This course has reinforced that the student needs connection and anticipation, even excitement for the upcoming class.
Personal communication from me, as well as thoughful evaluation and feedback on their performance, are ways to keep students engaged.
Creating a variety of ways to explain assignments will result in better student outcomes.
Including other staff and admin will let them know that other people are monitoring their progress and cheering their successes.
These are areas that I can easily improve upon.
Engaging students through questions and feedback is a great way to engage students.
I have learned several ways to make an impact through this course.
- Having an impacting and effective introduction and ice breaker
- Making dynamic communication from pupil to pupil and pupil to instructor is key to retention and effective learning
- Identifying learning styles is tricky with online courses and I have learned ways to identify styles and keep all engaged in learning
Students must be motivated regardless of learning in person or online. It is important to break down assignments into managable, meaningful and comprehensive assignments. Open ended questions will ensure meaningful engagement while being specific with assignment content and deadlines. This will ensure the framework for expectations. Student feedback is essential to modify a lesson or assignment for full participation. It is important for students to feel they are contributing in a meaningful way as this can be a powerful motivator.
I have learned that the students really require a lot of support from the teacher at high school level. They are not as motivated as say an adult learning. Their motivation is completely different and needs a good amount of promting and guidance from the instructor. I need to acquaint myself more with the tools that are availible like Nearpod and online games to enhance and motivate their learning experince. Over the course of this year I have tried to change up small things because I felt the big changes only confused them especially those who were hot and cold in the engagement of the class. It has been tough motivating kids this way- such a big change for the majority of students while I did have a few who absolutely thrived in this envirnoment.
You can motivate some students by engaging in a conversation with them about what intrigues them in their carear choices. Why did they they pick this field and what they want out of it. Then you can change your class around on how it relates to what they want and what they gain from it when they mix the two.
I agree with Jessica. This is a point that is even expressed online for younger students. They are on ZOOM and one child is sitting and eating a bowl of cereal. The teacher asked if that was allowed in the school. The point is to make this an area they recognize. The behavior in the schools that are appropriate and not may also be used online.
I enjoyed this course and it helped me learn that online engagement and motivating my students online is going to require that I think outside the box and get more creative to get students to find each other and work together. I have taught in person on campus class for so long that motivating and keeping students engaged in person is natural and ease for me.
I learned what engagement is all about. I learned the types of social engagement and the types of motivational engagement. I do think some of this is for college level learners but I can I apply it to high school. I need improvement on student-to-student engagement. To help improve this I plan to introduce an Introductory activity and encourage the students to share. Another improvement I plan to make is constructive feedback. I need to make a conscious effort to let the students know how they are doing in my class.
Social learning plat forms are needed in our classes to keep the student involved
Friendly reminders and social learning plateforms
Student engagement is key is ensuring that students are actively learning in an online platform. It's important for students to be able to communicate dirrectly with the instructor regardless of the platform. I'm currently teaching hybrid classes (some students in class and some students working virtually) through Google Classroom. I regulary post messages for all students to see in Classroom (upcoming assignments, answers to frequently asked questions), but I also email individual students directly to check in on missing assignments, provide encouragement, etc. I've also used the Remind app which allows my virtual learners to message me directly with questions. I think the students are more likely to not only complete the work, but also feel comfortable reaching out for assistance if I make sure to provide many opportunities for them to communicate with me.
I've found that breaking down the course material into weekly segments helps keep students on track without feeling overwhelmed. Along with written notes, I provide videos of lectures of new content and demostrations/examples of activities. Some students simply read the written notes, others spend a lot of time with the videos, and others do a lot of their own research. This combination seems to allow vortual students to successfully complete assignments and assessments on par with my in class students.
Improvements could be made to student-student engagement. Message boards and discussion questions may help students interacte with each other. This would help with a sense of community, and would allow students to support and assist each other. Weekly Google Meets could be used as a way for students to "see" me and each other, and would help create a more cohesive educational environment for students who are working on their own from home.
I have learned a good deal about how to better enage and motivate the students working online in my classes. My biggest "take away" will be the information about how to try to make the online content more enjoyable. I have come to realize that the online egagement and motiviating factors are much different than those in traditional classes. For me, I will utilze the strategies of providing for frequent friendly reminders and find ways to provide directions in multiple different ways. These are the two areas I believe will help my students most.
During this lesson, I learned that students can be engaged in many different ways and that motivation and encouragement is key when it comes to virtual learning.
I learned the importance of providing constructive feedback to the students after completing a project or other assignment. Second, I learned strategies for motivational engagement such as chunking lessons and providing several ways of explaining the instructions for an assignment to accommodate the various learners in the course. Last, I learned that knowing your audience would help you create appropriate lessons that are engaging and well received by your learners.
I've learned that there is no magical way to engage students. You have to dig deep in your bag of tricks and try everything. What works for one student, might not work for another. The key is to consistently use a variety of strategies. The outline of the course and expectations is clear and predictable but the engagement part is more unpredicatable and keeps them guessing so they don't get bored.
Communicating with your online students is very important and trying to motivate them while they learn.
I definitely gained some insight into new ways to improve feedback given to students. I did not even realize how much I needed to improve in this area until I took this module but will definitely work on applying it in the future.
Students are all different so you need to understand that what motivates one student may not motivate another. Look for ways to continually engage all learners in a meaningful way and to further utilize feedback to adjust/adapt.
I have a pretty strong line of communication with my students and in some sections, they are active participants. My two frustrations are first the occasional section of a course that does not want to hold discussions, and second, the students who do not read directions. I have one very active course and another section of the same course with a totally different vibe. They do not like to discuss, and in breakout rooms there is often somebody who will not/cannot participate. It seems to be luck of the draw with the personalities in the classroom and the best I can do is keep encouraging them.
