Engaging students online
In a recent BBC Radio 4 programme on this year’s university experience, one student caller complained that there was not enough contact in his new ‘blended’ course. But, the interviewer countered, the (leading) university in question told us they have been communicating a great deal. Yes, they have, the student replied, but this was, ‘just lots of emails with links to videos’.
It’s not what he wanted, and not what he paid his fees for.
The student’s reply tells us a lot about expectations; but also about engagement. The videos may have been very professional, but what he wanted was some personal contact, ideally with a human tutor.
I’m not suggesting we need to respond personally to each individual, but there’s a lot we can do to make the university experience more engaging.
What does ‘engaging’ mean?
The term ‘engaging’ is sometimes taken to mean slick and entertaining online content, rather than to engage by involving and interacting with students.
Delivery of content — however wonderful — lacks the engagement of communication. Watching a film or reading content is passive; communication involves two people in conversation.
So how can we make the online experience more engaging?
It’s not all about you!
The first time I taught, I agonised over my presentations, until I realised, with some relief, that students were more engaged when they interacted. The simplest classroom trick is to ask a question, which, whilst interactive, will make most students uncomfortable.
It’s about the conversation.
The most boring person at the party is the one who talks at you. We come to life when asked about our experiences or what we think. That is because the conversation changes to what interests us — be it a passion for bee keeping or climate change.
One step then, to engage, is to make your content more relevant to your audience.
Finding out about the learners ahead of a workshop is what experienced facilitators do: by emailing an online survey or a poll ahead of a session, to tailor delivery to their audience.
Online, it’s about resetting our approach so it encourages students to participate.
It’s about participating
Responding to your audience is important: but to engage more deeply, involve students in activity where they need to participate — be it online discussions, sharing ideas, group work or peer reviews.
Online used to be all about consuming content. But now that there are so many social tools that can be integrated, there are multiple opportunities for learners to engage and interact with each other and with the content. The explosion in online technology makes many ways of interacting online available to us.
As an online learning designer I know focusing only on ‘pushing’ out content is a rookie error; designing good learning experiences is not just about understanding the audience, and making content interactive, but also building in opportunities for a learning community to develop and interact.
So consider the roles of the community: the student and the group in the activities you plan. Your role is not solely to produce and review content: can you engage (sic) students in doing so and deepen their engagement that way?
Students can lead online groups; create content online, feed back to other students or act as peer reviewers.
So to sum up, in true education style, is a mnemonic: PREP of tips!
P is for personal
- Students want to meet a person — not a ‘university’ brand, so use a human tone in emails and in videos
- Be yourself — research shows we respond better to the human hesitation over a slickly professional delivery.
- On online live sessions, encourage students to put on their cameras on so you can all see each other (even if just at the start).
- Say hello and have an ice-breaker.
- Use the chat function to gather questions and answer them at the end — use first names.
R is for responsiveness
- Do provide a way for students to contact you — but don’t overload yourself by setting the expectation you will immediately respond.
- Use informal and quicker forms of communicating such as messaging.
- Consider when, how and how often you can respond to or send personal messages.
- Comment on their work and give feedback.
R is also for relevance!
- Make content relevant to your audience.
- Break up online calls or content with questions or online polls on their views and respond to the answers.
- Personal stories can engage large audiences - this is a driving factor behind the success of TED talks.
E is for Experience
- Involve students by asking them to relate learning to their own experiences where it’s appropriate.
- Make learning an experience — bring in real-world activities — students could interview others outside class.
- Engage students in inquiry to give ownership of learning to students.
- Use online tools to ask for opinions, experiences, give feedback and invite feedback.
P is for participation
- Design group activities so all get involved and participate.
- Make sure there are no barriers to participation - that all can access your content.
- In online calls, divide large groups into smaller groups (set up rooms)
- Join rooms to join in. Join online discussion forums, add comments to prompt and facilitate good interaction.
- Use functions that encourage interaction — such as ‘comments’ and ‘likes’ on online boards.
So, for deeper engagement online: PREPare - it also takes the pressure off you!
References
Larry DeBrock, Norma Scagnoli and Fataneh Taghaboni-Dutta (March 18, 2020) The Human Element in Online Learning https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2020/03/18/how-make-online-learning-more-intimate-and-engaging-students-opinion