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Addressing Online Interaction

Written by CEN-PICKETAL on . Posted in Instructional Design.

I was asked recently about what kinds of activities we at SUNY Online recommend for online instructors to use to support successful online engagement, interaction, and more specifically peer-to-peer online interaction? It was mentioned in the context of this inquiry that many of the tools/activities used in a classroom are more challenging to accomplish online. And, they wondered if these activities were included in the course design, or if we had strategies to encourage/require students to engage, while remaining flexible to students’ differentiating schedules?

We/I have spent the last 30 years here at SUNY exploring how to teach and learn well online. A lot is known today about effective online engagement and interaction. And so, we have a lot to share.  🙂 So, it is a great time to ask these types of questions

  1. One of the way we support and scaffold online learner interaction, in addition to online faculty development and preparation, is in the design of the online course activities to ensure an engaging and effectively designed online learning environment. We just completed a system-wide migration to the D2L Brightspace LMS. As part of that effort, we have developed a number of course templates for a variety of instructional modalities that we have made freely and openly available for anyone to use/adapt. http://bit.ly/dletemplates  I believe they can be imported into any LMS. These course templates are mobile friendly and optimized for accessibility ,in addition to being OSCQR-informed with the latest research-based effective online practices.
    • We have developed and provide a document that outlines the course template elements and the relevant OSCQR alignments to assist online faculty and online instructional designers (IDs) understand how specific course template elements are supported by OSCQR standards.
    • As well as a Rationale for Template Design Decisions, to assist online faculty and IDs understand why the templates are designed the way they are.
    • We have created an OSCQR-informed Online Course Syllabus template to be used as a template or model. The template identifies and OSCQR standard for every component included in the syllabus, and includes a number of noteworthy elements such as a names and pronouns statement, a basic needs statement, a statement on the US DoE regulation regarding Regular and Substantive Interaction, examples of 3 types of AI usage statements, and a comprehensive list of institutional policies and student supports that are essential for online learners to find/access easily.

Regarding promoting active online engagement, interaction and peer to peer interaction. Learner-centered course design and teaching practices are key to ensuring high quality engaging and interactive online courses, with successful and effective online faculty and successful and satisfied online learners.

  1. As mentioned, we have been observing, researching, and documenting online effective teaching and learning practices for many years across our 50+ SUNY institutions, thousands of online faculty, and 10’s of thousands of online learners in every discipline you can imagine. We have developed a number of tools, resources, and approaches to assist online faculty and online instructional designers develop high quality successful online teaching environments and practices.What follows is a list of resources you can explore:

With regard to specifically aout improving learner engagement and peer to peer interaction, you will find a number of approaches specific to the online environment on these pages:

A good online course starts with well-articulated learning objectives. Content and activities are then designed to target those objectives specifically, and optimized to leverage the online environment to foster deep engagement, interaction, collaboration and ways that online learners can make their thinking and learning visible to the instructor and peers. And finally, methods of providing feedback, assessments and/or evaluations are developed that are authentic methods given the online nature of the learning environment.

I’d be happy to chat about any of these resources, our recommendations, or anything anyone would like to share regarding their approaches to online faculty development, online course design, or improving online interaction and engagement.

Engagement, inspiration, online teaching resources, OSCQR, reflection, teaching online