Online Learning Interactions

Online learning has many pluses. It is convenient because students can work from home or almost any location and they can also choose when when they participate. On the other hand a drawback to distance learning is the lack of face to face interaction. Online communication can sometimes lead to miscommunication.

• Just as in any classroom ground or online, setting the rules early is essential. Students new to online discussions may not be used to policing themselves but they must learn to be professional online.

• Design interactivity between students and the course materials for greater learning (Palloff & Pratt, 2001).

• Synchronous interactions can be inconvenient for students who are busy or from different time zones so use them only when necessary (Broadbent, 2002).

• Use threaded discussions with questions that allow for many varied responses that students can relate to their readings or prior knowledge. Allowing students to pull in their experiences and prior knowledge creates opportunities for stronger learning (Broadbent, 2002).

• Encourage the use of emoticons in communication to aid in discerning the mood of students because facial expressions cannot be read online (Broadbent, 2002).

• Limit class size for better communication (Broadbent, 2002).

• Use a discussion board thread to solve course problems then keep it going for use as FAQs for future reference (Broadbent, 2002).

• Save chats so students can refer back to what was discussed (Broadbent, 2002).

• Encourage student interactions placing the responsibility on them for helping each other. Students can use the discussion board to seek answers to questions before contacting the instructor. This can help decrease the instructor's workload (Maeroff, 2003).

• Realize that in the beginning of a course, particularly for those students who are new to distance learning, you will have to be more available because students may need a lot of support. As the learner(s) progress allow them the greatest independence they are capable of handling without frustration. Continue to communicate through the discussion board to guide and encourage learning (Broadbent, 2002).

• In order for learning to take place the learners need to interact with the new knowledge or skills. Planning for interaction is important because interaction helps learners retain what is learned (Broadbent, 2002).

• Be cognizant that the types of interaction are important but the amount of interaction should be thoughtfully considered as well because individuals differ in their levels of need for interaction with others, particularly in e-learning. Some learners find too much interaction distracting or annoying while others need interaction with others in order to learn (Fahy and Ally, 2005).

• Quality interaction with instructional materials, peers, and the course instructor can create meaningful learning that “sticks”. The manner in which interaction occurs is a very important consideration for the success of online learning (Palloff & Pratt, 2001).

Creating a Community of Learners

Creating a community of learners is particularly important in online learning where students who have questions can feel abandoned. Encourage your students to form a community by giving them responsibility for helping each other (Palloff & Pratt, 2001; Broadbent, 2002).

• Interactions can be planned  to increase student interactions and lessen the need for some of the interaction with the instructor. Putting the responsibility for some of the work on students can help them learn and at the same time build connections between the members of the class helping them to learn to rely on themselves to solve problems or answer questions as needed (Broadbent, 2002).

• Intervene in discussions only when necessary, for example, when a student is not following class discussion rules about professionalism (Palloff & Pratt, 2001).

• Learn to facilitate instead of dominate discussions by letting student voice their opinions about course content (Palloff & Pratt, 2001).

• When students need more depth of understanding of content use questioning techniques to stimulate the discussion rather than adding your opinions (Palloff & Pratt, 2001).