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Learning Activities That Foster Interaction
Learning Activities That Foster Interaction
The charts in this document show examples of activities that you can do with your students in
online classes. They are divided into the three “tenets” of online learning: Student-Instructor
Interaction, Student-Student Interaction, and Student-Content Interaction. If you are looking for
ideas for lesson plans, those can be found in the Student-Content Interaction section.
Please note that the list of methods of interaction below is not comprehensive. It represents only
some of the more popular methods.
Student-Instructor Interaction
All courses shall include regular effective contact between students and the instructor.
Student-Student Interaction
Regular interaction among students is necessary to design a collaborative, student-centered
environment in which a community of learners is created.
Methods of interaction Description
Email Students can be encouraged to email each other to ask questions
about the course, including assignments. They can complete at
least one assignment in which they use email to facilitate a peer-
editing lesson.
Class discussion board Students can post to the discussion board in each module,
answering questions posed by the instructor. They can also reply
to each others’ postings.
Group work Students can work in teams to complete a group project. This
project can then be shared with the rest of the class in the
discussion board.
Blogs Students can use blogs to discuss topics in the course. They can
also use blogs in a writing assignment in which groups
collaborate to write a paper.
Social networking A social network can be set up for the course so everyone can
communicate on any topic.
Social bookmarking Instructors and students can share helpful web sites with one
another.
Wikis Wikis allow students to work collaboratively to build a web site.
This can be particularly useful when groups have to create a
product to share with the class.
Chatroom As an adjunct to the group discussion board, students can use
the class chatroom to discuss their group project in real-time.
Virtual worlds Instructors and students can communicate with one another in a
virtual world, which gives the sense of being together in the same
place.
Student-Content Interaction
All student activities, including assessments, should be aligned to the outcomes of, and
objectives within, the course. Activities should also be designed to meet the needs of students
with different learning styles. The content must cover all of the content detailed in the course
outline of record.