Online learning platforms include educational and instructional videos, images, and animations that easily grab students’ attention. It is believed that visuals are very helpful in memory retention and a better grasp of concepts. Students are more engaged if they are able to actively participate in lessons with interesting and informative visuals.

 However, educators must change their approach because, despite all efforts, students of today do not engage in a long-term. The main goal is to properly utilize the tools in order to succeed in improving online education. This can be done by properly integrating carefully designed courses to inspire, motivate, and engage students as they learn.

Here are some tips that educators can follow to increase student engagement with online learning platforms.

Choose the right online learning platform

Choosing the right platform that can deliver lessons or lectures properly is essential in increasing student engagements. Educators must ensure they are using the right tools and maximize their efficiency in delivering lessons. All learning materials and contents should be of high quality and can be easily understood by students in order to increase and hold student engagement.

The right platform can help educators achieve this. For example, instructional videos and images can be made more interesting and understandable if there are captions or subtitles included. There are hundreds of different possibilities. Educators just need to use their creativity. The more creative and interesting the delivery of lessons, the more engaged students will be.

Utilize its features and student engagement

As mentioned, there is nothing technology cannot do these days. Every app, every software, and every platform always try their best to outshine one another by putting in extra features that can be very helpful to its users. For instance, online learning platforms have built-in algorithms that can help track user engagements. Take advantage of them and use them in your favor.

Track students’ engagements. Check which topics, lessons, and approaches are more effective. Use the data to redesign and improve your curriculum to create more engaging lessons.

Inspire students by putting them in specific categories

Categorizing students based on their specific strengths and weaknesses can be very helpful in creating tailored-fit lessons for each student category. Educators can also take advantage of this by putting each student into a group that complements and balances students’ strengths and weaknesses.

For example, if one student is excellent in one subject but performs poorly in another, that student can be placed in a group where his/her strength can be useful while learning and developing his/her weak areas. This will not only build camaraderie, it can also foster a highly interactive and engaging learning process.

Encourage live interactions

Live interactions can be fun and highly engaging. People usually feel great to be a part of something meaningful or if they are able to help other people out. Educators can encourage live interactions by using built-in chat feature in the online learning platform if there is any, or opt to use third-party applications such as:

• Facebook – A great thing about Facebook is its user-friendly features including Facebook groups and messenger. Educators can use these features to create a space for their students to interact with each other to ask questions, share their thoughts and opinions about certain topics, solve issues, or to simply connect with their fellow students.
• Google Hangouts – for the uninitiated, Google Hangouts is very similar to Facebook. Educators can easily communicate with a group of students simultaneously via text or video chat. This is a great tool to use for live online learning sessions or meeting with a group of students.
• Skype – Skype allows people to communicate via text, audio, and video chat. It also has a screen and file sharing feature that students and educators can use.
• Online Forums - Forums allow people to post questions that anyone can answer. Forums are engaging in such a way that it allows a thread of information from different people. It is highly engaging because conversations can be very interesting especially since people have different views and opinions regarding a certain topic.
• Web Conference – Most online learning platforms have web conferencing feature that is so helpful for both educators and students. Web conferencing offers added functionality such as sharing of a screen and the ability to use a visual whiteboard. These are especially useful when the topics or discussions need visual explanations or instructions.

Creating a healthy environment where students can freely ask questions, share their thoughts and opinions, and connect with their fellow students or to their teachers directly, is a great way to increase student engagement. They will feel valued because they were able to contribute or help other people.

Create offline activities or learning opportunities outside the class for students to participate in

Following the belief “out of sight, out of mind” students can easily forget what they have learned the moment they get out of the class. To ensure memory retention and continuation of learning, educators must create learning opportunities outside of class. This is an effective way to enhance student engagement. Educators can assign projects that students can collaborate in or an online activity that will push students to check or log in from time to time in order to not miss any important information or updates.

For instance, paper writing can be a project students can collaborate in outside of class. They can work together by researching topics and putting them all together for a well-researched and well-written paper. You can make your own research to get creative ideas, paper writing guide, and good essay topics list.

Do not forget to evaluate students’ performances

Evaluating students’ performances are essential in gauging what they have learned, their strengths, their weaknesses, and all their achievements. Educators must learn the habit of providing insights and feedbacks to encourage students to work harder, improve, or to simply give them a pat on the back for a job well done. This is helpful for both parties. Educators can improve or redesign their curriculum while students can change their study habits or approaches to become better or learn more about the lesson.

This increases student engagement because it always feels great to get compliments for hard work. Educators must focus on solutions to problems and constructive criticisms so they would feel that their educators are willing to help them in case they need it. Students should take their educators’ suggestions or solutions so they can submit an improved version of their assigned work or to simply learn better.

Online learning platforms are now an essential part of modern and blended education. It is imperative that educators learn how to utilize all tools to be able to succeed in teaching lessons in a more fun and engaging manner.  Integrating lessons into the system and backed up by helpful tools can increase student engagement. Both parties must do their part and actively participate and interact during discussions, activity, and projects outside class to effectively reinforce learning and foster a long-term student engagement.