Ways to promote more interaction in an online course!






Online learning continues to grow in higher education. However, based on research, one of the drawbacks that students tend to have in online learning, is less interaction with the students and the instructor. Interaction in an online course is very important and can definitely be a drawback for students if the course is lacking in it. Interaction in a face-to-face course is a lot easier since the students are meeting with their instructor in a classroom once, twice, or maybe three times a week. Whereas in an online course, students are not meeting face-to-face. But, with technology being as advanced as it is, there are multiple ways to incorporate interaction in an online course.

Student/Instructor Interaction
Student/Instructor interaction is communication between the student and the instructor. Communication between the instructor and the student is key to making an online course successful. Communication can be done through many ways. In an online course it is a best practice to include virtual office hours even if the instructor has an on-campus office where they hold office hours. Not all online students live locally and can attend on-campus office hours, so therefore there needs to be an alternative option. Virtual office hours can be done using Skype, Adobe Connect, Google Hangouts, etc. Instructors should also participate in class discussions on a weekly basis. Many time students are required to post in discussion forums, but the instructor does not always participate. Students like to see their instructor involved in discussion forums. It gives them a reason to post good thoughts and responses. It is also a best practice for instructors to send regularly emails to students to give information about what is coming up in the course, important due dates, etc. These are just a few ways to interact in an online course. There are many other ways to promote student/instructor interaction as well.

Student/Student Interaction
Student/Student interaction is communication between the students. Many times in online courses, students feel like they don’t have as much interaction with their classmates as they would in an online course. Students are not typically in the course working all at the same time as they would be in a face-to-face class. That should not matter though. There are multiple ways to promote student interaction even if the students are not in the course at the same time. One of the most common forms of student/student interaction is through weekly discussion forums. Weekly discussion forums typically include a post from the student and response to two or three of their classmate’s posts. Group projects are another great way to promote student/student interaction. Even though students are not meeting face-to-face, they can still do group projects. “Groups” can be set up in the Learning Management System (LMS) which allows for each group to collaborate with only the members in their group. There are many other ways to promote student/student interaction in your online course. These are by far, just a few of the ways.




2/9/18

Jessica Hall  

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