The Impact of Virtual Learning on Student Engagement: A Case Study of Remote Learning Technology

At first glance, it may seem like virtual learning got off to a rocky start due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the massive restrictions that followed. Let’s not argue. The pandemic greatly accelerated the widespread use of various tools that allowed lectures and education anywhere. The main thing was to have good network coverage and at least a smartphone. In fact, during the pandemic, the rapid and powerful development of modern technology has come in handy as never before. It helped hundreds of millions of teachers and students around the world to keep in close touch.  As well as continue the educational process, despite the critical spread of the infamous disease. However, despite the events described above, it would be wrong to say that the spread of the pandemic alone contributed to the wide use of virtual lessons. 

Between the end of the 20th century and today, humanity has developed technologically ten times faster than it did in previous centuries. That is, in less than thirty years, we have achieved technological progress that our ancestors did not achieve for centuries. With this in mind, it becomes clear that even in the absence of a forced catalyst, virtual learning would have made its way into education anyway.

Benefits and Challenges of Virtual Learning

However, as with any invention or progress, everything always has its obvious advantages and pitfalls. That is not always visible at first sight. The undeniable advantage of virtual learning is the ability to get an education without physically attending an institution. Yet along with this obvious advantage, teachers and students have also faced certain challenges. It’s no secret that lives visual contact between them in the classroom is a very important factor. This factor affects the feeling of unity. Also, live visual contact allows a skillful teacher to keep students’ attention at the highest level for a longer time. But whatever the tools and gadgets, the effect of live communication to engage the audience are significantly reduced in online learning.

How Does Student Engagement Impact Learning

Recently conducted Research (at the University of Texas) shows that virtual learning is inferior to traditional lectures. It also showed a decrease in student engagement. The last one is the most important factor in the learning process. It is the level of engagement that affects effective positive results and academic performance. For example, cheap essay writing help professionally provided by cheap essays at StudyMoose has successfully helped and continues to help students to keep up with writing quality papers. So, they can attend interesting lectures according to their schedule and different study plans. That is, thanks to the professional help of this service, students can even more successfully attend lectures if they are held offline. During them, they interact with the teacher to the best of their ability. There is live communication and teamwork. The last ones develop a learning passion.

Nevertheless, the process of combining face-to-face and online forms of education is still ongoing. Therefore, discussions and research on the impact of virtual learning on student engagement do not stop. This is a good thing. This way certain conclusions are always drawn to improve and refine the process.

Factors that are Challenges and How to Deal with Them

Several aspects impede full-fledged student engagement during remote learning.

•  First, the interest in learning is reduced because it is mostly independent. There is no teamwork in the usual sense. At the same time, when a pupil or student is not in the classroom, there is a greater likelihood of engaging in other activities. There will always be distractions that will tempt them to switch their attention. This certainly hinders the learning process. This is especially a challenge for elementary and secondary school students. Unlike students at colleges and universities, they do not yet have a sufficiently developed sense of duty and self-awareness of the importance of the learning process.
•  Secondly, primary and secondary school students may have lower levels of engagement if current technological capabilities are not fully utilized. Researchers insist on the importance of using a variety of distance learning methods. That is, teachers should systematically use different tools and means. They should also systematically alternate them. In other words, they should do everything to ensure that students’ creativity is not dulled but developed. This will increase their interest in the subject. After all, the lack of non-verbal communication outside the classroom can significantly limit interest. Therefore, the variety of methods used is imperative.

Given the above, teachers are encouraged to use interesting polls, discussion boards, and multimedia formats. All of these are recognized as valuable tools for increasing student engagement. Nevertheless, some teachers continue to work in the same way as before. This means they are reluctant to adapt to online teaching. It has been found that traditional methods of engagement used in conventional teaching are not always as effective in a virtual environment.

•  Third, socialization is an important component of education. It is especially important for primary and secondary school students. This is where children first get a basic understanding of what social interaction is. Online learning is much weaker and often absent altogether. There is no live communication between students. This means there is a certain isolation. It leads to a feeling of boredom. It negatively affects an interest in the learning process. The point is that it’s easier to create healthy competition between students in face-to-face classes. The latter motivates students to achieve success in their studies. When students compete with each other in live classroom discussions, the desire to become a “winner” grows. This always pushes them to become better. It motivates the desire to learn more.

So, teachers should think about how to create this sense of healthy competition in the virtual process.

A Case Study of Northern Cyprus and Its Conclusions

The study examines the learner engagement strategies used in distance learning in Northern Cyprus. A mixed-methods research design was used. Information was collected from 63 EFL teachers. A 3-credit English course was used for this study. The study lasted 8 weeks and 2 days. Different methods of data analysis were used during it. Those included a structured questionnaire and a semi-structured questionnaire. The instruments were then compared. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability index was 0.77. Based on the results, the following conclusion was made. Online resources such as Flipgrid, Mentimeter, Zoom breakout room, Padlets, and others are effective and efficient tools for engaging students in online learning. It is recognized that strategies that can be applied to increase student engagement during teaching are collaborative teaching and project-based learning.

Using Case Studies as Methods of Distance Learning in the USA – How To Successfully Organize Things

Before the spread of COVID-19, the use of case studies in the teaching of science was common in higher education. Then, many teachers continued to use this method to introduce elements of active learning remotely. The results of the survey show how they succeeded. The survey involved 600 teachers. The respondents found that the case method was easy to transfer to online learning. Most teachers used a combination of asynchronous and synchronous classes. However, they also faced the problem. It was difficult to keep track of student participation in the class. Nevertheless, the obstacles were overcome through creative strategies. Among them was the use of Google Forms. 

A certain resemblance to a regular classroom was achieved through the use of online conferencing tools. Also, the work to discuss the cases was done in small groups in synchronous rooms. It is important to note that the cases were divided into parts. Then they were distributed over several days. This worked especially well with those cases that were already structured. This also included interrupted cases and problem-based learning exercises. Students’ performance was assessed mainly in the traditional way – essays, projects, and exams. A third of the teachers tried to assess participation. Classes with an asynchronous approach were mostly based on lectures. Classes with cases were in groups or individually. Students received them as homework. The biggest problem was the answers to the case studies could often be easily found on the Internet. This was avoided in the following way. Teachers created their questions or modify existing ones.

The survey also asked the following question. What was the biggest challenge the participants faced? The main one was the observation that online learning requires students to take more responsibility for their education. It also requires self-motivation.

In addition, teachers were plagued by technological failures. The last ones depended on the local IT gods to solve. However, some of the problems could be solved. For example, converting PDF documents to Google Forms. This way it was easier to collect answers to the cases from the students.

Along with this, there was also confusion on how to organize training in an interrupted case. Information is disclosed gradually in it. The problem was solved.  The case was divided into several documents. After providing answers to its first part, links to the next one were published. The above method can be used in a synchronous class. It means providing a link to the next document at the same time as the class moves through the case. It is better to act differently in an asynchronous class. Configure conditional access to documents in the learning management system. Thus, to automatically access the next part of the case, students must provide their answers to the first part of it. This can also be done in Google Forms.

Useful Tips from the Respondents’ Experience with Active Learning and Emotional Engagement

• Provide students with clear instructions. Summarize after small group work
• Provide students with clear roles in groups. For example, speaker, moderator, and leader
• Require cameras to be turned on in online rooms for group work. This will promote accountability and engagement
• Require groups to document their work and then present it. They can use cloud-based tools for this purpose. These include Zoom Annotate, Google Jamboard, or Google Docs.
• Encourage positive small group discussions. Include a participation grade
• Create competitions between groups or create games

Comparison of Synchronous and Asynchronous Methods

Many teachers believe the case method can be easily adapted to online learning. They also suggest several adjustments that could be made to address the problems of assessment, motivation, and monitoring of classroom behavior.

Synchronous learning is the closest thing to recreating a classroom. Interaction takes place in real time. In such a situation, clicker cases are the easiest format to use. It does not require any special training from teachers. Discussion with the whole class is limited but possible. Small group discussions also help. At the same time, monitoring such activities is not an easy task. So, teachers emphasize that it is best to track each student’s contribution using cloud-based documents. This, in turn, encourages motivation.

In an asynchronous environment, students have more time to think about their answers. By providing students with elements of choice, instructors can increase their engagement. For example, choosing questions to discuss, choosing a case study, or selecting a group to work with.

It is interesting to note that most of the strategies suggested by our respondents to stimulate discussion in the online classroom echo the findings of the scientific literature. It’s about assigning different roles to each student, evaluating work, forming small groups, etc. The case study teachers seem to have rediscovered these conclusions.

Summary

From all the above methods, data, and descriptions of various studies, we can successfully draw the following conclusions.

Although the Covid-19 pandemic has been a significant catalyst in accelerating the adoption of online methods and tools, even without it, online learning has steadily taken a significant place in the modern education system. It is due to the rapid development of new technologies and scientific progress.

Initially, it was a very serious challenge for teachers and students. The biggest challenge was their full engagement. After all, engagement in learning is a key factor that affects academic performance and high results. Over time, the joint efforts have achieved good results in solving this problem. However, nothing happens overnight. It has to be a joint effort and everyone’s work in particular. And it is still ongoing. Various studies are being conducted. Based on their results, more and more new conclusions are periodically drawn. The latter relates to methods, systems, and tools that teachers should use in their online work. And all of the above is done for the sake of the key final goal. It is the active involvement of students in the learning process and the closest possible approximation of virtual learning to traditional face-to-face education.