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As we finish this course, there are three key takeaways. When you are preparing your class make sure that you prepare your interactions. Doing this before you start is going to make the class so much easier, and really give the students the opportunity to interact with you and with each other.
Plenty of opportunity. You cannot put in too much interaction when you are teaching online. We miss those incidental interactions. The moment when a student’s scrolling on their phone, it tells us we’ve lost them. We’re not going to see that, so remember, back to every two to five minutes, sometimes it could be as close as every two minutes, and that will feel like I’m asking them too often to do something. But for the student, what you’re doing is bringing them back in to the content and bringing them back to you each time you do that.
And finally, don’t miss your afterward opportunities. Whether that’s an email, whether you embed an MS form, whether you follow up based on a poll that you took and use a piece of general communication. Think about your classroom after as well. So this means that over the week that follows the class, or the few days that follow, find many opportunities to interact, whether that’s following up with an MS form, whether it’s sending a general announcement based on a poll that you ran, whether it’s a reminder, or, “I found this cute clip that might help you to further explore it.” Look for these opportunities to keep bringing the students back to interacting with you, but also with each other. Sanction the WeChat groups, the Facebook groups, the Insta groups. It doesn’t matter how these students are connecting, we just want them to do that incidentally and frequently, with us and without us.
Thanks so much for coming along and exploring how you can engage with your students. It’s been so lovely to share what I’ve been doing for the past few years, and I’m really excited to hear from you in the comments, and engaging with me and with each other as you explore how you can bring interactivity into your online classrooms.
- Online classes need more ‘up front’ preparation, but you can still find ways ‘on the fly’ to ask your students to engage with you. We have looked at ways to translate the face-to-face classroom interactions into the online experience with polling and emojis. Start by considering the technology affordances to enhance rather than drive your interactions.
- Give plenty of opportunity for students to post non-relevant things: pictures and emojis provide a sense of fun and distribute interaction. Be explicit about the use of emojis and images, talk to your students about their use in your classes.
- Use the follow-up opportunities both straight after the class and in the days that follow. It could be in the form of an email with key points from the class, a post on the LMS (Learning Management System), and/or a follow-up based on a poll that was done in class.
Thank you for taking this course which has been developed with Lynn Gribble. We hope you have enjoyed it. Remember to mark this lesson as ‘Mark Complete’ to earn your Course Completion Badge.
References:
Banna, J., Grace Lin M.F., Stewart, M., & Fialkowski, M. K. (2015). Interaction Matters: Strategies to Promote Engaged Learning in an Online Introductory Nutrition Course. J. Online Learn. Teach. 11, 249–261.
Bernard, R. M., Abrami, P. C., Borokhovski, E., Wade, C. A., Tamim, R. M., Surkes, M. A., & Bethel, E. C. (2009). A Meta-Analysis of Three Types of Interaction Treatments in Distance Education. Review of Educational Research, 79(3), 1243-1289.
Bond, M., Buntins, K., Bedenlier, S., Zawacki-Richter, O., & Kerres, M. (2020). Mapping Research in Student Engagement and Educational Technology in Higher Education: A Systematic Evidence Map. Int. J. Educ. Technol. Higher Educ. 17:2.
Hollister B., Nair P., Hill-Lindsay S., & Chukoskie L. (2022). Engagement in Online Learning: Student Attitudes and Behavior During COVID-19. Front. Educ. 7:851019.
Farrell, O., & Brunton, J. (2020). A Balancing Act: A Window into Online Student Engagement Experiences. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 17(1), 25.
Lear, J. L., Ansorge, C., & Steckelberg, A. (2010). Interactivity/Community Process Model for the Online Education Environment. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 6(1), 71–77.
Martin, F. & Bolliger, D.U. (2018). Engagement matters: Student perceptions on the importance of engagement strategies in the online learning environment. Online Learning 22(1), 205- 222.
Moore, M. J. (1993). Three types of interaction. In K. Harry, M. John, & D. Keegan (Eds.), Distance education theory (pp. 19-24). New York: Routledge.
Discussions
Some students have chosen to be represented as a dinosaur, others as their cat or dog, an ice cream or another symbol. I always commence with a dancing girl in red – think of an emoji as a type of avatar. If you were an emoji what would you be?
Please share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below.