Success! “Nontraditional Student Engagement: Increasing Adult Student Success and Retention.” The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 59(1), 10-20. No matter whether your school has full-time online options this year or has opted to develop a more extensive system of Hybrid Education, the online component of education is a very different world. References: Ask students early and frequently about course practices that should be continued and those that could be refined. Encouraging student engagement is especially important in the online environment where attrition rates are higher than in the face-to-face setting (Allen & Seaman, 2015; Boston & Ice, 2011). Want to learn how to put them into practice? Here, Hunzicker describes six strategies teachers can use to boost engagement in online and hybrid learning when classes resume later this summer.. 1. Boston, W. E., and Ice, P. 2011. Not only does this help students build connections with each other and with you, but it sends the message that in your online environment, you want students’ personalities to be able to shine through. Simplify. Adults are more likely to tell you that they feel an assignment is an empty academic exercise or just busywork. Ask for feedback Online learning is a whole new realm for most teachers and students. Not everyone agrees on what is meant by student engagement or how to achieve it. To that end, here are eight best practice strategies for engaging students in an online environment. Some of the best practice strategies that work in person will also work online, with modifications. Read on. When you combine strategies that not only help students function in the online environment, but also engage them in meaningful ways, that’s when you know everything is clicking in your online learning environment. … © 2020 Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning - All Rights Reserved. 1. Providing examples or models of well-written assignments is one way to ensure students focus on the assignment’s goals. Learn ab out the tools and tasks that stretch their brains while nurturing their natural creativity and curiosity. “Assessing Retention in Online Learning: An Administrative Perspective.” Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. Many students work via smart phones while on the move. “An Exploration of the Relationship Between Indicators of the community of inquiry Framework and Retention in Online Programs.” Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 14(1), 3-19. Please read these first if you have not already done so. For those who miss the online meeting, record the session and send out the link afterwards. This resource provides simple strategies that combine active learning principles with online tools so students can encounter and engage with information and ideas, and reflect on their learning. Because true PBL comes with a public presentation component, students learn how to achieve results in the real world via their online coursework. Journal of Teaching and Learning with Technology, 2 (1), pp. Online students attend class in their living rooms, in coffee shops and at the park. Some common personalized learning strategies for student engagement include: Involving students in academic goal-setting for themselves Giving students multiple opportunities to show their knowledge, from assessments to journal entries Using flipped instruction strategies to help students learn at their own pace Some students … Even if students attended, they may want to review that synchronous session as well. Strategies for faculty: Be present in discussion forums or blogs by responding to students’ posts, asking probing questions so as to model how you want students to ask more critical questions of their peers, encouraging students to ask probing questions to peer responses, and sending out emails or announcements, if needed, to spur the conversation on. Just as great brick-and-mortar classrooms feature teachers who create 360-degree feedback loops with their students and are responsive to student needs, great online classrooms feature educators who have mastered the art of providing and seeking feedback every day. 4. Project-based learning (PBL) is a great way to teach objectives and assess mastery of content standards, because it’s more than just “doing a project” - you are making the chosen project the entire unit of learning. / For a student, engaged = active and timely participation in an effort to understand the course material for more reasons than to pass an exam or get an A on a test, and to feel supported by the instructor to learn the material.”. Instead, you could meet with students live, but have prepared a video lecture ahead of time. But after immersing ourselves in this modality for a few years, we do have several practical ideas that might help you get the best out of this medium and create a compelling, engaging, enjoyable learning environment for students who might need that more than ever. During the past year and a half, our faculty development unit has been gathering data from students about how engaged they felt in their online courses. Your LMS should allow students to use creative (and school appropriate, of course!) Asking for help and support is a common desire among online students. The learning objectives of the workshop were twofold: Identify strategies that help overcome obstacles to student engagement and develop a plan to improve student engagement in your online course. Student engagement strategies guaranteed to transform your classrooms. I work with my peers to understand and explore the material. 1. Relevance and real-world application Then, require students to engage with each other in a positive way about their introductions. Cooperative Learning. Wyatt, L. G. 2011. Too little instructor participation causes and enables student apathy. Learner-to-instructor engagement strategies seemed to be most valued among the three categories. “It depends on the developmental level of the students, but students of all ages benefit from interactions that can occur most naturally through synchronous class meetings. You should consider doing the same! Timely feedback on assignments allows students to incorporate feedback for improvement on subsequent assignments. 1. Icebreaker/introduction discussions and working collaboratively using online communication tools was rated the most beneficial engagement strategy in the learner-to-learner category, whereas sending regular announcements or e-mail reminders and providing grading rubrics for all assignments was rated the most beneficial in learner to instructor category. The majority of teachers had little time to plan or prepare before their schools were closed and their students were sent home. 62-65. Obstacles to student engagement were broken down into … 25 Remote Teaching Tips To Engage Students In Distance Learning. Norman, M. (2017, June 16). Strategies for faculty: Be present in discussion forums or blogs by responding to students’ posts, asking probing questions so as to model how you want students to ask more critical questions of their peers, encouraging students to ask probing questions to peer responses, and sending out emails or announcements, if needed, to spur the conversation on. In many ways, teachers and administrators have to be more intentional about their engagement strategies in order to provide the best experience possible for students. Strategies for faculty: Making activities interesting and engaging for students usually involves providing opportunities for hands-on exploration. By in class, I mean that I read and thoughtfully work through the materials and assignments. Interaction and timely feedback The purpose of this was to identify pertinent studies on the important issue of student engagement strategies in online courses and student engagement strategies … Given the highly visible research on the National Study of Student Engagement (NSSE) and what it has revealed about engagement in the face-to-face environment, it makes sense to investigate the ways that engagement strategies can keep students enrolled in their online programs to completion and ensure they are learning what they need to succeed. As much as students complain about the challenges of group work, we have to remind them about how important collaborative skills are in the workplace. There is certainly value for students working at home to practice their basic skills — especially younger learners. Closing the COVID Gap: Proven Strategies for Virtual Student Engagement The brain responds to visuals fast, better than text or any other kind of learning material. Distractions come in a variety of forms, including noise, foot traffic, siblings, smells from cooking food, and visual attention-grabbers, such as construction work seen from the window. It’s also more engaging overall. http://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/gradelevel.pdf“>http://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/gradelevel.pdf. Engagement matters: Student perceptions on the importance of engagement strategies in the online learning environment. Their well-being. learning disabilities who may struggle even more when learning in a remote environment. Instead of slogging through traditional lectures, notes, quizzes, and summative assessments, students instead engage in meaningful, relevant, real-world projects that not only teach content, but teamwork, presentation skills, and empathy. Other best practice strategies are really geared toward the online learner, because the requirements of online learning are so different. It means that I have internalized the material. You can set up online meetings using conferencing tools like Adobe Connect or Zoom. Motivation/interest Many rubrics for online discussions exist on the Internet and can be used as is or adapted. Working in an online environment is often more difficult for students than the traditional in-person setting. Work backward from the context of remote teaching. “Grade Level: Tracking Online Education in the United States.” Babson Survey Research Group. Intersperse synchronous meetings to mix things up. Strategies for engagement in online courses: Engaging with the content, instructor, and other students. Finally, having students provide feedback to each other before final submission of an assignment will lead to a better quality product. Having students learn about new online tools, for example, gets them relating the tool(s) to practical applications in their own worlds. One best practice to account for this is to set clear expectations for all course discussions, assignments, communication requirements, and honesty about the time commitment that is expected of the students. The strategies revolved around two important domains: Instructor presence and teaching immediacy. Consider their lives. This is such a simple, but often overlooked, best practice. Use your students’ exploring, editing and creative skills. Part Three shared Strategies to ... learning in a virtual environment? On the flip side, too much instructor participation can stifle discussion and other forms of student participation. avatars and other customizable features: background colors, bios, message signatures, and more. Instead of the typical videoconferencing discussion format, I used cloud-based software and our learning management system (LMS) to have students brainstorm their answers to the same type of “big picture” content-related question. A new twist on show-and-tell: To get students comfortable with online participation, Brittany Collins, the teaching and learning coordinator at Write the World, a global online writing community for middle and high school students, converted … Online platforms lend themselves naturally to visual presentation, yet so many online course instructors think they have to stick with traditional direct instruction practices, like straight lecture or reading notes from an online presentation. For more student engagement strategies, contact Covideo to talk to a video expert or see our software in action. To that end, here are eight best practice strategies for engaging students in an online environment. Humans like to be rewarded. Creating an Active Distance Learning Environment. It’s okay for students to build and curate fun online course personalities! Last week, I ended up filling in for an online class due to an emergency staff absence. 20 million students, educators, parents, and admins have. Introducing content in the context of building relationships is always powerful, no matter the learning format. Student comment: “Engaged means not only to interact with students but to have a clear understanding of the concepts and apply them to real-world situations.”. Keeping online students engaged in an environment filled with distractions is one of the chief problems in distance learning today. Having a rubric to guide students’ work helps them focus on clearly articulated expectations and helps faculty write comments directly related to the rubric. Instead, I tried to teach an engaging content-related lesson on day one that would basically serve as a “hook” for the entire course. In an in-person environment, I liked to turn the class loose on a “big picture” question and spend the entire first class talking about ideas before relating it back to what we planned on studying for the year. Preparing a video lecture allows you to edit in other visual resources, from other videos to presentations, instead of trying to lecture live the whole time. Part Two was on Five Ways to Boost Student Participation in Remote Learning. For example, use a student question from a post as a springboard to get students … At the beginning of each course, have students post an appropriate picture of themselves as well as an introduction to a separate discussion area in the course. Research provides evidence for the connection between higher student engagement and persistence and retention in online programs (Boston, et al., 2010; Wyatt, 2011). 3. If you schedule a couple of meeting times in a given week, you may get most students to attend. In 2013, Chin-min Hsiung found strong evidence that students perform “substantially better” in classroom tests after cooperative learning. Kristopher Wiemer, instructional technology specialist at Philadelphia University, encourages instructors to adopt active-learning strategies such as hands-on activities, interaction, and research “to make sure students are engaged and aren’t just sitting there like sponges.”. The strategies revolved around two important domains: Instructor presence and teaching immediacy. Using a variety of tools to present content is motivating—students learn in different ways—and if you provide variety and choice, that strategy should enhance interest and motivation. Students like myself should be interacted with in various ways, not only through assignments and quizzes, but also through exercises, training, forums, and discussion. Present Clear Objectives. Students get the opportunity to collaborate, help each other, and practice effective communication skills and time management, which are also essential career skills. Relationships are the most important element of any learning format, but they are especially critical when students are online, because students can feel disconnected from the course and isolated from each other if they are not tended to. Good assignments involve students using research skills, developing ideas for a product, or solving a problem that requires creative thinking skills. Student comment: “Engagement occurs on multiple levels: personal, in class, out of class. This series of videos presents some strategies for boosting student engagement in the context of blended or online modules. These five online teaching strategies will help you increase engagement and retention for both kids and adults. In larger classes, this may be challenging but not impossible. Another teacher and I share strategies to encourage student collaboration in a remote or hybrid learning environment, including through group presentations and class-created "norms." The following are seven effective ways to increase online student engagement in the learning process. The purpose of this was to identify pertinent studies on the important issue of student engagement strategies in online courses and student engagement strategies … Therefore,... #2: Enable Students to Monitor Their Own Progress. I want to know more about it and I can extend what I have learned in class to my personal interests and profession.”. Students are human. Therefore, various engagements should tap into our professional backgrounds, and this would make us better students.”, Student comment: “For an instructor, engaged = active participation and timely response/feedback with the end goal of helping a student succeed. You should also reach out to your center for teaching and learning for additional resources and guidance. We wanted to use this data to develop a variety of strategies for faculty to use to better engage their students. Start with students. Just as the holy grail of in-person instruction is to be able to sit back and facilitate student to student discussion, the holy grail of online discussion boards is to be able to stimulate thoughtful, substantive student to student posts and responses. I wrote some about this recently: “You can also argue that this isn’t your ... 2. In particular, without the right strategies, it may be difficult to generate the same level of interest, participation, and overall ‘buy-in’ that you would tend to get in traditional classrooms. I understand it or I am trying to understand and apply it. Many of us have extensive working experience in the field, but we often do not know how to relate it to the course. To keep students engaged, return online assignments quickly and with substantive feedback. Their day. Use the information in the pre-course surveys to strategically form teams for assignments where diversity is emphasized. Focus tasks on worthy goals and meaningful learning. Learning and Teaching Planning Framework; Online Learning Principles; Accessibility Considerations Active learning: Create a teaching and learning environment primed for student participation, such as calling on students to answer a question, individual reflection, think pair share and group problem-solving. In many ways, teachers and administrators have to be more intentional about their engagement strategies in order to provide the best experience possible for students. Hold synchronous class meetings. Icebreaker/introduction discussions and working collaboratively using online communication tools were rated the most beneficial engagement strategies in the learner-to-learner category, whereas sending regular announcements or email reminders and providing grading rubrics for all assignments were … We gained valuable insights from students when we asked: “Define what it means to you to be engaged in a course.” Below are student quotes for each theme that emerged and some strategies for encouraging engagement. Strategies for faculty: Many online students are working adults, so making course content applicable to their real-world experiences is very important to keeping them engaged. One definition of student engagement is “the amount, type, and intensity of investment students make in their educational experiences.” Here are a few ideas for increasing and ensuring higher levels of student engagement in online courses: 1. Student Engagement: 5 Strategies to Motivate the Online Learner (Updated July 2020) #1: Reward Students’ Successes. http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer142/boston_ice142.html“>http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer142/boston_ice142.html. I never handed out textbooks on the first day, and I usually waited until at least day two to hand out a syllabus. 7 Educators Share Ideas for Teaching Digital Citizenship, 3 Reasons Now is a Great Time for Competency-Based Education, post an appropriate picture of themselves as well as an introduction, too much instructor participation can stifle discussion and other forms of student participation. You can use a student question from a post as a springboard to get students motivated to participate team. Student perceptions on student engagement strategies for the online learning environment importance of engagement strategies guaranteed to transform your classrooms keeping online students learning! 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