Student motivation regarding Live Chat attendance
One of the things that plagues online instructors is in raising the attendance levels of Live Chat learner attendance and the ability to sustain the learners' interests in continued regular participation in the chat engagements. These of course take the place of real-time classroom discussions and as such they are an expectation of instructors that learners attend. But, as these chats are not mandated, attendance levels tend to be low and the attrition rates increase with the progression of the course timeline. So the question is not one of what can the schools do to change the laws to ensure learner attendance, but rather what can the instructor do to encourage more learners to attend and on a regular basis, finding ways to encourage learner attendance and participation. One way may be to allow learners the opportunity to showcase their knowledge of the lesson at hand by literally turning over the mic to these learners for brief presentations of their work "in class" (online chat).
