Online SDLT

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Surface participant experience and practical applications regarding specific techniques while preventing chat overload through alternating reading and commenting roles.

Use it when: Use during remote webinars or structured training sessions when introducing several concise practices, principles, or tools to a group that has existing field experience.

Skip it when: Skip when participants have zero background knowledge on the subject, or when deep conversational consensus is required instead of rapid idea collection.

Group arrangement: Two cohorts, A and B, sized as evenly as possible and alternating between commenting and silent reading roles.

Timing: The original newsletter describes running the loop over multiple items for up to an hour; this plan specifies a practical 20-minute, 3-item run.

Materials and tools

• Slide deck displaying short technique cards or concept descriptions
• Chat interface or shared document with two text stream areas
• Countdown timer visible to the facilitator

Before participants arrive

1. Prepare slides with concise descriptions of 3 target techniques (see participant materials).
2. Verify all participants have functioning chat windows or access to the shared response sheet.

Say this to open

We have significant real-world experience in this room, so we will not spend today listening to lectures. We will examine three specific techniques. To keep the chat readable, we will use two groups, A and B, with nearly equal numbers. During each round, one group types while the other reads silently. We then switch roles for the next technique. You may pass on typing or on the final share.

How to run it

1. Explain roles and briefing 3 minutes

   Explain the roles: Commentators type reactions, questions, and examples; Readers read and reflect without posting. Assign participants alternately to Group A and Group B so their sizes differ by at most one. With 6 to 24 participants, each cohort has 3 to 12 people. Group A comments in round 1 while Group B reads. This balanced assignment is a UWT adaptation of the source surname split.

2. Run round 1 for technique 1 4 minutes

   Display Technique 1 on screen. Do not read the slide aloud. Prompt Group A to start typing comments. Give a 30-second verbal warning at 2 minutes 30 seconds. Stop comments strictly at 3 minutes. Spend the final minute highlighting 1 or 2 salient comments and clarifying misconceptions.

3. Run round 2 for technique 2 4 minutes

   Switch roles: Group B becomes Commentators; Group A becomes Readers. Display Technique 2 on screen without reading it aloud. Keep chat open for 3 minutes with a 30-second warning. Spend the final minute highlighting 1 or 2 comments.

4. Run round 3 for technique 3 4 minutes

   Switch roles back: Group A becomes Commentators; Group B becomes Readers. Display Technique 3. Run the 3-minute timed typing sprint. Spend the final minute delivering brief facilitator closure on that item.

5. Consolidate and debrief 5 minutes

   Open the chat to all participants. Invite up to 2 volunteers from each cohort to share one useful point they observed while serving as silent readers. Anyone may pass without explanation; take fewer shares if there are fewer volunteers. Close by sharing the full reference sheet.

Debrief questions

• What did you notice about other people's insights when you were required to read silently without typing?
• Which technique generated the most divided opinions, and why?
• How did the 3-minute strict limit affect the focus of the written comments?

Finished output: A shared chat log of participant experiences, risks, and adaptation ideas across three distinct techniques.

Remote

Run directly in any web meeting platform using the public meeting chat or a two-column collaborative document. Paste the prompt text into chat at the start of each round.

Hybrid

In-person and remote participants both log into the central chat or shared document from their own screens so reading and typing rules remain completely parallel.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may pass on submitting text during their commentary turn without explanation.
• Screen-reader users can be offered early access to the prompt text before rounds begin to ensure equal processing time.

If the session gets stuck

Participants assigned as Readers start typing into the chat anyway.

Remind participants which cohort is commenting in this round: A in rounds 1 and 3, B in round 2. Ask the other cohort to keep reading without posting until the roles switch.

Chat activity slows to a halt after 60 seconds.

Post a prompt in chat: 'Consider a situation where this method would fail completely, or how you would modify it.'

Terms used here

• SDLT: Self-Directed Learning Teams, a framework where peer learners analyze, critique, and teach content to one another rather than receiving instructor lectures.
• Zeigarnik Principle: The psychological tendency for people to recall uncompleted or interrupted tasks more readily than finished ones.