you work through the course thinking of math, you will also have ideas about how you can apply those strategies to ELA and the other topics you are teaching.

I have been looking for great online resources for elementary teachers. There are lists of online websites for elementary age kids , but I was hoping for something more dynamic in terms of engagement activities/strategies. I am working on an elementary version of my “8 ideas to engage students online” post. I’m hoping to publish it early next week.

Thank you so much for your prompt reply and your guidance! Your ideas, strategies and consistency is just what I need right now! It is incredibly helpful that you are focusing on elementary levels too. Your work and positive vibe is wonderful!

Thank you, Lee. I appreciate that! I’m so glad these resources have been helpful as you prepare for fall. 😊

Love theses adaptation of what works in the classroom physically to a virtual world. I am a firm believer in concept mapping, so I’m glad to see it here.

Playlists are a wonderful way for students to participate. Music is what most of them relate to. It makes them feel a real part of something they are interested in. This is something they can truly identify with. Can be used in many subjects of leaning.

I liked the scavenger hunt. It keeps the students engaged and gives them a sense of accomplishment as they complete each task.

Useful information for the upcoming school year

I like the information and that I can narrow it into one subject, sciences especially biology .

I like the online fishbowl. I think my math students would enjoy that activity and it would help them to be better thinkers.

I just finished your on-line course and it was really helpful! I was wondering if you could share any exemplary lower elementary and upper elementary playlists? Also, if you have any exemplary lesson plans for these levels specifically geared for blended/online learning.

I’m thrilled you enjoyed my course! That’s wonderful to hear. Unfortunately, the elementary playlists I have access to are ones I collaborated with teachers on when I was coaching them. They are not my intellectual property to share. I am sorry I don’t have something of my own, but maybe other elementary teachers can chime in and share playlists they’ve been working on.

I love the suggestions. I am a teacher of special education and for kids that struggle with reading and writing, this is a great way for students to participate to their full potential.

Most of my students are ID. Some of these ideas seem good on paper but I woud have to do “trial and error” to see what could be modified for them. to be successful. Possibly, the Scavenger Hunt would be something that I would try initially, modifying it to meet the needs of my challenged students but still challenge them.

I am interested in using different ways for students to show what they know. I really like the idea of giving an assignment and having students show up with their independent work and share it whole virtual class or small group.

These are all great ideas especially for how we are teaching now. I’m interested to see how students interact with these different options available now.

Many ideas that are applicable .. mixes things up and bolsters the enjoyment / engagement level of the students

loved the ideas, they are creative and I need that

These are great ideas for the students to get involved with their lessons.

Lot of great ideas. Really like the scavenger hunt.

Thank you, Charles! I am also a big fan of scavenger hunts!

The expert group investigations is a great idea for teachers and students. It allow for the teacher and students to build a relationship, and a comfortable learning community.

These are some great ideas.

Thank you so much for all your great ideas!

I work in a sdc class. It will be difficult to engage two groups

Hi Catlin, In my language class I often has for responses to a question in the target language. I feel Padlet will be a great tool for students to post their answers instead of an oral response online. Thank you for the great suggestion. Roxanne

You’re welcome, Roxanne! I also love FlipGrid for foreign language classes 🙂

I love the idea of using both FlipGrid and Padlet to keep students actively engaged. I will also use the idea of collaborative Annotations.

All are great ideas, some of which I’ve used in the classroom but see their applicability and importance in distance learning.

I liked Online Discussion with Padlet maybe followed by a group presentation digging deeper an item that came up in the whole-group Padlet comments. Scavenger Hunt sounded fun, and the Collaborative Annotation looks promising. I’ll need to learn lots of programs to utilize many of these suggestions, as I imagine others have done or are doing currently.

#2 sounds like a virtual socratic circle. Love this!

Helpful ideas to try

Great ideas, looking for ways to engage 6th grade students using a module designed for CMS ELA! The online discussions section caught my eye.

Great ideas.

Thank you for making it a bit easier than it seems. I am not feeling as overwhelmed. Now I may make more fun for my scholars

I’m so glad this makes engaging kids online feel more manageable, Amory!

Thanks. I’ve been looking for ways to engage my students. I’m always engaged and acting, but they won’t talk. LOL! I’ll choose one thing to start off this new year in remote.

Such great ideas! Thank you for sharing and helping others to engage our students during this difficult time!

You’re welcome, Darcy!

Thank you for sharing these different ways to engage my students in my journey towards more active teaching and learning.

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Creating and Adapting Assignments for Online Courses

Online teaching requires a deliberate shift in how we communicate, deliver information, and offer feedback to our students. How do you effectively design and modify your assignments to accommodate this shift? The ways you introduce students to new assignments, keep them on track, identify and remedy confusion, and provide feedback after an assignment is due must be altered to fit the online setting. Intentional planning can help you ensure assignments are optimally designed for an online course and expectations are clearly communicated to students.  

When teaching online, it can be tempting to focus on the differences from in-person instruction in terms of adjustments, or what you need to make up for. However, there are many affordances of online assignments that can deepen learning and student engagement. Students gain new channels of interaction, flexibility in when and where they access assignments, more immediate feedback, and a student-centered experience (Gayten and McEwen, 2007; Ragupathi, 2020; Robles and Braathen, 2002). Meanwhile, ample research has uncovered that online assignments benefit instructors through automatic grading, better measurement of learning, greater student involvement, and the storing and reuse of assignments. 

In Practice

While the purpose and planning of online assignments remain the same as their in-person counterparts, certain adjustments can make them more effective. The strategies outlined below will help you design online assignments that support student success while leveraging the benefits of the online environment. 

Align assignments to learning outcomes. 

All assignments work best when they align with your learning outcomes. Each online assignment should advance students' achievement of one or more of your specific outcomes. You may be familiar with  Bloom's Taxonomy,  a well-known framework that organizes and classifies learning objectives based on the actions students take to demonstrate their learning. Online assignments have the added advantage of flexing students' digital skills, and Bloom's has been revamped for the digital age to incorporate technology-based tasks into its categories. For example, students might search for definitions online as they learn and remember course materials, tweet their understanding of a concept, mind map an analysis, or create a podcast. 

See a  complete description of Bloom's Digital Taxonomy  for further ideas. 

Provide authentic assessments. 

Authentic assessments call for relevant, purposeful actions that mimic the real-life tasks students may encounter in their lives and careers beyond the university. They represent a shift away from infrequent high-stakes assessments that tend to evaluate the acquisition of knowledge over application and understanding. Authentic assessments allow students to see the connection between what they're learning and how that learning is used and contextualized outside the virtual walls of the learning management system, thereby increasing their motivation and engagement. 

There are many ways to incorporate authenticity into an assignment, but three main strategies are to use  authentic audiences, content, and formats . A student might, for example, compose a business plan for an audience of potential investors, create a patient care plan that translates medical jargon into lay language, or propose a safe storage process for a museum collection.  

Authentic assessments in online courses can easily incorporate the internet or digital tools as part of an authentic format. Blogs, podcasts, social media posts, and multimedia artifacts such as infographics and videos represent authentic formats that leverage the online context. 

Learn more about  authentic assessments in Designing Assessments of Student Learning . 

Design for inclusivity and accessibility. 

Adopting universal design principles at the outset of course creation will ensure your material is accessible to all students. As you plan your assignments, it's important to keep in mind barriers to access in terms of tools, technology, and cost. Consider which tools achieve your learning outcomes with the fewest barriers. 

Offering a variety of assignment formats is one way to ensure students can demonstrate learning in a manner that works best for them. You can provide options within an individual assignment, such as allowing students to submit either written text or an audio recording or to choose from several technologies or platforms when completing a project. 

Be mindful of how you frame and describe an assignment to ensure it doesn't disregard populations through exclusionary language or use culturally specific references that some students may not understand. Inclusive language for all genders and racial or ethnic backgrounds can foster a sense of belonging that fully invests students in the learning community.  

Learn more about  Universal Design of Learning  and  Shaping a Positive Learning Environment . 

Design to promote academic integrity online. 

Much like incorporating universal design principles at the outset of course creation, you can take a proactive approach to academic integrity online. Design assignments that limit the possibilities for students to use the work of others or receive prohibited outside assistance.  

Provide   authentic assessments  that are more difficult to plagiarize because they incorporate recent events or unique contexts and formats. 

Scaffold assignments  so that students can work their way up to a final product by submitting smaller portions and receiving feedback along the way. 

Lower the stakes  by providing more frequent formative assessments in place of high-stakes, high-stress assessments. 

In addition to proactively creating assignments that deter cheating, there are several university-supported tools at your disposal to help identify and prevent cheating.  

Learn more about these tools in  Strategies and Tools for Academic Integrity in Online Environments . 

Communicate detailed instructions and clarify expectations. 

When teaching in-person, you likely dedicate class time to introducing and explaining an assignment; students can ask questions or linger after class for further clarification. In an online class, especially in  asynchronous  online classes, you must anticipate where students' questions might arise and account for them in the assignment instructions.  

The  Carmen course template  addresses some of students' common questions when completing an assignment. The template offers places to explain the assignment's purpose, list out steps students should take when completing it, provide helpful resources, and detail academic integrity considerations.  

Providing a rubric will clarify for students how you will evaluate their work, as well as make your grading more efficient. Sharing examples of previous student work (both good and bad) can further help students see how everything should come together in their completed products. 

Technology Tip

Enter all  assignments and due dates  in your Carmen course to increase transparency. When assignments are entered in Carmen, they also populate to Calendar, Syllabus, and Grades areas so students can easily track their upcoming work. Carmen also allows you to  develop rubrics  for every assignment in your course.  

Promote interaction and collaboration. 

Frequent student-student interaction in any course, but particularly in online courses, is integral to developing a healthy learning community that engages students with course material and contributes to academic achievement. Online education has the inherent benefit of offering multiple channels of interaction through which this can be accomplished. 

Carmen  Discussions   are a versatile platform for students to converse about and analyze course materials, connect socially, review each other's work, and communicate asynchronously during group projects. 

Peer review  can be enabled in Carmen  Assignments  and  Discussions .  Rubrics  can be attached to an assignment or a discussion that has peer review enabled, and students can use these rubrics as explicit criteria for their evaluation. Alternatively, peer review can occur within the comments of a discussion board if all students will benefit from seeing each other's responses. 

Group projects  can be carried out asynchronously through Carmen  Discussions  or  Groups , or synchronously through Carmen's  Chat function  or  CarmenZoom . Students (and instructors) may have apprehensions about group projects, but well-designed group work can help students learn from each other and draw on their peers’ strengths. Be explicit about your expectations for student interaction and offer ample support resources to ensure success on group assignments. 

Learn more about  Student Interaction Online .

Choose technology wisely. 

The internet is a vast and wondrous place, full of technology and tools that do amazing things. These tools can give students greater flexibility in approaching an assignment or deepen their learning through interactive elements. That said, it's important to be selective when integrating external tools into your online course.  

Look first to your learning outcomes and, if you are considering an external tool, determine whether the technology will help students achieve these learning outcomes. Unless one of your outcomes is for students to master new technology, the cognitive effort of using an unfamiliar tool may distract from your learning outcomes.  

Carmen should ultimately be the foundation of your course where you centralize all materials and assignments. Thoughtfully selected external tools can be useful in certain circumstances. 

Explore supported tools 

There are many  university-supported tools  and resources already available to Ohio State users. Before looking to external tools, you should explore the available options to see if you can accomplish your instructional goals with supported systems, including the  eLearning toolset , approved  CarmenCanvas integrations , and the  Microsoft365 suite .  

If a tool is not university-supported, keep in mind the security and accessibility implications, the learning curve required to use the tool, and the need for additional support resources. If you choose to use a new tool, provide links to relevant help guides on the assignment page or post a video tutorial. Include explicit instructions on how students can get technical support should they encounter technical difficulties with the tool. 

Adjustments to your assignment design can guide students toward academic success while leveraging the benefits of the online environment.  

Effective assignments in online courses are:  

Aligned to course learning outcomes 

Authentic and reflect real-life tasks 

Accessible and inclusive for all learners 

Designed to encourage academic integrity 

Transparent with clearly communicated expectations 

Designed to promote student interaction and collaboration 

Supported with intentional technology tools 

• Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty (e-book)
• Making Your Course Accessible for All Learners (workshop reccording)
• Writing Multiple Choice Questions that Demand Critical Thinking (article)

Learning Opportunities

Conrad, D., & Openo, J. (2018).  Assessment strategies for online learning: Engagement and authenticity . AU Press. Retrieved from  https://library.ohio-state.edu/record=b8475002~S7 

Gaytan, J., & McEwen, B. C. (2007). Effective online instructional and assessment strategies.  American Journal of Distance Education ,  21 (3), 117–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/08923640701341653   

Mayer, R. E. (2001).  Multimedia learning . New York: Cambridge University Press.  

Ragupathi, K. (2020). Designing Effective Online Assessments Resource Guide . National University of Singapore. Retrieved from  https://www.nus.edu.sg/cdtl/docs/default-source/professional-development-docs/resources/designing-online-assessments.pdf  

Robles, M., & Braathen, S. (2002). Online assessment techniques.  Delta Pi Epsilon Journal ,  44 (1), 39–49.  https://proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eft&AN=507795215&site=eds-live&scope=site  

Swan, K., Shen, J., & Hiltz, S. R. (2006). Assessment and collaboration in online learning.  Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks ,  10 (1), 45.  

TILT Higher Ed. (n.d.).  TILT Examples and Resources . Retrieved from   https://tilthighered.com/tiltexamplesandresources  

Tallent-Runnels, M. K., Thomas, J. A., Lan, W. Y., Cooper, S., Ahern, T. C., Shaw, S. M., & Liu, X. (2006). Teaching Courses Online: A Review of the Research.  Review of Educational Research ,  76 (1), 93–135.  https://www-jstor-org.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/stable/3700584  

Walvoord, B. & Anderson, V.J. (2010).  Effective Grading : A Tool for Learning and Assessment in College: Vol. 2nd ed . Jossey-Bass.  https://library.ohio-state.edu/record=b8585181~S7

Related Teaching Topics

Designing assessments of student learning, strategies and tools for academic integrity in online environments, student interaction online, universal design for learning: planning with all students in mind, related toolsets, carmencanvas, search for resources.

Integrating Online Assignments into your Course

Many types of assignments can be done online. Some options are outlined below as well as decision-making criteria for using online assignments in a course and course design questions to consider as you start to integrate online assignments into your course. By thinking about the reasons for using them and answering the design questions, you will be able to integrate these engaging tools in a meaningful way with the rest of your course.

What are some possible online assignments?

It is often difficult to imagine what kinds of assignments can be put online if you have never used technology in your teaching. Basically, technology can be used to put almost any assignment online. The key, though, is to have a clear rationale for doing so. Below are some examples of online assignments, but they certainly do not represent all of the possibilities.

• Online discussions
• Case studies
• Online tests/quizzes
• Practice exercises
• Virtual tutorials or labs
• Essays (submit online)
• Online literature searches
• Simulations

Decision-making criteria

Why should we put assignments online? As mentioned above, with the use of any tools or methods in our courses, there should be a clear pedagogical reason for using them. The following are some of the reasons for putting an assignment online.

• Allow for new types of assignments.  Some assignments simply cannot be done on paper. For example, you can have students work with a simulation (in two or three dimensions) to see what happens when they change one element. Or they can see full colour pictures or artwork to analyze or critique. Allow yourself to think beyond the limitations of paper-based assignments to create new ways to enhance your students’ learning.
• Refocus classroom time.  As with traditional assignments, you can have students cover content and do activities outside of class time so you can spend your in-class time in other ways. For example, students can engage in an online discussion and then be able to bring that knowledge to class for a more in-depth discussion. Or a pre-class quiz can highlight problem areas for you to focus on in your lecture. You may also be able to reduce in­class hours if your online activities are well-planned.
• Allow for collaboration.  Research has shown that one way to increase student learning is to promote collaboration where groups of students can interact with each other to solve a problem or discuss an issue together. Assignments which allow for such collaboration are often more effective at positively affecting student learning than individually-done assignments.
• Encourage reluctant participants.  Online assignments, particularly discussions, can allow even the most reluctant participants to join in a discussion. The online (often asynchronous) nature of such assignments gives students an opportunity to reflect and generate a response to a particular question – time not necessarily allowed in a face-to-­face, synchronous discussion.
• Accommodate different learning styles and levels.  Beyond encouraging participation from reluctant students, online assignments can have a multi-modal design (i.e., graphics, text, audio, virtual hands-on activities) and, if designed appropriately, can also help students reach new learning levels or think more deeply or critically about a given concept.
• Give instant feedback to students.  One of the real benefits to students of online assignments is the possibility for instant feedback on their work. Many tools used to create such assignments can be configured to provide such feedback, instead of having students wait for assignments to be graded and returned. This way, they know immediately what concepts they need to work on, and which they already understand. This can also help instructors to identify unclear concepts or students who may need remedial assistance.
• Archive course information.  Online assignments also allow for an archive to be created of relevant course information and discussions. This information can be used by students at a later date while studying for a test/exam, or by the instructor to create a frequently asked questions page or to measure students’ understanding of key concepts.
• Deliver online or distance education courses.  If a course is being offered online or at a distance, then online assignments are a natural extension of this.
• Provide students with transferable skills for other courses and in their careers.  Some instructors are interested in integrating key skills into their courses that students can use in other courses or take out into the “real-world” upon completion of their degrees. If this is a goal for your courses, then providing some familiarity with certain technologies through the use of online assignments may be a good way to introduce students to skills they can use elsewhere.
• Be environmentally friendly.  Paperless assignments are a good way to save environmental resources.

Creating your own online assignment

Now that you have some ideas about possible assignments and have reviewed the decision­making criteria, you should answer the following questions to consider how to integrate your online assignment into your course.

• Briefly describe the assignment. (Write 2-4 sentences)
• Students may need a rationale for having online assignments to help foster their motivation. What will you say to “sell” the assignment to your students? (Write 3-5 sentences)

If you would like support applying these tips to your own teaching, CTE staff members are here to help.  View the  CTE Support  page to find the most relevant staff member to contact. 

• Course design heuristic
• Collaborative online learning
• Learner-centered assessment
• Designing multiple-choice questions
• Types of assignments and tests
• Using writing as a learning tool

For more assistance, please also feel free to contact the Centre for Teaching Excellence office and we will assist you or connect you with other resources.

This Creative Commons license  lets others remix, tweak, and build upon our work non-commercially, as long as they credit us and indicate if changes were made. Use this citation format:  Integrating Online Assignments Into Your Course. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo .

Additional keywords: Blended Learning

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Teaching tip categories.

• Assessment and feedback
• Blended Learning and Educational Technologies
• Career Development
• Course Design
• Course Implementation
• Inclusive Teaching and Learning
• Learning activities
• Support for Student Learning
• Support for TAs
• Assessment and feedback ,

Eberly Center

Teaching excellence & educational innovation, creating assignments.

Here are some general suggestions and questions to consider when creating assignments. There are also many other resources in print and on the web that provide examples of interesting, discipline-specific assignment ideas.

Consider your learning objectives.

What do you want students to learn in your course? What could they do that would show you that they have learned it? To determine assignments that truly serve your course objectives, it is useful to write out your objectives in this form: I want my students to be able to ____. Use active, measurable verbs as you complete that sentence (e.g., compare theories, discuss ramifications, recommend strategies), and your learning objectives will point you towards suitable assignments.

Design assignments that are interesting and challenging.

This is the fun side of assignment design. Consider how to focus students’ thinking in ways that are creative, challenging, and motivating. Think beyond the conventional assignment type! For example, one American historian requires students to write diary entries for a hypothetical Nebraska farmwoman in the 1890s. By specifying that students’ diary entries must demonstrate the breadth of their historical knowledge (e.g., gender, economics, technology, diet, family structure), the instructor gets students to exercise their imaginations while also accomplishing the learning objectives of the course (Walvoord & Anderson, 1989, p. 25).

Double-check alignment.

After creating your assignments, go back to your learning objectives and make sure there is still a good match between what you want students to learn and what you are asking them to do. If you find a mismatch, you will need to adjust either the assignments or the learning objectives. For instance, if your goal is for students to be able to analyze and evaluate texts, but your assignments only ask them to summarize texts, you would need to add an analytical and evaluative dimension to some assignments or rethink your learning objectives.

Name assignments accurately.

Students can be misled by assignments that are named inappropriately. For example, if you want students to analyze a product’s strengths and weaknesses but you call the assignment a “product description,” students may focus all their energies on the descriptive, not the critical, elements of the task. Thus, it is important to ensure that the titles of your assignments communicate their intention accurately to students.

Consider sequencing.

Think about how to order your assignments so that they build skills in a logical sequence. Ideally, assignments that require the most synthesis of skills and knowledge should come later in the semester, preceded by smaller assignments that build these skills incrementally. For example, if an instructor’s final assignment is a research project that requires students to evaluate a technological solution to an environmental problem, earlier assignments should reinforce component skills, including the ability to identify and discuss key environmental issues, apply evaluative criteria, and find appropriate research sources.

Think about scheduling.

Consider your intended assignments in relation to the academic calendar and decide how they can be reasonably spaced throughout the semester, taking into account holidays and key campus events. Consider how long it will take students to complete all parts of the assignment (e.g., planning, library research, reading, coordinating groups, writing, integrating the contributions of team members, developing a presentation), and be sure to allow sufficient time between assignments.

Check feasibility.

Is the workload you have in mind reasonable for your students? Is the grading burden manageable for you? Sometimes there are ways to reduce workload (whether for you or for students) without compromising learning objectives. For example, if a primary objective in assigning a project is for students to identify an interesting engineering problem and do some preliminary research on it, it might be reasonable to require students to submit a project proposal and annotated bibliography rather than a fully developed report. If your learning objectives are clear, you will see where corners can be cut without sacrificing educational quality.

Articulate the task description clearly.

If an assignment is vague, students may interpret it any number of ways – and not necessarily how you intended. Thus, it is critical to clearly and unambiguously identify the task students are to do (e.g., design a website to help high school students locate environmental resources, create an annotated bibliography of readings on apartheid). It can be helpful to differentiate the central task (what students are supposed to produce) from other advice and information you provide in your assignment description.

Establish clear performance criteria.

Different instructors apply different criteria when grading student work, so it’s important that you clearly articulate to students what your criteria are. To do so, think about the best student work you have seen on similar tasks and try to identify the specific characteristics that made it excellent, such as clarity of thought, originality, logical organization, or use of a wide range of sources. Then identify the characteristics of the worst student work you have seen, such as shaky evidence, weak organizational structure, or lack of focus. Identifying these characteristics can help you consciously articulate the criteria you already apply. It is important to communicate these criteria to students, whether in your assignment description or as a separate rubric or scoring guide . Clearly articulated performance criteria can prevent unnecessary confusion about your expectations while also setting a high standard for students to meet.

Specify the intended audience.

Students make assumptions about the audience they are addressing in papers and presentations, which influences how they pitch their message. For example, students may assume that, since the instructor is their primary audience, they do not need to define discipline-specific terms or concepts. These assumptions may not match the instructor’s expectations. Thus, it is important on assignments to specify the intended audience http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop10e.cfm (e.g., undergraduates with no biology background, a potential funder who does not know engineering).

Specify the purpose of the assignment.

If students are unclear about the goals or purpose of the assignment, they may make unnecessary mistakes. For example, if students believe an assignment is focused on summarizing research as opposed to evaluating it, they may seriously miscalculate the task and put their energies in the wrong place. The same is true they think the goal of an economics problem set is to find the correct answer, rather than demonstrate a clear chain of economic reasoning. Consequently, it is important to make your objectives for the assignment clear to students.

Specify the parameters.

If you have specific parameters in mind for the assignment (e.g., length, size, formatting, citation conventions) you should be sure to specify them in your assignment description. Otherwise, students may misapply conventions and formats they learned in other courses that are not appropriate for yours.

A Checklist for Designing Assignments

Here is a set of questions you can ask yourself when creating an assignment.

• Provided a written description of the assignment (in the syllabus or in a separate document)?
• Specified the purpose of the assignment?
• Indicated the intended audience?
• Articulated the instructions in precise and unambiguous language?
• Provided information about the appropriate format and presentation (e.g., page length, typed, cover sheet, bibliography)?  
• Indicated special instructions, such as a particular citation style or headings?  
• Specified the due date and the consequences for missing it?
• Articulated performance criteria clearly?
• Indicated the assignment’s point value or percentage of the course grade?
• Provided students (where appropriate) with models or samples?

Adapted from the WAC Clearinghouse at http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop10e.cfm .

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53 Virtual Activity Ideas to Keep College Students Engaged During COVID-19

Most student affairs professionals pursued this field because we adore connecting with students.

We imagine hours spent chatting on campus and planning programs together. But for many folx, that’s simply not possible right now. (I’m glaring angrily at you, COVID-19.)

Yet, given our patented tenacious #SApro spirits, we won’t let little things like campus closures and the complete disruption of our daily lives spoil all of our activities.

Instead, we adapt. SA pros nationwide are looking for activities that can be run virtually. Although our students cannot physically enter a set campus space together, we want them to log on, plug in, and engage with one another remotely. 

So, to get you started, my coworkers and I put our brains together and came up with 53 suggestions of activities that can be run and enjoyed through the magic of technology. Enjoy!

(Ah, but first, be sure to read up on tips — like these from the University of Maine — on facilitating online discussions. Sure, you’re likely an unofficial expert at in-person facilitation, but online chats and webinars require additional skills and insights.)

Mainly for fun

1. playlists.

Get your students in tune with one another by encouraging them to contribute to a collaborative playlist . You could even have a Playlist of a Day, inviting everyone to listen to a set of songs curated by students or staff. 

Perhaps you’d like to create a playlist with song titles that cleverly allude to digital technology or dealing with change . Rita Wilson made a great “Quarantunes” playlist that I’ve been jamming out to. 

2. Dance Parties

Speaking of jamming out, you can dedicate some time each day or week to virtual dance parties. In the morning, energize students by tweeting out a video of a catchy pop tune. Or in the afternoon, help students stay awake with a quick digital dance-off to the best boy bands, show tunes, or your institution’s fight song.

Note: No ballet barres, tap shoes, or the slightest bit of dance talent required. 

3. Movie discussions

Go ahead; make students’ day. Pick a film or TV show that can be streamed for free from Vudu or Tubi . Give students a few days to watch it, then gather them online to discuss their favorite bits and the storyline’s relevance to their lives.

4. Paint classes

Get your Bob Ross on! Perhaps an art instructor or a talented student can host, guiding students through a fairly simple landscape or object to paint.

True, most students probably won’t happen to have paint supplies at home, but the video can be relaxing in and of itself. You could also make it interactive, with students making suggestions to the painter. (“Use bright blue!” “Add an owl to the tree!” “More glitter!”)

5. Youtube Video of the Day 

Pick a staff, faculty member, or student of the day to showcase their favorite YouTube video. By setting a time limit of five minutes or less per video, you can encourage folx to savor a quick laugh, a bit of inspiration, or some animal cuteness — without much of a commitment. (I’ll start off with this contribution .)

6.Video performances

You may have acting majors or theater troupe performers who had been rehearsing for weeks, only to have their shows canceled or indefinitely postponed due to the coronavirus. So, reach out and see if they’d be interested in performing via video conference. 

They may not be able to pull off a full-scale production, but a comedic monologue or broadway show tune can still be highly entertaining. Perhaps a band or a capella group would like to perform, with each member doing their part from home. 

7. Improv games

Whose line is it anyway? Your students’!

Many improv games can be slightly adapted to work well virtually, including One Word Story , Convergence , and 5 Things .

8. Door decoration classes

Who says you need a residence hall to put up door decs ? 

Enlist some RAs to show off how they crafted their most masterful door decorations. Students watching the recording or livestream can follow along, making decorations to hang up in their homes.

If possible, try to focus on decorations that require only limited supplies, as students are unlikely to have a whole art supply store stored away at home.

9. Weird holiday celebrations  

Every day is a holiday. Obscure ones like National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day (April 2), International Juggler’s Day (April 18), and Lost Sock Memorial Day (May 9) can inspire quirky digital celebrations or simply daily notifications that’ll make students smile.

Ah, and of course may the force be with you to celebrate May 4, aka Star Wars Day. You could organize a tournament of Star Wars games , ask students to vote on a character bracket , or host a trivia show . Disney even has a free downloadable activity sheet .

10. Hobby Webinars

Are you a pro at origami? Have a coworker with a knack for crocheting? Know a student who always manages to take the perfect mobile phone photos?

Consider passing these hobbies on to students through 101 webinars. Participants will learn something new and the experienced hobbyists will get some fun teaching experiences.

Alternatively, you can search YouTube for tutorials to watch together. Embrace how bad you’ll be at it initially; it can be relatable and hilarious.

Now excuse me while I learn how to make towel animals .

11. MTV Cribs

Remember MTV Cribs , through which celebrities showed off their homes? Well, your students likely don’t have pure gold staircases, exotic pets, or eight-car garages, but they still may love showing off the decor in their homes. 

Be sure to emphasize the creativity of their home stylings and the fun of the videos, rather than the wealth put into their homes. 

12. Word searches and crosswords

Word puzzles are a great mix of rewarding and challenging. You can find numerous premade ones online, or better yet, create your own word search or crossword puzzle . Consider incorporating words related to your institution, classes, or, for a smaller group of students whom you know well, inside jokes.

Friendly Competition

13. pet photo competitions.

Who wouldn’t smile at a dog in a tutu? A hamster with a bowtie? A cat in a hat? Ask students to post their photos on social media with a hashtag like #PresenceUniversityPets or #PetsOfPresenceU. 

You could even have daily contest themes, such as moods or characters for pets to convey. Add in a capture contest for some extra engagement!

14. Charades

With a video platform, charades can be fun, energizing, and challenging. You can generate charade prompts here or use the free Charades! app . 

15. Live game shows

Use a tool like Kahoot or Quizziz to challenge students to a fun round (or two or 50) of trivia. You could get creative with themes that are either serious (such as national news, politics, and institutional history) or wacky (like types of pasta, famous Instagram cats, and memes.) Each day’s top scorer can earn the privilege of creating the next day’s questions. 

16. E-Sports tournaments

E-Sports are one of the few activities that COVID-19 can’t put a damper on. Many institutions already have varsity e-Sports programs. But for the less e-athletically inclined, consider creating intramural teams . Enlist some veterans to teach newbies how to play.

17. TikTok competitions

This could be like a film festival, minus the red carpet. Even if you are far from proficient in the art of TikTok-ing, many of your Gen-Z students are likely experts and can take the helm on creating and managing a competition.

18. Internet scavenger hunts

Scavenger hunts always involve, well, scavenging. But it doesn’t have to be conducted through a physical realm; you can go digital. Think of your institution’s various webpages and social media accounts as the locations that participants have to search through. Incorporate cryptic clues, graphics with double-meanings, and embedded games or videos to lead students on a wild internet chase.

Here are some scavenger hunt ideas . To digitize it, simply instruct students to take screenshots or find clues within web pages, rather than taking photos or collecting physical items.

19. Board game tournaments

Get board, not bored. Students can join multiplayer board games through Pogo , Tabletopia , or Poki . Score!

20. Bad joke contests

“I like elephants. Everything else is irrephalant.”

I also like bad jokes like that one… and I bet many of your students do, too. So, ask your students to submit and/or perform their best so-bad-they’re-good jokes live via video conference.

Students who are parents can also have their kids join in on the fun!

Both laughs and groans are guaranteed. 

21. Karaoke or lip-sync 

Use an online karaoke catalog like Karafun , SingSnag , or Smule for an off-the-charts competition. Or, you can simply search for karaoke versions of popular songs on YouTube. 

22. Make-Your-Own Holiday competitions

Remember those eccentric holidays I mentioned in idea #9? It seems like just about anyone can dream a holiday into existence, so why not your students? 

Have them propose an original holiday, complete with traditions, mythology, and associated foods. The entire student body or select judges vote on the winner, which your entire campus community can celebrate together a few days or weeks later.

Co-curricular learning

23. recordings of previous guest speakers.

Don’t let the words of wisdom that were previously brought to your campus from guest speakers disappear into the abyss. 

If you recorded video or audio or transcribed their speech, share it again. You could follow it up with a group discussion. Perhaps the speaker will even be available and willing to video conference in for a Q&A session or follow-up speech.

24. Short story, poem, quote, or TED Talk of the day

Share a piece of art or learning each day, perhaps nominated by a different student, professional, or faculty member each time.

The person who nominated it can explain, via a short video they record or a letter they write, what their selection means to them.

25. Hot Drinks and Hot Topics

Dive into discussions around hot news topics or longstanding issues, while students sip coffee, tea, hot cocoa, or another drink of their choice. You could also title it “Hot Cookies and Hot Topics” or “Hot Wings and Hot Topics,” though I’m betting that students are less likely to have fresh baked cookies or hot wings sitting around their homes.

Not sure what to discuss? The University of Michigan-Flint has dozens of ideas . 

26. Breakfasts in Bed, Lunches and Learn, or Discussions Over Dinner

These programs can be similar to the Hot Topics idea but with a lighter touch. You could discuss strange Wikipedia articles , laugh over memes, or simply encourage students to enjoy unstructured time catching up with each other. 

Oh, and since this is college, I have to suggest a program involving pizza. So, I propose to you: Pizza and Prose.

27. Podcasts

Move over, Serial and This American Life ; it’s time for your own podcast to shine. Podcasts are great ways to mix up engagement, as listeners can enjoy it while cooking, doing laundry, or really any passive tasks.

Here are some content ideas for your ‘cast:

• Interviews with the institution’s president, SGA members, beloved faculty, or underappreciated staff members who do amazing work (such as chefs, librarians, cleaning staff, or grounds crew).
• Advice for online learning
• Short lessons from faculty on fascinating topics
• Recordings of live institutional game shows (see tip #15)
• Short stories (fiction or non-fiction) submitted and read by students

You can also encourage students to listen to any of these podcasts produced by institutions nationwide. Perhaps you’d like to schedule a massive listening party, wherein students can type in their reactions live.

Oh, and be sure to read these recording tips so you’ll sound great.

28. Alumni career connections

Your alumni may be sympathizing with the difficult situation your students currently find themselves in and wondering how they can help. 

One way they could do so is through career networking. Consider asking alumni to discuss their careers with students via video chat, conduct video tours of their home offices, or give students a glimpse into their work via screen share.

29. Videoconferencing and webinar hosting tutorials

Many of the ideas here involve students taking the lead by hosting videoconferences or webinars. But they might have no idea how to do so and would appreciate a lesson or two.

So, consider conducting a videoconference on… videoconferencing! You can share some of the tips for engaging webinars here and facilitating awesome videoconferences here . 

30. Online learning tutorials

Relatedly, you can help students learn how to, well, learn. Consider hosting a webinar that incorporates some of the tips found here or here . 

31. Adulting 101 workshops

We offered 105 ideas here . Oh, the joys of adulthood!

32. Cooking demonstrations

With so much time being spent at home, now may be the perfect time for students to learn how to cook. I recommend sticking with fairly simple recipes, with ingredients that students are likely to already. 

You could get inspired by these microwaveable creations , livestream yourself cooking of a favorite meal that’s even loved by picky kids, or ask your dining hall chefs to reveal how a beloved campus staple is made. Bon appétit!

33. Online saving workshops

It’s more than just Groupon ; amazing sales abound on the world wide web.

Here are just some saving sites and tools, which you can help students get acquainted with (and, of course, enjoy yourself):

• Camelcamelcamel
• Target Circle
• Coupon Sherpa

34. “Morality and The Coronavirus” chats

Speaking of online shopping, is that ethical right now, given the work required of distribution centers and delivery people?! Perhaps it’s safer than going to a physical store? 

I don’t have a simple answer. But your students might be wondering about these sorts of quandaries. Consider facilitating a discussion around it, perhaps with a philosophy professor. You could also discuss this article or pose some of the questions within it.

The Good Place (available on Netflix) is also an excellent show to inspire conversations about ethical decision-making.

35. Personality tests

Students don’t need to leave their homes to find out their Myers-Briggs Type indicator , CliftonStrengths , or True Color .  

Or, for pure laughs, have students share their results from any of these 50 personality quizzes on Buzzfeed . (Knowing what your taste in frozen yogurt flavors “says about you” is clearly as important as knowing if you’re an introvert or an extrovert.)

36. Volunteering

Your students can still put some good out into the world from their couches. Multilingual students can serve as webpage translators , empathetic listeners can volunteer with 7 Cups , and sighted students can download Be My Eyes to lend a hand — er, eye — to blind and visually-impaired folx. 

You can find more opportunities here and here .

Plus, the local non-profit groups that your campus usually partners with and the philanthropies that student orgs support may also appreciate virtual help. Reach out to see how you and your students can continue supporting their work.

37. Digital Student Org Management Courses

Just as you’re having to learn how to engage students digitally, your student leaders are having to figure out how to maintain their co-curricular organizations from afar. Help them out. Host webinars to assist them in running board elections online, facilitating video conference meetings, recruiting new members through social media, and more.

38. Pride Celebrations

Although Pride Month festivities in June will likely be disrupted due to COVID-19, they don’t need to fade from existence completely.

Consider facilitating discussions on books related to LGBTQIA+ topics or written by queer-identified authors , inviting speakers to address students virtually, creating a Pride-themed virtual scavenger hunt, sharing this guide on Coming Out as a Supporter , retweeting LGBTQIA+ activists from your office’s account Twitter account, or hosting a virtual Pride parade .

Connect with your institution’s LGBTQIA+ support center or student groups to see what other ideas they have.

39. Museum Tours

You don’t have to literally step foot inside a museum to enjoy a museum. Check out these virtual tours offered by some of the world’s most famous museums. Encourage students to take these tours at the same time or at their own convenience, then host a discussion.

Health & Wellness

40. journaling.

Journaling can be deeply therapeutic . You can support students in their journaling habits by suggesting daily prompts or hosting group journaling sessions during which you livestream relaxing music.

41. Gardening videos

Help students experience the joy of gardening… by osmosis. A student or staff member could film a cute video of themselves watering their houseplants or you could show off some gardening documentaries . 

Better yet, if your campus has a garden or greenhouse, you can help students still enjoy the beauty of it via livestream or a watering demonstration.

42. Meditation

Help students relax and focus via online meditation sessions. You or a student can lead the sessions yourself, using the tips here , or you can encourage students to check out these guided meditation recordings from UCLA . Namaste.

43. Workout videos

Channel your inner Richard Simmons! Record or livestream your yoga poses, weightlifting practice, or cardio routine.

These desk-friendly exercises can inspire students to get their heart rates’ up and stretch their tired limbs, even if they don’t have a desk.

Students can also make their own videos, showing off the creative workouts they’ve come up with. Who knows; maybe they’ll engineer the next fitness craze.

44. Connect with incoming students

Your next crop of first-year students are surely anxious and filled with uncertainty now, too. So, encourage your current students to connect with them — through writing letters filled with jokes, encouragement, or insight into your institution. 

Perhaps you can set up email pen pals, host group video sessions, or arrange for current students to lead virtual tours for accepted students who are deciding whether or not to enroll.

45. Puppy cam

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then live video footage should be even more valuable. If a staff member has many pets (perhaps through fostering), ask them to set up a video stream through Facebook Live or your institution’s website. 

Alternatively, you could partner with your local animal shelter to show off the adorable antics of their animals that are up for adoption. Maybe this will even inspire some students and families to adopt!

Or you can turn to Explore for live cams of not just puppies and kittens, but loads of wild and exotic creatures, too. ( Lions , tigers , and bears — oh my!)

Digitize campus services

For other campus opportunities and services, you don’t need to completely reinvent the wheel; just rearrange it. (Is that the proper metaphor for wheels? Clearly I’m not a mechanic.)

Here are just some of the offerings that you can work with your colleagues to digitize:

• Study groups taught by TAs
• Resume and cover letter reviews with career counselors
• Writing appointments with the writing center
• Tutoring sessions with peer tutors
•  Academic advising, especially for fall course registration
• End-of-year award ceremonies
• Support groups facilitated by the counseling center
• Religious services lead by chaplains and student groups

What other program ideas do you have? We’d love to hear them. Connect with us @themoderncampus . 

About the author: Jodi Tandet (she/her) is Modern Campus's Content Marketing Strategist. She's a proud graduate of Emory University, where she majored in Creative Writing, and of Nova Southeastern University, where she earned her master's degree in College Student Affairs. She previously worked for Hillel: the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, where she engaged students in co-curricular programming at Cornell University and The University of Pittsburgh. Learn how we can help get your students involved .

15 Fun Public Speaking Activities for College Students

Hrideep barot.

• Public Speaking , Toastmasters

Public speaking activities for college students offer invaluable opportunities to develop essential communication skills, boost confidence, and prepare for future academic and professional endeavors. These activities go beyond the traditional classroom setting, providing engaging and interactive platforms for students to refine their public speaking prowess. Whether it’s through exercises that focus on vocal modulation and storytelling or games that encourage friendly competition, these activities empower college students to become more effective and articulate communicators. In this guide, we will explore a variety of public speaking activities and their benefits, offering college students a roadmap to becoming more confident and proficient speakers.

What is Public Speaking?

“Speak in such a way that others love to listen to you. Listen in such a way that others love to speak to you.”  – Anonymous

Greetings, fellow wordsmiths and speech enthusiasts! If you’ve ever felt your heart race at the thought of addressing a crowd, or if you’ve found yourself tongue-tied when all eyes are on you, fear not! We’re diving headfirst into the exhilarating world of public speaking, where words wield power, charisma is your secret weapon, and confidence is your trusty sidekick. 

In this captivating blog, we’ll unravel the art of public speaking, demystify stage fright, and equip you with the skills to command any room, from a cozy gathering of friends to a roaring auditorium filled with strangers. Get ready to discover the hidden orator within you and embark on a journey that promises not just personal growth but also oodles of fun.

So, whether you’re preparing to ace that next presentation, dazzle at a social event, or simply want to boost your communication prowess, join us on this electrifying adventure. As we explore the ins and outs of public speaking, we’ll throw in some tricks, share tales of triumphs and fumbles, and sprinkle in a dash of humor to make the journey as enlightening as possible.

Can Public Speaking be learned?

Contrary to popular belief, not all great speakers were born with a silver tongue. The majority of captivating orators you admire today started as mere mortals who stumbled over their words and faced their fair share of stage fright. Let’s dive into the fascinating world of public speaking and explore how this skill is cultivated.

The Natural Born Orator: Myth or Reality?

While some individuals possess an innate knack for public speaking from a young age, they are the exception, not the rule. These “natural born orators” are like unicorns in the speaking world, rare and enchanting. They effortlessly command attention, spin mesmerizing tales, and leave audiences hanging on their every word. But here’s the kicker: there are a few of them around!

The Majority: Made, Not Born

The truth is, most of the world’s renowned speakers, from Winston Churchill to Oprah Winfrey, Malcolm X to J.K. Rowling, didn’t emerge from the womb delivering flawless speeches. They developed their skills through dedication, practice, and a willingness to learn from their mistakes.

Consider this: according to studies, around 75% of people suffer from glossophobia , which is the fear of public speaking. This statistic alone should reassure you that you’re not alone in your struggles. Even some of the greatest public speakers initially grappled with stage fright and stumbled through their early speeches.

The Power of Learning and Practice

So, how do these once-timid souls transform into magnetic orators? They embrace the art of public speaking as a craft that can be cultivated by immersing themselves in the intricacies of effective communication, learning about body language, voice modulation, and the art of storytelling. They attend workshops, take public speaking courses, and practice their skills relentlessly.

Moreover, they aren’t afraid to learn from their missteps. Every “um” and “uh,” every moment of nervousness, is seen as an opportunity for improvement. They analyze their performances, seek feedback, and refine their technique. The bottom line is this: public speaking is a skill, not a genetic trait. With the right mindset, determination, and a bit of guidance, anyone can become a masterful speaker.

Best Public Speaking Activities for college students:

A) public speaking games for college students.

Public speaking games are interactive and engaging activities designed to improve public speaking skills, boost confidence, and enhance communication abilities. Games are interactive and often competitive, making learning more engaging and enjoyable. Here are some examples of public speaking games:

• 30 Second Speech 
• Just A Minute Speech  
• Debate Duels
• Storytelling Relay
• Public Speaking Bingo
• Speech Speed Dating
• Public Speaking Charades
• Speech Olympics
• Role Reversal

1. 30-second speech

What is the 30-second speech activity? Performing a 30-second speech in a classroom setting is a concise yet impactful way to communicate your ideas or present information. This activity typically involves standing in front of your classmates or audience and speaking for exactly 30 seconds on a chosen topic. The goal is to effectively convey your message within this short time frame while engaging your audience and leaving a lasting impression.

• Introduction (5-7 seconds): Begin with an engaging opener, stating your topic’s relevance.
• Main Message (15-18 seconds): Convey your core point concisely with supporting evidence.
• Conclusion (5-7 seconds): Summarize or issue a call to action to reinforce your message.

Rules and Tips:

• Manage time closely.
• Speak clearly and at a steady pace.
• Engage the audience with questions or prompts.
• Use confident body language.
• Utilize visual aids if allowed.
• Stay calm by practicing and taking deep breaths.

By adhering to these steps and guidelines, you can confidently deliver a compelling 30-second speech in class.

2. Just A Minute speech (JAM)

What is the Just A Minute speech activity? The “Just A Minute” ( JAM ) speech activity challenges participants to speak on a given topic for one minute without hesitation, repetition, or deviation. It fosters improvisational speaking skills and quick thinking.

Preparation:

• Topic Familiarization: Stay informed about various topics.
• Practice: Hone spontaneous speaking abilities on diverse subjects.

How to Do It:

• Selection: Participants are chosen randomly or in order.
• Topic Assignment: A moderator provides a topic, and the speaker has one minute to discuss it.
• Rules: Avoid hesitation, repetition, or deviation from the topic.
• Scoring: Judges evaluate adherence to rules, fluency, and content quality.
• The JAM speech activity is an enjoyable and educational exercise for enhancing public speaking and improvisation skills.

3. Debate Duels:

Activity: Debate duels involve organizing structured debates between two students or teams who argue opposing sides of a chosen topic. Participants present arguments, offer rebuttals, and conclude their case. The goal is to foster well-researched arguments and promote respectful discourse.

• Topic Selection: Choose a relevant and debatable topic.
• Research: Participants should research their respective positions thoroughly.
• Format: Decide on debate format (e.g., timed speeches, cross-examination).
• Roles: Assign roles such as debaters, moderators, and timekeepers.
• Opening Statements: Each side presents its arguments.
• Rebuttals: Teams respond to opponents’ arguments.
• Cross-examination (if included): Teams question each other.
• Conclusions: Summarize key points and restate positions.
• Maintain respect and civility.
• Use evidence and logic to support arguments.
• Stick to time limits for speeches.
• Follow the predetermined format.

Debate duels provide a platform for students to develop research, critical thinking, and communication skills through structured, respectful debate.

4. Storytelling Relay:

Activity: In a storytelling relay, teams of 3-4 students collaborate to create a narrative. It starts with one student providing an opening sentence, and each subsequent student adds one sentence to continue the story. The aim is to build a cohesive narrative with seamless transitions.

• Team Formation: Divide students into teams of 3-4 members.
• Topic or Theme: Decide if there’s a specific topic or theme for the stories.
• Order: Determine the order in which students will contribute to the story.
• Time Limit: Set a time limit for each sentence contribution, e.g., 10 seconds.
• Opening Sentence: The first student in each team provides an opening sentence to begin the story.
• Sentence Contributions: Each student takes turns adding one sentence to continue the narrative.
• Transitions: Students must ensure their sentences connect smoothly with the previous ones.
• Cohesion: Teams collaborate to maintain consistency and coherence in the story.
• Maintain the predetermined order for sentence contributions.
• Keep sentences concise and on-topic.
• Ensure sentences flow logically from one another.
• Encourage creativity and adaptability.

Storytelling relay is a creative and collaborative activity that fosters teamwork, creativity, and improvisation skills as students work together to build a compelling story.

5. Public Speaking Bingo:

Activity: In Public Speaking Bingo, bingo cards with different public speaking challenges in each square are created (e.g., “Use a compelling statistic,” “Maintain eye contact,” “No filler words”). During speeches, students mark off squares as they complete the challenges, aiming to achieve a bingo.

• Bingo Cards: Create bingo cards with various public speaking challenges randomly placed in each square.
• Topics: Prepare speech topics or allow students to choose their own.
• Markers or Chips: Provide markers or chips for students to use when they complete a challenge.
• Prizes (optional): Consider offering small prizes for students who achieve bingo.
• Card Distribution: Distribute the bingo cards to students before the speeches begin.
• Speeches: As students give their speeches, they mark off squares when they complete the challenges listed.
• Winning: The first student to complete a row, column, or diagonal with marked squares shouts “Bingo!” and wins the game.
• Challenges must be completed during the speech.
• Challenges should be marked off honestly.
• The winner should declare “Bingo” immediately upon completing a line of challenges.

Public Speaking Bingo is a fun and interactive activity that encourages students to focus on specific public speaking skills and techniques while delivering speeches, making the learning experience engaging and enjoyable.

6. Speech Speed Dating:

Activity: Speech Speed Dating involves pairing students and giving them 3-5 minutes each to introduce themselves or present a mini-topic. After each “date,” students switch partners. This exercise helps improve speaking under time constraints and fosters active listening skills.

• Pairing: Arrange students in pairs.
• Topics (optional): Prepare mini-topics or allow students to choose what they’ll speak about.
• Timer: Set a timer for each speaking session.
• Space: Ensure there’s enough space for students to move between partners.
• Introduction: Students introduce themselves or present their mini-topic to their partner within the time limit.
• Switch Partners: After the allotted time, students rotate to a new partner and repeat the process.
• Repeat: Continue this cycle for multiple rounds, allowing students to interact with different partners.
• Stick to the time limit for each speaking session.
• Encourage active listening and engagement during each “date.”
• Ensure students switch partners as instructed to maximize interaction.

Speech Speed Dating is a dynamic activity that enhances students’ ability to convey information succinctly and promotes effective listening and engagement in a fast-paced speaking environment.

7. Public Speaking Charades:

Activity: Public Speaking Charades involves creating cards with different public speaking scenarios or gestures (e.g., “Giving a TED Talk,” “Delivering bad news”). Students act out these scenarios without speaking, and the audience guesses what they’re portraying. This exercise enhances nonverbal communication skills.

• Scenario Cards: Prepare cards with various public speaking scenarios or gestures.
• Audience: Arrange for an audience or divide students into small groups to take turns acting and guessing.
• Timer: Set a timer for each acting session.
• Card Draw: One student draws a scenario card and acts it out without speaking.
• Guessing: The audience or other students guess what public speaking scenario is being portrayed.
• Rotation: After a set time or when the correct guess is made, a new student takes a turn.
• No speaking or verbal cues are allowed during the charades.
• Encourage creative and expressive gestures to convey the scenario.
• Keep the game moving by setting time limits for each turn.

Public Speaking Charades is a lively activity that sharpens nonverbal communication skills and creativity while making public speaking scenarios more engaging and memorable.

8. Speech Olympics:

Activity: Speech Olympics is a structured competition where students participate in a series of public speaking challenges, which can include tongue twisters, impromptu storytelling, persuasive pitches, and more. Participants earn medals or points based on their performance. This activity provides a fun and lighthearted way to develop various speaking skills.

• Challenge Selection: Choose a variety of speaking challenges that suit the skill levels of the participants.
• Scoring System: Determine how participants will earn points or medals (e.g., judging panels or audience voting).
• Materials: Prepare any necessary materials or props for specific challenges.
• Medals or Prizes: Optional – acquire medals or prizes for winners.
• Introduction: Explain the rules and challenges to the participants.
• Challenge Rotation: Participants move through a series of challenges, competing against each other.
• Scoring: Use the predetermined scoring system to assess performance and award medals or points.
• Winners: Announce the winners and celebrate their achievements.
• Participants must adhere to the specific rules of each challenge.
• Judges or the audience score performances based on predefined criteria.
• Encourage sportsmanship and respectful competition.

Speech Olympics is a dynamic activity that allows students to practice a range of speaking skills competitively and engagingly, making it an enjoyable learning experience.

9. Role Reversal:

Activity: In Role Reversal, students play both the role of the speaker and the audience. After delivering a speech, they switch roles, with the audience members providing constructive feedback to the speaker. This exercise helps students gain insight into the audience’s perspective and fosters effective feedback skills.

• Speech Topics: Assign or allow students to choose their speech topics.
• Feedback Guidelines: Prepare guidelines for constructive feedback.
• Peer Evaluation Forms: Create forms or worksheets for audience members to provide feedback.
• Speaker’s Turn: A student delivers a speech on their chosen topic.
• Role Reversal: After the speech, the roles switch, and the audience becomes the feedback provider.
• Feedback Session: The audience offers constructive feedback, focusing on strengths and areas for improvement.
• Discussion: Encourage a brief discussion where the speaker can ask clarifying questions or provide context for their choices.
• Feedback should be respectful and constructive, focusing on the speech’s content and delivery.
• Encourage active listening and thoughtful feedback from the audience.
• The speaker should be receptive to feedback and open to improvement suggestions.

Role Reversal is an interactive exercise that enhances students’ understanding of both the speaker and audience perspectives, promoting effective communication skills and constructive feedback within a learning environment.

B) Public Speaking Exercises for college students: 

Public speaking exercises are structured activities and practices aimed at improving public speaking skills. Exercises are structured activities that often focus on specific aspects of public speaking, such as breath control, diction, or body language. Each exercise typically targets a specific aspect of public speaking or communication. Here are some common public speaking exercises:

• Breathing Exercises
• Tongue Twisters
• Mirror Practice
• Storytelling Practice
• Impromptu Practice
• Emotional Vocal Modulation

1. Breathing Exercises

Diaphragmatic breathing is a technique that involves using your diaphragm, a muscle located below your ribcage, to control your breath. It is a fundamental exercise for improving vocal projection and managing anxiety during speaking or public speaking situations.

How to Do It: To perform diaphragmatic breathing, sit or stand comfortably with proper posture. Inhale deeply through your nose for a slow count of four, allowing your diaphragm to expand and your lower lungs to fill. Hold your breath for four counts without tensing your chest or neck. Then, exhale slowly and steadily through your mouth for another count of four. Repeat this breathing pattern regularly to strengthen your diaphragm, enhance vocal projection, and reduce anxiety associated with speaking engagements.

2. Tongue Twisters:

Tongue twisters are word or phrase sequences designed to be challenging to articulate due to their repetitive or tricky sounds. This exercise is used to improve pronunciation, diction, and speech clarity.

How to Do It: To perform tongue twisters, start with simple ones and gradually advance to more complex ones as your proficiency grows. Pronounce each word or phrase, emphasizing correct articulation, and gradually increase your speed. The goal is to challenge your tongue and mouth muscles, enhancing your ability to enunciate words clearly and improving your overall speech clarity.

• She sells seashells by the seashore.
• Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear; Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t very fuzzy, was he?
• How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?
• Unique New York, you know you need a unique New York.
• Red leather, yellow leather.
• Six slippery snails slid slowly seaward.
• Betty Botter bought some butter but the butter was bitter, so Betty bought some better butter to make the bitter butter better.
• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?
• Irish wristwatch, Swiss wristwatch.

3. Mirror Practice:

Mirror practice is a technique used to enhance your public speaking skills. It involves standing in front of a full-length mirror while delivering a speech or presentation. The aim is to closely observe and improve your body language, facial expressions, and gestures as you speak.

How to Do It: To perform mirror practice, position yourself in front of a full-length mirror, ensuring you have a clear view of yourself. Deliver your speech or presentation as you normally would, paying keen attention to your reflection. Focus on your posture, hand movements, facial expressions, and any other nonverbal cues you use while speaking. By actively observing yourself in the mirror, you can identify areas for improvement in your delivery and work on refining your public speaking skills over time.

4. Storytelling Practice:

Storytelling practice involves sharing personal anecdotes or stories with friends or peers while incorporating storytelling techniques such as creating suspense, infusing humor, and using vivid descriptions. This practice is aimed at refining your storytelling skills and making your narratives more engaging.

How to Do It: To perform storytelling practice, select a personal anecdote or story you’d like to share. As you share it with friends or peers, focus on the storytelling elements. Create suspense by building anticipation and keeping your audience curious about what happens next. Infuse humor by adding funny anecdotes or witty remarks where appropriate. Use vivid descriptions to paint a clear picture and evoke emotions. By practicing storytelling in this way, you can develop your ability to captivate your audience and make your narratives more compelling.

5. Impromptu Topics:

Impromptu topics practice involves regularly engaging in impromptu speaking by selecting random topics or prompts and delivering short, on-the-spot speeches about them. This exercise is designed to sharpen your ability to think quickly and articulate ideas effectively without prior preparation.

How to Do It: To perform impromptu topic practice, have a selection of random topics or prompts ready. These topics can be related to various subjects, such as current events, personal experiences, or hypothetical scenarios. Choose a topic at random and challenge yourself to deliver a brief speech or response to it without any prior planning or research. This exercise will help you become more comfortable with spontaneous speaking, improve your ability to organize your thoughts quickly and enhance your overall communication skills.

6. Emotional Vocal Modulation:

Emotional vocal modulation is a technique used to enhance the expressiveness of your speeches. It involves practicing the variation of your tone, pitch, and inflection to convey different emotions effectively. By modulating your voice, you can captivate your audience and convey a range of feelings and sentiments in your presentations.

How to Do It: To perform emotional vocal modulation, start by selecting a piece of text or speech. As you practice, deliberately vary your tone, pitch, and inflection to match the emotions or sentiments you want to convey. Experiment with different vocal techniques, such as using a higher pitch for excitement, a lower pitch for seriousness, or fluctuating tone for emphasis and engagement. Regular practice of emotional vocal modulation will help you become a more dynamic and compelling speaker, capable of engaging your audience on an emotional level.

Where to start Public Speaking?

Starting on the path of public speaking as a college student is a wise decision that can have a significant impact on your academic and professional life. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get started:

1. College Public Speaking Courses:

College public speaking courses are an excellent starting point for students eager to develop their speaking skills. These courses typically provide a structured and comprehensive approach to public speaking. You’ll learn about speech organization, effective delivery techniques, and strategies to engage your audience. Instructors are often experienced public speakers who can offer valuable insights and feedback. 

Additionally, these courses offer a supportive environment for practicing your speaking skills. You’ll have the opportunity to present speeches in front of your peers, receive constructive criticism, and refine your abilities. As a bonus, college courses often provide resources like textbooks and access to speech labs to help you master the art of public speaking.

    “The best way to conquer stage fright is to know what you’re talking about.” — Michael H. Mescon

2. Join Public Speaking Clubs:

 Toastmasters and similar public speaking clubs are renowned for their ability to transform nervous speakers into confident orators. These clubs provide a supportive community of individuals who share a common goal: improving their public speaking skills. They offer a structured framework where you can gradually work your way up from short impromptu speeches to longer prepared presentations.

   What makes these clubs invaluable is the frequent practice opportunities they provide. You can refine your skills in a nonjudgmental environment, receive feedback, and witness the progress of fellow members. Joining such a club can be a powerful stepping stone in your public speaking journey.

   Toastmasters International has over 364,000 members in 16,200 clubs in 145 countries.

You can join our online community of Toastmasters for engaging in Learning and Group Discussions here.

3. Online Public Speaking Resources:

In today’s digital age, a wealth of online resources is readily available to aid in your public speaking education. You can find books, articles, videos, and courses dedicated to the subject. These resources cover a wide range of topics, from speech preparation and delivery techniques to managing stage fright.

The advantage of online resources is their accessibility and flexibility. You can explore these materials at your own pace, focusing on areas that need improvement. Whether you’re looking for expert advice, speech templates, or video tutorials, the internet offers a vast repository of knowledge to help you become a more effective speaker.

  Over 3,000 books on public speaking are available on Amazon.

4. Self-Practice and Recording:

Self-practice is a fundamental component of improving your public speaking skills. Whether it’s practicing in front of a mirror, recording your speeches, or rehearsing in an empty room, these exercises help you become more comfortable with your own voice and body language.

   Recording yourself is particularly valuable as it allows you to objectively assess your performance. You can analyze aspects like tone, gestures, and clarity of speech. By identifying areas that need refinement, you can tailor your practice sessions to address specific weaknesses and gradually build confidence.

    “Practice puts brains in your muscles.” — Sam Snead

5. Seek Feedback from Professors and Peers:

Constructive feedback is an essential component of growth as a speaker. Don’t hesitate to reach out to professors and peers for input on your presentations. Professors, with their expertise, can offer valuable insights into your content, organization, and delivery.

Additionally, peers can provide a different perspective and offer suggestions for improvement. Collaborative learning and sharing feedback within your academic community can enhance your speaking skills and help you gain a fresh outlook on your strengths and weaknesses as a speaker.

   In a survey, 94% of employees said they’d benefit from feedback, according to Harvard Business Review.

6. Volunteer for Speaking Opportunities:

Volunteering to speak in class or participate in campus events is a practical way to apply what you’ve learned. These opportunities allow you to gain real-life experience, helping you overcome nerves and improve your ability to connect with an audience.

Whether it’s delivering a presentation in front of your classmates or addressing a larger crowd at a campus event, each experience contributes to your growth as a speaker. The more you put yourself in these situations, the more confident and adept you’ll become at conveying your message effectively.

   Example: Delivering a class presentation on a topic you’re passionate about.

7. Study Renowned Speakers:

Studying the speeches of renowned public speakers is a powerful way to improve your skills. Analyzing speeches from figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Winston Churchill, Oprah Winfrey, or TED Talk presenters can provide valuable insights into effective rhetoric, storytelling, and engagement techniques.

By dissecting these speeches, you can learn how to structure your content, use persuasive language, and capture your audience’s attention. It’s a practical way to see proven strategies in action and apply them to your presentations.

   Example: Analyzing Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech for rhetorical techniques.

These seven options offer a diverse range of opportunities for college students to embark on their journey toward becoming effective public speakers. Whether you choose formal education, community support, online resources, or practical experience, remember that the key to success is consistent practice and a commitment to personal growth. Developing your public speaking skills will not only benefit your academic pursuits but also prepare you for future personal and professional endeavors.

Conclusion:

The world of public speaking holds endless possibilities for college students. It’s a realm where your voice, ideas, and stories can resonate and inspire. While the journey to becoming a confident and skilled speaker may seem daunting, the key is to remember that every great orator, from the classroom to the TED stage, started somewhere. 

The most crucial step is to just start. Put yourself out there, embrace the challenges, and dive into public speaking activities and exercises. As you navigate tongue twisters, engage in debate duels, or share personal anecdotes, you’re not only honing your communication skills but also building the confidence needed to succeed in academia and the professional world.

Don’t let fear or self-doubt hold you back. The first step may be the most challenging, but it’s also the most transformative. So, seize every opportunity, participate in these activities with enthusiasm, and let your voice be heard. With each word you speak and every audience you engage, you’re inching closer to becoming the confident, influential speaker you aspire to be. Start now, and watch as your public speaking journey unfolds, revealing the remarkable communicator within you.

To seek professional guidance and mentorship for public speaking or Toastmasters, you can reach out to us over here .

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35 Fun Activities for College Students (interactive, team building, games) 

As a recent graduate, I know first hand how hard it can be to get a classroom of college students engaged in an activity. In my time in college, I’ve had my fair share of fun activities, but also activities that did not go over well in a college classroom.

Getting a classroom full of college students to participate in an activity can be a real challenge. Fortunately, there are some activities that students find fun and will engage in.

In this post, I share 35 fun activities for college students, that will actually get them participating. These interactive classroom activities involve games, team building exercises and interactive assignments.

35 Fun Activities for College Students

1. shark tank.

Shark Tank is a great interactive team building game for college students. This is a great way for students to show off their leadership skills, presentation skills and creativity.

Similar to the Shark Tank TV show, students in small groups will come up with a product, a pitch and a presentation. This activity can span across one class or multiple classes, depending on how much time and effort you want students to put into this assignment.

To make this activity extra fun, select a panel of students to be the “Sharks”. Their objective will be to bring up questions, find the flaws in the product and give credit, where credit is due.

Even though the Shark Tank game seems like it might apply best to business and marketing classes, this activity can be played by any group of students for and adapted for any subject.

When I was in college, this was one of the best activities that left a positive impact on me. It’s a really fun way to get the class interested and engaged in an activity.

Kahoot! is a trivia game that is great for new students. Most high school students and new students are probably already familiar with this game, and it’s super easy to set up.

Before you play this game in class, you will first need to enter the trivia questions on the Kahoot website. Once this is done, you can set up the game by logging into your account.

When you are ready, you will be given a code which students should type into their phone to join the game. Divide the students into teams. Team members will have to answer the multiple choice questions gameshow style.

This activity is loads of fun and a good way to get the class involved. Kahoot does not take much time to set up or play, and it’s a great way to test students on course material.

3. Scavenger Hunt

A scavenger hunt around campus was one of the first activities I did as a new student. This was a great ice breaker which allowed me to make new friends, get used to campus and have fun.

For this activity, you will need to come up with some sights around campus that students can visit. Once this is done, divide the students into groups and they will have to go on a scavenger hunt!

Students can take pictures of the sights and the winning time can get a prize. Scavenger hunts are always a fun group activity and a friendly competition that students will love.

Related: 75 Side Hustles For College Students & Ways To Make Money

4. Elevator Pitch

The elevator pitch is an activity that I did when I was in college and I didnt realize how valuable it would be later on in life. For this activity, students have to come up with a 30 second pitch about themselves.

They can talk about their interests, hobbies , job, career, what they are studying etc.

This activity will even come in handy after a student is done their college years. As someone who graduated recently, I find myself giving the elevator pitch constantly when I meet new people.

Related: 12 Best Backpacks For College Guys

5. Two Truths and a Lie

Two truths and a Lie is a class game and a great ice breaker. This is a great activity for students to get familiar with new people and learns some little things about their classmates.

This is a very easy game to organize, students will be separated into small groups. The students will the have to tell their group members two truths and a lie. Their classmates will have to try and guess the lie.

6. Question of The Day

Question of the day is a fun activity for students to express themselves. At the beginning of class you should ask your students a question. Then ask them to write a paragraph answering the question.

This is a good creative outlet and a great way for students to practice critical thinking. This activity can be done a few times during the school year or regularly throughout the semester.

Here are some examples of questions you can ask your class:

• What is the biggest struggle that young people are currently facing?
• Where will technology be in 10 years?
• Would remote learning improve your academic experience? why or why not.
• If you could go back to middle school, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
• Should men and women be allowed to live in dorm rooms together? why or why not.

A potluck is a fun activity that students will absolutely love. Speaking as a former student, I can guarantee that I’m not skipping class if I know there will be food!

There are so many different ways of doing this activity. Students can make food using local produce, students can make a food from their culture or students can make their best recipe.

This is a super fun way to celebrate the end of the semester and a great activity that students will love.

Doing a debate is a great way to get students to fully immerse and inform themselves on a topic. The great thing about doing a debate is that students will get educated on both sides of the matter at hand.

Doing a debate was one of the more memorable and fun classroom activities I did during my time in college. Having an in-class debate will boost student involvement, because no student wants to look uninformed in front of the class.

Start by dividing the class into a few different groups. Then, assign each group a topic and give them some time to prepare. Regardless of the outcome, a debate will have a positive impact on your students.

9. Local Tour

This activity is great for freshman. Giving a local tour is a great way to show the students around campus and even the college town. For many students, college can be an overwhelming experience. Therefore, giving them a local tour will make them feel more comfortable.

Consider showing them where the gyms are, the dining hall, where they can sign up for clubs and where they can meet with faculty members. These are some essential places that every college student should know.

10. Cup Pong

Now, we all know that beer pong is part of the college experience, but who says it can’t be educational? This game is super easy to set up and it will get the whole class participating, excited and having fun.

To set this game up, all you will need is 12 red solo cups, a bit of water and some questions to ask your students.

Begin by separating the class into two teams.

Each team will have the chance to answer a question. If they get it right, they get to take a shot. If they get it wrong, the other team gets the chance to answer. The game goes on until there are no cups left!

Playing cup pong may seem like an unconventional way of teaching, but it will get the class involved and the students will have a blast.

11. Case Studies

As someone who studied business in college, I did my fair share of case studies. A case study is an amazing way to learn about the ins and outs of a specific business and industry.

The cases assigned to students can be adapted based on the subject matter being taught in the course. This is one of the teaching methods that prepared me the most for the real world.

Case studies can be done individually or in larger groups. If you expect a lot out of your students, giving a divided assignment and a lot of time for them to complete it, will ensure that they learn a lot and do a good job.

12. Guest Speakers

Having the class attend a guess speaker lecture is a good way to give your students a break from regular student life. Sometimes, having a laid back class where they get to hear a guest speaker is a nice change.

Having your students attend a live event, like a guest speaker, will get them out of their dorm rooms and attending the event.

13. Video Presentation

Video presentations are a really fun activity for students to express their creativity. It’s super easy for a group of students to create video presentations using social media apps like TikTok or Instagram.

You can have students create an advertisement, skit or educational video on a specific topic. When I was in college, these were my favorite kind of group activities. It was so much fun seeing what other students would create.

14. Hangman

Now, we all know the classic game Hangman. However, it’s a great ice breaker for new students. When freshman first arrive to college, they are super nervous. S o playing a game of hangman can put them at ease.

To make things interesting, give a small prize to the first student who guesses the answer.

15. Word Limit Answers

Word limit answers are is a creative way for students to express themselves. This may sound like a lazy student’s dream, but it’s actually more challenging than you might think.

Having your students answer a question with a limited word limit is pretty hard. Students will have fun with this activity and they will have to get creative when answering the question.

16. Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down is an ice breaker that every student is going to be familiar with. This is a game that students in elementary school, middle school and high school have all played before.

A few students come up to the front of the class, while the rest put their heads down on the desk, with their thumbs up. Each of the students standing at the front must choose one person at a desk, and put their thumb down.

The students who had their thumbs put down then have to guess who did it. This is a great way to have new students feel at ease in college.

17. Interview Role Play

Interview role play is an awesome activity for current students who are nearing the end of their time in college. Have your students pair up in groups, give them a scenario and have them interview each other.

This is a great activity, as you will have some students in leadership rolls doing the interview. Those students who are being interviewed are going to get valuable experience as well.

18. Attend an Upcoming Event

On college campus, there is always some sort of interesting upcoming event that is happening. Invite your students to a great event on that’s happening campus and they will have loads of fun.

Here are some educational, fun and special event ideas:

• Live concert
• Cultural events
• Sporting events
• Guest speaker

19. Breakout Rooms

Breakout rooms were a very popular method of getting students to interact when online classes were happening. It encouraged students to have group discussions, get to know each other and help one another get better grades.

Breakout rooms can be done in person and also online. Many students really liked doing school remotely, so having an online breakout room class once in a while is fun change.

20. Therapy Dogs

There are plenty of programs that will bring therapy dogs to schools. You may need to have this run by the office of student activities, but it’s a really good one.

Therapy dogs are great for mental health. Plus, what student doesn’t want to spend some time with adorable dogs?

College can be hard on students and get stressful . A recent study suggests that dogs lower stress , so why not bring animals in for your class and even the whole student body?

21. Building Card Towers

Building card towers is a super activity that encourages classmates to work together to achieve the common goal of building a card tower.

To run this activity, you will need to separate the class into groups, give each group a deck of cards and let them figure it out. This is one of the most fun ice breakers and a great way for students to make new friendships.

22. Mystery Puzzle

A mystery puzzle is another fantastic ice breaker that gets students working together. This one takes a bit of creativity, but if done properly, students will really enjoy it.

Begin by creating a few scenarios that cover a various different themes. When the mystery is created, separate the classroom into groups and have them solve it!

23. Favourite Song Project

Every student listens to music on their free time. What better way to get them engaged in an activity than to ask them to write about their favorite songs?

This is a really easy activity to organize. Just ask your students to write a bit about their favorite song, or songs, and why they like it so much.

24. Photo Challenge

The photo challenge is a great ice breaker for new students. This is a nice way for freshman to get familiar with the college campuses and get see what similar interests they have with their classmates.

For this activity, students will have to either take a cool, fun or interesting photo around campus and present it to the class. The more effort and creativity that goes into this challenge, the more fun it will be.

Related: How to Make Money as a College Student

25. Classroom Charades

Everyone knows how to play charades. Charades is a great game to get students out of their comfort zone and to create an environment in class where students feel comfortable.

For some students, they may feel shy or absolutely dread the idea of going up and doing charades in front of the whole class. It’s important that everyone has fun and feels comfortable doing this activity.

26. Bus Trip

In college, activities are often done indoors, but what about the outdoor activities? Taking a bus trip to a local museum or a local landmark is a great way to get students out of the classroom.

It’s a fun way to get to know your students outside of class and one of my most memorable trips I ever did in college, was an overnight camping trip. I got to know my teacher really well on the drive down and made some awesome memories.

27. Board Games

Nowadays, it can be hard to get a Gen Zer to name 5 different board games. For many college students, playing board games is a really fun experience.

There are some cool board games that can be played in the classroom and it’s a real change from phone games or video games. Having a class where you play some board games will a great activity for the whole class!

Board Game Recommendations:

• Snakes and Ladders
• Connect Four
• The Game of Life

28. Community Service Activity

If you’re looking to show school spirit while making a positive impact on campus, consider organizing a community service day. This is a great opportunity for students to bond with each other while making a positive impact on the community.

Invite students to volunteer at local organizations. Whether at an animal shelter, a nursing home, or a hospital.

If planning a field trip is not an option, you can always do something on campus. Organizing a trash cleanup is a good way to get the students outside and do something positive for the community.

29. Adult Coloring Books

If you’re looking for an activity that college students absolutely love, then check out Adult Coloring Books! This activity is relaxing engaging, making students feel young again.

Throughout my time in college, I had one teacher plan this activity during exam time. She gave the class the option of studying or doing adult coloring, and most students decided to color.

Coloring was an excellent way to wake our minds off of exams, and it was quite therapeutic.

30. Use YouTube For Classroom Activities

YouTube is a great tool for classroom activities. On YouTube, there are plenty of useful resources that can lead to some fantastic class discussions. Throughout my time in college, the professors would use TED Talks to inspire us and to get the class talking.

There are plenty of YouTube videos that encourage students to think outside of the box. Oftentimes, these videos can be very impactful, and they will resonate with them.

31. Collaborative Concept Mapping

Splitting the students into small parties and having them develop a concept map is a great activity that encourages teamwork, critical thinking, and group discussion. Since a concept map requires students to work together, this is a great activity for students to break the ice.

Start by giving the student a blank sheet of paper and giving them a concept. After 10-15 minutes, most groups should be done and ready to share their ideas with the class.

You can end this activity by having the students present their concept map to the class.

32. Crazy Hair Day

When it comes to campus events that get student engagement, Crazy Hair Day always works!

Planning a day where students can come to school with crazy hair is one of the best college event ideas. This activity is great because any student can get involved, it’s easy to plan.

A good way to encourage students to come to school with crazy hair is by making it a competition. Around lunchtime, host an event where students can vote on who has the craziest hair!

This is a great activity for Spirit Week, and it is a fun way to get your fellow students excited about an event.

33. The One-Minute Paper

If you’re looking for a fun activity for college students, consider trying the One-Minute Paper. This fun activity encourages students to think independently and develop their writing skills.

For this activity, you will begin by giving the students a prompt. The students will have one minute to write about the prompt, and then they can either read it to the class or submit it to the teacher.

This is an activity that I did several times throughout college, and I always found it a fun way to build writing skills.

34. Moral Dilemmas

Moral Dilemma is an interactive activity encouraging students to converse and voice their opinions.

For this activity, you create a few groups of students and provide them with an ethical dilemma. Students will then have to think outside the box and come up with a creative solution.

When students are coming up with a solution, they may share their personal experiences, which can lead to some heated discussions. It’s important to monitor the conversations and make sure students are pushing the conversations forward instead of arguing.

35. Movie Day

If you’re looking for an activity that every student loves, planning a movie day is a great idea. These movies can be classics, educational, or relevant to a theme you are trying to cover.

As students, we appreciate a fun activity that doesn’t involve “traditional” school work. Even if it’s a movie that leads to an assignment, college students will appreciate it.

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Final Thoughts on 35 Fun Activities For College Students

Getting a classroom full of college students to participate in an activity can be a real challenge. On the bright side, there are plenty of activities that are tons of fun for college students.

As a recent college graduate myself, I can say that all these activities mentioned above are really fun and a great way for students to get to know their classmates and teacher better.

What’s your favorite activity for college students? Please let me know in the comments below.

Ethan Schattauer

3 thoughts on “ 35 Fun Activities for College Students (interactive, team building, games)  ”

“I can guarantee that I’m not skipping class if I know there will be food!”…..haaa, truth though….total truth! 😁✌🏼

Crazy Hair Day – oh my gosh, I literally LOL’d when I saw that one! 😂💯

If I were one of the college students, I think my favorite activities would be Kahoot! (love that name), Two Truths and a Lie, the potluck, a bus trip, and definitely those coloring books – crayons, coloring, and drawing are the best!

Mr. Ethan – would love to see a post under lifestyle/miscellaneous where you give your own personal recommendations of some good books to read that are authored by Gen Z’ers.

The minds of Gen Z are….to be perfectly honest here…legendary. I’ve watched several online movies and series that revolve around Gen Z, not to mention witnessing the actual lives of Gen Z’ers that I know in real life, and the mindset with which you guys face this often times crazy world that you were born into is so uniquely smart and respectable. You are a generation that is both futuristic and classic at the same time – as I always say, you rock a bold 80’s vibe with a far superior level of 20’s sophistication.

The thoughts you guys have about life and the world in general are so on point and profound. I have had some of the most brilliantly engaging conversations ever with the 20-something members of your gen, and I would love to find at least one good book that delves even further into the inner mind and perspective of its Gen Z author as they navigate life in the new millennium.

Wow, superb blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you make blogging look easy. The overall look of your site is magnificent, as well as the content!

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Inspire Your Students With 28 Creative Thinking Activities

January 20, 2023 //  by  Angie Starr

Do you shy away from creative activities because you are insecure about your own creativity? Do you think creativity is not educational?

Guess what. Creativity isn’t limited to art or music and every subject can incorporate creative thinking.

Creative activities involve imagination, problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration; which every student has the ability to do. And, there are no right or wrong answers!

Here are 28 activities to guide students in discovering and developing their creative talents. Happy creating!

1. What’s This?

Active your inner artist!

This is a modified version of the incomplete figure test. Have students create a shape or partial shape. Next, students will swap shapes with another student to create a picture. What will your students create?

Learn More: Raise Creative Kidz

2. 30 Shapes

It’s time to get into shape!

Do you see circles? I see a donut, a wheel, and a pizza. What will your students see when they look at 30 squares or 30 triangles? This creative activity has students turning a shape into a recognizable object within a set time.

Learn More: Club Experience

3. Continuous Line Drawing

Can you draw a picture without lifting your pen? Students’ creative and analytical thinking are activated when they draw a picture without lifting their pen from the paper. This is an excellent hand-eye coordination activity but also develops a sense of pride and accomplishment for the student.

Learn More: The Virtual Instructor

4. Add Something New

Try this creative and fun activity involving collaboration, and brainstorming. Show students a work of art such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Ask students what they would add to the painting. If possible, provide students with a printout of the artwork so that they can draw in their creative ideas.

Learn More: Byrd Seed

5. Strange Flavors

Who doesn’t love ice cream? Would you eat a strange flavor like Bug? Creative activities are deliciously fun when students get wild with recipe ideas. New ice cream flavors, unique pizza toppings, or outrageous sandwich ideas are just a few ways students can activate their taste buds and creativity!

Learn More: National Geographic Kids

6. Bad Ideas

Is it good to be bad? We’re always in search of great ideas. Let’s try a creative twist and think about bad ideas. What are some really bad ideas for products? What would be a bad recipe idea? Ask students why the ideas are bad so as to challenge their critical thinking skills.

Learn More: Lucid Spark

7. Classifying & Sorting

There’s more than one way to draw a straight line and there are many more ways to classify and sort! Give students an assortment of items and watch their cognitive and creative skills at work. Will students sort by color or size? What other categories can they come up with?

Learn More: Playing With Learning

8. Repurpose An Item

We can often be creatures of habit: A cup is used for drinking or a tennis ball is used for playing tennis. Students will look at everyday items with a fresh and creative perspective in this purposeful, repurposing activity. You’ll be amazed at the variety of new uses they come up with!

Learn More: PBS Kids

9. How Many Uses

This activity modifies the, “How many uses for a paperclip?” challenge. Students will show off their entrepreneurial knowledge whilst engaging in creative thinking by pitching an idea of how to use a ______ in a unique way.

Learn More: CANR.MSU.edu

10. Logo Makeover

Why do companies have logos? What was the reasoning behind the choice of logos for companies such as Apple or Amazon? If these companies decided to change their logo what would they come up with? Ask your students! Students will enjoy creating new logos for their favorite brands.

Learn More: ESL Brains

11. Create a New Word

If you show a picture of a person yawning, your students will know the person feels sleepy or bored. However, what if the person was sleepy and bored; what word could then be used to describe this feeling? “Slored”?  What new words can your students come up with?  

Learn More: Pinterest

12. Make a New Definition

Learning definitions from a dictionary is not a creative activity. Make learning new words a fun activity by having students create literal definitions or use funny descriptions to define a word. Linguistic and creative thinking skills will be put to work while helping students remember new information.

13. Invent a New Animal

What is a Gireetah? It’s an animal that is both a cheetah and a giraffe! Students will engage in critical and creative thinking to create a new species or combine two or more animals to create a new version of an amazing animal.

Learn More: NPS

14. Music as Art Prompt

Music is a creative teaching tool when we encourage students to use their 4 senses when listening to music. What colors would they associate with this song? What images come to their mind when they hear it? What flavor does the song have?

Learn More: Artful Parent

15. Superpower Surprise

Not all superpowers have to be about strength or speed. This is a creative activity that influences a student’s self-esteem and encourages empathy, and appreciation for their fellow classmates.

Students will assign a unique superpower to a fellow classmate based on the student’s talents or personality. 

Learn More: Classroom Communities

16. Describing with Adjectives

How attentive are you to your surroundings? When we look at an object we may focus on its size, color, and shape. If we look closer, we often discover new details we didn’t see before! Describing is a creative activity that stimulates observation and gets students comfortable with using adjectives.

Learn More: Easy English

17. Storytelling the Pixar Way

Storytelling may seem like a creative and fun activity but it can also create anxiety with regard to not knowing where to begin or what to include. The Pixar structure is a formula to help writers organize their ideas into a cohesive story. Analytical thinking, creative thinking, and collaboration are a recipe for a happy ending!

Learn More: Khan Academy Labs

18. A Lifetime Tale in Pictures

Are you still using post-reading comprehension questions? Transform your post-reading activities into creative activities. What was Harry Potter like as a child? What if Harry quit magic, what would be his new job? Take elements or characters from the story and have students use their imaginations to expand their storytelling skills. 

Learn More: Literacy Ideas

19. Blackout Poetry

Turn newspapers into a poetic masterpiece!

Blackout poetry will get students excited about reading a newspaper. Students will isolate and then piece together single words or short phrases from the newspaper to create poetry or a short story.

Learn More: Arapahoe Libraries

20. Shape Poem

A sentence doesn’t have to be written in a straight line. Students have the chance to get creative with their writing by using this shape poem. It’s as simple as choosing a favorite object and then creating the shape of the object using words that describe it. 

Learn More: Study.com

21. Preposition Poem

Did you know that grammar can promote creative thinking skills? Have students write a poem using only prepositions and no verbs.  If students struggle, give them a visual prompt and let their words do the talking. Don’t forget to provide an example!

Learn More: Flying Words

22. What If Conversations

What if it rained marshmallows? What if you were invisible for a day? Spark critical thinking and problem-solving skills with this inquisitive creative thinking game. Students can show off their creative skills by creating “What If” questions for their classmates. The best part is there are no wrong responses!

Learn More: The Big List Of 34 “What If” Questions For Kids

23. 6 Thinking Hats

Teach students to think about a problem or situation by looking at it from different perspectives with this creative activity called the 6 Thinking Hats. The 6 Thinking Hats ensures that all students are engaged in critical and creative problem-solving.

Learn More: Edugage

24. The 5 Whys

Students are curious and ask many WHY questions. The 5 Whys is a brainstorming tool that can help students identify the root causes of a problem. In this creative activity, the students are responsible for answering their own WHY questions to understand root causes and create solutions. 

Learn More: Peachey Publications

25. The 9 Whys

The 9 Whys focus on reflection and purpose. Why shouldn’t we use our cell phones in the classroom? Students have the opportunity to ask and answer WHY questions in a group or interview format to gain an understanding of a situation and build creative thinking skills.

Learn More: Carsten Lützen

26. Negative Brainstorming

Negativity can promote creative thinking! When students brainstorm, they are generating ideas. However, not all brainstorming sessions are productive. Negative or reverse brainstorming techniques encourage students to think of all the ways an idea can fail or go wrong. From the negative, they reflect on the opposite to generate solutions.

Learn More: Model Teaching

27. The Frayer Model

Make words exciting again! Do your students look bored when they learn new vocabulary words? Definitions alone word do not inspire creative thinking skills. The Frayer Model is a creative activity to activate students’ curiosity, critical thinking, and ability to connect prior knowledge to new knowledge.  

Learn More: Teach Hub

28. SCAMPER

SCAMPER is an activity to foster out-of-the-box thinking in any subject. This creative activity involves strategies that students apply to a question or problem. 

• S – Substitute
• C – Combine
• A – Adapt
• M – Modify
• P – Put to another use
• E – Eliminate
• R – Reverse

Creative thinking skills are fostered when we allow students to generate ideas or responses that are not contained to a single correct answer.  

Learn More: PBL Project

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73 ESL Writing Activities to Spark Your Students’ Creativity and Imagination

From a student’s point of view, writing assignments are something to dread.

But from an ESL teacher’s point of view, they should be a challenge worth accepting.

The challenge for you is to motivate your students enough to actually be excited about writing.

Sounds impossible? It’s actually quite simple.

The key is a strong pre-writing activity that boosts their confidence and adds to their vocabulary at the same time.

So, how do you get your students’ writing off to a great start?

In this post, we’ll look at some different ESL writing activities that will transform your students from hesitant writers to confident wordsmiths in their own right.

Writing Assignments Based on Stories

Writing activities prompted by music, writing practice exercises based on images or pictures, writing assignments based on food, writing activities based on mysteries, exercises to practice writing emails, activities to practice writing advertisements, assignments to practice writing reports, creative writing activity: class newsletter/newspaper.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

People of all ages love a well-told story, and using stories to teach ESL is a sure winner.

A story for a pre-writing activity could be in the form of:

• A  movie . It could be a biography, sci-fi film, thriller, action-packed adventure, fairy tale or even a cartoon.
• A  story read aloud from a book. If you’re using this, read in a way that brings the characters’ voices to life (including the narrator’s), hold the book up to show any pictures within or scan them and project onto a screen as you read. You can also search YouTube videos of famous authors or celebrities reading a book aloud, and show these in class.
• A  story from the news . It could be from the TV, radio, newspaper or an online news site .
• A story read by your students. In this case, you could let them read a story silently or with a partner, and take as long as they like to think about the important parts.

No matter what you choose, it’ll be a great lead-in to the ESL writing exercises below.

1. Re-tell the story as is, or summarize it. (This works best for beginners, who are still getting their feet wet in the waters of English comprehension.)

2. After watching “Finding Nemo” : Tell the story from the point of view of the whale, the dentist’s daughter or Bruce the shark.

3. Explain to Marlin how he should take care of Nemo better.

4. Make up a story about a farm animal/zoo animal/jungle animal. What if a baby ___ was lost? What if a child was lost in the city? What if you found a lost child?

5. After the story of “Goldilocks” : Tell the story from the baby bear’s point of view.

6. What if the baby bear and Goldilocks became best buds? What would happen?

7. After discussing “The Gingerbread Man” : Tell the story from the fox’s or gingerbread man’s point of view.

8. What did the old woman do wrong that made the gingerbread man run away?

9. How do you make a gingerbread man? What other shapes could be made instead?

10. After “Little Red Riding Hood” : Write the story in the first person—from the point of view of either Red Riding Hood or the wolf.

11. What should Red Riding Hood have done when she met the wolf?

12. After watching a “Lord of the Rings” movie: What would you do if you had the One Ring? Write about a magical quest you and several friends would have if you could.

13. After watching a “Pirates of the Caribbean”  movie: What if you were a pirate? What adventures would you have if you were a pirate?

14. After watching “Titanic” : Write about what you discover when you dive onto the wreck. Or imagine you were on the ship when it sank, and talk about how you escaped.

15. Whose fault was it that so many people drowned on the Titanic? What should they have done?

16. After watching a “Star Wars”  movie: Imagine you’re a space explorer and write about what happens when you meet some characters from “Star Wars.”

17. After watching a “Terminator”  movie: Imagine your teacher is a robot that has come back from the future. Or imagine you have come back from the future—what would it be like?

18. After watching a “Harry Potter” movie: Make up some magic spells and explain how you’d use them.

Everybody loves music! Watch your students’ faces light up as soon as they realize that they’re about to be treated to some songs rather than chalk-and-talk. Music stirs the emotions, after all, and can get your students excited about writing.

Here are some ideas for music you can incorporate into ESL writing activities:

• Classical music. There are some pieces of well-known classical music that specifically tell a story , and many of these are available on YouTube.
• “Fantasia 2000,” particularly “Rhapsody in Blue.” This wonderful, wordless animated story can kick off so much great writing!
• Movie music. The music that goes with a movie tells watchers how they should be feeling, and could be a good jumping-off point for some writing.
• Popular songs and music. Self-explanatory. Check out the most popular or trending artists on YouTube or Spotify for ideas.
• Kids’ songs . There’s something about singing a catchy little tune that makes the words stick in your mind more than just saying them. These can lead to some interesting writing, too.

19. After Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” : Tell the story from Peter’s point of view.

20. After Saint-Saëns’ “The Carnival of the Animals” : Imagine walking through the scenes with the animals and interacting with them. Write a story from the point of view of one of the animals.

21. Describe the animals in “The Carnival of the Animals.”

22. After Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet” : Re-tell this classic Shakespeare story, adding a twist.

23. After watching and listening to “Rhapsody in Blue” : Tell all/part of the story.

24. If you were the main character in “Rhapsody in Blue,” what would you do?

25. Listen to a piece of classical/instrumental music and tell the story that it might be a background to. Imagine that it’s the background music for a movie.

26. Tell the story (real or made up) behind some popular songs like Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams.”

27. Describe meeting someone special like in the aforementioned Taylor Swift song.

28. What happens in your wildest dreams?

29. What if you were a famous pop star or musician? What would it be like? What would you do?

30. Give instructions on how to find your favorite song on the Internet, both music and lyrics.

31. If you play an instrument, or have a relative who plays one, write about some of the basics of how to play. (This could also work as a speaking and listening activity, and then the whole class could write about it.)

32. What is your favorite genre of music, and why? (Be sure to explain what “genre” means !)

33. Do you think young children should be allowed to freely watch music videos?

Some pictures you can use for ESL writing activities include:

• Pictures from social media. If you use social media at all, you doubtless have a barrage of amazing photos and videos on your feed, all of which make for excellent writing prompts.
• Pictures from Google Images . A quick Google search on any (classroom-safe) image will turn up plenty.
• Cartoons . If you have young students, they’ll definitely enjoy this one.
• Pictures selected by your students. Not sure what to choose? Have your students pick their own pictures to write about. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how vibrant their writing can be when they’re writing about subjects they actually care about.

Regardless of the picture you (or your students) choose, here are some writing prompts you can consider.

34. Tell a story—real or imagined—of what is happening in the picture.

35. Write about what happens next from the pictured moment.

36. Write about what was happening just before the pictured incident.

37. What if that was you in the picture?

38. What if you were the person who took the picture?

39. What if you knew the people in the picture? What would you say to them?

40. Describe all of the elements in the picture. This is great for vocabulary practice.

41. Describe how someone in the picture might be feeling.

42. Explain how to get into  a pictured predicament (for example, in the picture here , how did he get into the boat without the crocodile eating him?) as well as how to get out of it.

43. Express an opinion about the rights and wrongs of the pictured situation. For example, for the same picture above: Should crocodiles be hunted and killed? What should happen if a crocodile kills someone?

Many of your students likely enjoy thinking and talking about food. So why wouldn’t they be motivated to write about it?

How you integrate food into your ESL writing assignments depends on your classroom arrangements and the amount of time you’re willing to put into preparation.

In any case, here are some ideas:

• Start with the preparation and sharing of food before writing about it.
• Look at pictures of food, and talk about them before moving on to writing.
• Have students research food-related topics on the internet.
• Start with a story about food.

Here are the specific food writing prompts:

44. After the story of “The Gingerbread Man”: Think about food that develops a life of its own, and what would happen with it. (This can also open up a discussion about cultural foods.) For example, make up a similar story about another piece of food (e.g., spaghetti or rice that comes alive). What if you felt something moving in your mouth after you bit into your burger?

45. Write a story (real or imagined) about being very hungry and/or finding/buying/stealing food to meet a desperate need.

46. Write a story about trying a new, unfamiliar kind of food—maybe in a (relevant) cross-cultural setting.

47. Write a story about finding and eating a food that has magical properties. (Maybe read or watch some or all of “Alice in Wonderland”  first.)

48. Describe interesting/disgusting/unusual/delicious/colorful foods, especially after a class tasting lesson. (Prepare students first with suitable taste vocabulary .)

49. Describe a food that’s unfamiliar to most students in the class. (This is particularly helpful for classes where there are students belonging to minority groups who hesitate to speak up.)

50. Describe an imaginary magical food.

51. Give instructions for preparing a particular recipe.

52. After a class activity or demonstration involving food: Write down what you have learned.

53. Give instructions for producing food—growing vegetables, keeping animals, etc.

54. Give instructions for buying the best food—what to look for, looking at labels, checking prices and the like.

55. Write about your opinion on food and health in First World and Third World countries. (Explain what makes a country “First,” “Second” or “Third World” first.)

56. Write about your opinion on the cost of food.

57. Write about your opinion on GMOs or genetically engineered foods .

There’s nothing quite like a good “whodunnit,” and students will always enjoy a good puzzle. You can base various pre-writing activities around the two games below to get the class warmed up for ESL writing practice.

• Conundrum. This is an example of a game that can be played as a speaking and listening activity, and can lead into some good writing. The game starts with a simple statement or description of a situation like the ones described in situation puzzles . Students ask questions and receive yes/no answers until they work out the explanation for the situation.

After Conundrum, here are some of the activities your students can do:

58. Write a story about the sequence of events involved in a situation brought up in the game.

59. Devise and describe your own situation puzzle.

• Putting their hands inside a cloth bag (or just feeling the outside) to guess what an object is.
• Smelling substances in opaque jars with perforated lids, and trying to guess what they are.
• Tasting mystery foods on plastic spoons (with blindfolds).
• Looking at pictures of mysterious objects from obscure angles.
• Listening to and guessing the origins of sound effects. (You can record your own, or use some from the Internet .)

(Important: Make sure that whatever you’re using for your guessing game is safe for your students, especially if they involve having to touch, taste or smell the object.)

After a guessing game, your students can:

60. Write about a possible mystery object and a magical quality it could possess.

61. Describe what you thought you saw, heard, felt, tasted or smelled.

For both games, here are some writing prompts you can do:

62. Give instructions for playing one of the games.

63. Give instructions for the perfect crime.

64. Give your opinion about a recent crime and the punishment for it.

Emailing can often be a scary task for your students, especially if they’re using a new, strange language like English. You can utilize an email writing activity to help your students build confidence and get more comfortable writing in English.

Email can also teach your students things like proper language (formal or informal), structure and format. Email-related writing activities for ESL students can offer ample opportunities to teach all of these three aspects.

Since emails involve two parties (the sender and the receiver), you’ll need to pair your students up for this activity. Here’s how to prepare for it:

• Create one set of worksheets explaining details relevant to the sender. For example, it could contain information about a sender’s upcoming birthday party that they want to invite the receiver to.
• Create another set of worksheets with the receiver’s details. The worksheets could contain questions about food dishes or gifts, or it could say that the receiver can’t make it for one reason or other.

Once the above has been done, give one set of worksheets to the “senders” and the other to the “receivers.” Then, here’s what your students will do:

65. Based on the senders’ worksheets, write an email inviting the receiver and explaining the key aspects of the event featured in the worksheet.

66. Based on the receivers’ worksheets, write an email explaining why you can or cannot make it to the party, and/or what other information you need about the event.

Advertisements are everywhere, and you can bet that your students have a few favorite ads of their own. Advertisement-related writing activities work across age groups and can be adapted to most students and their needs.

This great ESL writing assignment can help your students put the adjectives they’ve learned into good use, as well as showcase their creative writing and persuasion skills.

You can find advertisements everywhere, including:

• YouTube videos
• Newspapers and magazines

You can also bring an object (or handful of objects) to class that your students can write ads about.

67. After your students carefully examine the object(s) you brought into class: Write all the adjectives you can think of about it.

68. For a more challenging writing exercise: Write an ad about the object. How would you persuade someone who knows nothing about the object whatsoever to buy it? (Your students may or may not use the adjectives they wrote down earlier. Encourage them to be creative!)

Your students have likely already done some kind of report during the course of their studies. Also, writing reports is a skill that’ll be useful to them once they enter college or the corporate world (if they aren’t in it already). If you feel that they need a little more practice in this area, use this ESL writing assignment.

First, discuss how research and structure matter to reports—and perhaps show them a few samples. Then, give them a few questions to base their reports on, like:

69. What can you say about (insert topic here) in terms of (insert specific angle here)? (For example, “What can you say about the government’s efforts to improve the local park in terms of its impact on the general public?” Of course, you should adapt this question to the level of your students.)

70. After talking about a YouTube video on bears eating salmon : What would happen to the bears if the salmon ran out? 

This ESL writing activity is a bit more intensive and will allow your students to employ many different aspects of their ESL knowledge. Crafting a class newsletter will build collaboration, communication, listening, speaking and, of course, writing skills. If they’re not sure how to build a newsletter or newspaper from scratch, they can always swipe from premade templates like this one .

The newsletter/newspaper can follow a specific theme, or the articles can consist of a hodgepodge of random topics based on questions like:

71. What is the most interesting thing that happened in school this year? It can be the funniest/scariest/most heartwarming incident. Write a feature article about it. (Make sure to explain what a “feature article” is .)

72. Write a report highlighting the key events in some recent local festivals or concerts.

73. Going off of the last exercise, write an ad inviting the reader to buy a product or attend an event.

Once all of the articles are done, you can start putting them together. Make sure to walk your students through these newspaper layout tips . And when the newsletter/newspaper is finally published and circulated out there for the world to see, remember to congratulate your students for a job well done!

No matter what writing assignments you choose, make sure to keep the excitement level high so that your students are enthusiastic for your next writing session.

Whether they write by hand or type on a computer, remember to encourage them as much as you can by focusing on the good points rather than just running all over their mistakes with a red pen.

Lastly, find ways for them to share their efforts—whether online, on the classroom wall, bound together in a book to be passed around, etc.

They can also read aloud to each other, share with their parents and siblings and even share with other classes!

For more ESL assignment ideas, check out this post: 

Great ESL homework ideas can be difficult to come up with. So check out these 13 great ideas for ESL homework assignments that your students will love. Not only are they…

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Academic and Creative Excellence Reception

Lynn University hosted its 16th annual Academic and Creative Excellence (ACE) Reception on Thursday, March 28, in the salon of the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center. The reception celebrates publications, performances, and conferences presented in 2023.

After Mike Petroski, assistant vice president for Academic Affairs, welcomed faculty and staff to the reception, President Kevin M. Ross provided opening remarks.

"This year was exceptional. It's a testament to your commitment to your field," said Ross. "Our students are fortunate to have you, and we deeply appreciate the support, guidance and knowledge you provide them."

Gary Villa, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, presented  David Wolf , professor in the College of Business and Management, with the Faculty Scholarship and Creative Activities Award . Wolf accomplished numerous webinars and conference sessions in the past year, including a journal article collaboration featured in The Gerontologist and a quality improvement project in the Medical Research Archives.

In addition, Ellen Ramsey, associate professor in the College of Business and Management, was the featured speaker for the afternoon. Ramsey's presentation, "AI and Design Thinking in Higher Education: The Human Connection , "   offered tools to enhance teaching strategies, promote active learning and personalize education. Lea Iadarola, archivist and records manager, closed the reception with a presentation of the new faculty profile platform, Pure .

The reception recognized 79 members from various departments, including the College of Aeronautics, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business and Management, College of Communication and Design, College of Education, the Lynn University Conservatory of Music, Admission, the Institute for Achievement and Learning, Instructional Design, the library, student accessibility services, Student Affairs and Financial Aid. They produced a total of 210 works in 2023 and added six new multi-touch books through Lynn's Digital Press, bringing the total to 78 multi-touch and 17 open educational resources for students.

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Office of the Vice President for Research

Ovpr announces recipients of 2024 discovery and innovation awards.

The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) is honoring 11 faculty and staff for their exceptional contributions to research, scholarship, and creative activity as part of the 2024 Discovery and Innovation Awards .

“ The winners represent the best and the brightest of our University of Iowa faculty and staff, who are making an impact across a range of disciplines,”  said Marty Scholtz, vice president for research. “Their research and scholarship enhance undergraduate and graduate education on campus, and their efforts to expand the frontiers of discovery betters our community, state, and world.”

The OVPR solicited nominations from across campus for the awards, which include: Scholar of the Year, Early Career Scholar of the Year, Leadership in Research, and awards that recognize achievement in communicating scholarship with public audiences, community engagement, arts and humanities, mentorship, research administration and safety. A campuswide event on April 30 will celebrate the winners.

Faculty Awards

Jun Wang , James E. Ashton Professor and interim departmental executive officer in the College of Engineering’s

 Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, is the 2024 Scholar of the Year . The award celebrates nationally recognized recent achievement in outstanding research, scholarship, and/or creative activities. 

Wang’s research centers on the development of novel remote sensing techniques to characterize aerosols and fires from space. He serves as the University of Iowa’s lead investigator on NASA’s TEMPO, Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring Pollution, which Time magazine named one of its best inventions of 2023. 

“Professor Wang's scholarly endeavors over the past two years stand out as a paradigm of excellence, serving as an exemplary model for both emerging and seasoned faculty members to aspire toward,” said Karim Abdel-Malek, professor of biomedical engineering and director of the Iowa Technology Institute.

James Byrne , assistant professor of radiation oncology in the Carver College of Medicine ( CCOM ), is the 2024 Early Career Scholar of the Year . The award honors assistant professors who are currently involved in research, scholarship, and/or creative activity and show promise of making a significant contribution to their field. 

As a physician scientist, Byrne continues to care for patients while developing novel biomedical therapies for cancer, finding inspiration in everything from latte foam to tardigrades. In his first two years as faculty at the UI, he has earned more that $2.5M in external research funding, including a K08 award from the NIH.

“Dr. Byrne’s scientific creativity stems from both an active and curious mind as well as his ability to bridge diverse fields from engineering to biology to medicine,” said Michael Henry, professor and interim director of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. “These interdisciplinary boundaries are where some of the most interesting and important work is happening today.”

Donna Santillan , research professor and director of the Division of Reproductive Science Research in the CCOM Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, received the Leadership in Research Award , which recognizes research and scholarly accomplishments throughout a career. 

While Santillan’s research has spanned across the field of reproductive science, she has a particular interest in the deadly diseases of pregnancy, including preeclampsia and its intergenerational effects. She designed and directs the Women’s Health Tissue Repository. Santillan’s work has been cited more than 2,700 times, and she has mentored 114 early career scientists and students, a testament to her expansive impact.

“Dr. Santillan has consistently demonstrated an unwavering commitment to fostering the professional and personal development of trainees in research, including myself,” said Banu Gumusoglu, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology. “Her mentorship extends beyond the confines of traditional academic settings, touching the lives of many aspiring trainees from high school through residency, clinical fellowship, and faculty levels.”

Stephen Warren , professor of history and American studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), received the Distinguished Achievement in Publicly Engaged Research Award . The award recognizes an individual faculty member who has put addressing public needs and direct engagement with the public, in the service of improving quality of life through research, at the forefront of his or her academic activities.

A prolific scholar of Native American culture, Warren’s research has centered on the Shawnee people of Oklahoma for the past two decades. He has published four books and co-authored the most recent one , Replanting Cultures: Community-Engaged Scholarship in Indian Country, with Chief Benjamin Barnes of the Shawnee Tribe. 

“Over the last two decades, Professor Warren has established himself as a leading community-engaged scholar, and his achievements in research and publishing demonstrate that community engagement and strong scholarship are not mutually exclusive,” said Nick Benson, director of the Office of Community Engagement. “Professor Warren’s work serves as an inspiration for researchers at Iowa and nationally who seek not only to make a difference in academia, but also in our communities.”

Kaveh Akbar , associate professor of English in CLAS, received the Distinguished Achievement in Arts and Humanities Research Award . This award honors distinguished achievement in humanities scholarship and work in the creative, visual and performing arts. 

Akbar joined Iowa in 2022 to serve as the director of the English and creative writing major. In January, his new novel, Martyr!, was published to critical acclaim. Akbar previously published two prize-winning poetry collections and has served as poetry editor for The Nation  since 2021. 

“Akbar’s leadership in the profession and on campus continues: his transformative work in our department not only enriches the academic experiences of 700+ English and creative writing majors, but also enhances the profile of UI as ‘The Writing University,’” said Blaine Greteman, professor and departmental executive officer of the Department of English.

Cara Hamann , associate professor of epidemiology, received the Faculty Communicating ideas Award . This award recognizes excellence in communication about research and scholarship in the sciences and humanities and the study of creative, visual, and performing arts to a general audience directly or via print and electronic media.

Hamann has frequently shared her work on transportation issues, including teen driving, bike and scooter safety, and pedestrian safety, through peer-reviewed journals and extensive media outreach. Her recent op-ed, “The most deadly traffic policy you’ve never heard of leaves you vulnerable, too,” drew widespread attention to a legal loophole in crosswalk laws and appeared in more than 50 news outlets nationwide, including USA Today .

“Dr. Hamann’s work is not only academically rigorous but also accessible and impactful to a

wide audience,” said Diane Rohlman, associate dean for research in the College of Public Health. “Her ability to communicate with clarity, creativity, and passion coupled with her extensive media outreach, exemplifies how she utilizes multiple approaches to address transportation challenges impacting society.”

Bob McMurray , F. Wendell Miller Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and Caroline Clay , assistant professor of acting in the Department of Theatre Arts, were recipients of the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) Distinguished Mentor Awards . The awards honors mentors’ dedication to making their students research experiences successful.

“I can’t imagine my research journey without Bob’s welcoming kindness, thriving lab community, and confident mentorship, and I am so deeply grateful for his impact on me,” said Hannah Franke, a psychology and linguistics major mentored by McMurray.

“I know I am far from the only student whose life has been impacted by Caroline Clay,” said Isabella Hohenadel, a second-year theatre arts major. “She deserves to be recognized of all of the wonderful work she does and how much she cares about us as students. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of recognition than her.”

Staff Awards

Angie Robertson , department administrator for CCOM’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, received the Distinguished Research Administrator Award . The award recognizes staff members who performed exceptional service in support of research at the UI by exploring funding opportunities, assisting in grant proposal preparation, submission, post-award administration, and operational support. 

In addition to overseeing every aspect of daily operations for the department, Robertson manages nearly 100 research grants for the department and three longstanding NIH T32 training grants. 

“Angie plays a leading role in our department office, inspiring us to achieve all aspects of our missions ,” said Li Wu, professor and department chair. “She is innovative, collaborative, accountable, and respectful  in her daily work. She exceeds any expectations and sets a great example for staff members in the department.”

Min Zhu , research specialist in the Iowa Institute for Oral Health Research (IIOHR) within the College of Dentistry, received the Distinguished Research Professional Award . The award recognizes staff members who performed exceptional service in support of research at the UI by conducting experiments, collecting, and analyzing results and performing operational duties associated with a laboratory or research program. 

Zhu has worked as a lab bench scientist in the College of Dentistry since 2006, executing experimental work for grants and other research, working closely with IIOHR faculty members, overseeing lab maintenance and environmental health and safety efforts. 

“Beyond her research skills, Dr. Zhu has been an exceptional mentor and educator for my students and other junior researchers,” said Liu Hong, professor of prosthodontics. “Her kindness and willingness to share her knowledge have made her a beloved figure among them.”

Curtis Iberg , manager of sterilization services in the College of Dentistry, received the Innovation in Safety Award, which celebrates exceptional and ground-breaking innovations that advance safety at the UI. Iberg led a major renovation of the College of Dentistry’s instrument processing and sterilization area, with the aim of encouraging better workflow and support for future growth. 

“His innovations in workspace are a valuable asset to the greater University and demonstrates that the most important people to be involved in a space renovation are those that use the area because they can see how the facility can better function and how it can be designed for future needs,” said Kecia Leary, associate dean of clinics.

Hopkinton High students learn how to catch cybercriminals at MassBay Community College

WELLESLEY — Hopkinton High School students got a chance to explore careers in the cybersecurity industry, thanks to a visit to MassBay Community College 's recently built Cyber Range .

Hopkinton High junior Roselyn Morales said cybersecurity training could help with her job as a certified nursing assistant (CNA).

"It looks interesting and I can get a lot out of it," she said. "I can learn more about management in my regular job and learn things like data and privacy. I think it's a big help for the CNA part of it." She said she might give cybersecurity a try in the future.

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Mike Webb is a MassBay alumnus who oversees Hopkinton High's EMPOWER program, which supports students with social-emotional-behavioral needs. He noted that some students will be the first from their families to attend college, and have already done a few trips to explore careers.

Hopkinton students engage in hands-on cybersecurity activities

Along with a tour of MassBay's Wellesley Hills campus, students engaged in hands-on activities covering general cybersecurity principles, as well as cybersecurity lab activity that had them solving puzzles and identifying and fixing cyber-attacks.

Shamsi Moussavi , a computer science professor and director of the MassBay Center for Cybersecurity Education , led students through the programs.

Moussavi told the Daily News that having students exposed to cybersecurity is especially critical to those hoping to get into the industry.

"We've worked with the high schools to help students understand the industry," she said. "The lab is also to help students to do internships and jobs. The country needs more cybersecurity workers at all levels. Students are not normally exposed to working in the cybersecurity field. This exposes them to those type of jobs, and it's not something maybe explored, but it's important to protect their own security and information."

MassBay's Cyber Range was funded through state program

MassBay is currently the only community college in the state to offer an associate degree in cybersecurity. Last year, it launched its Cyber Range, a virtual environment allowing users to hone skills in detecting, intercepting and defending against simulated cyber crimes. The range includes security operations centers (SOCs), the infrastructure that enables municipal and small business IT teams to actively monitor cyberthreats and IT security vulnerabilities.

The Cyber Range opened in October, thanks to a $804,162 grant from the state. MassBay became the third organization to be funded for a cyber range but was the first to launch it.

More: To train future nurses, teachers, MassBay Community College opens hands-on facility

The state grant was part of the state's Security Operations Centers and Cyber Range Initiative , managed by the MassCyberCenter at MassTech. The Westborough-based operation supports programs that are aimed at building a new and diverse generation of professionals in the cybersecurity industry.

Will Canizalez, a Roslindale student studying cybersecurity at MassBay, praised the college's cybersecurity program and the uniqueness of the center.

"It's been quite a journey," he said. "It's an environment where students can test out the labs. There's really nothing like this."