Hi friends!!

I just wanted to share this article with you guys real quick, it’s called Engagement Matters: Student Perceptions on the Importance of Engagement Strategies in the Online Learning Environment by Florence Martin and it essentially discusses three primary ways to encourage students to engage in class. The goals of these strategies are to student satisfaction, enhance student motivation to learn, reduce the sense of isolation, and improve student performance in online courses. Three strategies the author talks about are:

• learner-to-learner engagement
• learner-to-instructor engagement
• learner-to-content engagement

Leaner-to-learner engagement is when the students interact with their peers to help them feel more connected and create a dynamic sense of community. “To prevent online students from experiencing potential boredom or isolation in the learning environment, it is essential to build activities that enhance engagement,” (208). This can be through discussion boards, breakout rooms (chat sessions), peer assessments, and group tasks. 

Learner-to-content engagement helps students process the information you’re trying to teach them in an easier way. “… student-to-content interaction can occur while watching instructional videos, interacting with multimedia, and searching for information,” (208).

Lastly, learner-to-instructor engagement demonstrates the effectiveness of connecting with students through feedback. “King (2014) found that students rated thorough and timely instructor feedback on their work as most valuable so that they can make improvements in their learning process,” (208).

I hope you guys found this to be helpful as you’re looking for new ways to teach your class!! 

-Cameron