It should be a given that engagement and interaction in an online learning environment is crucial. It fosters learning, broadens interactions, hones skills in written communication as well as professional etiquette. Moreover, it makes the class more fun and interesting for the students, the importance of which bears repeating. It should be enjoyable for the students!
The PLPnetwork article that was provided with the assignment (http://plpnetwork.com/2012/05/10/distance-learning-how-i-engage-students/) had a point that I have seen manifest in person. " In an online discussion, every voice is heard, from shy students and
learning disabled ones, even ones with special needs, who might not
ordinarily speak out."
I had a student in my Jr. High Careers VTC class who was exemplary in our class forums, with insightful posts and comments on her classmates' work. The next year I had her in my class when I taught in her school in person, and she was the most quiet, shy student. I'm not even sure what her voice sounds like, she was so reluctant to speak. The school staff assured me that is and has been her typical personality. Same person, different learning environment. Thus, we have a unique opportunity to help students find their voice.
I read over a few articles concerning engagement and for one reason or another I liked this one which is actually the summary and support materials from a past webinar on the topic. It has an easy-to-swallow little slideshow of tips and tidbits at the bottom which gave me some ideas and reminders.
http://blog.cengage.com/strategies-engage-students-in-online-courses/
Ideas I liked:
-A FAQ section
-An "additional resources" section, where the instructor and students both can add resources to broaden and expand upon subject materiail.
-Vary media. Get students accustomed to accessing a variety of media. This is an important skill set.
-Specificity of instructions.
-Provide a summary post at the end of online discussions.
-3-2-1 response.
Things I currently do to foster engagement:
I have the students introduce themselves in an intro forum, create a profile with pictures and basic interests, respond to discussion forums on various topics, create workplace scenarios for their peers to contemplate and respond to, collaborate to create definitions in a glossary, submit creative projects in forums so they can see and comment on each others' work.
Things I read that I want/need to improve upon:
-I'm going to create sections for FAQs and for additional resources. I want to utilize the additional resources as one means for differentiation. It can be a tool for students who are working ahead of their peers to have a chance to look deeper into the topics and share what they have found while their classmates were completing a task or assignment.
-I plan to establish a routine of completion instructions for each assignment and activity, so that my students will build a habit of knowing how they can excel in the assignments given, from one to the next.
-I love the idea of a 3-2-1 forum response as an exit ticket out of a unit, assignment or activity. (3 new things learned, 2 things they already knew, 1 question they have.)
Brian,
ReplyDeleteThis week I was reviewing a course design layout for a Quality Matters class that I am taking. The course I was reviewing had a FAQ link that I found extremely useful! Like you, I decided to add that to my list of modifications that I need for my edynamics course that I'm revising for my final project for this class. I also like your idea of varying the types of media that you plan to use within your course. It is important to do that to keep it fun! Fun for students was your first point, right? I worry about loading my course down with too many items that would bare too much of a load on the bandwidth in my rural sites.
Brian - You have some very good ideas for improvement!
ReplyDeleteI am trying to wrap my mind about the 3-2-1 forum at the end of the lesson for foreign languages... I would add a second 1 - try to answer to one of the other students' questions.
Based on my students feedback they love to feel connected with other students, so I am trying to expand on the idea of discussions trying to increase their opportunity for communicating in the target language with peers.