Title: Five Ways to Make Your Online Classrooms More Interactive
Headings: Five Ways to Make Your Online Classrooms More Interactive
HIGHER ED TEACHING STRATEGIES FROM MAGNA PUBLICATIONS
Five Ways to Make Your Online Classrooms More Interactive
1. Integrate real-time interaction
2. Get creative with discussion boards
3. Maximize engagement with non-task interaction
4. Use multiple communication tools
5. Have a plan around the tool
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Content: Use multiple communication tools
You’re not alone in wanting to increase and enhance student engagement and interaction. For example, schools can create a program-wide social network that allows students to continue their relationships with other students from course to course. Within this private social network, the administrators and support staff can use direct messages, announcements, and live events to enhance student engagement in the program. This sort of institutional support is not necessary, however, for your class to be interactive. In addition to external social networking tools, such as Facebook, Telegram, Slack, and WhatsApp, students can meet each other in real time on Skype and Google Hangouts. Preprogrammed communication, such as introductory videos, content presentation, and email, are still important components of online learning, but student interaction can take the learning further, faster. 5. Have a plan around the tool
A tech tool is only as good as you the way you use it from a pedagogical perspective. When you move a face-to-face course online, or create an online course from scratch, consider how interaction will support the learning goals in your course. By enhancing the opportunities for interaction in your online classrooms, you can take an already powerful learning opportunity to the next level for all of your students.