The session will focus on three objectives related to online course delivery. Those objectives are 1) engagement tools and techniques, 2) how to foster a transformative faculty to student relationship, and 3) strategies to create an engaging online learning community.
This session will provide best practices that can help engage students in an online teaching and learning environment. The session will have three specific learning objectives.
- Understand how engagement tools and techniques can positively influence overall student learning.
- Understand how engagement can foster a transformative faculty to student relationship.
- Demonstrate strategies and activities for creating an engaging teaching and learning community.
The focus of this discovery session will include interactive questions for the audience and real-world examples. For example, one section of the presentation will be to discuss engagement activities that can be done effectively in an online course. The attendees will get practical examples that have been and are currently being used by the presenters in their online courses. The list of activities is extensive, if any are not able to be discussed during the allotted presentation time, they will be detailed in the provided supplemental hand-out. Attendees will be prompted to add to the list of activities. Additionally, attendees can provide insight on any engagement activities listed that they have used and how they worked for them. Further, research on engagement obtained from online course students will be shared from a study conducted by one of the presenters. A major overarching objective is for the attendees at this session to walk away with information they can use that will engage students in an online course and will boost student’s academic success.
What will be explored during this presentation? All of the bulleted elements listed below will compose the content of this educational session.
- What is engagement? Student to student and faculty to student
- How does engagement differ online?
- Why and how does it matter? Leads to student success, builds a connection
- Data from Research
- Engagement Strategies
- Presence
- Course Organization
- Starting off well
- Knowing your online students comfort level with LMS and other technical aspects
- Frequent check-ins and feedback
- Communication preferences and learning mode(s) may not match self-directed nature of online learning
- Engagement Activities (all of these may not be able to be discussed during presentation, but all will be provided on a detailed hand-out for attendees)
- Welcome video – share your story
- Creative course Icebreakers – post a picture that is important, LMS scavenger hunt, List of favorites (find other classmates that share at least one fav – favorite color, movie, food, dog breed, vacation spot, etc.).
- Video and audio files (use for feedback, discussion board prompts, and “lecture”)
- Scaffolding and Chunking of Content
- Encourage students to audio/video as response in course to you and to classmates
- Give choices on project – written or media (video or PowerPoint with audio)
- Discussion Boards – not an assignment! Participate as a faculty member
- Web 2.0 elements – blogs and wikis
- Group work – Zoom, Skype, Big Blue Button