Peer review badge Build Community Through Food Poetry

Description Online classes suffer from student isolation and a lack of participation. Yet, research has shown that interaction is important for building communities in online courses (Swan, 2010; Thurston, 2007). Presentations can create community (ODLI, 2023), especially through poetry (Christensen, 2000). One way to increase interaction is to assign slam poetry, a form of spoken …

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Peer review badge Implement “Biographical Disruption” as an Anchor for Critical Reflection in Online Learning

Description Online discussions are a cornerstone of remote learning as they promote active participation and allow for interaction amongst students and between students and faculty (Baglione & Nastanski, 2007), therefore fostering relationship. Indeed, interaction has been highlighted as one of the key factors in determining both faculty and student satisfaction with online learning (Martín-Rodríguez et …

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Peer review badge “Hook” the Students to Prompt Reflection and Discussion in Synchronous Sessions

Description When teaching remotely during synchronous online learning sessions, finding ways to engage the students as they enter the virtual meeting room is important to capture the students’ attention. Providing a hook also known as an anticipatory set is a one way to set the focus for the lesson to prompt student reflection and discussion. …

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Editorial: Making the Most of Online Discussion Boards

by: Susan Wegmann, Associate Dean of Digital Learning and Innovation, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, and TOPR Editorial Board member In an online course, the discussion board can be a powerful interaction tool or it can be a repository of disingenuous comments made by less than enthusiastic students. Creating and sustaining an effective online discussion seems …

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Peer review badge Use Self-Evaluation and Instructor Feedback in Group Discussions to Enhance Participation in Large-Enrollment Courses

Description Discussions in asynchronous online courses provide an opportunity for students to share their thoughts and learn from classmates in a fashion emulating in-class discussions. This allows students to contribute their thoughts and take time to respond to classmates’ comments. In a large enrollment online course, dividing the class into groups provides the opportunity for …

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Streamline Instruction Across Modalities

Description Traditional face-to-face education featuring evanescent content delivery, hands-on activities, and social learning has been the mainstay of education (Vygotsky, 1962). Blended and online options have become more prevalent as reliable internet connectivity and technology have increased, and, indeed, online education has strived to emulate face-to face qualities. However, engagement, motivation, and retention of students …

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Peer review badge Digital #Powerups: Hashtags to Empower Higher-Order Student Engagement in Online Discussions

Description The digital powerups strategy provides an innovative way for instructors to engage students in higher-order online discussion by humanizing and personalizing the discussion. This strategy should be used to allow students to engage in online discussions in relevant and authentic ways. Online discussions can “allow students to participate actively and interact with students and …

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Peer review badge Use Discussion Boards, Google Docs, and Pages Tool for Online, Case-based, Collaborative learning

Description Case-based learning is often used in social science classes, as well as in other disciplines. This can be challenging to implement online. By dividing a class into smaller groups, and assigning a separate discussion board to each group, the groups can do their planning asynchronously and completely online, while the instructor has a complete …

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Peer review badge Create Intentional Communities through Meaningful Student Introductions

Description Student introductions are a high-impact practice: they build community within the course, set the stage for more substantive forms of student-student and student-instructor engagement, and can reveal unknown issues or strengths on the part of students (Dolan, Kain, Reilly, & Bansal, 2017). Building community in online classes (Nelson & Goodson, 2018) through introductions helps …

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Peer review badge Implement Student Video Introductions to Foster Social Presence

Description Online learning can cause students to miss the peer-to-peer connectiveness of the face-to-face classroom and feel isolated in their studies, which can lead to lower motivation, achievement, and retention in online classes (Angelino, Williams, & Natvig, 2007; Kanuka & Jugdev, 2006). To remedy students’ feelings of isolation, discussion forums are commonly utilized by instructors …

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