How to Improve Student Engagement in Online Classes

8 Ways to Improve Student Engagement in Online Classes

Student engagement in learning is of great importance in education. Unfortunately, students always have a tendency to get distracted during the lecture. Even small things can take their focus away from the classes. It is more severe and evident in online classes. Lack of face-to-face contact between teachers and students makes it easier for students to lose attention. So teachers should make sure that the class is interesting and engaging.

There are many strategies to improve student engagement in virtual classrooms. But before that, let's understand what student engagement is. 

What is Student Engagement?

Student engagement in learning is nothing but the attention, active participation, and interests students have in a lecture. In other words, it is the willingness of students to lsiten actively and learn what you are teaching. Student engagement in learning promotes motivation and growth in students. There are three types of student engagement:

• Emotional

Here students get emotionally connected with their teachers and classmates. Emotionally engaged students interact with others and stay focused during lectures.

• Behavioural

Behavioural engagement means students actively participate in class activities and obey the teachers. They also seem to be completing the homework and assignments on time.

• Cognitive

In cognitive engagement, students learn, think critically and ask challenging questions to learn progressively. 

Why is Student Engagement Important in Virtual Learning?

Whether it is an online or offline class, active and participating students make the classroom better. Academic performance is directly proportional to student engagement in learning. It helps students to score higher grades and encourages them to learn more things. As mentioned earlier, distractions are more in online classes than in offline classes. When students are attending classes from their devices, there's a huge temptation for them to get diverted. This is the main reason why student engagement is important in online classes. Teachers have to use new ideas to keep the class engaging. Teachers should also make sure that every student actively participates in the classroom activities. If you are still wondering how to improve student engagement in learning, we have got you covered. 

The following are 8 solid strategies for improving student engagement in learning with ease. 

8 Ways to Improve Student Engagement in Virtual Learning

Even though there are plenty of ways to improve student engagement, these 8 tips are easy and affordable. 

• Use Online Engagement Tools

Getting a suitable online engagement tool is the first step teachers should take. These are educational software that is designed to increase student engagement. One such tool is Edisapp. This comprehensive tool includes all the necessary features to keep students engaged. Teachers can use emojis to interact with students to make the conversation more friendly. A virtual whiteboard is also available in Edisapp for the users to present their work. These online engagement tools have plenty of other benefits. Students can access study materials anytime using Edisapp. This feature helps students to study at their own pace. 

• Encourage Participation and Discussion

Participation and discussion are the easiest ways to improve student engagement. Teachers should find ways to make students interact and discuss with each other. These small discussions can make students feel they are valued. Teachers can make small groups of students and ask them to review a topic they have discussed. Teachers can also ask them to compare their homework or assignments with other students. Then, a student from each group can summarise their discussion in front of the class. These are simple ways to make every student an active participant in classroom activities. 

• Provide Simple Projects

Having students working together on a project is one of the best ways to keep them engaged. They can use the virtual whiteboard to interact with group members from anywhere. But, the engagement of the students depends on the topic given to them. Teachers should make sure that the project is short and simple. It will help students to get used to projects and collaboration. Teachers should also make sure that everyone in the group is contributing to the project. You can ask the students to file a report to track their progress and performance of each student. Teachers can also use project-based learning to improve student engagement in learning

• Ask Students to Share and Present

Simply teaching the contents and ending the lecture may not be enough. The modern education system demands innovative solutions. In the former case, students may or may not be listening to the class. They may not show interest if they are silent throughout the lecture. So, teachers can ask one student to report back on a project, assignment or homework. Students should share their screens and present their work in front of the whole class. It will also keep everyone in the class attentive and active knowing that they could be asked to speak. 

• Use Multimedia

Sharing study materials as PDFs or documents may be boring for students. Some students understand topics by looking at the pictures and videos. Also, pictures and videos attract students more than written notes. So, teachers can use short films, PowerPoint presentations, GIFs and memes to keep students entertained. Teachers can also use these multimedia files in between classes to re-engage students. It would be wonderful if these multimedia files are related to educational topics. In that case, students will show more interest in studying and understanding topics. 

• Conduct Fun Quizzes

Another way to keep the lecture interesting is to conduct quizzes. Teachers can conduct fun quizzes to entertain students and improve their knowledge at the same time. All you have to do is create small groups and ask the students to sit together in groups. Anyone from the group can raise their hand if they know the correct answer. Teachers can add points for right answers and deduct points for wrong answers to make the quick more competitive. But, make sure to mix the quizzes up with academic topics and general knowledge. You can also test the knowledge of students by conducting quizzes regularly. 

• Make Resources Easily Available

If resources are not easily accessible for the students, they show less interest in studying. Students should be able to access study materials easily by themselves from anywhere. So, teachers should use proper educational software so that students can easily navigate to find their course materials. Edisapp also makes sure all resources are available at a single location. Teachers should also make sure that study materials should be labelled and well organised to reduce confusion among students. It helps students to learn on their own time and induces a positive attitude towards learning. 

•  Regular Feedback

Feedback is the best way to determine improvements and grow quickly. Teachers should find time to give feedback to students on their performance regularly. Again, teachers can use Edisapp to communicate with students from anywhere with ease. Feedback also helps you determine how well students engage with you during your lecture. You should also gather feedback from the students about your lecture. It will help you determine whether students follow your classes and areas for improvement. Also, fast responses from teachers will help students to correct themselves and proceed to their next task quickly. 

Conclusion

Hope you have understood the importance of increasing student engagement in remote learning. So, the best way to improve it is to get a comprehensive application like Edisapp. The app offers different ways to increase student engagement in learning as mentioned above. It is specifically designed for teachers to manage online classes effectively.

As you can see, the educational system is getting more and more digitalised. So, every school needs to have the latest tools and strategies to survive. Motivated and engaged students are the top priorities of any classroom. We have already discussed different ways to improve student engagement in online classes. Now, all you have to do is switch to Edisapp and raise the quality of your education.