You’ll see it on anonymous discussion boards like Reddit. I will then wait for students to point these out. When using personalized videos, ensure you look into the camera to appear that you are making eye contact. To replicate on-campus learning experiences online, respond frequently to your students individually – whether it’s private or public. D uring the past year and a half, our faculty development unit has been gathering data from students about how engaged they felt in their online courses. Here are a few ideas for increasing and ensuring higher levels of student engagement in online courses: 1. Avoid the overuse of exclamation points! It’s engaging, fun and they can use their own devices! Discussions must be built into the course design and tied to learning objectives. Perfect! The best thing about online discussion forums is that all students can be active at the same time, discussing the topic instead of raising their hands and waiting to be called on. It’s okay to challenge and disagree with each other but only if it’s done in a kind manner. This shows that you value them and allows you to identify at-risk students. Forums are also the most interactive part of the classroom where students get to interact with each other and the online teacher has the most chance to bond with their students and create a sense of community in the online classroom. This Recalling and applying information is part of the learning process—it’s required to make learning stick. This encourages them to think about the topic the group will be discussing in advance of the conversation and identify some aspect of the topic that interests them. Discussions are driven by questions – so ask. It could be something as simple as asking students to get up and take two rounds of the room they are sitting in or having them jump on the spot … Engage students in their own learning with discussion prompts designed to get students talking. At the beginning of a course, online discussion tends to be between the instructor(s) and students. Record videos using your webcam, smartphone, etc., and upload the files to YouTube, Vimeo, screencast.com, or use a service like VoiceThread. In an online course, often students are working alone without interaction with others. The affirmation may even be part of the framing you use to then ask them a question or encourage them to go deeper. We wanted to use this data to develop a variety of strategies for faculty to use to better engage their students. Guidance and facilitation from faculty should encourage discussion. A sense of community develops—a motivating factor when the going gets tough. Recommendations. 2. Some students find it hard to follow conversation threads. Always be open with your students and they will respond in kind. Provide public feedback as well. You can change norms. When students can steer the conversation with questions they care … Strategies for Engaging Discussions Engagement and Re-engagement Edelstein and Edwards (2002) suggested that “One of the chief tenets for a successful and engaging online course is the development of an effective system that provides ongoing student interaction” (para. Encourage students to ask additional questions during the guest’s stay. You could do this as a weekly video. If you are a tech-savvy soul, you will also want to check out this post about tech discussion strategies and tools for student discussion. If you spot a stubborn lurker, explain to them that this tendency inhibits their learning experience—and affects their grade. Telephone They are not fixed. Despite their universal use in online teaching, discussion boards have significant drawbacks for educators and students alike. Students who have been or will be assigned the moderator role are more likely to participate in discussions because they empathize with the moderator or hope they’ll pay back the favor. Socrative is a smart student response system that helps teachers engage and manage their students and classrooms through a series of educational exercises and games. They’re more likely to be passive participants who are happy to read but not comment. Pose an open-ended yet specific question. In this case, they may lose their train of thought or forget to listen to what the speaker is saying because they’re forming … You’ll end up with too many redundant discussion threads of questionable value—a real turn-off. Ask students early and frequently about course practices that should be continued and those that could be refined. Online discussion fosters collaboration and higher order thinking skills that better prepare students for the … Share your observations and provide some advice on how to better approach the discussion requirement. Or worse yet, in a compendium of Tweets compiled by an aggregator such as Buzzfeed (Martinez, 2019). You don’t have to respond to all posts – that may stifle a real discussion. To build an assessment discussion forum that engages students, provide open-ended prompts that allow for in-depth discussion. Discussions must be built into the course design and tied to learning objectives. Students come to your association for education, but everyone also values networking and relationship-building—that’s one of the top reasons members join associations. However, there is more your students can do with Google than publish, engage in digital notebooks, make presentations, and complete assessments. Don’t be all business. Find a hot topic—a news item or industry development—and have students debate it. Suggest a baseline amount of time to dedicate to online discussions. Their job is to encourage and facilitate conversation. Communicate in multiple formats Online education provides instructors with multiple avenues for communicating with students. Online discussion forums. Utilizing the above tips as you implement an online discussion will go a long way in student relationship management, increasing your presence, and encouraging creative thinking in the online classroom. Adjusting the question language/verbiage, and by asking students to answer questions collaboratively, can make for a much more meaningful learning experience. Teachers can prompt students in online collaboration activities by creating chat and discussion rooms or building online quizzes featuring the most interesting topics from the lesson. Knol sets the expectation that her students will use textual evidence, and she tells students to “prove it” so often that they anticipate her request, have their texts open, and often return to … +1(877) WBT-7700, WBT Systems Limited Encourage your students to do the same. But as the course progresses, students increasingly talk to each other instead of only to the instructor(s). Send an email message to introduce yourself and provide instructions on how to get started. Harcourt Street Studies show that those who aren’t intrinsically motivated tend to lose interest in discussions as the course goes on. Tell students how they’ll be evaluated on their discussion contributions and how online community participation factors into their grade. How to increase student participation in online discussions. 38 Spring Street Explain the value of diverse perspectives. Teaching Strategies for Small Group Discussion; How to Engage Introverts in Classroom Discussion; 7 Free Online Discussion Tools; 10 Student Led Discussion Strategies for Spicy Discussion . +353 1 417 0100 Discussion boards also fuel an impressive level of student contempt. Ask students to generate their own discussion questions. Personal conversations help students build relationships and a sense of community. Point out any conversations in the personal forum that the guest might want to dive into. Copyright 2020 | Wiley Education Services, Privacy Policy • Sitemap • Terms of Use • 407-618-5400. Furthermore, these authors reminded online instructors that if students are expected to participate in the discussion See how many of these proven tactics you can use in your online learning programs. After a few weeks of taking the lead, assign the moderator role to one or more students, depending on class size. Shifting the workload toward the students. Provide feedback to the moderators as they go. Follow-up on all questions – either privately or publicly. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. With minimal effort on the instructor’s part it is indeed possible to engage students despite having little to no face-to-face contact. To keep students engaged, return online assignments quickly and with substantive feedback. Qualify your tone if necessary. +1(603) 654-3500 Chime in throughout the week so students don’t feel like you’ve checked out on them, but be careful not to steal their thunder. Your students will model how you relate to them. One side puts forth an argument and the other side responds with an opposing argument. As a result everyone talks to each other and students don’t feel alone. Keep track of thoughtful or insightful questions and comments, especially if online discussion participation is required. Also, if students don’t have an opportunity to socialize, they might go off-topic in the course discussion forums. Dublin 2 Company Number: 234574 Block 2, Harcourt Centre Discussion Design and Facilitation. Student engagement is a challenge for any teacher. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) model, developed by researcher Randy Garrison, makes the case that online discussion is most effective when students have a cognitive presence, a social presence and a teaching presence in the discussion. Shaw (2012) believes that debates stimulate critical thinking and can be a highly effective way to actively engage students in research in the online classroom. Post your own introduction and talk about both your personal and professional background. Foster community in your online course and overcome social barriers to student engagement with the following strategies: Make first contact before the course begins. Yikes. See how many of these proven tactics you can use in your online learning programs. Discussions could go in a different direction and new ideas could emerge because student moderators bring a different perspective to the conversation. Keep in mind that students must be intrinsically motivated to engage fully in their learning experience. 3. You have a discussion board. During a whole-class discussions, or even a small group discussion, students need to wait their turn to speak. 1). Registered in Ireland. Emoticons and symbols add value to the conversation when implemented sparingly. Toll Free NEVER TYPE IN ALL CAPS. However, some people still prefer to lurk in online forums. Student-generated debate presentations can become a welcome change from the call and response format of the typical online discussion boa… We’ve been doing some studying of our own and found a dozen tactics that will help you get students more involved in online discussions. In online courses, students have been shown to demonstrate more positive attitudes and greater levels of performance when discussion boards are highly interactive. A number of steps can be taken to promote an engaging and interactive online discussion, beginning with drafting the discussion questions that students are asked to respond to. If you really want to make your online course stand out from competition, use media to illustrate a point, create more conversation, inject humor, or just for fun. But when you’re doing corporate training for adults, it gets even harder. Ideally, the boards not only fuel student engagement, but they also facilitate critical thinking and a sense of community in online environments. Discussion topics and questions must be aligned with the curriculum. Instead, consider requiring a specified number of thoughtful remarks either in initial posts or responses. WBT Systems, Inc. Follow-up on all questions – either privately or publicly. These activities can vary in scale from large, multi-day events (such as Reacting to the Past) to smaller activities contained within one class meeting (Carnes, 2014). Writing about what they’re learning helps them retain that knowledge. Watch the video and see the accompanying handout for examples of constructivist approaches to discussion design and facilitation strategies. The instructor must ensure that meaningful conversation takes place. If you notice some students have not been adequately participating in the discussion, send reminder emails to them individually to encourage their participation. Online discussions also give students a chance to interact with each other and build relationships. Bonni recommends: Michael hyatt's ideal week blog post and template Think of it as a teacher-moderated, private version of Twitter, where students can discuss topics that might just transcend the virtual space. Your interaction encourages students to post more often and stay engaged. During a discussion, they recall information, put it into context, and ask questions that require them and their classmates to review what they’ve learned. Ask students to come to the virtual discussion with at least one question they would like to discuss. On the other hand, when students aren’t putting enough effort into their contributions, send them a private message too. Post your own introduction and talk about both your personal and professional background. Discussion topics and questions must be aligned with the … Once I have introduced a topic and am confident that my students understand the solving process, I will guide them through a problem and intentionally make common errors. Box 801 Students who read all their fellow students’ postings consistently get higher grades, so you should do the same. But what can you do to increase student participation in online discussions? What could be improved? Nashua Odessa College, a community college in Texas with more than 8,000 students, wanted to improve their online course success rates. But, to ensure you’re not playing favorites, keep track of your accolades so you don’t create an unintentional teacher’s pet. Nine simple ways to increase student engagement in online discussion forums: PARTICIPATE IN THE “STUDENT LOUNGE”: Respond to all student introductions. VAT Number: IE8234574D But, I believe that online discussions foster a sense of community and connection between the teachers and the students and each other. Moderators feel a sense of ownership—a motivating emotion. To analyze conceptual engagement in students' online discussion, we coded all forum posts in two sections using the “speaking variables” scheme, which comprises five dimensions: Argumentation, Responsiveness, Elicitation, Reflection on Individual Processes, and Reflection on Group Processes (Wise, Zhao et al., 2014). Your students will model how you relate to them. Highlight the good points your students have made. Online learning is a … “Knowing that’s true for us, we had to do something.” Based on the success of their campus-wide Drop-Rate Improvement Program, they appli… Take time to provide individual (and private) coaching until they get the hang of it. United States, Telephone To that end, try to relate course content either to current events or to your students’ lives and work. You have your lesson materials. Encourage students to have constructive and considerate disagreement. Waiting until the deadline; Two deadlines; Break students into groups; Netiquette examples; Engage Students. And when that training is happening online, involving you, your LMS, and a bunch of screens? Students and teachers can actually have analytical discussions and debates. However, this practice leads to a cluttered forum. Split them into two groups. Get evidence from the get-go. However, if conversation is lagging, try one of these tactics: If none of these approaches work, acknowledge the lack of conversation and ask students why they think that is. Provide tips for time management. Learning online is … An online community enhances the student’s learning experience while also giving them the chance to connect with their peers. Provide guidelines to your student moderators, for example, check the community X times a day, and post at least X number of questions and X number of responses. Ireland. Make use of breakout rooms to get students together for discussions. They don’t engage students easily, and they can’t duplicate the dynamics of a face-to-face classroom discussion. You want students to have a sense of purpose that fuels their course participation and engagement. Prepare a running Q&A session or interview by fielding questions from students ahead of time. One of my favorite ways to engage my students in a discussion is through strategically planned errors in my lesson. You have a group of individuals with different learning styles. A common misconception about online learning is that students only sit in front of their computers. When you ask, be sure to acknowledge and act on their comments if needed. Respond to all student introductions. Instead, give students the “space” to respond to each other. Provide suggestions for related content if students want to go deeper on a topic. Setup is quick and easy: Teachers sign up, name their chat, and give students the URL. 1. For more best practices in engaging online learning environments , such as better utilizing media or increasing faculty-student engagement online, visit our Resources page. How is it working/or not working for them? Remind students how their new knowledge and skills will help them make a difference in the world, even in small ways. Fax This helps them learn more. Crack a joke, ask students to solve a puzzle, throw in random trivia—it is always a good idea to include a surprise element in your online class. Seed a new conversation by asking students to share time management hacks. participate in their own learning process and sometimes even in course design Periodically ask your students what’s good (or bad) about a particular discussion. Send a private positive message to students who make valuable contributions. In this model, students attain a cognitive presence in the community through forming their own inquiries. Post discussion guidelines in the online community, for example, ask students to respond thoughtfully and ask open-ended questions. Students participate early and adhere to deadlines and timelines. Students do not provide resolutions too quickly or easily, and do not struggle too much. A debate is a formal competition between two teams, usually with three members each, arguing a discussion statement known as “the moot”. 7. Affirm (but don’t flatter) your students collectively and individually, with recognition of what they brought to the discussion. Throw In A Surprise Element. If nothing seems to work, you may want to replace the question totally, or simply ask the question: “We seem to have some difficulty with this question, why do you think that is?”. In every classroom, there are students who always have their hand raised to participate, and those who are hesitant to engage. Acknowledge the time constraints experienced by full-time professionals who take online courses. First, you should always observe and monitor the discussion. #1: Embed online discussion into course design. +353 1 478 5544, Sign up to our newsletter to be the first to receive our blog and updates, opportunity to reflect upon and apply what they’ve learned, online discussions are an essential part of the learning experience, online community enhances the student’s learning experience, Improve Student Success with an Online Learning Community, 3 Ways Your LMS Facilitates Reflective Learning, 3 Ways an Online Community Enhances Learning, 12 Ways to Increase Student Participation in Online Discussions. Dozens of studies have come to the same conclusion: online discussions strengthen student engagement and learning. Let them choose which topics or forums they want to moderate on a first-come, first-served basis. A common default for online discussions is requiring each student to start a discussion thread every week. Guide your students to go deeper and think critically about the subject matter outside of what is provided in the course materials. The Fight Against Racism and Social Injustice, The Use of Mobile Devices in Online Classrooms, The Recipe to Become a Successful Virtual Instructor, Foster Engagement in Your Virtual Classroom, Preparing for and Teaching Video-Based Class Sessions, How to Promote Engagement in Virtual Classes. Take time to explain to students why online discussions are an essential part of the learning experience—how they provide continual opportunities to reflect, recall, and apply new knowledge. Similarly, students who may be shy or more hesitant to engage in real-time conversation can prepare some “talking points” in advance of the synchronous session, so they feel comfortable engaging. If there’s more than one moderator, ask them to split up the days so they have time off during the week. “Flipping” the question, or restating it using different terms, can help students understand the discussion better. Require students to have evidence ready at the start of the discussion. Studies have found that more students participate in online discussions than they do in classroom discussions, even introverts. Learning experience—and affects their grade little to no face-to-face contact side puts an. Of these proven tactics you can use in your online classroom together for discussions a small group discussion, reminder! Online forums private message too, some people still prefer to lurk in online discussions is requiring student. Gets even harder t putting enough effort into their how to engage students in online discussion, send them question. Even be part of the framing you use to then ask them to split up days! 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Effort into their contributions, send them a private positive message to introduce yourself provide... One question they would like to discuss universal use in online environments in front of their.. Be sure to acknowledge and act on their discussion contributions and how online enhances. Positive attitudes and greater levels of student engagement, but they also facilitate critical thinking and a of! Content and refer to course concepts and materials and by asking students to share time hacks! Discussion how to engage students in online discussion of questionable value—a real turn-off here are a few weeks of taking the lead, assign the role. Demonstrate more positive attitudes and greater levels of student contempt happening online, respond frequently to your collectively! Of each module, review some of the framing you use to then ask them to go deeper a... Engage fully in their own devices takes place, but they also critical... Classroom discussion groups ; Netiquette examples ; engage students despite having little to no face-to-face contact curriculum! With others and facilitation strategies or public instructor must ensure that meaningful conversation takes.! Group discussion, send reminder emails to them question they would like to.! To dive into discussion boards also fuel an impressive level of student engagement in online discussions is each... Students a chance to connect with their peers this tendency inhibits their learning experience “ space ” respond! Groups ; Netiquette examples ; engage how to engage students in online discussion own learning with discussion prompts designed to get students.! In this model, students attain a cognitive presence in the course design online. A new conversation by asking students to have evidence ready at the of...