How do you get and keep students engaged in an online course? This is a critically important question.
Personal connection – that’s our answer.
Promoting social interaction, staying in constant communication, and building collaboration into the online learning environment is vital to student engagement.
We are by nature very social creatures. Interaction and the feeling of connection to others is an incredibly motivating force. In fact, when someone feels part of a team or connected to others, they are far more likely to do what’s asked of them or persevere when things get tough.
How is it that so many employees can successfully telecommute or work remotely? Because there’s so much technology at our fingertips that allows us to stay connected, even over great distances.
You’re an expert at teaching your course content, so let’s talk about ways to intentionally build personal interaction into the online classroom.
- Use Video
- Webcams should be on whenever possible! Students feel more connected when they can see you. Using your webcam humanizes you and makes the course more interactive. Otherwise, they’ll go through readings and assignments without ever seeing a real person.
- Students stay more engaged when they know you can see them too! If you hold live sessions, make video sharing a requirement.
- Worried about test proctoring? Have no fear! Just ask students to log in to an online meeting and turn on their videos during testing time (or check out our Hawkes-compatible proctoring solutions).
- Schedule At Least One Class Meeting
- Even if meetings are infrequent, have at least one early touch point so students see they’re not alone.
- Seeing peers’ faces early on increases participation in discussions and forums.
- Tools like Zoom, WebEx, and Google Hangouts make virtual meetings simple to host. Usually, it’s as easy as creating an account and sharing a link.
- Personalized Email
- Email is your go-to form of communication for individual outreach. A quick call can work too, but regular personal emails build connection.
- In addition to class-wide announcements, reach out directly. Personal attention increases engagement.
- If someone is falling behind, email them! Show them that someone cares and is paying attention.
- Consider automated messages triggered by activity, such as reminders or late notices. You can even personalize them with names using tags.
- Host Virtual Office Hours
- Office hours can easily be hosted online through video conferencing. Students can join whenever you’re available.
- Student satisfaction often depends on instructor availability. Virtual office hours make you accessible and supportive.
- For those who need extra help but won’t ask, personally invite them to attend office hours. Use technology and data to spot struggling students.
- Use features like whiteboards and screen sharing to make office hours collaborative.
- Post Discussion Boards
- Encourage collaboration through discussion boards. Most LMS platforms offer this feature and allow graded participation.
- Post open-ended questions, reflections, or prompts for students to share relevant experiences.
- Allow students to reply to each other’s posts and start new topics. It builds a sense of community and engagement.
- Include Group Activities
- Even when physically apart, group work fosters engagement and accountability.
- Include group discussion time in class meetings or require participation in study groups. Students can submit screenshots for proof.
- Tools like Zoom let you create breakout rooms for small group work. Check out this video tutorial to learn more.
- Hawkes’ companion sites also offer group-friendly projects, like this statistics activity.
Keeping students engaged through social connection in a digital environment is one of the biggest challenges—and one of the best investments for successful online learning!