Small group learning is absolutely essential today. In a virtual classroom, the instructor typically does most of the talking when leading a synchronous lesson. Students may find it more difficult to participate or think out loud in this environment.

But with breakout rooms, educators can improve student engagement, differentiate instruction and give students more voice and choice in their learning outside of a traditional classroom. This key videoconferencing feature helps students learn and collaborate with each other in smaller groups during online or hybrid learning.

However, managing a virtual breakout room is not without challenges. As many schools continue with some form of remote instruction in the second half of the school year, educators will need to be ready to facilitate productive breakout room sessions. These best practices can help educators get started and use breakout rooms with better results, whether they’re using Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams or another popular videoconferencing platform.