HOW TO BETTER ENGAGE ONLINE STUDENTS

WITH ONLINE STRATEGIES

D r . M argaret B ritt

Mount Vernon Nazarene University

Abstract
Online education is growing at a phenomenal rate. This growth in
online education offers many opportunities to colleges and universi
ties to reach students who may not have attended a traditional (brick
and mortar) college or university. Online education also gives stu
dents more control over their education along with a more flexible
schedule. As with every opportunity there comes a responsibility. For
colleges and universities, this responsibility includes the need to ef
fectively engage students in the online classroom to ensure learning.
This paper will review the theories that can be used to foster online
learning and education, as well as some of the best practices for ef
fectively engaging the online student in the classroom. Dont despair
- these best practices do not require an investment in expensive tech
nology or resources - they just require the creativity and imagination
of the instructor to redesign the learning experience and adapt it to
the online platform. Authentic learning which includes the use of
problems based on real world situations, scenarios and role playing
exercises, case studies and problem based activities will be reviewed
as one of the most effective ways to encourage engagement of the
online student as well as their academic growth and development.
As the paper discusses, these concepts can also be utilized with great
success with the adult learner in the online classroom.

The online education growth has been phe

nomenal for several years. 62.4% of colleges
offered online degree programs at the end of
2012 which is up significantly from 32.5% in
2002 (Sheehy, 2013). When universities ex
perience this type of growth, one of the major
questions that educators ask is what new strat
egies can be used to better engage these types
of students? This paper will attempt to answer
these questions.

The Theories Behind Online Learning

There are several theories that can be used
for online learning and education. The best
theory to use would be Kolbs Experiential

Learning Theory (Kolb, 1984). Kolb defined

this as a process whereby concepts are
derived from and continually modified by
experience (p. 28). Chan (2012) defined
experiential learning as learning by actual
experience...it requires the learner to experi
ence, reflect, think and act in a cyclic process
in response to the learning situation and what
is learned (pp. 405-406).
Baasanjav (2013) described Kolbs theory
with respect to e-leaming. The term expe
riential e-learning, or ee-leaming, refers to
the possibility of bringing together everyday
experience and communication technologies
(Beard, Wilson, McCarter, 2007; Carver,

399

400 / College Student Journal

King, Hannum, & Fowler, 2007; Murphey,
2010; Riedel, Endicott, Wasescha, & Goldston, 2007; Trevitte,& Eskow, 2007). He ex
plained that Kolb actually used the theories of
Lewin, Dewey, and Piaget concerning direct
experience. Baasanjav (2013, p. 576) said,
Kolb (1984) asserts that for the learner to
be effective in gaining knowledge or skill,
he or she has to fully engage in four main
stages: (1) concrete experience; (2) reflective
observation; (3) abstract conceptualization;
and (4) active experimentation (p. 576). The
research of Foote and Mixson-Brookshire
(2014) confirmed the strategic use of Kolbs
model to enhance student online learning.
Hence, this blend of experiential learning
with e-leaming brings together the best of the
students experiences with the use of tech
nology. In an online classroom, there are no
limits as to what can be learned from the ex
periential use of the technologies. It should be
noted that students desire more control over
their education along with a flexible schedule
in the learning process which is a distinct
advantage of online education (Carver, King,
Hannum, & Fowler, 2007; Drake, Drake, &
Ewing, 2010; Dunlap, Dobrovolny, & Young,
2008; Kennedy, 2004; Lalonde, 2011).

Adult Learners in an Online Environment

Malcom Knowles is the theorist who said
that adults learning is vastly different from
childrens learning. He said:

Adults are motivated when they uti

lize their own interests in education.

Their learning centers around lifes

experiences.

Experience is the best source for

adults; therefore, the core method
ology of adult education is lifes
situations.

Since adults are self-directed, the

role of the teacher is to engage in a

process of mutual inquiry instead of

knowledge transmission.

Individual differences among people

increase with age. Adult education
must make optimal provision for
differences in style, time, place, and
pace of learning. (Knowles, Holton &
Swanson, 2005, pp. 39-40)

Herbolds (2012) research found that adults

like the strategies o f using an independent or
online classroom study; a socially networked
study; theoretical or applied activities; record
ed discussions or lectures; discussion boards;
selection of their own activities; and helping
to build the course structure (pp. 120 and
123). This researcher goes on to discuss the
importance of using adult learning concepts
when designing any online course as en ef
fective strategy for this student type. Herbold
also mentioned the importance of using adult
learning theories when implementing a new
course or redesigning and existing one.

Effective Online Student Engagement

No matter what the subject matter is for
the online course, research has shown that
students want to be engaged in an effective
manner in the course. Dixson (2010) said that
an online course must be as strong as a face
to face class. Dixson (2010, p. 1) reviewed
the research of Maki and Maki (2007) which
found that online students can and often do
outperform traditional students since they are
required to do more in online courses than in
traditional courses. They also concluded that,
to be effective, online instruction required
strong methodology and opportunities for
students to interact with each other and the
instructor.
Dixson (2010) said that there must be co
operation and collaboration between the stu
dents and the instructor. Her research further
demonstrated that there must be an effective
instructor presence. Dixson specifically stated

How To Better Engage Online Students / 401

that instructors need to be actively involved
in the learning of their students (Gayton &
McEwen, 2007; Young, 2006), but minimally
involved in discussions (Dennen, Darabi, &
Smith, 2007; Levy, 2008; Shea, Li & Pickett,
2006; Young, 2006).

Online Engagement Strategies

To better understand what online engage
ment looks like in e-leaming, one must first
define what it is not in terms of effectiveness.
At the inception of distant learning, e-leaming
was more or less dressed up traditional meth
ods of delivery. The redesigning of Power
Point slides for narrated presentations, sylla
buses and PDF files converted into online text,
course pages jazzed up with graphics, photos,
or videos, and even assessment tools, like
exams, getting a makeover to drag and drop
responses and visual matching. All of these
instructional design strategies did provide a
simplistic approach to delivery o f e-leaming
without little consideration of learning effec
tiveness and engagement. The development
of a high-quality online course is hard work.
In addition, an e-leaming focus on student
engagement compounds the task at hand
because it forces the instructional designer
to rethink standard pedagogical practices to
coordinate the balance between cognitive
and educational psychology, and educational
technology into every learning experience
(Jonassen, 2004). It is important to note that
instructors do not need expensive technology
tools or resources to create engagement. Rath
er than focusing on the e-leaming technology
involved, an instructor can use their creativity
and imagination to design the learning experi
ence to be implemented and adapted to fit the
outcomes of the course. To more effectively
engage students in online courses, a number
o f adaptable and flexible learning strategies
can be applied to create authentic learning.
Authentic learning usually includes real
world problems and solutions, using scenario

and role playing experiences, case studies,

and problem-based activities. Learners are
more engaged when solving real-world prob
lems (Donovan, 1999). Effective educators
know that learning by doing takes students
to the top o f Blooms taxonomy (Shephard,
2008). However, authentic learning has been
difficult to include in e-leaming. The element
of experimentation and trial and error exercis
es that require collaboration and communica
tion among students seem to be impossible in
the online classroom. With the emergence of
Web 2.0 tools and robust features in learning
management systems, students can be more
engaged in authentic learning experiences.
Researchers have proposed that authentic
learning experiences can utilize specific
adaptable instructional elements.
1.

Real world relevance: Authentic ac

tivities match the real-world tasks of
professionals in practice as nearly as
possible. Learning rises to the level
of authenticity when it asks students
to work actively with abstract con
cepts, facts, and formulae inside a
realisticand highly socialcontext
mimicking the ordinary practices of
the [disciplinary] culture.

2.

Ill-defined problem: Challenges can

not be solved easily by the applica
tion of an existing algorithm; instead,
authentic activities are relatively un
defined and open to multiple inteipretations, requiring students to identify
for themselves the tasks and subtasks
needed to complete the major task.

3.

Sustained investigation: Problems

cannot be solved in a matter of min
utes or even hours. Instead, authentic
activities comprise complex tasks to
be investigated by students over a
sustained period of time, requiring
significant investment of time and
intellectual resources.

402 / College Student Journal

4.

Multiple sources and perspectives:

Learners are not given a list of re
sources. Authentic activities provide
the opportunity for students to exam
ine the task from a variety of theoret
ical and practical perspectives, using
a variety of resources, and requires
students to distinguish relevant from
irrelevant information in the process.

5.

Collaboration: Success is not achiev

able by an individual learner work
ing alone. Authentic activities make
collaboration integral to the task,
both within the course and in the real
world.

6.

Reflection (metacognition): Authen

tic activities enable learners to make
choices and reflect on their learning,
both individually and as a team or
community.

7.

Interdisciplinary perspective: Rel

evance is not confined to a single
domain or subject matter specializa
tion. Instead, authentic activities have
consequences that extend beyond a
particular discipline, encouraging stu
dents to adopt diverse roles and think
in interdisciplinary terms.

8.

Integrated assessment: Assessment

is not merely summative in authentic
activities but is woven seamlessly into
the major task in a manner that reflects
real-world evaluation processes.

9.

Polished products: Conclusions are

not merely exercises or sub steps
in preparation for something else.
Authentic activities culminate in the
creation of a whole product, valuable
in its own right.

10. Multiple interpretations and out

comes: Rather than yielding a sin
gle correct answer obtained by the
application of rules and procedures,

authentic activities allow for diverse

interpretations and competing solu
tions (Lombardi, 2007, pp. 3-4).
One can see the relevance of authentic
learning in the examples noted above. The
use of actual experiences helps the learner to
grow and develop.
Conclusion
This paper has demonstrated how the en
gagement of online students using their real
world knowledge is vital for successful online
classroom experience. The use of creativity
will go a long way in helping all students to
learn key principles in the online classroom.
Since online education is growing as a viable
form of education, the faculty must ensure
that they are keeping up with the latest meth
ods to enhance this type of education.

How To Better Engage Online Students / 403

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