Frameworks for thinking about online course development

By Dominik Lukeš

Online Engagement Matrix

Map engagement types across different communication channels.

Online Engagement Matrix
ZoomCanvasOther
Emotional (Need to address individual feelings about the isolation and remoteness in online study.)
  • Check in at start of session
  • Student support groups on Zoom
  • Regular Zoom office hour
  • Regular schedule for forum response
  • Use of Calendar for events and milestones
  • Forum for sharing of personal achievements
  • Student peer support network
  • Informal student WhatsApp (or similar group)
  • Teacher supported WhatsApp group
  • YellowDig
Social (Need to build a sense of community and joint purpose in the group.)
  • Schedule Zoom socials (time zone appropriate)
  • Require everyone complete profile with picture
  • Forum for personal introductions
  • Separate student WhatsApp group for social distinct from study
  • YellowDig
Collaborative (Need to establish environment where students can learn with and from others in the process of achieving course learning goals.)
  • Use Breakout rooms 1x during all sessions
  • Assignments where students meet on Zoom to work together
  • Set up groups and assign tasks to work together on
  • Collaborative documents
  • Peer assessed assignments
  • Encourage use of shared documents (Office 365 or Google Docs)
  • Hypothes.is
  • Tweetchats
Cognitive (Need to develop knowledge and skills necessary in to meet learning outcomes in an environment with less implicit structure.)
  • Zoom lectures / sessions
  • Study skills sessions / drop in for students
  • Quizzes for formative assessment
  • Pre-recorded videos using Panopto
  • PDF course manual
  • Links to digital texts in the library
  • Study skills group
Behavioural (Need to monitor and provide space for behaviours that become both more visible and less automatic in an online environment.)
  • Session assistants monitor chat
  • Clear rules on communication
  • Forum moderators
  • Forums with required participation
  • Student access monitoring
  • Structured forums
  • Use Hypothes.is to annotate web
  • Badges for non-curricular achievement
  • YellowDig participation scores

Licence: Creative Commons Licence.