Great tips on how to engage students more via the online format. Early contact is key with introduction emails and an information page for easy of contact with the instructore. Be mindful of students with children for this can be a barrier to success. As an evening weekend instructor, I try to give the lunch break around bedstime so the students can put their children to bed.
I have to find ways to encourage students to want to learn and not make it a burden for them. Looking for different ways to engage them in the online courses.
Using reminder.com for student reminders.
When I initially signed up for this class, I really thought it would focus on my job as an instructor. At the University where I work, not only am I an instructor, but I also am what could be considered as a liaison for the students. I work in student services and I reach out to the students in a variety of ways. Early last summer, I was asked to track a student who was on academic probation. She was struggling with so many things, but most of all, she had no idea how to write a paper. She needed to approach her assignments differently than being directed to a website. She needed social interaction and motivational engagement to get her on the right track. So the time I spent with her gave her the confidence to continue on her educational journey and not give up. The following semester, she sent me a screenshot of a paper she wrote and was so excited that she got an A on an assignment when it hadn't been that long she was due to be dropped from the school. Up until the time I worked with her she had been isolated and did not know how to navigate her own educational journey. When she would attempt to write an assignment, she was given very basic feedback, and she had no idea how to correct any of her errors, so as a result, she put off doing her assignments to the point she was going to be asked to leave. So the part where the presenters in this class talked about efficient and effective feedback, made me realize that is what I need to do more for my own students. I put myself into the discussions and add my own thoughts to what the students are saying, but I also need to make sure I validate their assignments and not just leave them with a "Good Job!" I do write more than that for them, but I know I can do more. As Kathleen Watts mentioned about I too will implement more specific feedback that is in-depth to encourage students to continue learning.
This is a very valuable learning experience. It is a great tool for me to step back and evaluate my own teaching style, look at areas where my students are thriving and are engaged, and look at areas of improvement. At the same time be able to actually investigate for anecdotal evidence of both. I noted that even in the synchronous method of distance learning, some learners may be lost just because of different barriers such as distance and technology. Being aware of this enables me to tweak a lot of the styles and even structure to incorporate the need of the students to be addressed in order to keep them engaged.
I feel like online learning can be a great experince for people as long as they have the right internet, techology, time, a quiet set up and any other supplemental materials that is needed in the course. The challenges come when these technologies don't work or you can't afford them and that really hinders their learnings.
We do a good job of communicating with students after they start class but have an opportunity to put out a welcome message to students before class starts. We had a challenge sending Welcome emails through the LMS because the student doesn't receive it if they have not accepted their course. We will be providing rosters to our instructors in order to have access to email students prior to the beginning of the course. The other thing that really stood out to me is the recommendation to provide instructions in different formats and be aware that students may perceive the meaning of the insturctions differently but that does not mean one is right and one is wrong. I would love some suggestion about how to make online discussion questions more engaging and fun for students and instructors to participate. I also have many instructors that ask for advice about how to keep students on task with their asynchronous work. We work in a blended environment and some student are great at showing up for class but lose focus when they leave and vice versa.
Content chunking is also an important concept. It provides a sense of accomplishment and makes things less overwhelming when broken down into bite size chunks of information or activities. It really resonated with me when working adults were reference and catering to the small chunks of time they have during the work day or evening. If you can get something done in 10 minutes on a break it feels like you are making progress and it is less daunting than trying to do it all at once.
I have learned how important group work is during online learning. As an instructor, it is easy to assign individual work when they are working from home, but it doesn't guarantee positive student engagement. Putting the students in groups increases engagement, because they have to interact with each other. It also increases their social engagement.
I enjoyed this lesson pertaining to on-line learners, I found it helpful. I am most concerned with procrastination or unsuccessful submissions with our students, so the second video was beneficial in helping our students to be engaged during our class sessions and remain motivated throughout their studies. I also appreciated the recommendation of remind.com, I heard about this previously from our Curriculum Director. We do post reminders weekly and use our dropdowns to message students who haven't yet submitted their assignments, this seems as though this would be a great alternative tool to use to "remind" our students effectively and efficiently via text message. If there are any additional ideas or thoughts as to how to further engage and motivate students to remain excited and current in their studies, I would appreciate your share. Thank you.
It is important to provide various interactive opportunitites for students for student-teacher and student -student. Getting ahead and providing social engagement from the beginning is imperative. This helps to builf trust and a rapport with the students.
I have discovered many different ways to motivate and engage online learners. I always found discussions challenging and this course has shoed me different ways to keep students engaged.
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.
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 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.
Communicating with your online students is very important and trying to motivate them while they learn.
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.
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.
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 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.
