When online teaching first went mainstream during the pandemic, breakout rooms became the go-to tool for group work. Some teachers loved them, others dreaded the silence when students disappeared into their rooms. Fast-forward to 2025, and you might be wondering: Are breakout rooms outdated?
The short answer: no. If you’re teaching languages online in Zoom or Teams, breakout rooms remain one of the best tools for pair work and small group practice. They may not be perfect, but they’re still essential for building interaction, increasing speaking time, and lowering the affective filter.
Language learning is not a spectator sport. Students need active, repeated opportunities to produce the target language in low-stakes environments. Breakout rooms make this possible by:
Despite their benefits, breakout rooms are far from flawless. Technology can get in the way: dropped connections, muted mics, cameras off. And yes, there are newer tools—like spatial chat and other “virtual classroom” platforms—that offer a smoother, more immersive experience. But those platforms are often expensive and hard to scale, leaving most of us with Zoom and Teams.
We might have expected the pandemic to spark a wave of truly innovative solutions. But here we are, still clicking “Open all rooms.” And honestly? That’s okay—as long as we know how to use them well.
If you’ve ever opened breakout rooms and come back to a room full of blank stares, you’re not alone. Teachers often share frustrations such as:
Recognizing these challenges is the first step to designing activities that keep everyone engaged.
Interestingly, not all students come into online learning with the same level of experience. Younger learners who didn’t go through online schooling during the pandemic may need explicit training on how breakout rooms work and what’s expected of them. But really, all students benefit from an orientation.
Some things to cover early on:
Think of it as classroom management 101—but online.
Before we get to activities, here are four principles that make breakout rooms productive:
Now that we’ve covered the why and the how, here’s the fun part: 15 ready-to-use activities to make your breakout rooms come alive. These activities will help your students practice speaking, listening, and collaborating — without the dreaded silence. Click here to request your copy.
Breakout rooms may not be shiny or new anymore, but they’re still one of the most powerful tools we have for online language teaching. With the right preparation, clear expectations, and engaging tasks, they can transform a passive online class into an interactive, communicative experience.
So the next time you’re tempted to skip them, remember: breakout rooms aren’t “so 2022.” They’re exactly what your students need in 2025, until something better comes along.