{"id":10551,"date":"2024-08-08T17:05:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-08T23:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/online.suny.edu\/onlineteaching\/?p=10551"},"modified":"2025-05-28T11:14:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T15:14:19","slug":"motivational-strategies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/online.suny.edu\/onlineteaching\/2024\/08\/08\/motivational-strategies\/","title":{"rendered":"Motivational Strategies in Online Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adding motivational messages is one pedagogical device used in well-designed self-paced instructional environments to keep learners engaged. I would say that these types of devices are typical in some MOOC platforms and high end corporate training. <\/p>\n

Integrating Motivational Strategies from Self-Paced Learning into Traditional Online Learning<\/h3>\n

These devices are based on a growth<\/em> mindset approach that are aimed at praise and accomplishment to build and reinforce a strong sense of learner self-efficacy (belief that they can succeed) and motivate persistence in the learning experience (which in most of these environments is largely as a solitary experience). There has been a lot of research on MOOCs, and on these types of pedagogical devices to support learner success and completion of these types of learning environments.<\/p>\n

I especially like the milestones timeline feature in some self-paced platforms that show progression and accomplishment through a body of material with a visual, such as a green checkmark and\/or completion bar, to illustrate what you have completed to that point, and to provide an indication of how far you have left go to finish. It marks progress, with a recognition\/reward.<\/p>\n

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From Kevin Forgard, University of Wisconsin – Madison – 2021 OLC Innovate presentation: Defining Quality Learning in Self-Paced eLearning: Practices and Challenges<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As it happens, I just revisited a great session related to this topic at the 2021 OLC Innovate conference: here are the slides<\/a>, if you are interested. They did a nice job explaining some of the underlying theory of transactional distance (Moore, 1993), and shared examples that were good (see links below). Typically, self-paced online instruction is highly structured, there is no dialog, or interaction between learners, or with the instructor, and there is limited learner choice. The theory of transactional distance suggests that more structure, less dialog. and less autonomy increases<\/em> distance. Adaptive designs can improve the structural distance by individualizing and personalizing instruction, but are still restrictive. The lack of autonomy can be addressed, but learners need to be capable of, and trained to employ self-regulated learning strategies. Self-paced designs can provide some learner control over content, pacing, and support. However, the missing piece in self-paced instruction remains interaction<\/em> \u2026\u00a0 optional discussion groups can be added to incorporate opportunities for learners to create shared understanding – but they are not<\/em> typically part of the weighted design of the course, so they are ignored by learners because of the nature of the instructional model and learner expectations \u2013 the interactions remain optional<\/em>. There are additional persistent challenges in this mode of instruction: accessibility, equity, learner motivation, etc.<\/p>\n

In more traditional<\/em> constructivist online education (not self-paced), the goal is to minimize inherent transactional distance in the online learning environment to keep learners engaged and connected to the content, each other, and the instructor. Typical suggestions include: automated and or personalized announcements, emails, or other communications to check-in with learners regularly; Personalized feedback, or something as simple as addressing learners by name; Using screencasts<\/a> to provide individualized feedback, or using tools like Flip<\/a>, or\u00a0 Voicethread<\/a> for private, or group video asynchronous interactions. Motivational messages can<\/em> be incorporated into online instruction. In online asynchronous instructional environments they can be triggered by student actions and auto released by the learning management system in varied ways, or simply initiated\/distributed by the instructor within email posts, announcements, private messages, or within automated or customized learner feedback mechanisms. I create videos, screencasts, and podcasts for my online students, and always send a personalized email midway through the course telling students I believe in them, and in their ability to succeed.<\/p>\n

From one perspective supporting online learner success\/persistence, and cultivating online learner resilience and self-efficacy and assisting them to develop self-regulated learning strategies<\/a>, is the main role<\/em> of the online instructor and what online instructional design is all about \u263a \u00a0I have spent the entirety of my professional life working on this with varied levels of success. During the days when we were the SUNY Learning Network, we were centralized and had almost total control and influence on the training of online faculty, instructional designers (IDs), and the design of online courses at SUNY. When we decentralized in 2006, and over time, we lost the ability to access online courses and faculty directly, (our oversight of the work of the IDs was also consequently lost), but we are still able to inform and influence in various ways. \u263a We continue to work with IDs, faculty, and online course designs that engage us with our online teaching tools (e.g., OSCQR<\/a>, resources<\/a>, and webinars<\/a>. (All openly licensed and freely available for anyone to use\/adapt.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Larger-scale programs, with a more centralized faculty development and course design model, might have the ability to leverage existing features and functionality within the LMS, or adopt tools to assist, and\/or adopt and implement some\u00a0 practices known to have high impact on builiding online learner connection and motivation to support online learner success more systematically and consistently.<\/p>\n

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Moore, M. G. (1993). <\/span>Theory of transactional distance<\/span><\/i>. Retrieved from <\/span>http:\/\/www.c3l.uni-oldenburg.de\/cde\/support\/readings\/moore93.pdf<\/span><\/a><\/h6>\n
Examples of well-designed self-paced instruction according to Kevin Forgard<\/a>, University of Wisconsin – Madison – 2021 OLC Innovate presentation: Defining quality learning in self-paced eLearning: Practices and Challenges<\/em><\/h5>\n