Fostering S tudent I nteraction and E ngagement in a V irtual L earning E nvironment: A n I nvestigation into A ctivity D esign and I mplementation

Abstract

Online tools, such as forums, wikis, and blogs lend themselves to learners negotiating meaning and co-constructing knowledge through interaction. However, not enough is known about how tasks need to be designed to make best use of the possibilities of complex virtual learning environments (VLEs) to motivate and support learners, foster interaction, and contribute to knowledge construction. This article reports on a twoyear study exploring the design and implementation cycle of online activities as an integral part of a distance language course. When the course was introduced in 2009, activities had been designed on the basis of second language acquisition principles as well as sociocultural theories, providing a basis for student interaction and taking into account the affordances of the environment, a Moodle-based VLE. After the end of the first year an evaluation was carried out that examined quantitative and qualitative data (Moodle user logs, learner survey and learner interviews). It was found that students preferred forums to other tools and that assessment-related activities attracted higher participation rates than other tasks. It also highlighted a number of issues, including low participation in on-task discussions, a large gap between viewings and contributions, very large differences in individual engagement, low priority given to the online activities by some students, and varying levels of e-literacy amongst learners. Consequently, activities were re-designed and a number of changes were implemented in 2010 that included more teacher involvement, fewer tasks, a simpler structure, and a reduced number of tools. A comparison of learner participation across the two years shows that these changes had a positive impact on learner engagement.

Training Female Entrepreneurs: A Self-Governed or Tutor-Driven Learning Process?

“…This shall provide an empirical basis for testing the first hypothesis. The examined training program does not constitute an exception with regard to a widespread tendency of an online education towards a large gap between the number of observations and contributions (Hampel andPleines, 2013, Iglesias-Pradas et al, 2015). The introduced importance of networking for entrepreneurial learning stands for the most symmetry at the beginning of peer communication in comparison to other fields and phases of online behavior.…”

“…completing assignments without submission, learning from interactions of more active students, etc.). Low priority given to the online activities and varying level of e-literacy causes alternative ways of communication between agents, unlogged or incompletely logged actions (Hampel and Pleines, 2013). These large differences in individual engagement are not depicted by the methodological framework of learning analytics.…”

Developing Online Language Teaching

“…In the context of computer-assisted language learning, the approach refers to theories about the nature of language and language learning as well as the possibilities (and constraints) that the technology in question affords; design considerations comprise the syllabus, functions and types of tasks, and learner and teacher roles; and procedure refers to the actual implementation of the tasks and their use by the learners. In applying this model to the development of online activities in a distance language learning course, Hampel (2010) and Hampel and Pleines (2013) have shown how it can inform an iterative process of planning, implementation and evaluation. There is plenty of scope for research on online task-based language learning and teaching.…”

“…This may relate to the overall learning design (Conole, 2013), to the combination of tools that are chosen (for example in Moodle where a range of tools is available which, if used in their entirety, may overwhelm students), or to the tasks that need to be designed (Hampel & Pleines, 2013).…”

Interculturality and identity in computer-mediated communication: findings from L2 teaching contexts

“…This issue has also been the focus of numerous studies ( € Adel, 2011;Hampel & Pleines, 2013). However, many of these studies have analysed the interaction produced by students in monocultural classes (Li & Zhu, 2013;Padilla, 2013).…”