EDU 651: Literature Review #3

This semester has shown me so much in terms of how to better use technology with my students. I'm always worried that they aren't learning enough or that I'm boring them -- and these are face-to-face classes!! My district does offer online classes (through NCVPS, the local community colleges, and district courses), and when I walk by that classroom, my heart is just saddened. The students are playing on their phones, or are on another website like Pinterest, or watching Netflix/YouTube, or have heads down. They aren't engaged at all --at least from the looks outside. Why? If Kids These Days love the computer so much, why don't they show it in school? If taking an online class is a privilege, why are kids sleeping or playing around during their designated class time? Is their work of any quality, or are they just trying to do the least amount of work possible?

So, my in-depth research for this time is on student engagement in online learning. From the articles I read, three big ideas emerged:

1. Community vs. Isolation
2. Communication & Feedback
3. Active Lessons

Community vs. Isolation             

We want to be seen and feel like part of a group IRL, so it is natural for that to translate in our technology, as well. Haythornthwaite and Andrews (2011) devote an entire chapter on building community in online and distance courses. They advocate a commitment to collaboration which feeds the students'/participants' feelings of connection to the group (Haythornthwaite & Andrews, ch6 Kindle).
Anytime we are allowed to work with someone else, the product gets better. So it is with online learning.

However, because the physical classroom does not exist, students can easily begin to feel isolated when they sit in front of a screen for several hours a week --even if they can play with Siri, like I can on my Mac. Researchers have found that the sense of isolation goes away once the instructor pivots toward the positive side of collaborative assignments and directly works to create a community of learners (Chen, Lambert, & Guidry, 2010, p. 1230) 

Communication & Feedback

Just as in face-to-face classes, online instructors need to let students know how to get in touch with them and progress in the course. When instructors commit to communicating on a regular basis with their students, it enhances engagement and makes the learner want to keep working (Dixon, 2010).

I'm horrible about giving feedback (grading!) - it's my least favorite part of teaching. Even though I like I talk to my students every day about the literature and writing we do, so why do they need a grade?? haha...But feedback is different for online learning. The student isn't sitting in front of you or able to raise their hand to ask a question. Therefore, it's imperative to be sure to get back to students within a short, regular time frame (Howard, Ma, & Yang, 2016). Feedback could take the form of emails, short quizzes, weekly announcements or videos.



Active Lessons      

In the study of college students' engagement in online learning, researchers noted that feeling creative increased positive attributes of the class (Chen, Lambert, & Guidry, 2010, p. 1228). Additionally, Briggs (2015) discusses specifically that learners want to apply their learning to the world outside the course rather than rote activities like watching long videos purely for information or reading Powerpoints. So, thinking about how to get the students' brain in the game is key to higher engagement.



In a totally random search, I found this short video about e-learning engagement from a company that specializes in creating your own online course -- so it's a business. But, the five strategies the person gives clearly illustrate my points even though it's not specific to educational settings.

References

1001 Free Downloads. (n.d.). Download Free Vectors, Photos, Icons, PSDs and more. Retrieved 

         from https://www.1001freedownloads.com/free-cliparts/

Briggs, A. (2015, February 11). Ten Ways to Overcome Barriers to Student Engagement Online 

        (Academic Technology: At the College of William and Mary) - OLC. Retrieved from      

        https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/news_item/ten-ways-overcome-barriers-student- 

        engagement-online/

Chen, P. D., Lambert, A. D., & Guidry, K. R. (2010). Engaging online learners: The impact of Web-

       based learning technology on college student engagement. Computers & Education, 54(4), 1222-

       1232. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2009.11.008

Haythornthwaite, C. A., & Andrews, R. (2011). E-learning theory and practice. Los Angeles, CA: 

       SAGE.

Howard, S. K., Ma, J., & Yang, J. (2016). Student rules: Exploring patterns of students’ computer-

       efficacy and engagement with digital technologies in learning. Computers & Education, 101, 29-

       42. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2016.05.008