An Elluminate
Success Story

Elluminate Breakout Rooms Deliver Engaging, Interactive, Student-Centered Experience

With Elluminate, I can dive into the different features to make learning more fun and exciting. I actually downloaded and read the entire manual for Elluminate Live!® because I like to explore technology. That brought me to a higher level with the product, including using breakout rooms quite a bit.

I first started with Elluminate Live! doing PowerPoint presentations, web tours, application sharing, and showing different virtual labs. But I was not sure if the students were really following along with me. I wanted them to be more engaged with lesson, so that led me to the breakout rooms.

Of all the tools available in Elluminate, I think breakout rooms are the most powerful. That’s where the kids really get involved with their learning. In the online classroom, students interact with the lesson, but it’s still directed by the teacher. Breakout rooms change everything from instructor-centered to putting the students in control to work through things on their own.

I went into breakout room a little tentatively. The first thing I did was to split the students into groups and put questions on the whiteboard for discussion. I’d move from room to room monitoring what they were doing, and then we’d all move back to main room for final discussion. That worked well, but I wanted more.

Virtual labs are simulations of some scientific idea such as a gas pressure, nuclear reaction, velocity acceleration, or carbon chemistry. These are developed by individuals and universities, and most are free to use. Now I use breakout rooms to send students to a website to go through a virtual lab and answer questions as a group. It’s just easier to understand with models and movement.

My students love doing something interactive and get really excited about breakout rooms. They do enjoy being more engaged rather than just listening to the teacher talk. The surveys I’ve given showed that students overwhelmingly love breakout rooms. I always get positive feedback.

The biggest joy I get from my job is using Elluminate. I just love it because it makes my job fun. It connects me with my students, so I’m not just a teacher out there in cyberspace. Plus, it puts more learning responsibility on the student rather than being teacher directed. Students can tap into their experience and share with others. In general, students who use Elluminate do well in class.

More Ideas for Breakout Room Activities

I absolutely adore Elluminate. It’s a way for me to get to know my students and for them to get to know one another. Elluminate is a wonderful, integral part of our teaching, and it’s clear that students who come to Elluminate sessions are almost always more successful.

Shelli uses breakout rooms for:

• Round robin discussions where students move from room to room to answer a question
• Assessment reviews that enable students to discuss topics covered in exams
• Writing sample evaluations based on one or more characteristics where students must defend their ratings to the group