Ensuring Engagement in an Online Learning Environment

In the age of online learning, many students will find it difficult to concentrated and stay engaged during lessons. This is why it’s important for teachers and lecturers to identify what students engage with and what steps they should take in order to provide a good learning experience. Joseph Nalloor, Program Coordinator for Undergraduate Media and Communications at Murdoch University Dubai, shares his tips to maintain engagement in an online classroom.

Don’t forget the importance of connecting with your students.  Building a rapport online can be far more challenging than it is in a face to face (F2F) classroom.

Where your passion may hold attention in the classroom, it can come across very differently in an audio format. The key here is to be creative with the tools in order to maximise engagement. Time needs to be spent to avoid a disconnect between you and the students, and among the students themselves. Use that little period at the start of the lecture to touch base and have a little chuckle about our new realities!

Don’t forget that students might like to still see you. Turning your video on – even if it’s not for the whole session (as bandwidth can be an issue) – might be a great way to mitigate any feelings of isolation and helps keep you connected. Always remember to speak slowly and clearly as your voice and content have to register with the students who are listening to you.

• Ask questions frequently, especially using the chat feature.
• Don’t ask more than one question at a time so that their responses are not confused.
• Use questioning effectively. You can give more depth to questions by asking them about the activity just completed or the concept just covered, at different levels: analysing (identify one concept you have learned), reflecting (why do you think it’s important?), relating (apply it to your life) and questioning (what question has it raised for you/are you still wondering about?).
• Use names and ask for the response of those who haven’t been answering in the chat.
• Gamify the online learning space. Let students earn ‘badges’ for anything they upload as a result of tasks and activities (including pictures of themselves working at the tasks). They can earn badges for both hard and soft skills. This could also be part of the assessment process and participation grades.
• Think about using Electronic portfolios – let students create one with their work during this time. There are lots of free options for these.
• Innovative assessment opportunities abound in the online space. If exams cannot be held, this is a great opportunity to explore alternatives.

Watch Joseph’s video on keeping students engaged in an online classroom here.