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: The value of the social network needs to be explicit before it will become a common destination. Many schools begin by asking students to create bios and add profile pictures, but these activities alone will not encourage students to keep coming back to the network. Techniques for transforming the social network into a destination include frequently updating content (on a weekly or if possible daily basis) and incorporating contributions to the social network into classes (e.g. using the social network tools for group work; asking students to post their discussion contributions into their social network feed). 4. 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.