Time and again, students express their need for social interaction when taking a university course, including the interaction between students and course content, between students, and between students and instructor/TA. In the online/dual delivery setting, students, instructors, and TAs interact differently compared to traditional in-person courses. It is important to build a community of inquiry (Garrison, Anderson & Archer 2000) in which different stakeholders can interact with each other and the course content to help students build knowledge through the exchange of ideas. In this framework, the instructors engage their students by creating a sense of “presence” and building an environment for active and authentic learning.
 Figure from Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2010). The first decade of the community of inquiry framework: A retrospective. The internet and higher education, 13 (1-2), 5-9. | Under the Community of Inquiry framework, a meaning educational experience comprises three types of presence:
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In an online/dual delivery learning environment, there is a shift in the instructor’s role from “information provider” to “learning facilitator/coach”. In traditional in-person lectures, the instructor generally acts as an “information provider.” At the same time, students take on a passive role as “receivers of information.” In an online/dual delivery mode, students autonomously acquire background knowledge by reading the assigned course material and harnessing additional available resources. They then engage in discussions with other students to deepen their knowledge of the subject matter. The instructor’s role is to design learning activities that facilitate these discussions, moderate student conversations and help students apply content knowledge to solve “real-life” problems. Based on “Towards a New Pedagogy of Engaged Learning” published by TeachOnline.ca, the key elements towards building a community of inquiry are:
- Design meaningful activities, tasks and challenges to facilitate student-to-student, student-to-instructor, student-to-others, student-to-content interactions
- Contextualize activities, tasks and challenges to link content to students’ personal experience
- Provide multiple communication channels for students to generate knowledge and deepen their understanding of course content (e.g. breakout groups, online discussions, blogs, etc.)
- Support student learning by moderating discussions and supplementing information when needed
- Introduce structure to the collaborative process between students by assigning roles when working in groups and encouraging the free flow of ideas
- Use tools and technology appropriately to promote engagement and improve the quality of interactions (e.g. create rubrics in online discussion forums to communicate expectations on the frequency and quality of student postings)
Below you will find specific ideas that can be implemented in various synchronous and asynchronous learning activities. Rotman Digital’s “Engaging Students” also provides details on engaging students through learning activities, discussions, group projects, presentations and breakout discussions. “Engage Your Students in Your Online Course: 20 Proven Ways” (teachonline.ca) provides additional design ideas to help engage students.
Synchronous
- Virtual meetings (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, etc.)
- During the first lecture
- Use icebreaking activities to get to know your students and start building a community of inquiry
- Walk students through the different features of the course; let students know where to find the resources they need
- Provide weekly updates and a to-do list for that week/module
- The “Case Method”
- The instructor can present a case consisting of many open questions but is relevant to the subject matter. Using the case as a context, the instructor encourages students to express their opinions from different perspectives while drawing a mind-map to show how the different perspectives relate to one another in a structural manner
- Based on the mind-map, the instructor moves the conversation alone the help students synthesize their knowledge and apply learned concepts to resolve issues collaboratively
- An example of a successful implementation of “Case Method” is illustrated in this YouTube video published by Harvard Business School
- During the first lecture
- Breakout discussions
- Group projects
- Possible project ideas include: case discussion, challenge-based projects, student presentations
- Students working together on group projects will also extend their collaborative learning into asynchronous study groups (see below)
- Reading jigsaw
- Each student is assigned a chunk in a group reading task, a fixed length of time to read and digest it. Then each member summarizes their chunk, and the group pieces together the main ideas
- Collaborative mind mapping/story boarding
- Use mind mapping tools such as Miro, GroupMap, Mindmeister, Microsoft Whiteboard
- Each student builds a part of the map, and the group works together to piece together the big picture
- Group projects
- Student Presentations
- Consider using Pecha-Kucha as a fun and quick way for students to present
Asynchronous
- Form student study groups
- Set up student groups in Quercus to provide students with a shared space to manage their work and communicate with each other
- Use communication platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Slack and WhatsApp to communicate with one another
- Depending on their comfort level, instructors might also consider providing feedback on the above-mentioned communication platforms
- Frequent announcements
- Consider sending weekly announcements to remind students of the tasks to be completed that week
- Record an on-the-fly video message using the Quercus recording tool; do not worry about small flubs; it humanizes you as the instructor
- Blogs and online discussion forums
- The lead time between responses for blogs and online discussions is much longer than real-time conversations. This extra lead time provides students with the opportunity to reflect upon their learning and engage in deeper and more thoughtful dialogues
- “How to prepare and moderate discussions” on teachonline.ca provides great tips on using online discussions to promote student engagement
- Feedback for formative assignments
- Provide individualized and constructive feedback for assignments, emphasize suggesting viable ways for students to improve
- Consider posting a rubric with your assignment to effectively communicate your expectations and save you time from answering student email requests for clarification
- Peer-review assignments
- Use peer-to-peer learning and assessment software like Classkick, Kritik and PeerScholar
- Provide students with the opportunity to acquire lifelong assessment skills by assessing others’ work and giving constructive feedback
References
Contact North (2014). Towards a New Pedagogy of Engaged Learning. teachonline.ca
Contact North (2020). Engage Your Students in Your Online Course: 20 Proven Ways!. teachonline.ca
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education model . The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105.
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2010). The first decade of the community of inquiry framework: A retrospective. The internet and higher education 13(1-2), 5-9.
Harvard Business School (2020). Take a Seat in the Harvard MBA Case Classroom. [YouTube video]
Rotman Digital (2021). Engaging Students. rotmandigital.ca