ENGAGING YOUR SYNCHRONOUS CLASS

FROM A STUDENT'S PERSPECTIVE

Sheri Anderson and Beth Oyarzun Instructional Designers

UNC Wilmington

OVERVIEW

Literature Review Methods Results

LITERATURE REVIEW

LITERATURE REVIEW

Virtual classroom session design should include techniques for keeping students engaged in the lesson– Focus on interactivity– Inform students of interactivity expectations– Plan and inform academic requirements– Continuously improve interactivity over

multiple sessions– Skillfully use technology– Have technical functionality and support

(Keegan, et. al., 2005).

FACILITATING ONLINE SESSION Be prepared with resources and

activities Neutralize distractions Set Ground Rules (e.g. type a “?”

in the chat area if you have a question)

Use virtual body language (e.g. emoticons)

Use video for virtual body language (Finkelstein, 2006)

METHODS

METHODS

Survey study Quantitative data

– 7 item researcher developed questions including demographic information

Convenience sample of researchers’ courses covering 3 semesters

Deploy to 5 sections of Educational courses at UNC-Wilmington– Approximately 140 students received survey electronically– Return rate was approximately 15%

RESULTS

DEMOGRAPHICS

75% of respondents were from the millennial generation (18-30 years old)

25% were from generation X (30-50 years old)

Freshman

Sophomore

Junio

Senior

Non-Trad

Graduate

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Classrank

STRATEGIES TO FOCUS ON COURSE CONTENT

Groups

Emoticons

Poll Results

Polling

Websites

Whiteboard

Webcam

Shared Files

PPT/Lecture

0 5 10 15 20 25

S. AgreeAgreeNo UseDisagreeS. Disagree

CHECK-IN STRATEGY

none

> 20

16-20 min

11-15 min

6-10 min

3-5 min

< 3 min

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Percent

Percent

STRATEGIES FOR TYPES OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

PPT/

lect

ure

Shar

ed F

iles

Web

Cam

Whi

tebo

ard

Web

site

Polling

Poll

resu

lts

Emot

icon

Group

s0

5

10

15

20

25

30

ContentStudentInstructorNone

IMPACT OF WEB CAMERA

Personal On-campus Focus Connect0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Percentage

Percentage

STUDENT COMMENTS

Without the camera, I wouldn't feel like I was being watched, so I would wander away from class.

When connection had "hiccups" then could read lips and know if there was more information that was missed

Facial expression and gestures communicate a lot when an instructor is speaking.

STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF SEEING THE INSTRUCTOR

Important to See Not sure Not Important0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

8074

8

18

Instructor video Importance (percent)

Instructor video Importance (percent)

Student comments

Not important• Yes I watch it. I think its

important but I could still do without it.

• I do watch the video, I don’t think it is necessarily important, but it is easier to see body language and facial expressions to get the full effect of the lecture I think

• Yes I always watch but I can learn just as much without the video

Important• Yes, I think it is because I like

to be able to put a face with the words I am hearing.

• Yes, I think that it is important it keeps me focused more. When the video is not up my mind tends to wonder more and it is harder to stay attentive.

• Yes! If I did not have the instructor video to watch, I would zone out.

REFERENCESFinkelstein, J., (2006). Learning in Real Time: Synchronous Teaching

and Learning Online. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Keegan, D., Schwenke, E., Fritsch, H., Kenny, G., Kismihók, G., Bíró, M., Gábor, A., Ó’Suilleabháin, G., and Nix, J. (2005). Virtual Classrooms in Educational Provision: Synchronous elearning systems for European institutions. Hagen: FernUniversitaet (ZIFF). Retrieved February 18, 2009 from: http://www.fernuni-hagen.de/ZIFF/synchronous.pdf.

Questions

Contact Information

E-mail – e-learning@uncw.edu

Website – http://www.uncw.edu/oel