Strategies for securing participant motivation and engagement in a 19 week online course

Strategies for securing participant motivation and engagement in a 19 week online courseBy Inger-Marie F. ChristensenUniversity of Southern Denmark

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Agenda

• The Teaching for Tomorrow course

• Survey results: To what degree have participants been motivated and engaged by the strategies employed:– E-tivities – Peer feedback and collaboration– Practical skills training– Opportunity to integrate work and learning– Mix of asynchronous and synchronous activities– Module badges

The Teaching for Tomorrow course• Joint venture between 7 HE institutions in southern

Denmark and northern Germany. Participants from 8 institutions.

University College Lillebælt

University College South Denmark

University of Southern Denmark

Uni. of Applied Science, Flensburg

Uni. of Applied Science, Kiel

Europa-Universität Flensburg

Christian-Albrechts-Universität

International Business Academy

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Course details

• Offered to lecturers interested in flipped, blended and/or distance learning

• 54 lecturers enrolledNo experience teaching online: 50 %No experience being an online student: 49 %

• E-moderator team of 12

• 19-week online course

• CourseSites.com, Adobe Connect, Twitter and Google+

• Start : 20 October 2014

• End : 28 February 2015

Entry survey results:Why did participants enrol in the course?

85%

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6 modules

• The virtual learning environment and e-learning tools

• Introduction to online learning

• Design of flipped, blended and distance learning, course materials and activities

• Delivery of online courses/The online lecturer

• Web 2.0 and social media

• E -assessment

Course calendar

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Effect of strategies used to motivate and engage participants

• Link to electronic questionnaire sent via e-mail

• Exit survey sent to 54 participants (initially enrolled)

• 50 % completed the survey fully = 27 participants

• 11 % gave some answers = 6 participants

To what degree are you satisfied with the overall learning experience you gained during the course?

High or some degree = 74 %

Low/somewhat low degree = 11 %

Will you be using e-learning to a greater extent in the future than before?

Most certainly/certainly = 81 %

No/not likely = 15 %

Course completion

Completed on time = 17 participants• 35 % of participants who started on the course

Intend to complete = 12 participants• Total of 59 % of participants

E-tivities - Gilly Salmon’s concept used

• Resources

• Spark

• Individual contributions

• Dialogue begins

• Frequent deadlines to secure interaction

Gilly Salmon’s five stage model used

• Scaffolding participants’ learning

• Building sense of community

• Securing access to and familiarity with platform and tools

From http://www.gillysalmon.com/five-stage-model.html

To what degree do you feel that the e-tivities provided clear instructions that helped you complete the tasks?

• All (27 informants)

• Completed (14)

• Intend to complete (10)

• Will not be completing (3)

Somewhat low degree = 7 %

High or some degree = 67 %

To what degree did the deadlines motivate you to complete the tasks set in each e-tivity?

• All (27 informants)

• Completed (14)

• Intend to complete (10)

Low/somewhat low degree = 19 %

High or some degree = 56 %

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Peer feedback and collaboration

• Creating a dynamic VLE• Interaction• Inspiration• Reflection• Retention

Peer feedback and collaborationTo what degree did giving feedback to fellow participants increase your learning outcome?

• All (27 informants)

• Completed (14)

• Intend to complete (10)

Low/somewhat low degree = 38 %

High or some degree = 41 %

To what degree did receiving and acting on feedback from fellow participants increase your learning outcome?

High or some degree = 41 %

• All (27 informants)

• Completed (14)

• Intend to complete (10)

Low/somewhat low degree = 37 %

To what degree did receiving and acting on feedback from fellow participants motivate you to continue on the course?

• All (27 informants)

• Completed (14)

• Intend to complete (10)

Low/somewhat low degree = 37 %

High or some degree = 45 %

Hands-on approach to support participants in achieving skills and competencesTo what degree did you find this hands-on approach useful?

High or some degree = 55 %

Low/somewhat low degree = 19 %

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Opportunity to integrate work and learning

• Making learning meaningful for participants

The generally most decisive factor for significant learning in adults is the requirement for motivation rooted in direct interest, something they feel like doing and are committed to, or a realized necessity, something they have understood and accepted to be beneficial to learn in relation to something they want to achieve. (Illeris and Associates, 2004 quoted from Illeris, 2000, p. 61)

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Opportunity to integrate work and learning

• 24 participants = 89 % of respondents combined learning and work tasks– It was very useful, because I believe my learning outcome

was better and I could actually think about my current lectures and create new ideas and solutions that I can use.

– It was very inspiring to be able to apply what we learned to authentic teaching tasks.

– I have an end product I can use. This motivated me during the course and the usefulness has kept me reflecting on further development of additional course/modules.

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Opportunity to integrate work and learning

• 3 participants = 11 % of respondents did not manage to combine learning and work tasks– Time pressure– Did not see relevance– New at institution – lacked overview

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Mix of asynchronous and synchronous activities

• Create a safe and welcoming learning environment

• Build a sense of community

• Retention

• 1 f-2-f day at start of course

• 9 live, online sessions via Adobe Connect (1 – 2 hours)

• 27 asynchronous e-tivities, incl. instructions for the live sessions

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How did you experience this combination of asynchronous and synchronous activities?

Suitable = 55 %

More live sessions = 30 %

Fewer live sessions = 22 %

To what degree did the live sessions help create a sense of community?

High or some degree = 48 % Low/somewhat

low degree = 37 %

Live sessions created a sense of community

I liked the "encounter", as the sessions were the only times where we "met", so it was supportive for me giving the feeling of taking part in this course with other people […]

Comment from a participant

To what degree do you feel that the course managed to provide a safe and welcoming learning environment?

High or some degree = 66 %

Somewhat low degree = 11 %

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Module badges

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Purpose of using badges

• ”An inherent assumption from the gamification perspective is that an external indicator, such as a badge, can act as a motivator to encourage individuals to participate, act or pursue tasks.”

• “In systems where badges are visible to the learner they can serve as a way to visualize the learning path of content and activities.”

(Ahn et al. 2014)

Badges awarded

• Module 1: 45

• Module 2: 36

• Module 3: 29

• Module 4: 23

• Module 5: 20

• Module 6: 17

To what degree did you experience the badge assignments as a suitable way of assessing your learning?

• All (27 informants)

• Completed (14)

• Intend to complete (10)

Low/somewhat low degree = 11 %

High or some degree = 63 %

To what degree did the badge assignments help you reflect on your learning?

• All (27 informants)

• Completed (14)

• Intend to complete (10)

Low/somewhat low degree = 22 %

High or some degree = 63 %

To what degree did receiving a badge motivate you to complete the modules of the course?

• All (27 informants)

• Completed (14)

• Intend to complete (10)

Low/somewhat low degree = 30 %

High or some degree = 59 %

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Conclusions & next run of the course

• Too frequent deadlines– Participants lagged behind– Loss of interaction / lack of feedback

• Overall course format and design satisfactory

• Next run– Fewer, more substantial e-tivities– Fewer deadlines – room for reflection and interaction– Spare time in between modules to catch up– Keep mix of synchronous and asynchronous activities– Make live sessions more interactive and engaging– Keep f-2-f kick off– Keep badge assignments

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References

• Ahn, j.; Pellicone, A. and Butler, B. S. (2014). Open badges for education: what are the implications at the intersection of open systems and badging? In Research in Learning Technology. Vol. 22, 2014.

• Illeris, K. and Associates (2004). Learning in working life. Learning Lab Denmark. Roskilde University Press.

• Salmon, G. (2013). E-tivities – The key to active online learning. Second Edition. Routledge.

• Gilly Salmon’s website on e-tivities: http://www.gillysalmon.com/e-tivities.html

• Gilly Salmon’s website on the 5-stage model: http://www.gillysalmon.com/five-stage-model.html

• Images from colorbox.com