Knock, Knock. Who’s There? Nobody Until 11:59pm.
Concurrent Session 4
Brief Abstract
Student engagement, class community, and retention all improve when students engage in discussions regularly. Join us to learn how you can encourage more collaboration in asynchronous online classes, increase accessibility for diverse learners, and make life easier for instructors – all directly from your LMS.
Extended Abstract
While we all know students are notorious for burning that midnight oil when it comes to writing that paper or studying for exams, the same also holds true for online college students -- quite literally.
Online course instructors often find themselves deluged with assignment submissions, emails, and discussion board comments to sift through right before a looming deadline. Unfortunately, that often means the quality of the student’s contribution is not as meaningful as it could have been. Not to mention, if most students are submitting their work at the last minute, it limits the opportunity for students to interact with and learn from each other.
The good news is that studies show engagement, class community, and retention all improve when online students engage in coursework and discussions regularly.
In this session, we’ll share strategies that institutions like Southern Arkansas University Tech, Brown University, Georgia State, Cape Fear Community College, and others are using to bolster regular student engagement in online courses.
We’ll show you how to encourage more collaboration in asynchronous online classes, build better engagement throughout courses, and enable better accessibility for diverse learners.
You’ll leave this session with actionable takeaways to:
- Create classroom community using course discussion boards, polls, and Q&A
- Foster online collaboration for students through peer review, chat, and milestone mechanisms
- Empower your online students with tools that supports diverse learning styles
Added Bonus! We’ll show you how to see which students are/not engaging. Your instructors can have better insight into who needs more attention and what activities are working best! Implementing changes like this to your online courses will not only make instructors’ lives easier, but also reduce the dread they might feel as the clock strikes midnight on their due date.
What does this mean for you?
Increased Student Engagement & Retention
You’ll encourage more frequent and thoughtful engagement in your online courses by making it easier for students and instructors to collaborate.
An Inclusive Learning Community
You’ll create a social learning environment that is inclusive to all students and that overcomes the feelings of isolation that can be common for online learners.
Happier Instructors
You’ll let educators teach by eliminating tedious tasks and making it easy for instructors to identify which students could use a little more support.
It’s true. We all learn differently, which is why a platform inclusive of different learning and communication styles is important for maximizing student success in online courses. With Harmonize integrated with your LMS, you’ll provide easier, more intuitive ways for on-the-go students to access course material, create and submit videos, attach written assignments, access discussion boards, and communicate -- all of which will improve community, collaboration, and student engagement in your online courses.