LIVE WEBINAR· ENGAGELIVE ACTIVE LEARNING SERIES

Beyond the Lecture: Driving Critical Thinking with Collaborative Learning

Transform your virtual classroom with table-based collaboration that fuels live discussion, hands-on problem solving, and genuine peer connection.

Date
Sept. 15, 2026
TIME
12:00 PM – 12:45 AM ET/ 9:00 AM – 9:45 AM PT
Hosted ON
Engageli
Format
Live, hands-on session (Including Q&A)

Most virtual classrooms still run on the same model as a face-to-face lecture hall. The instructor presents, students listen, and a handful of confident voices do all the talking. Now that AI can hand students facts on demand, that model no longer builds the skill that matters most: the ability to think with material and apply it.

In this session, Dr. David Yeager shows how he redesigned a 150-student psychology class at the University of Texas at Austin around Engageli's tables. Every ten to fifteen minutes, students move from his lecture into small-group discussion, then back again, without ever leaving the platform. He'll walk through his exact setup: how he structures discussion prompts, keeps his slides visible during table time, and uses class chat and engagement data to see what students are actually thinking. Student speak time in his class now exceeds 75 percent of total session time.

Join us live on September 15 to see the model in action and pick up a framework you can apply in your own classroom.

This is a hands-on EngageLIVE session. You'll join tables yourself, try the same discussion prompts Dr. Yeager uses with his students, and see how AI note-taking and engagement analytics work from the inside. 

Meet the speakers

david_s_yeager

Dr. David Yeager

PhD Professor of Psychology,
University of Texas at Austin

Best-selling author and co-founder of the Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute, Dr. Yeager studies what actually motivates young people to learn and persist.

anita_blazer_pic

Anita Chawla

Chief Customer Officer,
Engageli

With more than 30 years in EdTech, Anita has helped universities and K-12 systems, including Arizona State University Online and Purdue Online, turn classroom technology into measurable engagement gains.

What we'll cover

A real classroom, redesigned

  1. 01

    Lecture-only formats

    Understand why presenting information and expecting students to repeat it back no longer builds the thinking skills they need. 

  2. 02

    Cognitive engagement

    See how moving students into table discussions every ten to fifteen minutes multiplies real thinking time across a 150-student class. 

  3. 03

    Classroom setup

    Learn how simple structures, like paired icebreakers and peer attendance checks, help Dr. Yeager reach 95 percent attendance. 

  4. 04

    Belonging at scale

    Learn how simple structures, like paired icebreakers and peer attendance checks, help Dr. Yeager reach 95 percent attendance. 

Who should attend

Built for anyone driving engagement

This session is built for anyone responsible for student engagement in a virtual or hybrid classroom, from K-12 teachers running synchronous lessons to higher education faculty managing large lecture courses. If you're looking for a tested way to increase participation without adding to your workload, you'll leave with a real classroom example to learn from. 

  • K-12 teachers & instructional coaches
  • Higher ed faculty & program leads
  • Anyone managing online classrooms
  • School & department administrators

EngageLIVE Active Learning Series

Continue exploring active learning with the rest of the series.

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