Keeping Students Engaged Online

It often feels easier to assess levels of engagement in face-to-face classes. As you scan the crowd, you can gauge the energy level and note the number of faces that appear confident, unsure, or completely bewildered. Most of us teaching in face-to-face classes adjust on the fly based on the social cues we receive from students. In online environments, this can feel a bit trickier; however, there are ways to foster engagement when students are participating online.  

 

Synchronous Online Practice—Bring groups of students together in real-time to work with you. You can use zoom or Microsoft Teams feature in Canvas to share information virtually with students in real time. If you use the whiteboard feature or a whiteboard app, students can watch as you solve a problem or annotate a diagram and they can also be working simultaneously with you. If students have questions, they can easily ask them in these small groups, especially when you intersperse, “What questions do you have?” throughout your session.

 

Engaging with the Content—Regardless of the course structure, we want students to engage deeply with the content. How can we ensure that students watch the videos and complete the readings while thinking critically about the content? Low-stakes quizzes are one way to ensure that our course’s materials are prioritized. Another mechanism for helping students think meaningfully about the content is through the use of “notes with gaps” or note-taking guides. Not only does a notetaking guide help students recognize key ideas, it also provides a structure that was created by an expert in the field. In this way, your expert mental connections become transparent for students. Dr. Kristi Dickey’s presentation Creating Deep Learning Experiences: Helping Students Make Connections, offers theory (Part I & Part II), teaching strategies (Part III), and an excellent example (Part IV and Note-Taking Guide) of how this could be structured.

 

Build in Early Success—Structure the course in such a way that material builds over time. Include easier assignments near the start of the semester that allow for student success and that prepare students for future assignments. Does the course have a huge capstone project? Look for ways to break it into manageable chunks (see Frequent Feedback section). Is there a challenging paper that students will write? Perhaps one course assignment is a draft of this paper and a second course assignment is the final version. Students can receive a small number of points for the draft and receive feedback from you. Then they have the opportunity to revise and improve prior to submitting the final draft which is worth a significant number of points. Similarly, students could receive peer feedback on an assignment prior to submitting the final version.

 

Frequent Feedback—It is easy to feel isolated as a student in an online environment. When the feelings of isolation combine with feelings of uncertainty, it becomes very easy to disengage. However, as an instructor you can combat this by providing frequent feedback. Your feedback helps students feel supported and encourages them to stay on track. Comment on students’ posts on the discussion board. Create mini-assignments that build to a final complete assignment—such as several portions of a paper that lead to the final complete draft—and offer feedback on each of these smaller assignments. Offer optional synchronous sessions that students may attend to receive additional support. When you notice a common misconception, post a Canvas announcement that will keep students from going too far astray.

 

Message Students Who…—In Canvas, you can message students through the Gradebook based on certain criteria. One option is “Message students who scored more than…” and could be used to congratulate the hard work of those who passed the first exam. Another option is “Message students who scored less than…” and could be used to remind students who didn’t do as well that they can still pass the course and that you are willing to help them. Do you notice that several students have not turned in an assignment? You can “Message students who have not submitted the assignment” and tell them that you are looking forward to seeing their work.