Various thoughts on the how and why of online student engagement. Presentation given to RMIT Online October 2017

1. HELLO I AM
ONLINE DIRECTOR AND

2. Today I am talking about:
Digital Presence
Managing Silence
Student Engagement

3. Every discipline engages students…

4. …with different pedagogies.

5. But we all end up basically
in a digital filing cabinet

6. Onsite = Automatic Presence

7. Online = Automatic Absence

8. I propose that:
Rather than viewing online
learning as a ‘problem’ to be
solved, we think about how online
and blended learning ‘cross’ and
contribute to each other

9. Which means we should:
Not just look to the blended
classroom to ‘fix’ online
learning because it brings
teacher and student
‘face-to-face’

10. But instead try to:
Think beyond the idea that
online must replicate onsite

11. Some Practical Advice

12. Creating Digital Presence

13. Authority is contested
so craft an expert identity

14. Create opportuinities
for students to experience
Legitimate Peripheral
Participation

15. (and force it to happen)

16. Bodies matter

17. Body Language/
Gesture 68%
Tone 30%
Words
7%

18. In the design studio teaching
is a hybrid of talk, gesture, affect
(like the tasting face here)
as well as words

19. “The lecture is never simply oral,
although in its modern form, it
constantly and increasingly seeks
to give this illusion”
(Friesen 2011)

20. • Be around – respond to students as much as you can
• Make your feedback availible to all students
• Always answer questions within 24 hours
• Create an “instructors office” to anchor the class
• Let your students know when you will be around
• Consider utilizing chat functions
• Hold office hours for F2F contact

21. Dealing with Silence

22. The online classroom is silent by default
and the teachers pedagogic power is curtailed
—we cannot force students to speak

23. Onsite silence has a “conscious, self aware
and active dimension” (Friesen 2011) and
is used to provoke a response from students

24. Online, silence is brutal

25. Onsite Silence allows students to walk
along the path of reasoning alongside
the teacher — making them more
active participants

26. • Ask leading questions that prompt a response
• Signal presence by posting something every day
• Lead the way by posting first
• Make space non-class focused interaction

27. Student Engagement

28. Hegemonic Overlord
(Webster 2004)

29. The Entertainer
(Webster 2004)

30. Liminal Servant
(Webster 2004)

31. Without students present online teaching
and learning is unavoidably a closed
conversation and the online teacher
becomes a ‘hegemonic overlord’

32. Video chat (and QA) allows back and forth
question and answer, and open-ended
talk that makes online teachers more
of a ‘liminal servant’

33. Some more thoughts
on maximizing
student engagement

34. • Audio and screen capture feedback is more personal
• Require (force) students to actively comment and
benchmark themselves against their peers
• Use ‘liking’ or ‘voting’ technologies if you can
• Establish a flow — using weekly discussion topics
• Leverage the “mediatic dynamics” of the lecture
(think Ted Talks and Podcasts)

35. Thanks for listening :)

36. Questions?