4.3 Designing for interaction
It may initially seem easier to recreate the activities you do in the classroom in synchronous online sessions, but classroom practices don’t always translate directly and you may not see the same levels of learning or engagement. You may also find there are asynchronous online tools that support your learning goals better than synchronous online sessions and allow you to fully leverage the potential for engagement across both synchronous and asynchronous learning spaces. Most online instructors blend regularly scheduled synchronous sessions with content and activities students complete asynchronously. The table below provides some examples of ways to approach these online modalities.
| Asynchronous | Synchronous | |
|---|---|---|
| When? |
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| Why? |
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| How? | Various tools available within Canvas (Discussions, Groups, Modules, Assignments, Quizzes, Kaltura, Library Online Course Reserves) | Video conferencing tools (Collaborate Ultra, Zoom) |
Studies indicate that students in online courses achieve better outcomes and are more satisfied with their learning experience when there are opportunities for active engagement with the instructor, the course content, and each other (Swan, 2003). While you're designing your online course it is helpful to think about the different types of interactions students can have in a course and how they might support student learning goals. One common framework to help think about interaction in online courses is Moore’s interaction framework that identifies three types of interaction that we’ve mentioned before: learner-content interaction, learner-instructor interaction and learner-learner interaction (Moore, 1989 Links to an external site.[pdf]). Beyond Moore’s three types of interactions, learner-technology interaction should also be factored in when planning activities because most interactions in an online learning environment are mediated by technology. Instructors need to leverage technology to create rich learning opportunities, but also be mindful about the time and effort that such interaction requires from both instructors and students. Across each of these interaction types, be sure to consider how you will balance different interactions across both synchronous and asynchronous course spaces.
Interactions help to build a sense of community in online courses, which is a critical component and needs to be planned as part of the overall teaching strategy. A strong sense of community in online courses has many positive benefits for learning such as:
- Increasing persistence in course attendance.
- Increasing the flow of information and cooperation among learners.
- Establishing a sense of well-being.
- Reducing student burn out.
The key to teaching at a distance is to discover a way to stimulate a sense of community in your course.
Student-content interaction
How students interact with content online can look quite different compared to how they interact with content in a classroom. In the classroom, the methods through which instructors engage students with content (ie. polling, questions, think-pair-share) generally make student engagement visible to both the instructor and to all students in the class. Similar techniques can be used during a synchronous lecturing session with thoughtful planning and practice. However, novice online instructors tend to make student-content interaction more passive through practices such as “when an instructor takes PowerPoint presentations used in a face-to-face classroom and posts them to a learning management system (LMS) as ‘lecture notes’” (Moore, 2016, p. 402). To increase student-content interaction in asynchronous settings:
- During synchronous lectures, divide lengthy and complex lecture materials into smaller segments and include opportunities for self-reflection and knowledge checks.
- When slides are used for asynchronous lectures, include narration and additional notes. At various points in the slide deck, ask students to answer associated questions or complete a mini-assignment.
- Other ways to create students-content interaction include:
| Asynchronous | Synchronous |
|---|---|
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There are several options for creating online content you would normally share in lectures. If you’d like to learn more about asynchronous options, you may want to enroll in the Kaltura 101 Canvas site.
Another engagement strategy which facilitates social and cognitive presence is to incorporate activities in which students are co-creators or producers of knowledge. In this approach, students, as part of their course assignments, produce resources for their peers, future students, and in many cases open resources for the wider community. For more information on this approach see the Faculty Spotlight on Janet Bulkan later in this module. When asking students to create content, there are a few considerations to keep in mind. Students own the copyright in their own work and should be given the choice whether or not to share or publish it publicly and with an open license. Please see theOpen UBC Teaching in the Open Toolkit for more information on this topic.
Student-instructor interaction
Regardless of whether students are online or in a classroom they require guidance from their instructors. How you make yourself available to students defines your online teaching presence. You may interact with students by monitoring and responding to discussion forum posts and emails or through virtual office hours using Zoom where students can drop-in or schedule 1:1 time. Strategies to facilitate interaction between students and instructors include:
- Clearly define the role of instructors/TAs and students in a course (see Module 2)
- Establish expectations on when and how students interact with instructors/TAs
- Communicate the timeframes for instructors/TAs feedback on student work
| Asynchronous | Synchronous |
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If you’re not familiar with how to use Canvas to do the items above, the Keep Teaching website is a helpful guide for faculty.
Student-student interaction
In the online environment, instructors can foster productive student-student interaction through intentional design. At the beginning of the class, including an 'icebreaker' or 'warm-up' activity Links to an external site. [pdf] is an effective approach to help students become comfortable communicating with each other online. To further facilitate student-student interaction:
- Provide clear participation guidelines Links to an external site. for different types of student-student interaction
- Provide opportunities for students to work in smaller groups
- Set ground rules for respectful communication
| Asynchronous | Synchronous |
|---|---|
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If you’re not familiar with how to use Canvas to set up groups, the Keep Teaching website has helpful guides.
Student-technology interaction
In online environments, interaction is mediated through technology which means technology influences how students interact with contents, instructors, and their peers. When designing learning activities for online courses, instructors should consider how to best facilitate interaction through technology. We recommend faculty use tools that are part of the UBC’s Learning Technology Ecosystem because students are most likely to be familiar with the tools and because support is available. Lack of student confidence with the tool can interfere with activities and detract from student learning. If unfamiliar tools will be used for activities, a student guide should be provided in advance so students can learn the tool and how to get support when a problem arises.
| Asynchronous | Synchronous |
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For more information about facilitating both synchronous and asynchronous online activities, read 6.4 Effective synchronous teaching practices and 6.5 Effective asynchronous teaching practices in Module 6 of the Online Teaching Program.