Web Conferencing

Breakout Rooms

Breakout rooms can be an effective way to engage your participants.

They offer many of the response facilities of the main room like chat, audio and whiteboards.

You can send groups of learners into separate rooms to carry out tasks. You can then bring them back into the main room to feedback and share information.

You will need experimentation and practice.

If you have a co-facilitator, ask them to look after the admin while you concentrate on facilitating the groups.

Here are some guidelines for success:

• Keep groups small and diverse - an activity involving three to five participants is just about right.
• Structure the breakout room activity - provide a focused scenario and set up a template on the whiteboard.
• Keep the activity or discussion focused and brief - set a time limit for completion.
• Move in and out of the breakout rooms to monitor the discussions and give input.