Learner Activities

"Course activities that had statistical significance in relationship to students’ reported learning engagement include those that changed their understanding of a topic or concept, connected their learning to societal problems, linked their learning to prior experiences and knowledge, and were interpreted as fun" (Buelow, Barry, & Rich, 2018) .

Getting to Know Each Other

• Create FlipGrid introduction videos

• Create a Padlet board about yourself

• Start an "introduce yourself" Slack channel

Changed Student Understanding of a Topic or Concept

• Create a Prezi presentation of an opposite view point

• Use Mentimeter to inject polls into presentations that debunk misconceptions

• Create a Thinglink video with tags and clickable links to allow students to perform a content deep dive

Connect Learning to Societal Problems

• Show a YouTube video about a societal problem and start a discussion board thread for students to make connections to course content

• Host a Zoom session with a guest speaker for active discussion about societal connections with an expert

• Use Padlet to present a statement about a societal problem project about which learners have to brainstorm. Share the board and let learners share their ideas and comments.

Link Learning to Prior Experiences and Knowledge

• Use a Slack channel for learners to share what they know about a topic before presenting lesson content

• Use Mentimeter questions at the beginning of a lesson to gauge student related experiences and background knowledge

• Ask students to create FlipGrid videos sharing what they know before a lesson

Fun Activities

• Create a Padlet treasure hunt for learners to search through other learners Padlets to answer a set of questions

• Play Kahoot! for content review

• Make a game show presentation using Prezi

References

Buelow, J. R., Barry, T. A., & Rich, L. E. (2018). Supporting Learning Engagement with Online Students. Online Learning, 22(4). doi: 10.24059/olj.v22i4.1384