Module 5: Types of Interaction

Interactions with Content, Teachers, and Peers

Moore published a highly impactful framework that identified different types of interactions. The article will provide us with the terminology that we will use throughout this course and the program. Therefore, please read it carefully.  

1. Moore, M. G. (1989). Editorial: Three types of interaction. The American Journal of Distance Education, 3(2), 1–6. (link)

In the article above, Moore focused on different types of interaction. Others have also examined the human interactions (learner-learner and learner-teacher) and identified three common topics of those interactions:

• Content: interactions regarding the actual course subject.

• Procedural: interactions regarding the process of learning. This could include interactions regarding due dates, general learning skills, page limits, course calendar, and the grading scale. 

• Social: interactions regarding non-academic subjects. These are typically used to develop a level of comfort and get to know one another. 

Interactions with the Content 

Content has changed dramatically since Moore's 1989 article. In fact, it can be somewhat overwhelming when you think about all of the different types of content that instructors can use in their courses. We have created a simple framework to help simplify the landscape.  The graph below plots types of content based on two variables: richness and responsiveness.

1. Richness--the amount of senses that students use when interacting with the content. 

   • Low example: Text such as books or online readings.

   • Medium example: Audio recordings such as podcasts. 

   • High example: Multimedia presentations such as video that contain visual and auditory elements. 

2. Responsiveness--content's ability to adapt to student needs and actions.  

   • Low example:  Text and video allow students to learn at their own pace but are static--the same to every student, regardless of their personal needs. 

   • Medium example: Virtual environments or virtual realities that allow learners to explore and modify the content.  

   • High example: Games and adaptive learning programs that provide a student with the ability to make choices and then adapts according to the student's action.

Consider the content that your students use. I'm guessing that most of the content varies in richness but has low responsiveness. However, you or others in your school also likely use adaptive learning environments such as Imagine Learning or Deambox. 

Interactions with Parents   

The article that you read by Moore was created for higher education. As a result they overlooked some important interactions for K-12 environments. The most noticeable group that is missing is parents. Later we will take a deep dive into parental engagement. For now, we will be exploring two frameworks that were developed with the traditional school setting in mind and then ponder how parental engagement would be similar or different in blended or online learning environments.  

Esptein's (1978) extensive research at the primary grade levels identified the following four types of parental involvement. 

Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler grouped parental involvement as either "home-based involvement" or "school-based involvement." They then explained that parental engagement impacts students learning by encouraging students, modeling proper behavior, reinforcing positive engagement, and providing instruction. However, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the model was that they identified WHY parents get engaged (see the bottom two rows of the image below). Notice that invitations from others (e.g., the school, teachers, and students) impact parents' level and types of engagement.    

Interactions with the Community 

Publishing and Sharing Students' Work and Projects 

Of all the types of interactions we will explore this week, learner-community interactions are perhaps the least researched. They are also likely the least common type of interaction within your classroom. However, with newer communication technologies they are becoming more common and important. Schools are increasingly leveraging authentic learning strategies such as problem-based learning, project-based learning, and guided inquiry. All three learning strategies have somewhat different goals and processes but they are also remarkably similar in important ways. For instance, they all provide students an opportunity to share or present their solution or project. Commonly these are presented to the class or others in the school but the "gold-standard" is to create them for and share them with people in the community. Alternatively, projects such as videos can be published on sites such as YouTube for others to find and view.