As the University of New Haven community continues to be resilient in the face of the current COVID-19 climate, the Division of Student Affairs and our campus partners are here to support our students in the transition to a virtual and socially distant environment. Part of this transition means thinking about community engagement a little differently. This unique opportunity requires us to expand on our competencies and utilize new technologies to create personalized learning and engagement opportunities for students.

In higher education, student engagement refers to not only the time and effort that students devote to activities that support their holistic growth at college, but also what institutions do to support students to participate in these activities. Virtual engagement expands on this definition to include the various technologies and resources that can be utilized to further the goals of student engagement. Technologies such as Zoom video conferencing, social media, and other digital platforms continued to be used to maintain connections with students.

As staff members at the University of New Haven, we each play a role in engaging our students to support their learning and personal development. The resources offered in this guide aim to support our staff in maintaining the vibrant community at the University of New Haven. Their purpose is to inpire those looking to create new ways of connecting with students in the virutal world. 

We encourage you to share these resources with your student leaders, and other community members during this time of social distancing and virtual learning.

Flipgrid

Flipgrid is a website that allows you to create “grids” to facilitate video discussions. Each grid is like a message board where you can pose questions and students can post video and text responses that appear in a tiled grid display. To learn more about flip grid and how is works visit https://info.flipgrid.com/

Tawk.to

Tawk.to is a messaging app to monitor and chat with the visitors to your page. Thinking about hosting virtual office hours in the fall? Consider using tawk.to to allow students to chat with you if they have a quick question and need a response. To learn more visit https://www.tawk.to/features/

In partnership with LinkedIn Learning, University staff have access to hundreds of videos to support their learning and development of different tools and technology to support them in virtual engagement. Below are a few videos to enhance your skills in Zoom and Microsoft Teams. 

ZOOM

• Collaborate more seamlessly using Zoom, the popular video conferencing too. In this course, staff instructor Garrick Chow shows how to schedule, moderate, and participate in Zoom meetings. Garrick begins by showing how to set up your Zoom account and adjust audio and video settings. Next. he walks through joining and participating in meetings scheduled by others. Garrick covers how to use a variety of options during meetings such as adjusting views, muting your microphone, turning your video camera on and off, and sharing your screen. Finally, Garrick demonstrates how to host your own Zoom meetings and webinars, from scheduling and adjusting moderator settings to recording meetings. To take this course click here:  https://www.linkedin.com/learning/learning-zoom/stay-connected-with-zoom-meetings
• Lead Zoom meetings and webinars with confidence. In this course, instructor Zack Arnold shows how to ensure that your next Zoom call is effective, productive, and engaging. Zack begins with a wealth of security tips for before, during, and after a call. Next, he shares strategies for maximizing audience engagement and interaction (as well as minimizing distractions and interruptions), whether your call is with 5 or 500 people. This includes adjusting view options so you never miss a participant’s reactions, organizing windows to maximize eye contact, and using polls and reactions to interact with larger groups. Zack also covers the technical aspects of running Zoom calls such as sharing video and audio content and trading off screen sharing between the facilitator and other presenters and cohosts. Plus, discover how to make the most of breakout rooms and advanced features like his favorite hotkeys, as well as live streaming your Zoom calls to the web. To take this course, click here: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/zoom-leading-effective-and-engaging-calls/where-to-learn-zoom-basics

Microsoft Teams

• Discover the core features of Microsoft Teams and see how you can bring together colleagues, create conversations and content, and collaborate more effectively. Author Nick Brazzi walks you through the essentials of using Teams, starting with basic setup, creating new teams, and joining existing teams. Nick covers organizing teams and members and shows how to conduct conversations. He explains how to create scheduled meetings or initiate impromptu meetings inside Teams, and demonstrate file sharing. Finally, Nicks walks you through customizing user settings and explains how to use Teams on mobile devices. To take this course click here:  https://www.linkedin.com/learning/microsoft-teams-essential-training-5/join-an-existing-team
• Microsoft Teams is changing the way people communicate at work. This powerful tool makes it easy to connect with colleagues via video or audio – both impromptu and scheduled meetings. But most people using Teams are only leveraging a few of its most basic features. In this in-depth course, Gini von Courter walks through how to schedule, facilitate, and participate in Teams meetings. Gini beings by covering the basics of Teams meetings, showing how to start an ad hoc meeting and modify your audio and video settings. Next, she walks through all the essential features of a Teams meetings, including using text chats during meetings, sharing files during a meeting, taking notes in real-time, and using a whiteboard. Gini demonstrates how to set up a scheduled meeting in Teams, then walks through everything meeting leader needs to know about producing and facilitating a meeting. She covers sharing content, recording a meeting, editing the transcript for meeting in Stream, and more. To take this course click here:  https://www.linkedin.com/learning/microsoft-teams-successful-meetings-and-events/successful-meetings-with-microsoft-teams