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Fostering Student Engagement in Online Teaching
This document provides strategies for fostering student engagement in live online teaching, highlighting the importance of structured interactions, ice-breakers, and techniques to maintain attention. It emphasizes the balance between synchronous and asynchronous teaching methods and the need for clear communication of expectations and goals. Additionally, the document outlines the significance of universal design for learning to optimize motivation and collaboration among students.
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Fostering Student Engagement in Online Teaching
- 1. FOSTERING ENGAGEMENT Dr CatherineO’Mahony, Centre for the Integration of Research, Teaching & Learning, UCC @cath_omahony
- 2. Overview - Tips forlive online teaching - Frameworks to shape teaching practice - Plans for developing interactions
- 4. On a scaleof Cat, how do you feel today? • Pick which cat best represents your response to the Q. • Take note of the number and be prepared to type it in the chat area. • Wait for me to say “Ready, Set, Go” to submit answer. Instructions Nadia, Edgeryders
- 5. Starting Well - Wellbeingcheck in, e.g. scale of Cat - Getting to know you: share what music are listening to, Netflix binge, preferred snack during online learning, what green spaces have they uncovered. - Include structured ice-breakers at key junctures in the module as warm up for collaborative work. 1: Connect first, then teach 2: Link to prior learning or check on pre-class prep. - Entry tickets: Student has to respond at start of class to a prompt in an online discussion board or shared Google document in relation to a topic covered in last week’s session or online content they were required to engage with pre-class. - Muddiest point: Students respond to the question "What was the most unclear or confusing point in (past lecture, pre-class work)?"
- 6. THE DISTRACTED STUDENT CREATIVECOMMONS, PUBLIC DOMAIN
- 7. Attention is aprecious commodity -> social media business models are predicated on their ability to distract us & monetise our attention. -> rapid change happening in the world means we are constantly on the alert -> students are in environments that aren’t always conducive to learning. Attention is susceptible to fatigue “Students lose attention if you do anything for a long time (not just lecturing)”. James Lang Teaching helps lessen the ‘cognitive load’ by making complex ideas more understandable and the careful design of learning. Be aware of how long you spend on a topic or an activity, and consider the ebb and flow of attention.
- 8. UNIVERSAL DESIGN FORLEARNING www.cast.org
- 9. How learners getengaged and stay motivated. How they are challenged, excited or interested. These are affective dimensions. How we gather facts and categorize what we see, hear and read. Identifying letters, words or an author's style are recognition tasks. Planning and performing tasks. How we organize and express our ideas. Writing an essay or solving a maths problem are strategic tasks. Stimulate interest and motivation for learning. Present information and content in different ways. Differentiate the ways that students can express what they know. www.cast.org
- 10. Provide options for RecruitingInterest • Optimize individual choice and autonomy • Optimize relevance, value, and authenticity • Minimize threats and distractions Provide options for Sustaining Effort & Persistence • Heighten salience of goals and objectives • Vary demands and resources to optimize challenge • Foster collaboration and community • Increase mastery-oriented feedback Provide options for Self Regulation • Promote expectations and beliefs that optimize motivation • Facilitate personal coping skills and strategies • Develop self-assessment and reflection http://udlguidelines.cast.org/ ✓ Limit novelty ✓ Preview and test technology or new activities and train students to use ✓ Use schedules, timers, cue to increase predictability and aide transitions. ✓ Have clear goals, roles, and responsibilities for group learning ✓ Encourage and support opportunities for peer interactions and supports (e.g. peer-tutors) ✓ Create expectations for group work (e.g., rubrics, group agreement) ✓ Support activities that encourage self-reflection and identification of personal goals
- 11. Priming students forlearning - Use a polling tool / chat area / Google document to gather responses to a question prompt / scenario / problem / case study. - This gets students thinking and primes them to receive and understand the explanation, whether from staff or fellow students. - Follow this with a 10minute mini lecture that walks the students through a big concept or important principles etc. 3: Add structure to live classes with a particular purpose 4: Create moments for collaboration - Breakout rooms: these can be very effective for peer exchange but the tasks need to be well structured and very clear on the task and what roles need to be assigned (e.g. reporter, share screen, time keeping etc). - Collaborative online spaces such as Word documents on Sharepoint, Google Jamboard, social annotation tools etc can be used live or asynchronously by students.
- 12. An What are themain challenges to fostering student engagement in remote teaching? 1: Copy and paste the Google doc link provided in the chat area into a new browser window and open. 2: Submit 2-3 challenges as bullet points.
- 13. Why need tobuild in engagement? - Social isolation - Feedback on learning - Enhance engagement in the module - Help build connections between you and the students and between students. 1: Communication and expectations - Why need to know and do - What need to know and do - Consistency of effort required each week 2: Discussion and Collaboration - Clear communication - Transparency on what you are looking for - Motivation –> graded or ungraded; or gated progress; post model response yourself; individual or group mark Fostering Student Engagement
- 14. CONVERSATIONAL FRAMEWORK Learning =cycle between developing & integrating concepts and practices Learning activities Acquisition: book chapter, video Investigation: seek out information, come up with a question, evaluate information. Discussion: asking Q of other learners, responding to Q, exchanging ideas, challenging arguments. Practice: learner then has to generate an action, interpret the feedback and think about the relevant concept and try again to achieve set goal. Collaboration: students work together for shared output. Have to challenge each other and provide peer feedback to develop the best output. Production: students produce something for teachers to evaluate, e.g. plan, website etc. https://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Play/4358#!
- 16. 3: Create interactions •Pre-recorded: Frame video with a question. Use self-check quizzes on Canvas. • Live interactions: Quiz, polls etc. • Build in digital skills development. Do a walkthrough yourself. 4: Try to create a sense of ‘presence’ - Build in an orientation at start - Do a short walk through of the online course - Share a little about yourself – this can be repeated when you post first on a discussion board or kick start any interaction. Fostering Student Engagement
- 17. To Sync or notto Sync? Synchronous = live, online delivery Asynchronous = pre-recorded, not live *anywhere, anytime, any device Asynchronous - increases the cognitive dimension of learning - more time and space for deeper thinking, processing of information and reflection. Synchronous - enhances learner motivation - understanding results from social mediation and shared creation of understanding. ✓ Consider bandwidth vs immediacy. Certain digital tools require good bandwidth and technological capabilities – digital divide. Other teaching approaches require students to respond immediately - is this necessary?
- 19. Clarity = beclear to student what is expected of them and the order in which to engage with materials and complete work. Chunking = break content into similar size chunks, e.g. 5-7 minutes focussed on single idea or theme. Communication = establish a clear plan on how and when you and your students will communicate throughout the year e.g. announcements via VLE, discussion boards, email. Consistency = in design, layout and mode of communication. Create interaction = to foster engagement, enable multiple feedback cycles and enhance learning. Asynch examples: self-check quizzes, discussions & group work. Synch examples: use of chat area, break out rooms, collaborative documents/spreadsheets and polling apps. 5C’s of remote teaching www.ucc.ie/en/keep-teaching/
- 20. 1: Don’t puttech before the teaching What do you want to accomplish; What do students need to be able to do to show understanding? 2: Make sure you are comfortable What tools are you familiar with e.g. can you create a spreadsheet or document, add comments to a document, email files, create presentation, record a video (on your phone), search for resources, record a lecture → all starting points to online teaching 3: Build on what your already know Focus on content rather than learning a new tool. 4: Plan within your limits - Have you full control over schedule? - How reliable is your internet? - What device are you using? © Dr Sarah Thelen, Centre for Digital Education, UCC ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/MARTINWIMMER
- 21. An Reflection What interactions willyou try to include in your course to foster student engagement? Share in chat area
- 24. • Starting Well •Scaffolding Learning • Icebreakers • Visualising Thinking • Discussions for Online Learning • Universal Design for Learning • Group Work • Re-imagining Practicals www.ucc.ie/en/cirtl/resourcesforstaff/shortguides/ Topic focussed webpages with concise, actionable information and featuring UCC examples of practice. Resources
- 25. Bruff, D. (2019) IntentionalTech: Principles to Guide the Use of Educational Technology in College Teaching. https://edtl.blog/higher- education-in-isolation-vlog- series/ https://derekbruff.org/?p=3427 Resources
- 26. CKB02: PG CERTIFICATEIN TEACHING & LEARNING (ONLINE) Academic staff Researchers Clinical staff Centre Managers Library staff Central Admin Research support staff Number of registered participants in accredited courses at CIRTL 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 PG Certificate PG Diploma Masters Language teachers www.ucc.ie/en/ckb02/ www.ucc.ie/en/cirtl/ @cath_omahony