Engaging Learners in the Online Environment Guillermo Acosta

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Engaging Learners in the Online
EnvironmentGuillermo Acosta
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AGENDA
Key Areas For Student Engagement
Strong Virtual Community
Responsiveness
Highly-Structured Online Environment
Take-Aways From Other Online Experiences
Conclusions
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KEY AREAS FOR STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

• Strong virtual community to foster a sense of
  belonging
• Responsiveness in an ever-increasing learners
  expectations world.
• Timely and useful feedback recognition and
  rewards will keep your students coming back for
  more
• Highly-structured online environment set clear
  ground rules and expectations from the start
• Take-aways from other successful online
  customer experiences.

Lack of Social Interaction
Common Fears About Online Education
Lack of Self-Discipline
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STRONG VIRTUAL COMMUNITY

• Community Killers
• Unattractive content
• Lack of knowledgeable moderator
• Slow / delayed responses
• Lack of passion for the community

• Community Builders
• Feedback
• Recognition of members contributions
• Responsiveness in addressing community needs
• Constant interactions
• Foster communications among community members
• Good organization / structure
• Clear ground rules

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STRONG VIRTUAL COMMUNITY

• Good organization and structure
• Open weekly forums
• Organize information in clusters for easy and
  quick access
• Create private forums for teams discussions
• Foster Peer-2-Peer collaboration
• Encourage students to comment on others postings
• Recognize those students that collaborate
  answering other students questions

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STRONG VIRTUAL COMMUNITY

• Put a Face to your web site
• Students like to know who they are interacting
  with
• Make a graded assignment (or bonus marks) for
  them to create their personal homepage in the
  first week
• Upload your class pictures
• Its all about bonding with the online
  environment. Providing a human touch will help
  the learner overcome the barrier of lack of
  social interaction

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RESPONSIVENESS

• In an ever-increasing learners expectations
  world
• Some characteristics of the Millennial
  generation
• Instant gratification
• What can you do for me?
• Helicopter parents
• Sir it was OK, but you didnt exceed my
  expectations
• Whats out there?
• 24/7
• Instant Messaging, in all its possible
  combinations
• Instant Download, for almost every digital
  product or service
• Video on Demand
• Blogs
• Tivo
• Podcasting

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TIMELY AND USEFUL FEEDBACK

• Useful feedback
• You dont have to write a novel, however, let
  them know that you read their assignments and
  give them hints to improve future submissions

Hi Matthew, please read my feedback below Q1.
Trust is an issue however it's been proved many
times that not always employees demonstrate good
judgment. The real reason behind not adopting a
policy is mostly due to the difficulty to enforce
it given the size of MS it could be very
disruptive for the company's operations. I agree
with you that it might hinder their "very open"
communications style, therefore, reducing
employees' productivity 0.75 Q2. I agree,
companies that haven't exhibited acceptable
levels of due diligence in this matter can be
held liable therefore having and enforcing a
policy would reduce the liability risks. 1.25 Q3.
While the employees are using the company's
hardware and software, the company has the right
to monitor all their Internet activity. 1.00 Q4.
Good! 1.25
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TIMELY AND USEFUL FEEDBACK

• The power of recognition
• Some people think that recognition is even more
  powerful than sex
• Once somebody has had the courage to post their
  thoughts in writing in front of a group, she or
  he expects their effort to be recognized,
  especially if it is clearly above average.
• Identify those that will keep your community
  alive and motivate them.

• People like to be heard
• Many postings finish inviting others to share
  their points of view.

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HIGHLY-STRUCTURED ONLINE ENVIRONMENT

• Create a central hub of information
• It should provide access to all the course
  materials

• Provide a critical path for the course
• It must be a one-page quick snapshot of what is
  expected in terms of deliverables for the course.
• Clearly indicate the due dates for assignments
  and tests including grade weights

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HIGHLY-STRUCTURED ONLINE ENVIRONMENT

• Remind, remind, remind
• Keep them focused

• Provide frequent announcements
• Not only keeps the site active and with a lively
  feel, but also helps the learner to stay on track

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TAKE-AWAYS FROM SUCCESSFUL ONLINE EXPERIENCES

• Make it look cool and interactive
• Keep the students coming back for more by making
  the online environment ENTERTAINING.
• Understand what level of interactivity is
  appropriate for your audience and make
  adjustments if needed (too much of a good thing
  is not a good thing).
• Personalization
• Provide personalized feedback
• Make it user-friendly
• Keep it simple and consistent to create a
  positive learning environment

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CONCLUSIONS

• Overcoming the social fears
• Make the intangible tangible develop a sense of
  belonging and identification with the online
  environment.
• Be there for your community respond timely,
  effectively and personalize your feedback as much
  as you can.
• Keep your site alive with frequent updates an
  active and lively community will draw the
  attention of your audience.

• Overcoming the self-discipline fears
• Let your learners know what you expect from them
  from the start set clear ground rules and
  provide a highly-structured critical path.
• Make it easy for your audience to get what they
  need create a well-organized and consistent
  structure to facilitate navigation in the site.
• Make it sticky a knowledgeable moderator and
  good content are two powerful tools to keep them
  coming back for more.

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THANK YOU!