I wrote yesterday about some simple things that you can do to help get your students engaged and connected at the beginning of the quarter. Today, I came across this blog post about engaging students online that relates teaching to being a DJ. I’ve heard this metaphor before, but it had slipped into the back of my mind until I was reminded again. I especially liked this quote:
How would the dynamic change if learners felt free to vote with their feet like the clubbers, to walk off the dance floor whenever a class became too lame? This is exactly what online education enables them to do, and this is exactly why paying attention to the social component of these experiences is so much more critical in online learning.
Here is the link to the blog post: http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/227
I know that we have a lot of students “walking off the dance floor” in our online classes. How can we keep them dancing?