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Improved interactions, feedback and engagement
The student is infinitely more important than the subject matter.
The student is infinitely more important than the subject matter.
-- Nel Noddings
The purpose of this site is to provide resources to faculty who are interested in creating an online learning environment that involves engaging, enriching and caring student interactions. The site is a companion resource to the faculty workshop, "Creating a Caring Online Community: Improved Interactions, Feedback and Engagement." The Resources page provides links to online tools and apps for creating video, audio and discussion platforms. The content pages - Interactions, Feedback, Engagement, - provide tips on how to improve these student-centered communications.
Image source: District Administration
Our premise begins with two important frameworks: theory on ethics of care, in particular in education (Noddings) and Community of Inquiry (Garrison, Anderson and Archer, 2000). From Noddings, we draw upon the idea that caring is phenomenon in which the person caring (i.e. the teachers) is the one responsible for approaching the receiver (i.e. the student). The teacher tries to experience the subject from the students perspective. The student, reciprocates by receiving, recognizing and responding. Where increased interpersonal interactions take place, some have found increased student motivation and positive learning outcomes (Velasquez, Graham, & Osguthorpe, 2013).
The Community of Inquiry Framework describes three elements essential to educational transactions in computer mediated settings: Teaching, Social and Cognitive Presence. Briefly,
- Teaching presence sets the climate and allows for social presence to be formed
- Social presence allows students to recognize other people's personalities and to see each other as "real people." This, in turn, supports their ability to engage in discourse that results in cognitive presence.
- Cognitive presence allows the teacher to regulate learning by, among other things, selecting the content and designing learning activities
We submit that the teacher is central to all three elements. We also contend that in an online setting the teacher can use video, audio and interactive online discussion tools to create a caring online learning community for students.
Community of Inquiry, Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000
Bringing these two frameworks together enables us to view learning online as an enriching opportunity for the teacher to facilitate a robust learning experience for students which imbues many of the qualities associated with rewarding face-to-face classroom experiences.
To help teachers create this type of environment, we will explore using videos, audio and interactive online discussion tools and provide examples and steps for achieving high quality elements. Move onto the three topics in any order you prefer: Interactions, Feedback, Engagement. Access tools and apps for each of these here: Resources.
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