Best Ways to Improve Engagement of Students in Online ClassPosted by Anil Kumar on November 30th, 2020 If you’ve taught online, then you might have noticed how students wane over time. Students have problems keeping up with the course. Or on the other hand, they lose motivation because of a lack of support. Virtual learning poses multiple challenges. Students should have both discipline and motivation to learn within their confines. In the absence of face-to-face interaction, it will be much easier for a student to lose interest and relinquish without anyone noticing. An online course that only gives off information is no better than any other online course in the current competitive prevailing learning market. So your e-learning platform should stand out itself through offering courses that connect, engage and transform learners. These are some of the effective ways to improve and ensure student engagement in an online course: Prepare Students for Online Learning Students who are used to classroom learning may find it difficult to adjust to virtual learning. To help them thrive in this new learning environment, it's imperative to give them an introduction to online learning, their online course and about the learning management system of your e-learning platform. When they register your educational program for the first time, ask the students to spend a few minutes to go through the introduction to e-learning. Describe what makes e-learning distinct from classroom learning. Give them tips on planning and prioritising studies, on how to set goals, and how to manage time. Explain to them where they find the study materials, practice tests, assignments, and also how to interact with teachers. Teachers must go through the course materials, give estimates on how much time students should spend on the course, and must also review course requirements as well. Review Learning Outcomes Often The introductory video should also include a review of the course’s learning outcome. The course description should include the learning outcomes so that students get an idea of what they can expect as well as determine if the course is right for them or not. What students want is impact and not information. Describe what they will be able to do upon taking the course, and not the information about what the curriculum contains. Throughout the course, remind them of the results they can expect, once they stick to it. Teachers have to elucidate the aim of each course activity and link it to the course’s learning outcomes. Students are more likely to involve themselves in an activity and finish a work, once they understand how an activity will impact them and why they’re doing that activity. Improve Course Accessibility Student engagement may dwindle when students are not able to navigate your LMS easily whenever they need a course material, assessments, or anything relevant. Everything that they require should be in a place where they may automatically look for. Maintaining checklists for each module helps students to give an idea of how far they’ve come and how much they still have to go, giving them a sense of progress. Increase the Teacher’s Presence During an online class, the students must feel as if the teacher is right there wherever the student is. They feel more connected to teachers who interact with them, like a one-to-one interaction, through instructional videos. If a student hasn’t accessed the course for a while, then teachers need to get in touch with them and see what’s going on. They may want some encouragement or help. Such touchpoints will make a student feel less isolated and help them stay on track. Teachers should see to it that it’s easy for their students to contact them through email. Give some time so that students will be encouraged to speak up their problems, or ask questions. Deliver Content in Bite-sized Chunks The course material should be both easy to comprehend and retain. It can be done by delivering content in bite-sized chunks. Some psychologists opine that the attention span of students is no more than 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, their attention begins to dwindle. Clubbing content into segments with a duration of ten minute and then giving students ten minutes to understand is a great way to learn. Provide learners with a chance to recollect and review information, thereby committing it to their long-term memory. Teachers should keep their brain engaged through providing content in various formats, such as audio, video, text and voice over. Make Students to Take Action on What They Learnt Aid learners to go through the knowing-doing gap, by making them apply what they have learned immediately. Every lesson plan must include information followed by a learner’s action. Such actions could include-
Ask students open-ended questions that need a greater level of thinking and reflection. Also ask them to answer referring back to the content, which is another chance to revise the course material. Provide Timely Feedback Providing feedback has two benefits- it helps students feel a sense of progress and saves them from the isolation that they will otherwise have. Teachers should regularly provide feedback appreciating their good work, and at the same time, suggestions for improvement. Every now and then, teachers should make the most of videos to convey feedback and to create a personal sense of connection. Teachers need to model the kind of feedback and responses they want learners to give each other. During classes, ask them to go further and think of a particular topic from a different angle, or any activity that will make them recollect what they learnt and to commit it to long-term memory. Effective strategies should be put in place, for students to be as engaged as possible. This should be done at the very beginning of each online course. Through following each of these aforementioned steps, you can create an online course that encourages improved student engagement and learning success for a relatively long period of time.
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