Fostering student engagement

Three forms of interaction should be distinguished in online teaching (Simonson, Schlosser, & Orellana, 2011):

• Student-content interaction, where instructors provide learning experiences for students
• Student-student interaction, where instructors structure the learning community and make it clear to students how they should interact with others in the class
• Student-instructor interaction, where instructors create a framework for how they will interact with students during the learning experience (Riggs 2020)

For a student-centered approach to online learning, within each of these sets of interactions certain instructional methods and assignments can foster student engagement, cooperative learning community and mutual respect. In addition to this, instructors may wish to include a set of rules on discussion etiquette at the outset of the online course, facilitating a respectful online teaching space (Collins et al. 2020). Indeed, specific rules or guidelines may have to be established for a safe “online learning” environment, where sensitive topics can be constructively discussed, while student engagement is encouraged.

What kind of activities can teachers use within each form of interaction? (based on Simonson, Schlosser, & Orellana, 2011)

Works cited:

Collins B., Day R., Hamilton J., Legris K., et al. (2020). “12 Tips for Pivoting to Teaching in a Virtual Environment.” MedEdPublish, 9: 1. Available at: https://www.mededpublish.org/manuscripts/3456

Riggs, Shannon. (2020). “Student-Centered Remote Teaching: Lessons Learned from Online Education.” Transforming Higher Ed. Available at: https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2020/4/student-centered-remote-teaching-lessons-learned-from-online-education

Simonson, M., Schlosser, C., & Orellana, A. (2011). Distance education research: A review of the literature. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 23:2–3, 124–142.