Interactivity in Asynchronous Courses eCampusAlberta Christine Marles, MDE Feb. 24, 2015

Our agenda today…. Interactivity – what is it, and why is it important? Types of interactivity Examples of interactivity in online courses Designing for interactivity Helpful resources

What is interactivity? Interaction with people or technology Requires active participation and response to stimuli

Why is interactivity important? Interactivity in online learning is directly linked to student satisfaction, student retention, student sense of community, and successful achievement of learning outcomes.

Degree of interaction among participants in distance courses = indicator of successful learning experiences

eCampusAlberta Interactivity Standard Interactive activities are incorporated into the course, all of which facilitate deeper understanding of the content.

eCA Interactivity Standard Essential level Types of interactivity include learner/learner (or learner-peer), learner/instructor, and learner-content.

eCA Interactivity Standard Essential level (continued) In cohort-based courses, learners interact with each other through directed asynchronous or synchronous discussions (e.g., chats, webinars) and/or other types of interactive group activities. In individual study courses, learners may interact with each other or with peers or others (e.g., experts, practitioners)

eCA Interactivity Standard Excellent Guidelines for interactivity are provided. Collaboration with other learners or other peers (e.g., fellow employee at place of employment) along with peer feedback is utilized in at least one graded learning activity.

eCA Interactivity Standard Exemplary The course fosters a learning community by actively engaging learners with their peers and the instructor throughout the course. Learners share their perceptions and experiences gained through reflection and critical thinking with their peers. Networking, teamwork, cooperation, negotiation, and consensus-building skills are built throughout the course. Guest speakers (e.g., professionals in the field, community leaders, practitioners) are included in the course.

Types of Interactivity Learner to instructor Learner to content Learner to learner Learner to peer

Learner to Instructor Examples?

Learner to Content Examples?

Social Environment for Interaction Net - distributed people and groups with specific connections Group - people in classes, seminars, tutorials, programs Set - people with shared interests, common- alities ( Based on Dron & Anderson, 2014)

(Dron & Anderson, 2014, p. 83).

Learner to Learner Examples?

Learner to Peer Examples?

Examples of Interactivity Student to instructor – discussions, s, tutorials, phone calls and feedback. Student to content – reading, viewing videos, practice activities, projects, assignments and quizzes. Student to student and student to peer – discussions, group work, peer feedback on projects or assignments, social media, and interviews and/or collaborations with others who have relevant life experiences.

Example from “Social Interaction in Self-paced Distance Education” Self-paced undergraduate course Learning activities to build social interaction – contribute to the course resources adding a resource – initiate/respond to blog conversations Worth 5% of grade Students provided with a rubric Tutors did not interact in the social networking but did actively send feedback to individual students (Anderson, T., Upton, L., Dron, J., Malone, J., & Poelhuber, B., 2015).

Example from College Biology 30 Course Independent study academic upgrading course All students following same target end date based on final exam, but no class cohort Instructor facilitated Biology News discussion “This blog is for the instructor and students to share and discuss news items related to biology topics covered in this course. Our goal is to better understand how biology affects our lives. Each student is asked to post at least two biology- related news items during the course, and to respond to and discuss at least four other student postings. You may post URLs to the news items, links to videos, etc. This forum is ungraded but participation is required.”

Example from College Physical Fitness Coach Course Independent study asynchronous course Students learned how to conduct a physical fitness assessment in the course. They were then required to conduct an actual physical fitness assessment with a friend or family member as the “client.” After the assessment, the “client” completed a feedback questionnaire for the student. The student reviewed the feedback, self-assessed his or her performance and reported on this to the instructor.

How can we design interactivity? Instructional design – Social and rapport-building designs for interaction; – Other designs for interaction, e.g., group and collaborative work Technology – Interactive capabilities of the course technologies; Facilitation – Learner engagement; and – Instructor engagement.

Rubric for Measuring Interactivity Developed and tested by Roblyer and Wiencke (2003). Use it to record evidence of design elements listed in previous slide. Can assess the course based on low, medium and high interactive qualities. Cautionary note - Not all elements will fit all courses. Available at 8/ /Volume_medialib/IAF14.PDF 8/ /Volume_medialib/IAF14.PDF

Resource on Factors Influencing Interaction Appendix from York & Richardson paper (2012) Summarizes course structure, feedback and discourse and facilitation factors that influence interaction

Resource about Social Software (Dron & Anderson, 2014, p. 79).

Let’s avoid this….

And have this….

Questions? Comments? Christine Marles, MDE

References Anderson, T., Upton, L., Dron, J., Malone, J., & Poelhuber, B. (2015). Social Interaction in Self-paced Distance Education. Open Praxis, 7(1), Retrieved from Dron, J. & Anderson, T. (2014). Teaching crowds: Learning and social media. Edmonton, Canada: Athabasca University Press. Retrieved from eCampusAlberta. (n.d.). Quality eToolkit. Pedagogy Standards. Retrieved from Roblyer, M. D. and Wiencke, W. R. (2003). Design and Use of a Rubric to Assess and Encourage Interactive Qualities in Distance Courses. American Journal of Distance Education, 17: 2, 77 — 98. Retrieved from

References (continued) Rubric for Assessing Interactive Qualities of Distance Courses DetailRubric for Assessing Interactive Qualities of Distance Courses Detail, HandsOn With Technology, 3e. Retrieved from b/IAF14.PDF. b/IAF14.PDF York, C.S. & Richardson, J.C. (2012). Interpersonal interaction in online learning: Experienced online instructors’ perceptions of influencing factors. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, (16)4, 83—98. Retrieved from

Graphics Sources Marles, C. (2015) Interactivity graphic. Created on Wordie.net. Marles, C. (2015) Social Environment for Interaction graphic. Based on information from Dron & Anderson, All other graphics from Microsoft Clip Art.