Online Lessons and the

Lack of Motivation
Sofia de Carvalho Simoes

GPTE 2020/21
Introduction

The following action research addresses the problem of students' lack

of motivation during online classes. The research was done through my
observations of online classes that were always monotonous and not
interesting for students. In this research, I then sought to investigate
and research ways on how to make online classes more interesting,
using the exploratory practice approach.
 Justification – Approach
For conducting the following action research, I decided to choose
the Exploratory Practice approach, by Dick Allright. Because since
the teachers are part of the society and the learning
environment, they should play a big role in significant changes
happening around them, in the classroom and in the life of the
students. We should therefore consider the relationship between
our global thinking and our local practice, we need global
principles for general guidance, but then we must all work out
their implications for our local everyday practice.
 Background - Exploratory Practice approach, by Dick
Allright

▪The exploratory pratice involves taking action for understanding:

1. bringing puzzling issues of classroom life to consciousness;
2. thinking ‘harder’ with other practitioners (peers and/or
coparticipants) inside and/or outside the classroom;
3. looking/listening – attending more intensively to what is going
on, as it is going on;
4. planning for understanding by adopting familiar pedagogic
procedures to help develop participant understandings.
Steps of the Action Research
-Exploratory Practice

▪ ① Put quality of life first and ② Work primarily to understand classroom life: The first step of
my action Research was to observe the lessons to find out the problems, I was trying to
understand the classroom life and the student’s challenges.
▪ ③ Involve everybody : I talked to my classmates and my mentor teacher in order to find out
their opinions on the topic and to give me suggestions.
▪ ④ Work to bring people together: After observing the lessons, I decided to talk with the
students, to find out their opinion, using the interview methodology. I asked them questions
in order to consider their opinions when implementing the research.
▪ ⑤ Work also for mutual development : The next step was to find out the solutions, so I
started to research about online tools and how to implement them. This was made to the
development of my student and also to my own development as teacher.
▪ ⑥ Integrate the work for understanding into classroom practice: The last step was to prepare
the lessons using the new tools. Therefore, I could learn about my students needs and new
ways to motivate them.
What is your understanding of teacher research? (What is
the role of teacher research in your practice?)

In my opinion, teacher research is a research made by

teachers to investigate and solve problems and challenges
that they are facing in the classroom.
According to Allwright,teacher research should also
consider the learners not as objects of research but as
fellow participants, and therefore as co-researchers.
When dealing with teacher research, we need to do
whatever we can, whenever we can, to bring people
together and not to separate teachers from students.
▪ EP is also good because it promotes reflection and collaboration,
which play an importante role in the research. 
▪ Collaboration –The research is done as social collaboration and
provides opportunities to consult and collaborate with others:
specialists, practitioners, experienced educators and even the
students.
▪ Reflection – Within the Exploratory practice is possible to reflect
about your own practice and your performance as teacher.
 INTRODUCTION TO YOUR RESEARCH CHOICE AND YOUR
JUSTIFICATION

Currently, the world is facing the Corona Virus pandemic, which has also
affected schools. They had to shut down suddenly and teachers had quickly
learn how to adapt and conduct online classes. Most of schools and teachers
around the world had never experienced online lessons before, so this turned
out to be a very challenging experience. The students were also affected by
this, because they were used to going to school and interacting with each
other. However, as schools closed, this was no longer possible. They had to
learn how to use the computer and how to concentrate and study during that
time. These challenges caused a big question about how to teach online and
how to make online classes more engaging for students. So I decided to
reflect on this problem and in collaboration with other teachers, I started
researching and finding innovative ways to conduct classes online
What is the experience or experiences that
lead towards your question or puzzle?

▪ I have started doing my practice observing the online lessons of a

private school in Warsaw. I was able to realize during the
observations, that students were not engaged in most of the lessons
and the lessons were not interesting for them. As this was my first
experience with online classes, I decided to investigate what I could
use during my online lessons to make students engaged and
participatory. I wanted to use creative and innovative tools to make
students more motivated and create a better learning environment.
 What is the context of your study?

My study was conducted at a non-private school in Warsaw in Mokotow

district. The students were in the 2nd grade and they are 8 years old. The
action research was done online. The students were all polish students and
the number of students was 18, 7 boys and 11 girls. They were having online
lessons from their houses, mostly with a computer in their own bedroom
without the presence of parents.
What have you done to narrow down your
question/puzzle?

▪ Collaboration with my mentor teacher and my

classmates.
▪ Discussion with my friend Magda, who was doing the
practice at the same school, in order to exchange
and develop new ideas.
▪ Try to understand the puzzle and think of possible
solutions.
What is your puzzle?

▪ Online classes were not engaging and effective for students. They
were not feeling happy during classes and were distracted by doing
other things. There was a lack of motivation during classes, which
caused a sense of frustration.
 Literature Review

▪ Hartnett et al. (2011) describes motivation in online learning a complex phenomenon that is mostly affected by individual traits
and specific contexts. Motivation is worth exploring in an online course because students are inclined to participate less
(Kyewski & Krämer, 2018) and high attrition rates lead to motivational questions in distance education for instructional
designers.
▪ Course materials and tasks were also questioned in relation with motivation. Hartnett et al. (2011) reports identified regulation
(acknowledging the value of an activity) in online settings is as much significant as intrinsic motivation. Thus, it’s important to
offer meaningful tasks to the learners and ensure grounds for honest communication between instructors and learners. Çebi
and Güyer (2020) found a positive correlation between the intensity of students’ engagement with course material and their
motivation while their choices of materials did not have any impact on motivation.
▪ The students report higher levels of engagement when they found the activities and classes relevant to their targets and when
they acknowledged that the tasks were meaningful for them. According to the study of De Barba et al. (2016) the motivation
at the moment of learning acts as a bridge between their intrinsic motivation and participation in distance education.
Hartnett, M. (2016). The importance of motivation in online learning. In Motivation in online education (pp. 5-32). Springer, Singapore.
Kyewski, E. & Krämer, N. C. (2018). To gamify or not to gamify? An experimental field study of the influence of badges on motivation, activity, and performance in an online learning
course. Computers & Education, 118, 25-37.
Çebi, A., & Güyer, T. (2020). Students’ interaction patterns in different online learning activities and their relationship with motivation, self-regulated learning strategy and learning
performance. Education and Information Technologies, 1-19.
What are the ways of collecting data to
better understand your puzzle?

▪ Literature review
▪ Research Journal
▪ Observation
▪ Discussion with classmates and other teachers
▪ Discussion with students to find out their opinions
▪ Search for resources available online
What are the findings of your research?

The purpose of this action research was to seek information on how to

make online classes more innovative and interesting for students. This
research made me learn about different types of tools that teachers can
use to improve their online classes.
I also realize that when teachers prepare interactive and fun classes,
students get involved and the lessons become more interesting for
them. It made me realize that it is possible to conduct an effective
online lesson using the right tools.
What have you done in order to:

„bring people together..”: I asked students what they thought about

online classes. They also gave me suggestions on what kind of activities
they would like to do during distance education. Their opinion was taken
into account when preparing the research.
„mutual development..” : I discussed the situation with my classmates,
mentor teacher and also with other University’s teacher, in order to
develop new ideas.
„make the work a continuous enterprise…” I reflected on my practice and
the parts I should improve. I tried to find several solutions to the problem,
aiming to reach the students' motivation.
(Allwright,2005, p.360)
Final reflections

▪ What have you learned?

- There are many different and inovating tools available that teachers can use in
order to make online lessons more engaging for students: Wordwall, Learning
Chocolate, Toy Theater, Random Name Picker, Bouncy Balls, Jamboard…
- It is important to listen to students and be aware of their problems and
difficulties.
- Teachers should try to find possible ways to prepare an interesting online lesson.
- Action research is a great toll because it allows teachers to work together with
students in order to find solutions to chalenges and issues they face in the
educational processes and it provides mutual understanding giving to students the
possibility to participate, direct and influence the changes needed to be done.
What have you done in order to:

„Integrate the work for understanding into the existing working life of
the classroom.”
(Allwright, 2005, p.360)
▪ I gave my best to figure out and understand my student’s feelings
and needs. I tried to search for different solutions to the challenges
that they were facing, in order to achieve good results. I also
reflected about my practice and feelings, it was a collaboration work
that can be continued in the existing work of the classroom.