One of her biggest challenges was finding what was at stake for these students: if they weren’t being graded, then why did they take the class in the first place?
The question of stakes added a thread to the overarching question, which she explored through her class: how do you keep students engaged in an online learning setting?
Based on the enthusiasm her students displayed during the face to face portion of her class, along with a detailed read-through of her thesis on engagement, I think that actual human contact is what kept her students coming back.
After interviewing Von about her class, she agreed. She said she was used to her personality, sense of humor and kinesthetic teaching style running a traditional classroom, and that technology was a barrier for these characteristics during the online portion of her class.
She also said that her physical presence was a useful tool in the traditional classroom, especially if a student dozed off in class; all she would have to do is stand next to that student and then they were re-engaged.
With her new MFA degree, Von said she will be searching for teaching jobs. However, I felt a ping of disappointment when she said she most likely will be stuck teaching in an online setting, and won’t be able to radiate her wonderful, engaging personality onto bright-eyed students. Colleges are gravitating towards online learning, so I suppose that is where the job market is hot, and Von will most likely find a job in here.
The bottom line: we still need human interactions in our education systems, even if they are just hitting the buttons to make classroom technology work. I think students need to feel connected with each other, whether it’s through their interest and love of learning, or even by utter confusion on a class lesson. Without other humans, students would be robots down to the core, hardwired to function without a sense of warmth, ambition and engagement. I think that students need a human hand guiding them through their lessons towards success, no matter how attached they are to their devices.
That’s where teachers come in.
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Video: Von Thompson gives a lecture on student engagement in her online learning class.
https://youtu.be/2WfUqJtTHPY
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