Talk partners

As a plenary or a starter to a session, students share with a partner:

• 3 new things they have learnt,
• what they found easy,
• what they found difficult,
• someting they would like to learn in the future.

Example instructions for students

In pairs, discuss 3 new things you have learnt or what you found easy or difficult or something you would like to learn in the future. 

Why use it 

• To build confidence 
• To encourage reflection 
• To foster a sense of community 
• To share different perspectives on the same topic 
• To recall knowledge  
• To ‘test the water’ 
• (Possibly more feasible in smaller groups/ with a seminar type setting) 

When to use it

Depending on purpose:  

• at the beginning as a way to recall existing knowledge 
• in the middle to clarify points or formulate questions 
• at the end of the question to check understanding and outstanding points 
• as a reflective tool 

Digital tools that might be used

Synchronous: 

• break-up rooms (with some preparation) 
• chat 
• Teams meeting 
• Proximity apps 

• Please build in preparation time if you split students in pairs/small groups as they will need to get to know each other.

Asynchronous: 

• Chat 
• Teams 
• Forums 
• Moodle workshop 

Speed of set up time 

1 minute to 30 minutes depending on resources involved and planning the structure.

Workload

Depending on resources involved and planning the structure:

• To define the activity 
• To prepare questions 
• To establish an etiquette with the students 

 This activity may become easier and more spontaneous if repeated throughout the modules/the sessions 

Other resources

• Proximity apps 
• annotation software  
• whiteboard 

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