Previewing means introducing a topic before a lecture or learning experience, for example by having learners read material beforehand. Adina Kalet calls it one of the most important active learning strategies because learners can identify their gaps and focus limited working memory on them, so time together is used more actively.

Have people turn to their neighbor and discuss something, called pair and share, which adds energy without the anxiety of the Socratic method. Use cases and ask how learners would think, not what they know, and start by asking what the audience wants to know.

Moving an hour of class to an hour at home may ask too much of busy learners. The session must be worth it, with clear learning objectives and an assessment such as quizzes or written take-home points, because the mode of delivery matters less than the quality of the instructional design.

Kalet says the scholarship suggests very high fidelity is almost never required. Participants need a psychosocial moratorium, a willing suspension of disbelief, so they feel what they would in a real situation, which makes it psychologically safe to make mistakes.