One of the most difficult things we can do as faculty is engage our students. However, this is one of the most important aspects of our pedagogical approach. Engagement in online classes can be even more difficult as many of you know. A recent Faculty Focus article by Marie Norman, Ph.D.,
“Synchronous Online Classes: 10 Tips for Engaging Students” goes over various ideas and strategies for keeping your online students engaged when interacting through online means.
Here are just a few of these tips:
Collect information before meeting – If you are planning on meeting synchronously with your class it’s important to reach out to the students a day or two before the meeting together information about their opinions and/or experiences with the subject matter. This will help you engage the students within the discussion itself.
Let students know what to expect – Reach out to your students before the synchronous session to go over what topics will be covered as well as your expectations from them. This will allow them to be more prepared and ready to engage with their classmates.
Make the topic relevant to your students – Including your students in this conversation before hand allows better reactivity to their own experience. If they relate to the information, they will be more likely to interact within the discussion.
Interested in learning more great tips for engaging students in a synchronous online setting? Read more in the full article online
here.
In addition, we have some great videos within the faculty lounge that cover various areas of student engagement. You can find the following videos
here:
