I Built It, But They Didn't Come: Boosting Your Zoom Session Attendance

Disclaimer: Do your best. Your best is good enough. We are living through a global pandemic. Take what you need from this article, and leave the rest. Take care of yourself; take care of each other.

Most of us are familiar with the movie Field of Dreams, where Ray Kinsella, played by Kevin Costner, builds a baseball field in the middle of his cornfield in Iowa. Why? A voice. “If you build it, they will come.” And with the help of James Earl Jones, a bunch of ghosts show up to his field to play ball. 

A big part of my job is to listen to faculty (by the way-try that some time...cough...cough…), and recently I’ve been hearing from a lot of folks who are sharing with me that in the spring, only a few students came to their Zoom sessions (I use “Zoom” like people use the word “Kleenex,” so just substitute whatever tool you use), or they noticed a drop off in attendance by the end of the term. I thought I’d take a moment to offer some tips to help boost Zoom attendance this fall.

If you build it, they might not come. Here are some things you can do to get them there.

Classroom Community

My very first education class as an undergrad was titled EDU 101, and the entire course focused on the critical importance of building classroom community. It is the foundation for everything else. Let me say that again. The classroom community that you build with your students is the foundation of your course. Just like with a building, if the foundation is shoddy or weak, everything else will suffer. If you haven’t invested in developing community, students will feel less invested in your course and are therefore less likely to attend your sessions.

Learn and use students’ names. Give students a chance to introduce themselves at the start of your course. Create spaces for peer interactions. Prioritize connections and relationships.

Robots Aren’t Our Friends

Anyone who’s watched Battlestar Galactica knows that robots are not our friends. Robots don’t work in online courses either. Students want to see you as a real human being. If you don’t seem real to them, what will compel them to show up to for you in Zoom?

Michelle Pacansky-Brock’s work on Humanizing Online Learning is incredibly helpful. Check out this simple infographic for some ideas. Take time to be real with your students.

Outreach is Teaching

Seasoned online educators know that outreach to students is a huge part of our teaching. This can be a big shift for folks who are used to teaching in a physical space. You might need to boost your outreach to increase attendance in online sessions. Make phone calls, send emails, or try texting your students to remind them about the session. If students don’t attend, follow up with them to check-in (“Hey, your classmates and I missed you today. Is everything okay? Will I see you on Thursday?”). Create a video to promote your sessions and encourage attendance. Outreach can take many forms, so be creative and find a system that works for you.

This video I created back in March has some more details on the role of outreach in online teaching.

Create Fun and Engaging Online Sessions

Do your best to create fun and engaging online sessions. No one wants to sit through a sixty-minute lecture. No one wanted that before the pandemic, but with the stress and trauma we’re all experiencing, that’s even more true. Life’s too short, and students will opt for greener pastures. Get students involved from the moment they enter your Zoom room (the chat is great for that), and utilize principles of Universal Design for Learning and the learning sciences to bring active learning into your sessions. 

My buddy Clea Mahoney and I ran a webinar on teaching online sessions for OLC back in March. We teach this as a 3-day asynchronous workshop, but you can also grab this one hour webinar for free. 

Stop Forcing Solutions and Start Adapting

I have written and spoken extensively on why forcing students to be on camera is a bad idea for many reasons, including for attendance. If your students feel uncomfortable because they’re being forced on camera, they will stop attending or never attend in the first place. Teach students why being on camera can be an important part of class (and work/life), and give them safe opportunities (perhaps one-on-one) to practice this skill. Make it fun by using Zoom filters. But don’t force it. You don't know what might be going on with that student behind the scenes. Trust that they are doing what they need to do to take care of themselves. If you push too hard, you risk losing them completely.

Read more about why forcing students on camera is not a trauma-aware practice and consider alternatives for student engagement in Zoom.

This is not a foolproof recipe for student attendance. Our students have rich and complex lives that have nothing to do with us, and they might need to make choices that we'll never fully understand to get their needs met. Do your best to create the ideal conditions for their attendance in sessions, and then surrender the rest. If you've done what you can, while it's okay to keep trying and exploring creative solutions, I also want to remind you not to take it personally. I have been doing this work for many years, and I still sometimes encounter empty Zoom rooms (with students and faculty learners). It happens. Use the time to practice in Zoom or get some work done.

Do your best. Your best is good enough. Good luck out there, folks.