After researching the areas individually, students could work in groups to brainstorm, debate, and form a consensus on the initial question posed by the instructor. This type of assignment is timely, relevant, interesting, and can be readily assessed. 

I was pleased to see that I already use all of the suggested 'low-risk' engagement strategies in my online course. However, I do not often get feedback from the students on how these strategies are received. This may be because of the current culture we are experiencing;  texts go unanswered, thank you notes are a thing of the past, etc.  Perhaps the student feedback on instructor evaluations may be the only way to get feedback of this nature. 

There are both internal and external barriers for both instructors and students regarding active learning models.  When learning outcomes are met, regardless of the learning activity model used, this should be acknowledged by both the institution and instructors. As an instructor, it is my job to help students see the relevance of the learning activities they are required to do.  One way to do this in an online environment is to create a video outlining how and why they are to do a particular activity. Technology issues can be an added barrier to successful online learning. Students are more successful… >>>

Although ideas around active and self-directed learning have been around for a few decades, it is mainly over the last 10 years that active learning has become the focus in online and FTF classrooms alike. 

I was reminded of the differences among the 3 main types of active learning: Collaborative, Cooperative, and Problem-based.

I have a better understanding of what is defined as “low -risk” techniques to incorporate in an active learning environment.

Any lesson plan must include opportunities for students to: “read, reflect, display, & do,” placing the responsibility on the student for their learning. 

This final module covers a lot of important information that can help when students are struggling with issues that take away from their learning.  I plan on making a student support cheat sheet to use as a reference for when one of these challenges inevitably pops up. 

Comment on Glen Brown's post: Agree! I have been a student in some courses with over 50 students. The way my university handled this was by assigning students to groups of 7-10.  This strategy had both positive and negative aspects. 

The main takeaway for me in this module is the importance of carefully designing good questions to encourage student learning for asynchronous and synchronous discussions.  I plan to follow up with a refresher course on question design that includes more than just "make sure the question is open-ended". 

To apply what I haveI plan to expand on my bio, and during the first week of the course, encourage the students to respond to each other's bio's with questions and positive comments.

I was reminded in this module that as an instructor, I should be remarkably familiar with the features in the course. For example, having a good understanding of the trail (thread) of multiple responses to a discussion is crucial, so as not to miss a response from a student.