Student engagement is often a point of contention for online instructors because they do not have the benefit of sharing the same physical space with their students. In this session, we will summarize, synthesize, and discuss research on student engagement and identify methods to increase engagement in fully-online courses by maximizing instructor presence!
In online courses, students can easily feel isolated and disengaged if they do not have opportunities to communicate and collaborate with their instructor and peers. Keeping students engaged is an essential component of effective online teaching and helps to promote student success and learning. This presentation will summarize and synthesize research about student engagement, and share methods to increase engagement, in order to create an enjoyable experience for both instructors and students in the online classroom. At the end of this session, you will be able to do the following: (1) Recognize the dimensions of instructor presence. (2) Define the dimensions of student engagement. (3) Discuss and identify methods for increasing student engagement in your own online course(s).