How to Run an Online TBL Session with a Large (>50) Audience?

How do you introduce Team-Based Learning (TBL) to a large, virtual audience? We at InteDashboard began cracking this code at a hands-on virtual workshop to over 190 participants from 40 Indonesian universities.

Participants and Observers for Team Activities: A Two-Section Approach

Team activities can be challenging to organize in a large ad-hoc virtual setting once the participant size is over 50. We solved this problem by dividing participants into two sections, each tasked with different responsibilities. Section 1 participated in all TBL activities. Section 2 participated only in the individual TBL activities (prework and IRAT) and observed team activities.

 Participation by Section

Section 1 should be smaller than Section 2; Section 1 could include professors and students – stakeholders who will directly participate in a TBL classroom. Section 2 could be suitable for decision makers, vice chancellors, learning technologists – stakeholders who will not directly participate in TBL. In our workshop, there were 30 active participants in Section 1 and 160 observers in Section 2.

• Technology: Ensure you have a web conference tool and an online TBL tool for the session. We used Zoom and InteDashboard, an all-in-one TBL platform. 
• Technology Set Up: Create two different sections in your TBL platform. Section 1 should have all TBL activities. Section 2 should have only the individual activities.
• Participant Briefing: Organize a pre-event meeting with Section 1 members. Make sure that they understand their responsibilities and can navigate the TBL platform effectively.

During the Session
Inform your audience members of their roles at the beginning of the session, and again before the TRAT. Display names and team numbers of Section 1 members on the screen. Remind your audience

• If their name is on the screen as a Section 1 participant, they will participate in the upcoming team activities. They should join the breakout room corresponding to their team number. 
• If their name is not on the screen, they will only observe the upcoming team activities. The facilitator should evenly assign observers to breakout rooms. Ask these participants to fill an observer’s form during the session with questions to maintain their engagement.

Get Started
With these strategies in place, we organized a successful TBL session online which, in the words of our participants, was “informative”, “interesting”, “enlightening”. Reach out to us if you are considering organizing such an event. We are happy to help brainstorm ideas with you to help you TBL session succeed!

Learn how you can effectively conduct TBL classes for small classes through our blog post here.