In the article, Geary discusses her most recent experience teaching beginner and advanced Spanish in asynchronous online formats and highlights two types of group video recordings she utilizes to increase engagement with remote learners. “Pause now videos” are used for beginner classes and have the students meet virtually to record themselves watching the teacher’s prerecorded video, then pause the teacher’s video when instructed to complete an assigned activity. “Conversation recordings” are used for advanced students and have the students record themselves working together while speaking only in Spanish as they complete an item list.

“[Based on an anonymous survey], 91% of students across five courses agreed that weekly group video recordings were helpful or very helpful in the effectiveness of asynchronous learning,” Geary notes in the article. “They commented that the recordings give them the opportunity to work with other students in real time, that they make learning easier and retention better, and that they make asynchronous feel like in-person.”

While Geary’s application is for foreign language instruction, this pedagogical tool can be used in any discipline.

The full article is available for free on the eLearn Magazine website.