Making virtual meetings and office hours actually work

Eric and Marty talk about how to make virtual meetings effective with students and colleagues

The New Normal – Virtual Office Hours

How virtual office hours are becoming more common post-pandemic.

Benefits: Accessibility for online/hybrid students, schedule flexibility for faculty.

Tech tools that support flexible scheduling (Calendly, Bookings, Google Appointment Slots).

Best practices:

- Set clear boundaries (availability, response times).

- Use waiting rooms to manage multiple students.

- Record office hour sessions if needed (with permission) for follow-up.

- Offer a mix of synchronous and asynchronous options.

Calendly – https://calendly.com/ 

Microsoft Bookings – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/bookings 

Zoom – https://zoom.us/ 

Google Meet – https://meet.google.com/ 

Reducing Repeat Questions Before They Happen

FAQ documents and pinned announcements as the first line of defense.

LMS-integrated Q&A boards (Canvas Discussions, Blackboard Forums, Moodle Forums).

Use AI or chatbots (Piazza, Packback, or even ChatGPT-based FAQ bots).

Benefits: saves time, encourages peer learning, builds classroom community.

Piazza – https://piazza.com/ 

Canvas Discussions – https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-create-a-discussion-as-an-instructor/ta-p/1029 

Notion – https://www.notion.so/ 

Google Docs – https://docs.google.com/

Meetings with Colleagues – Making Collaboration Click

Avoiding calendar chaos: set recurring meetings, share calendar visibility.

Use shared agendas (Google Docs, OneNote, Notion) to keep things focused.

Screen sharing for collaborative editing, reviewing student work together.

Alternatives to meetings: Asynchronous check-ins via Slack, Teams, Loom.

Loom – https://www.loom.com/ 

Slack – https://slack.com/ 

Microsoft Teams – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software 

Doodle – https://doodle.com/ 

Pro Tips – Keeping Virtual Time Productive

Have students submit a quick form ahead of office hours (topic, question).

Use breakout rooms if multiple students show up.

Share a weekly 'top questions' summary with answers.

Offer optional 'co-working' sessions—open Zooms for quiet work and drop-ins.

Your Tech Takeaways

Set structured virtual availability, and stick to it.

Lean on discussion boards and FAQs to cut down on repeat questions.

Don’t underestimate the value of asynchronous tools.

Faculty-to-faculty virtual meetings thrive on shared documents and clear agendas.

Links & Resources

Calendly – https://calendly.com/ 

Piazza – https://piazza.com/ 

Loom – https://www.loom.com/ 

Google Forms – https://forms.google.com/ 

Notion – https://www.notion.so/ 

Microsoft Bookings – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/bookings 

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