Turning on the camera is not enough to create a pedagogical encounter. Synchronous videoconferences, when designed with deliberate techno-pedagogical intent, shift the focus from merely “being connected” to genuinely “being engaged.”
The study by Fuertes-Alpiste et al. (2023) shows that combining a virtual classroom (e.g., Bb Collaborate) with interactive activities (Nearpod) not only increases participation but also reshapes the teacher–student–content triangle in real time: explanation ceases to be a monologue and becomes a sequence of short cycles of demonstration, practice, and feedback supported by immediate analytics.
This instructional architecture has both operational and formative implications. Operationally, the session benefits from micro-tasks of verification (quizzes, collaborative boards, short exercises) interspersed with reflective pauses, which enhance attentional rhythm and allow real-time adjustments based on the platform’s data.
Formatively, students recognize what they know and what they need to reinforce (activated metacognition), while the teacher adopts the role of guide, modulating interaction and extending explanations when indicators suggest it. Here, digital competence functions as a lever: it does not demand extreme technical sophistication but rather mastery of the pedagogical script, the pacing of the session, and the orchestration of tools without turning them into an end in themselves.
For instructors and institutions, the lesson is pragmatic and transferable: “interactive” videoconferences are not simply a format but a design with three key entry points (clear sequencing, varied interactions, and active use of analytics) that sustains participation and learning in hybrid environments.
The evidence points to precise improvements: allowing buffer time for access and closure, reducing the overload of multiple platforms, balancing individual and collaborative tasks, and planning moments for conceptual reconstruction and debate. In this way, videoconferencing ceases to be a provisional remedy and becomes a refined pedagogical device, capable of articulating quality, inclusion, and student agency in the distributed classroom.
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How to Cite: Fuertes-Alpiste, M., Molas-Castells, N., Martínez-Olmo, F., Rubio-Hurtado, M. J., & Galván Fernández, C. (2023). Interactive Videoconferences in Higher Education: A Proposal to Enhance Learning and Participation. RIED-Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, 26(1), 265–285. https://doi.org/10.5944/ried.26.1.34012
