Teaching online is a unique experience for faculty and students. One of those challenges is how to engage online students in activities that push them to go beyond simply reading, interpreting, and interacting. As such, we are constantly seeking ways to engage students in learning that goes beyond the “click-through” material. Here are two ideas from Faculty Focus (Aug. 14, 2017):
Scaffolding the Recording Experience. To effectively engage in online learning that involves interactivity, students need to develop a sense of technology competence. While most tech-savvy students have no problems jumping right in, others may need a scaffolded approach to engaging in online interactivity.
Most LMS platforms allow for the submission of video and audio files to a drop-box, assignment submission folder, or other location for grading within the course. Rather than asking students to record and post a video, you could craft scaffolded assignments that promote real-time connectedness. For the first assignment, you could leverage Instant Messaging (IM) by asking students to work in pairs, sending messages back and forth in a “text-only” interactive session. Next, students could collaborate using the synchronous video option either provided by your LMS or by a third party (e.g. Skype and Adobe Connect) and submit this work for feedback.
Case Studies. The general procedure of popular case studies is to supply the case and ask the student to respond by answering questions based on the text material. With the addition of technologies like Adobe Captivate or Articulate Storyline (or others), you can prompt students to take actions to move the story forward, select response options with variable feedback, and participate in a way that adds a visual component to the experience. Although somewhat labor intensive, these activities can be used in nearly any LMS and can be reused, edited, and revised as needed. This allows for case studies to presented in a way that calls for interactivity and that is represented in a way that visual cues and information can be displayed to students. Students perceive the experience as a more real-life activity rather than an academic exercise.