Student engagement is important for student success in a virtual college classroom. Students feel comfortable being silent and remain inactive behind the computer screen making the instructor to second guess if the students are engaged in learning. Creative activities can significantly improve student engagement in a virtual classroom.
Each academic year brings its own set of challenges and pedagogical lessons to learn, and this was more so during the COVID-19 pandemic. One major pedagogical and persistent challenge in the wake of the pandemic in the higher education setting was student engagement. In fact, in any learning environment, student engagement is fundamental for academic success and teaching excellence (Fredin et al., 2015). During the pre-pandemic period, it was feasible to provide hands-on activities that stimulated students’ curiosity and creativity. Students could optimize their learning experience by seamlessly interacting with the instructor. However, this was not the case when instruction shifted to a virtual classroom during the pandemic. Instructors were now faced with a critical challenge to develop ways to foster real human connections in the virtual classroom. It appears that student engagement needed a makeover.
Student engagement can be measured through observable behaviors such as attendance rate, classroom participation, academic achievement, and student behavior in the learning environment (Bond & Bedenlier, 2019). Essentially, these observable behaviors should also be evident in the virtual classroom. In a virtual classroom it was difficult to to expect student engagement to be a near clone of its predecessor. In face-to-face classrooms, there is an inherent setup for student engagement because students are in proximity and have round tables, movable chairs, and tableside whiteboards to interact with each other (Cotner et al., 2013). Students naturally showed interdependence and bonded with each other when given collaborative tasks. Moreover, the instructor could easily facilitate group activities by physically circulating and monitoring each group, and also paying attention to students’ body language and eye contact as indicators of student engagement, all in one space.
Student engagement had shifted to a whole other level in a virtual classroom. It was difficult to tell if students were cognitively and socially engaged. Despite clear expectations on student participation, there was lack of participation. There may be occasional response in the chat box or only same few students who volunteered their answers, asked questions, or contributed to the discussions. Lack of student engagement could also impact student success adversely. There was also a lack of community building because students did not interact with one another in group activities in the breakout rooms. Students too did not like being placed randomly in breakout rooms because their peers did not participate in any of the discussions. Most times, the students worked independently without interacting with each other.
Some creative techniques that can promote more effective student engagement in a virtual classroom are focused activities, providing questions to respond to ahead of time, use google docs for group activities, interactive activities that are available online, SpatialChat for group discussions instead of breakout room. In the focused group activity, activate the whiteboard on the virtual platform and write one or two academic or non-academic questions that encouraged students to share their thoughts. For example, “What is one miracle you are hoping for right now?” or “What is one thing you learned in your fieldwork placement this week?” Providing an enlarged picture of the topic of the day and ask, “What is going on here?” to spark conversations. Having a focused activity at the start of each lesson enables interaction between students and naturally creates a bond between them. Another activity to promote student engagement is giving questions ahead of time provided the students an opportunity to learn at their own pace and to have more control over the information they would like to share with their peers. Initially assign the questions to the students and over the semester, provide students with choices to respond to questions they know best. Assigning meaningful choices for each class not only builds students’ confidence but also gets them to take ownership of their own learning. For the group discussion, assign students a role (e.g., group discussion manager, note-taker, fact checker, presenter) to hold them accountable and to make sure their success is also dependent on other members in the group. This way, students will be more invested in their learning and read their weekly assigned materials to actively participate in the classroom.
Another method to keep student engaged in the classroom is to provide fun online interactive activities that grabs their attention. In the interactive activities, students provide answers and receive a score on how well they performed to incentivize them. SpatialChat, is an app that students could mingle freely in the virtual classroom and talk to a few students as they moved from one virtual table to another. Similar to the rotation station group activity in the face-to-face classroom, each student would have an assigned question to discuss or information to share. The student can move to another virtual table to share their ideas with other students.
When all the above does not produce positive results, the next best thing to do is to email the students. email. In the email communication, explain to students that being attentive in class is a good quality, but it is also important that they share their ideas and perspectives with their peers to construct knowledge. I Inform the students that support would be provided if they needed it to engage effectively in the classroom.
Students can be actively engaged in a virtual classroom when provided with appropriate activities, tools, and motivation. Redefining instructional practices to meet students’ needs will enhance student engagement and learning.
Level of Participation:
This session is a lecture but with interactive activities to show participants how they can use the suggested methods to improve student engagement in a virtual classroom. I would use these activities as I present them so that participants can have the first-hand experience on how to use the recommended tools.
Session Goals:
Individuals attending this education session will be able to discuss with the presenter on how to manage the tools and the content in the classroom. They will be able to describe how they can best use the recommended strategies in their classrooms.