Instructional Activities for Online and Hybrid Courses

An illustration of hands holding a tablet device displaying a virtual meeting. In the center of the tablet is a cartoon teacher explaining a concept and four smaller images of students across the top represent students listening in via their webcams and computers. — Image by Htc Erl from Pixabay

Activities listed here can be used in hybrid and online course formats. In general, many in-person activities can be adapted to digital spaces with a little additional planning and creative use of technologies.

Related Ed Tech tool ideas are listed in parentheses; these have a plan that is free for students (via the instructor’s account) or free plans for both students and instructor.

Please note: you will want to check the privacy and accessibility statements for any Ed Tech tool before using them. Your students, pedagogical needs, or institutional requirements will determine what technologies you can use.

Activity Ideas and Related Ed Tech Tools

Collaboration and Publishing

Blogs (Blogger, WordPress)
Wiki Creation (often a tool in your LMS*, shared Google Doc, Padlet, Figma)
Website Creation (Google Sites, WordPress, Wix)
Individual or Group Slide Presentation (Slides, Prezi, Canva)
Portfolios (Google Drive, Google Sites, WordPress, Live Binders, SeeSaw)
Collaborative Group Work (Discord, Slack, Monday, Trello, Asana, Padlet, Google Docs, Google Jamboard, ExplainEverything, Figma, Miro)
Summarize a related News or Current Event Item (Flip, Mote, Google Doc, Diigo, Padlet, Hypothes.is)

Audio and Visual Content Creation

Podcast or Audio Recording (Vocaroo, Mote, Audacity)
Documentary or Training Video Creation (YouTube, ScreenPal)
Create a Movie Script or Storyboard (Storyboard Animator, template collection)
Create a Newscast or Perspectives Round table Discussion (YouTube, ScreenPal, Flip, Padlet)
Give a Speech related to a Problem or Issue (Vocaroo, Mote, Audacity, YouTube)
Research Poster (Canva)
Design an Infographic (Canva)

Interactive Learning and Discussion

Social Annotation of Documents/Websites (Hypothes.is, Diigo, Floop)
Curating or Annotating a List of Resources or Websites (Padlet, Diigo, Google Sites)
Peer Review or Feedback (Peergrade, Google Docs)
Video Engagement or Discussion (Flip, Loom, Screencastify)
Debate (LMS* discussion tools, Flip, ScreenPal)
Project Based-Learning (Discord, Slack, Trello, Padlet, Google Docs, Google Jamboard, ExplainEverything, Figma)
Role-Playing Game (depending on how you design it, something like this can be run in Google Drive and Docs, Discord, Slack, Google Jamboard, Figma)
Interview a Professional in the Discipline or Field (Google Meet, Zoom)
Quizzes embedded in Videos (EdPuzzle, Google Forms)

Applied Learning and Case Studies

Visual Culture/Artifact Analysis (examples of Digital Object Libraries: Google Arts & Culture, Library of Congress, National Science Digital Library, Digital Public Library of America)
Analyze and Apply a Theory from the Discipline (Google Doc, Bubbl.us, Mindmup, Google Slides, Google Jamboard, ExplainEverything, Figma, Mural, Miro, Apple’s Freeform)
Document Analysis (Google Drive; primary source collections like Library of Congress)
Case Study Analysis (Google Drive, Google Docs)
Write a Case Brief for an Issue or Policy
Design a Social Media Campaign for a Cause or Issue
Develop a Plan of Action to Address an Issue (Google Slides, Google Doc)
Develop a Plan of Action for a Career Skill or Life-Long Learning Habit (Google Doc, Bubbl.us, Mindmup, Google Slides, Google Jamboard, ExplainEverything, Mural, Apple’s Freeform)
Create an Experimental Design for an Issue or Question
Critiques or Critical Reviews
Movie, Exhibit, or Site Review
Virtual Tours (Google Arts & Culture; example of a museum virtual tour: Museum of the US Air Force)
Google Mapping Activity or Tour Creation (video: How to Create a Tour Using Google Maps)
Design an Exhibit or Display for a Topic or Issue (Google Slides, Google Jamboard, ExplainEverything, Figma, Apple’s Freeform)
Write Artificial Intelligence Prompts to Evaluate Discipline-Specific Content Outputs (Google Gemini, ChatGPT)
Use Artificial Intelligence to Test Research Models or Create Visualizations of Data (Google Gemini, ChatGPT)
Create a Lesson Plan and Associated Learning Materials
Mind or Concept Mapping (explanation of mind-mapping; examples of mind or concept maps; tools: Bubbl.us, Mindmup, Google Slides, Google Jamboard, ExplainEverything, Figma, LucidChart, Mural, Miro, SimpleMind, Apple’s Freeform)
Timelines (Padlet, Google Slides, Canva)

*LMS stands for Learning Management System, for example Blackboard, D2L Brightspace, Canvas, etc.