Engaging Learners with New Strategies and Tools

Building Knowledge

Building knowledge involves moving from the lower level to higher order cognitive skills. Instead of memorizing and repeating information their knowledge should reflect their ability to synthesize and create using the data they have access to. Creating various types of multimedia products will allow students to demonstrate their ability assimilate and analyze data rather than simply recall that same data.

Engaging in Communication

Expanding social media across a broad range of today’s society provides educators with a rich selection of communication tools. One the challenges facing faculty in online distance programs is creating a culture where these common tools are used for strategic educational purposes. “To encourage high student interactivity in an online setting, the learning environment must be supportive, open, and respectful” (Durrington, Berryhill, & Swafford, 2006 p. 191). This type of interactive learning environment where all stakeholders are valued and respected will bring tremendous depth to the online classroom. It may even be possible to create online courses with higher levels of engaging communication than traditional face to face courses.

Authentic, Collaborative, Problem-based Tasks

No one likes to spend their time on busy work or tasks that seem to have no value or meaning. Online faculty members have the opportunity and responsibility to engage students in challenging real world tasks that stretch the limits of their abilities. This includes completing tasks that require collaboration with other students. In life there are often challenges that cannot be achieved through a single genius or mastermind. It is more realistic to conceive that a team of individuals with unique skills could work together to achieve a far greater feat than that of any single person. Real authentic tasks can be presented as text in collaborative workspaces or as problems in some type of virtual environment.

References

Durrington, V. A., Berryhill, A., & Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies for enhancing student interactivity in an online environment. College Teaching, 54(1), 190−193. Use the Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article's Accession Number: 19754742