How can I motivate learners in online classes?

How can I motivate learners in online classes?

'Far too much work in educational technology starts with tools, when what we need to start with is humans.'

~Morris and Stommel (2018) Critical Digital Pedagogy

We’ve all done it - got excited about a new tool, app or game, spent ages planning a lesson around it and yes, your online lesson was great. But successful teaching is about more than just the latest tool.

A recent study found that US university learners in 100% online courses had improved retention and success rates when they had 'a high rapport relationship with the instructor' (Glazier, 2016). Better relationships mean better learning, both online and offline. The question is, how can we build rapport and relationships effectively online to motivate our learners to work and learn together, when we may never meet them face to face?

Be human 

We all love hearing our names! Use names often, both when replying to posts and when addressing learners in a live class. Ask learners to log in with the same screen name each time to help you keep track of attendance - especially if you’ve got more than one learner with the same name. Put a sticky note by your camera to remind yourself to look at it often in live classes or when recording video - this way, your learners will feel you’re making eye contact with them. Smile when you record yourself - it makes you look and sound friendlier.

Transfer rapport-building techniques you already use in face to face (F2F) classes to make your learners feel comfortable. You can still smile, be lighthearted and be yourself. Chat to your learners at the beginning of class. Or, in a forum, let your learners get to know you a little by posting about yourself, for example by writing a post of what you’d like them to share about themselves. Actively find out and make an effort to remember things about your learners’ lives.

Be present

'As a classroom community, our capacity to generate excitement is deeply affected by our interest in one another, in hearing one another’s voices, in recognizing one another’s presence.' ~ bell hooks

Being present will build your learners’ trust in you. They’ll feel you are there for them, and this will motivate them to learn. Make sure your learners know when they can contact you, how, and when you’ll respond. Many online teachers have ‘office hours’, and an alternative channel for emergencies. Consider a discussion board for non-urgent questions.

Adding a photo on your online account makes a difference too. We feel we know someone more if we can see them. Record short video messages related to class sometimes, rather than sending an email or posting an announcement. It’s more friendly and learners will appreciate seeing you and hearing your voice. In live classes, reassess your online appearance – is it comfortable for learners? Can they see and hear you well? Think about your background – virtual backgrounds can be fun…or distracting and unnecessary. 

Keep doing the things you already do to build relationships with your learners. Be there for learners who need help or advice. Seek and notice learner feedback and responses on forums or in class. Stop and make time to check understanding and give extra examples or share a helpful website. Follow an assessment for learning approach and change your teaching according to your learners’ needs.

Create a welcoming environment

'It doesn’t matter to me if my classroom is a little rectangle in a building or a little rectangle above my keyboard. Doors are rectangles; rectangles are portals. We walk through.' ~ Kathi Berens

Treat your online classroom like a physical classroom. Arrive early and settle in before class starts. This means you are the first person to post on your class forums when they open at the beginning of a course. You are there to welcome your learners, perhaps with a video message to introduce yourself. In a live class, be online 5 to 10 minutes before class starts. 

Get learners talking together as soon as you can. In a live class, this display a task on a shared screen for learners to do as soon as they join, for example a word puzzle or guessing game. Keep these activities fun - and your learners will be motivated to come to class on time!

Decorate your online learning space with learner work, just as you would in a real classroom. It’s motivating for learners to see their work recognised publicly. Encourage learners to give positive feedback to each other by liking or commenting, and share a link with parents, too. 

Maximise learner speaking time and interaction

Learners love to work with their friends, and some learners find speaking in online lessons easier than in a classroom. For others, it’s hugely intimidating. Motivate your learners to speak and maximise interaction by following these tips.

1. Plan backwards for big speaking tasks, just as you would in a F2F class. How long will it take? What do learners need to do to prepare? In a forum, give clear, step by step instructions for a speaking task they can do with another learner. Ask them to share recordings using a tool like Speakpipe. 

2. Set preparatory work for homework so that learners come to class ready to talk.

They could watch a video or read a short story, or bring a picture (or thing) to talk about. This works well on forums too - post a photo with questions. Students can record their answers or guesses.

3. Include the old favourites. Repeat tasks they enjoy, for a different purpose, language point or just for fun. This could be a speaking game, guessing game, song or puzzle. 

4. Ask students to report back on the task objective after breakout room tasks. Ask a specific question, not just ‘Did you have a nice conversation?’ Then reporting back is speaking too.

5. Check your breakout rooms settings so that you can move learners into them immediately. Remove the option to choose a room or ‘join’ a room, set the time limit, and shorten the rejoining time when you close the rooms. This will make your live lessons better paced and more engaging.

6. Review how you give instructions and share documents – Unclear tasks or instructions waste time and are demotivating. I have a few documents with instructions ready prepared that I can duplicate for use in different lessons to minimise preparation and instruction-giving time in class. Simply create a copy, amend the instructions and share the document. Learners then follow the steps to do the activity. 

7. In live classes, include short, specific pairwork tasks with a clear goal: ‘List five things you find in a bathroom. Go!’, ‘Find two TV shows you both like’, ‘Decide if the sentence is correct or not.’ 

8. If learners are having connection problems, encourage them to participate in other ways, for example through the chat or a shared document.

Provide targeted, developmental feedback

Teacher feedback can be hugely motivating. When you’re teaching online, think about how you can give feedback regularly to individuals, groups and the whole class.

If your learners work in breakout rooms, join and leave a motivating message in the shared chat: ‘Great discussion! Keep going!’ If they’re working on a shared document, you can look at that too and leave a comment: ‘Great start! Now think about…’ I have a list of phrases I can copy/paste so that I can visit more rooms. 

DM individual learners if they need extra help or encouragement: ‘X, you’re quiet today. Is everything OK?’ ‘Y, I’d like to hear your voice today :)’ Direct messaging can help you find out a problem, and it’s sometimes easier and more private than in a F2F classroom.

Help learners to reflect on their language skills and learning strategies. Run a quick poll: ‘How well do you think you did the task/ worked together?’ Then ask them what it would take for them to rate themselves higher.

The online environment is a great place to share learner success. Highlight examples of good language use in a forum or breakout room: “You used some new phrases from this unit - well done!’ ‘Your spelling is improving - keep going!’ Showing learners how to improve, and recognising when they progress feeds motivation.

When giving digital feedback on learner work, think about the best way to encourage and motivate your students to keep learning. You might send an audio recording or video, saying what you liked about their work. You could screencast your feedback to highlight successes and suggest improvements. Start a conversation by leaving comments, suggestions and questions on a shared document for learners to respond to as they edit and redraft their written work.

You can transfer many F2F strategies and techniques for motivating learners to the online learning environment. Work on building rapport and creating a warm atmosphere online, finding ways to maximise learner speaking time and providing targeted, developmental feedback to celebrate your learners’ success and motivate them to continue to improve.

Further reading

Berens, KI (2014) The new learning is ancient (blogpost) http://kathiiberens.com/2012/12/03/ancient/ 

Glazier, R. A. (2016). Building rapport to improve retention and success in online classes. Journal of Political Science Education, 12(4), 437–456. https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2016.1155994 

Morris, S. M., & Stommel, J. (2018). Critical digital pedagogy: A definition. In S. M. Morris & J. Stommel (Eds.), An urgency of teachers: The work of critical digital pedagogy. Retrieved from: https://criticaldigitalpedagogy.pressbooks.com/chapter/chapter-1/ 

https://www.techsmith.com/blog/assignment-feedback-video/ 

https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/20-ways-to-provide-effective-feedback-for-learning/ 

Claire Ross has worked in many countries with Ministries of Education and international organisations to help new and experienced teachers to teach English effectively. A freelance training consultant since 2013, Claire works for institutions like Cambridge University Press and Assessment and the British Council. This includes large-scale teacher education projects, creating online learning courses for learners, teachers and trainers, and writing classroom teaching material at primary and secondary level. Her interests include online teaching and learning and pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures, particularly in refugee/immigrant contexts.