Three Uses of Digital Tools to Supplement Engagement and Learning in the College Classroom

Despite the widespread use of smartphones, apps, and social media in college students' and instructors' lives, there has been a slow adoption of these digital tools into the classroom. This chapter posits that individuals' online interactions account for a great deal of informal learning and that by integrating these digital tools in our classrooms, instructors can complement and extend the formal learning of their classrooms. Specifically, this chapter offers three ways that technology can assist in the classroom: to promote inclusive participation, to enhance the classroom climate, and to explore and demonstrate course material in an engaging way. To these ends, the authors explore the efficacy of social media sites, Google applications, and GIFs and memes.

Rethinking Flipgrid and VoiceThread in the Context of Online Collaborative Learning Theory

In this chapter, Harasim's online collaborative learning theory (OCL) will be addressed as it explains how collaborative learning takes place in online environments via the use of online collaborative tools. Preliminary studies on using FlipGrid and VoiceThread, discussion tools which incorporate dynamic media such as audio and video, will be explained in the context of how such collaborative media tools can foster student engagement and collaboration. Implications of using these online tools and how they contribute to collaborative learning practices will be discussed in the context of OCL theory.

Engaging Flipgrid

This chapter explores the use of Flipgrid for student engagement in a gradual three-level process of technology integration. The three levels of integration, or “immersion,” are acclimation, movement, and submersion, and this is demonstrated by comparing Flipgrid integration to a day at the beach. Flipgrid is a comprehensive tool that provides opportunities for educators to integrate it into their face-to-face, hybrid, and online courses to a limited extent or to fully use all of the features available to them at no cost. The background of Flipgrid, as well as the benefits of using video as an educational tool, was thoroughly researched to provide evidence to support the use of Flipgrid for student engagement and assessment. The chapter concludes by including the limitations of Flipgrid and future research directions.

E-Portfolios

This chapter describes the experiences of a liberal arts college that is part of a large research university implementing e-portfolios with a focus on learning engagement. Using qualitative data collected over time and programmatic experience, the team assesses the depth of engagement their students are experiencing, to determine whether most students are using e-portfolios to engage in learning on their own, or only when prompted to do so by faculty within the confines of a single course. Too few students have taken full ownership of their e-portfolios and engaged with them as a meta-high impact practice. Implications of this finding suggest faculty using e-portfolios need to be intentional about student engagement at the meta-high impact level. Part of achieving this is developing further clarity on what it looks like when e-portfolios are designed to be used as a meta-high impact practice while applying more rigorous methods to determine when students have reached this level of engagement.

An Urgency for Change in Roles

Student dependence on technology, higher education institution efforts of digitalization in teaching and learning, along with the faculty member hesitancy to adopt innovative technologies all contribute to current challenges in higher education. The focus of this chapter is on exploring the gap between student and faculty perceptions about utilizing technology in teaching and learning, in addition to enlighten institutional roles and strategies to sustain efforts for managing such environments and faculty development. Multiple research methods are used to derive insights. The findings point towards the need to increase knowledge base and to expand faculty development around digital teaching and learning strategies as well as fostering student faculty collaboration to improve learner engagement and performance. As a result of changing roles, the pedagogical methods and technological tools used in digital teaching and learning process should not be a sole decision of the institution, but as a result of a collaborative mindset of institution, faculty, and students.

Strategies for Engaging Students in the Online Environment

Creating an engaging course environment requires a conscious effort from faculty to utilize course design, teaching methods, and instructional technologies that foster high levels of student interaction. Instructional technologies paired with effective pedagogies are making student engagement in online environments rich and meaningful. The use of instructional technologies is linked to student engagement in the online learning environment. Utilization of instructional technologies should address three major types of interaction: student interaction with course content, the faculty, and their learning peers. The use of instructional technologies to engage students can also increase students' motivation for their learning by increasing student value for course content. This chapter addresses specific strategies for utilization of course design, pedagogies, and instructional technologies to incorporate student interaction and develop and maintain students' motivation in their learning.

Online Collaborative Learning in Pre-Service Teacher Education

Technology-enhanced collaborative learning has become attractive in higher education. Teacher education programs have made extensive efforts for meaningful use of online technologies for collaboration and communication. This review aims to synthesize a comprehensive literature review on PSTs' collaborative learning with online tools. First, the review revealed that the number of articles published has increased especially in the last five years with contributions from researchers around the world. Second, there were three types of online technologies used mainly for collaboration in PST education: Asynchronous, synchronous, and social media tools. Third, online tools for collaboration were reported as mainly beneficial in PSTs' education contexts. Forth, while there are notable exceptions, challenges to integrate online collaboration tools in PSTs' education programs were scant. Finally, there were various instructional practices where educators integrated online collaborative tools for learning. Future research directions are elaborated.

Cultivating Student Engagement in a Personalized Online Learning Environment

Higher education has a national imperative to change the ways it supports its increasingly non-traditional populations who seek completion of college degrees in more flexible online environments. However, online education can present challenges to such students learning remotely and often independently, and who may struggle with accessing, understanding, and processing course content and achieving mastery of outcomes. A unique model based on technology and data-driven decision-making that is undergirded by two teaching and learning frameworks—adaptive learning and universal design for learning—is presented, along with outcomes and best practices. By adopting revolutionary methods of engaging students online and ensuring mastery of course and program learning outcomes, which enhance persistence and degree completion, such a model addresses this national educational imperative.

A Game-Based Student Response System

In this chapter, a game-based student response system, Kahoot!, is investigated. The purpose of the chapter was to analyze instructors and pre-service teachers' perspectives about the use of this platform. The advantages and disadvantages of integrating this tool in the classroom was investigated. Pre-service teachers' feedback and instructors' experiences using Kahoot! in higher education classrooms indicate that pre-service teachers welcome the use of these kind of games. Kahoot! can be used not only to increase student participation in the classroom but also as a formative assessment tool. Kahoot! can provide an engaging learning environment and adds active participation in the classroom by appealing even the most introverted students. In addition, immediate feedback feature of this game-based learning platform provides opportunities for instructors to tailor their instruction based on student understanding on games.

Digital Literacies in the Classroom

In efforts to improve students' digital literacies on a STEM-focused campus, one university created a digital literacies initiative to support both faculty and students. Faculty development programming supported the development of assignment parameters, detailed assessment rubrics, and scaffolding activities. A campus tutoring center was piloted to support students' acquisition of digital literacies. This chapter offers examples from three faculty members who participated in the digital literacies initiative and implemented digital literacy assignments in their courses. The researchers offer best practices for campuses interested in developing digital literacy initiatives.