Virtual Office Hours

Office hours afford students opportunities to meet with instructors one-on-one to ask in-depth questions about concerns or interests that cannot be fully discussed in class, or to seek academic advisement related to their course of study. Not only can these interactions lead to higher student achievement, they also directly address students’ needs, encourage students to engage in class and help to foster students’ sense of community and connection to the university. When teaching remotely, consider providing virtual office hours to give students opportunities to connect, collaborate and ask questions.

  • If the disruption is not infrastructure-related, online video conferencing gives you the opportunity to host virtual face-to-face meetings with your students, which can include sharing your screen to review information or collaborating on a project. Elon offers Zoom and Microsoft Teams as flexible, video conferencing tools that can be used for virtual office hours.
  • If the nature of the disruption means that students are at home, rather than on campus, consider the breadth of their local time zones when scheduling virtual office hours, so those time frames offer reasonable options for all students.
  • If you teach multiple courses and sections, you may want to establish office hours for each unique course to avoid having many students “show up” for office hours at the same time, particularly during peak times like midterms or final exams. Consider inviting multiple students who may be asking similar questions to come to office hours together.
  • If a student has limited access to Wi-Fi, Zoom offers audio call-in features so students can join the call without an internet connection. Be sure to provide the call-in information so that students can self-select the connection approach that works best for them.

Additional Resources