1. Weekly virtual office hours

How to implement this in your subject

Step one: determine your timing

Subject Coordinators and tutors nominate a minimum of one dedicated hour to be available each week, at a time when they can focus on students and work without distraction. To improve flexibility for students, including those in different time zones, consider having more than one hour, scheduled at different days and times across the week. For larger cohorts, more hours are recommended.

Consider whether you will have drop-in sessions with Zoom and a virtual waiting room, or if you will allow students to sign up for an appointment within your virtual office hours through the calendar in the LMS.

Step two: select and prepare your tools

If using Zoom

Enable Zoom in your LMS subject. Ask all teaching staff to install and familiarise themselves with Zoom.

If using email

Consider using the LMS Inbox to maintain a record of subject-related communications.

If using another tool

Ensure you have student- and staff-facing instructions on how to use the technology.

Step three: schedule your sessions

Use the Calendar in the LMS to add the virtual office hours to the LMS calendar. Depending on the tools you have chosen, include Zoom links, email address and links to technology support. You can also use the Scheduler to allow students to sign up for an appointment within your virtual office hours.

If using Zoom, choose one of the following options:

• For hours open to full cohorts: See the guide on how to schedule a Zoom session through the LMS.
• For hours for tutorial groups: See this guide on how to schedule meetings in Zoom. If scheduling for tutors, ensure you don’t use your Personal Meeting Room, and assign them as alternative hosts.
• In the Zoom meeting settings, you can select recurring meetings, add a Zoom Waiting Room and assign alternative hosts.

Step four: communicate your virtual office hours to students

Before the teaching period:

• Add your virtual office hours to your staff information and availability page.

During the teaching period:

• Use LMS announcements to remind students of the virtual office hours. This could form part of a weekly announcement to students directing them to the week’s activities.
• If you need to reschedule your hours in a particular week, communicate this to the cohort or tutorial group via an announcement.

Step five: prepare for and run your virtual office hour

• Set up a quiet and organised space where possible
• If using Zoom, log in to the meeting room and ensure it is working as expected
• Consider taking notes to communicate any relevant responses as part of general anonymised feedback in a weekly summary announcement or ‘mail bag’ video, so that all students can benefit from your response.