Engaging students is crucial to online learning, faculty say

By Megan Fee
April 8, 2021

Dr. Stephen Grieco uses a personalized online background to keep students engaged. Photo by Stephen Grieco.

Everyone’s daily lives have been disrupted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the major aspects that has been affected is social life and online culture and engagement. 

Different learning formats

Stephen Grieco, an assistant professor of music, has been working at Cabrini since 2017 and has worked in music education for over 20 years. 

Grieco has taught online courses before the pandemic which helped prepare him during the switch to online learning. He currently teaches the class “survey of music” online in both synchronous and asynchronous formats.

“I think it’s really important for people to understand that we are just teaching different but it’s not a lesser modality [and] you’re not learning anything less,” he said. “It’s differently interactive.” 

Meanwhile Dr. Kathleen McKinley, a sociology professor at Cabrini University, believes that there are pros and cons to online communication and learning.

For example, McKinley explained that with virtual communication and technology people can communicate and access information faster and more frequently but that this also means more access to “disinformation.”

“Different faculty use different platforms,” McKinley said via email. “[Microsoft] Teams, Zoom and BB Collaborate are all different and have different features. Also, different faculty members make different rules regarding ‘being there’ visually.”

Like McKinley, Grieco also believes that there are pros and cons in each of the different modalities and finds it hard to compare them together because of how different they all are.

“I think the reality is, as an instructor, it’s really important to ensure that you’re doing everything you can to keep them [students] engaged,” he said.

Zoom is a popular app for online learning. Screenshot by Megan Fee.

Online learning and engagement

Grieco explained that engagement has always been an issue before online learning because there is always a student that will be on their phone or eating food or doing something to take away their attention.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, research on remote learning and chronic absenteeism has shown that there is an “urgency” of providing support to those who are the “least prepared” and “those at risk of becoming disengaged.” 

“From my perspective I see the problems in asynchronous online as the difficulty of creating a ‘community’ of learners,” McKinley said.

“The socio-emotional dynamics of FTF (face-to-face) and sitting together are lost,” McKinley added. “There is a lot more task related [online] communication. But from the student’s point of view it is much easier to avoid an e-mail than to avoid a FTF interaction with a professor.”

McKinley explained that another issue is that students don’t really know each other or “know the teacher as a person” with asynchronous learning. As a result, this makes it easier to not hand in work for some students as it does not create a feeling of “guilt or shame in the same way that it might in a class” and that communication may be “colder” in some cases.

This means that the “personal and socio-emotional” emphasis that is given on a task or accomplishment may be lacking, according to McKinley. She explained that this may involve fewer bonds between students with professors as well as students’ bonds with other students.

“…The problem with that is the socio-emotional is what often motivates us to want to do the task,” she added.

“We are all learning in this transition but I am guessing we will end up with skills at both types of interactions,” McKinley said. “I am totally optimistic over the long run.”

Meanwhile, Grieco explained that he has created a system to keep his online classes interactive and that he has spent a lot of time “formatting and crafting” his class.

He explained that he has “flipped” his synchronous classroom by having the students watch the lecture before class and then uses the Zoom time to discuss the lecture. 

Meanwhile, Grieco keeps in contact with his asynchronous class by sending them a recent article related to the music world and ask them questions in the forums

“I’m constantly checking their progress because in the asynchronous version I give them the opportunity to work a bit more at their own pace but I give them marker points,” Grieco said.

Grieco also added that he gives out specific modules every week for the students with specific tasks and a “piece of engagement that they have to do.” He also explained that he found that students tend to like the course when it is laid out and “uniform.” 

Socioeconomic influence in online learning 

Some students may not feel comfortable with turning on their camera because they feel it takes away their privacy or they may not like their background.

Another way that Grieco tries to engage students and make the class more interactive is with his virtual backgrounds. This helps with engagement and for those who want more privacy.

The Center for Student Success website has times available to help students online. Screenshot by Megan Fee.

“I do this as a way to set an example for the students as well because if I teach them how to use the virtual background feature then they might not feel as embarrassed with their surroundings,” he said.

Grieco tries to encourage his students to keep their cameras on because he believes it is important for the instructor to see student interactions and reactions when learning but also wants the students to be comfortable.

Dr. Rachel Edwards, director of academic enrichment and coordinator of the writing center, believes that students turn their cameras off for many reasons. She explained that some students may feel more nervous due to being on camera or just do not want to look at themselves on screen.

According to Educause Review, constantly being on camera can be a distraction for the student and end up taking away students’ focus and attention. This is due to factors such as feeling under pressure, wanting privacy or having a hyperfixation about looking at themselves on screen, as well as distractions from everyone else’s cameras.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, research regarding online learning and teaching has shown that it is only effective when students have reliable and consistent internet access and if teachers have been trained and have support for online instruction.

Edwards also explained that faculty members and classroom coaches went through training to prepare them for engaging students in online modalities.

As for student support, Edwards believes it is important to connect with students and to constantly find new ways to engage them. Edwards also explained that Cabrini recently started a new e-tutoring program this semester where students can submit their papers to be proof-read online asynchronously in order to be more flexible and provide help.

Here are some tips to manage online learning. Infographic by Megan Fee.

A new normal

Despite some of these challenges, Grieco enjoys teaching online and technological advantages that are offered.

“I actually really enjoy teaching all three modalities to be quite honest,” he said, “and that includes even summer time when we’ve got the seven-week classes.” 

Grieco tries to offer one of each class modalities throughout the year because he feels that flexibility is important during these times.

“Students have very complex schedules today as their balancing jobs and family life and covid and everything else,” he said. “I just think it’s important to have the flexibility.”

If things go back to fully face-to-face in the fall Grieco does not think that he will be able to go back to how things were without using this technology.

“I don’t think I’m going to go back to doing face-to-face classes without all this technology because I think students are more engaged,” he said. “So I actually think it’s a good thing.”

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Megan Fee

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