While this paper set out to discover what activities and/or interaction channels might be expected to lead to more highly engaged students, what it found was a bit different. After first creating a scale to measure online student engagement, and then surveying 186 students from six campuses in the Midwest, the results indicate that there is no particular activity that will automatically help students to be more engaged in online classes. However, the results also suggest that multiple communication channels may be related to higher engagement and that student-student and instructor-student communication are clearly strongly correlated with higher student engagement with the course, in general. Thus, advice for online instructors is still to use active learning but to be sure to incorporate meaningful and multiple ways of interacting with students and encouraging/requiring students to interact with each other. (Contains 4 tables.)

A student-centered approach helps students to develop a "can-do"  attitude. It is effective, motivating, and enjoyable. This booklet sets out to  discuss how this approach can be implemented. It also deals with the problems  that may arise.

"By using multimedia in an online classroom you as the instructor will be virtually engaging your students by keeping them interested in your curriculum while simultaneously keeping them happy to be a part of such an innovate and creative online classroom. "

"The term student-centred learning (SCL) is widely used in the teaching and learning literature. Many terms have been linked with student-centred learning, such as flexible learning (Taylor 2000), experiential learning (Burnard 1999), self-directed learning and therefore the slightly overused term 'student-centred learning' can mean different things to different people. In addition, in practice it is also described by a range of terms and this has led to confusion surrounding its implementation."

Taking a Learner-Centered Approach in Online Courses

Defines Student Centered Teaching and Learning by Dr. Felder at North Carolina State University

If you've never taught a course online, chances are you've never considered how you might adjust your tests and assignments to suit the electronic medium. At most, you've probably shuddered at the thought of having to devise what you assume would be a dumbed-down, self-grading, multiple-choice, Web-based quiz.

New forms of student assessment are designed to demonstrate what students are learning and what they can do with their knowledge. Known variously as "alternative" or "more authentic" measures, these assessments require students to "perform" in some way--by writing, demonstrating, explaining, or constructing a project or experiment--so they are also called "performance-based" tests.

Tutorial about plagiarism with a quiz at the end that you can have student email results of.

Instructors who design online courses have an opportunity  to develop assessments to  monitor students' progress toward achievement of learning objectives.  

The Effects of Teacher Presence on Student Performance and Attitudes

University and college faculty, K-12 teachers, corporate and military trainers, educational administrators, curriculum designers, technical support staff, and others who want to learn how to convert teaching or training materials currently delivered face-to-face into a completely online course or program. Educators and trainers who already design, implement, or teach online courses who seek to update their skills and knowledge of evolving best practices in online learning.

Maria Brennan has become pretty proficient at tracking down Everett School District students who are on the verge of dropping out. She's even snagged a few that have already crossed the line and helped them back into positive territory. As graduation success coordinator for Everett School District in Everett, WA, Brennan has used a combination of traditional methods (reaching out directly to the students and their families by phone, for example) and high-tech approaches to help improve graduation rates for the district's four high schools.

Evaluation of Synchronous Online Tutoring for Students at Risk of Reading Failure This study examined the effects of online reading instruction for at-risk fourth-grade students in Philadelphia. The authors used a multiple baseline design to assess the extent to which the students increased their oral reading rate given systematic supplemental online reading instruction. Tutoring consisted of 4 sessions per week with 50-min lessons of instruction delivered over Adobe ConnectTM. Analysis of the multiple baseline across participants revealed gains in oral reading fluency for all participants when placed into the synchronous online tutoring program. Participating students and tutors reported an awareness of increased reading skills and value of synchronous online instruction. Teachers and parents generally reported that students demonstrated increased reading skills after receiving instruction.

Online courses have become very popular in higher education and with the emergence of virtual schools are becoming common at the K-12 level (see Clark, 2001; Vail 2001). While most universities and colleges have established training programs to prepare their faculty to teach online, school systems are just beginning to address this need.  As McKenzie (2001) notes, preparing teachers to teach online needs to involve a lot more than the short workshops typical of inservice training. Hannum (2001) describes an extensive state-wide initiative in Colorado. The Concord Consortium and Illinois Online Network both have successful online teacher training programs. A number of online learning system vendors such as Apex Learning, Blackboard Inc., and eCollege also offer online teacher training programs, although these tend to be tailored to their systems.  

The development and progress of distance education through online technologies has grown over the past ten years. Though community colleges across the United States have seen the largest increase, are its faculty members prepared to teach online? The following study examines strategies administrators may use to train faculty who teach online courses at the community college level.

While some instructors think online teaching will be a breeze, the truth is that the best teachers work very hard to connect with students. Here are seven tips from an online insider.

This study examined the impact of Web-Based Learning Tools (WBLTs), also known as learning objects, in middle school mathematics and science classrooms. Survey, qualitative, and student performance data were collected from a sample of 18 teachers and 443 students. Teachers were very positive about the learning benefits, design of WBLTs, and increased engagement of their students. Students were moderately positive about these same features. Student learning performance with respect to remembering, understanding, applying and evaluating concepts increased significantly when WBLTs were used. Qualitative data suggested that a number of students enjoyed the visual supports, ease of use, and interactivity of WBLTs as well using technology to learn. Some students noted that the WBLTs used in class were not challenging enough and that the help features and the design of certain WBLTs were deficient. Overall, it is reasonable to conclude that WBLTs, if selected carefully, can be a positive and effective learning tool in a middle school environment. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

This is the second in a series of three papers about online pedagogy and educational practice as part of the JISE "Online Education Forma." This paper deals with the question: How is teaching online different from conventional teaching? By comparing these differences along several dimensions, a set of recommended practices for online teaching emerges. This article examines issues such as online course organization and planning, teaching guidelines and constraints, relationships between students and teacher, lectures versus tutorials, and assessment of student performance. A transition is underway. The same networking and computing technology that has revolutionised global commerce, and many other facets of modem life, is now being targeted at education. Partnering the Internet with modern course management systems makes it possible for universities to offer online courscwork on a global basis. The critical task that lies ahead is to create and disseminate curricula of high quality online that students can embrace and educators can sustain. The overall objective of JISE's Online Education Forum is to examine the realities of college and university online teaching, and the processes of education using today's information technologies. The issues and insights discussed in this forum will provide educators with important tools and the understanding needed to embrace the world of online education. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.