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To create interaction, don't transfer pedagogy but transform it

The term ‘distance learning’ refers to physical difference, but for many in online learning and teaching (OLT), it might as well refer to social / emotional distance. So much can be lost when instruction moves online: casual interaction that builds bonds, nonverbal communication that reveals our true feelings, immediate feedback, challenges to our thinking and answers to our questions, and the sense of togetherness, authenticity, and shared purpose that can come from gathering people in a room. Sure, we can still gather people in a video-chat, but somehow, it just doesn’t feel the same.

Like always, we have to be patient with ourselves. Most of us have spent decades in physical classrooms as teachers and students, slowly learning what leads to interaction and what doesn’t. Creating interaction in OLT will take time as well. Below are some techniques to create both instructor-learner and learner-learner interaction.

Instructor-Learner Interaction

Effective instructor-learner communication may be the strongest predictor of students' learning outcomes. As noted on the Reducing Friction page, this involves creating easy-to-navigate course interfaces, and being available for check-ins and chats.

But it also requires us to transform the way we share content and assess students' understanding of it.

Rethink lectures

Classroom based lectures provide some opportunities for interaction: students can ask questions, or at least use body language to show whether they are engaged or not. But that interaction is easily lost in online lectures. Thus, we need to rethink the practice of lecturing in OLT.

Give personal, formative feedback

Just as in face-to-face courses, rubrics and detailed grading breakdowns can help online learners understand how they reached a particular grade or learning outcome. Here are some other ways to give effective feedback in OLT.

Formative feedback

Often lost in OLT is the opportunity for formative feedback: low-stakes, informal daily / weekly assessments that let teachers and students know how well they are progressing towards a goal.

Other forms of formative assessment in OLT might include:

• Review games and activities

• Mandatory office-hour check-ins

• Monitored group work and discussions

• Informal quizzes

• Low­‐stakes written assignments that build to higher­‐stakes, summative ones

Record yourself reviewing assignments

Show your face

Students strongly prefer to see their instructors' faces than just text and perceive this method of instruction as "more educational".

That's why Berkeley instructor Kaya Oakes likes to keep her assignment prompts short and then attach videos of herself elaborating on the assignment and offering suggestions.

Be honest about your feelings

Learner-Learner Interaction

Education is an inherently social experience, and broadly speaking, students in online courses want to interact with classmates. This interaction leads to higher student satisfaction, and better learning outcomes. Here are some ways to create it.

Establish clear expectations

As the memes below show, it is not enough to ask students to 'respond to a classmate'.

We must help students see what effective learner-learner communication looks like. Does it involve sustained discussion? Does it involve concrete detail? Does it require us to add something new to the existing conversation on a given topic? These are expectations we instructors can model and scaffold for students.

Look at this original and revised prompt below as an example:

Finally, remember to empower students and make them responsible for their own learning. Once an instructor comments on a post, that usually ends all student-student interaction. And remember that students want discussions to be effective. Why not show students the above memes, ask them if they recognize the problem the memes show, and then have them brainstorm solutions?

Make students show their faces

As mentioned above, students prefer to see faces than text alone. That's why, as NYU instructor Scott Galloway notes, "You need to force the students to turn on their cameras; you need to see their faces more; you need to hold them accountable." Here are some ways that can happen.

Introductory videos

Berkeley instructor Carmen Acevedo Butcher has her students create videos to introduce themselves to classmates. Note how much of their personalities comes across in these short pieces.

Selfies and memes

To show how they are feeling at a given moment, students can share a ‘schoolwork selfie’ or create a meme. Take a look at some examples below.

Games

Games involve clear expectations and allow students to share emotions, and lead to improved learning outcomes.

Games can be related to course content, and created on websites like http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/ or https://crosswordlabs.com/. For instance, students might complete a crossword, word search or jumble with course concepts or key terminology.