Increasing student engagement
in an online classroom

There are challenges related to student engagements in all types of learning environments, especially in online classrooms. Online learners are engaging in a different physical setting, where they don’t have the direct peer-to-peer interaction with their instructors and their classmates. 

This experience can be isolating and prone to losing their motivation. Generally, student engagement is understood as the level of interest students show towards their interaction with the content, instructor, and peers, and their motivation to learn and progress through the course - but what does this mean for students on Circuits?

About Circuits

Circuits is a 10 week, mentor-guided online-learning platform that offers courses in Web Design, Data Analysis, and Digital Marketing at General Assembly. Course producers engage students throughout the course, and the students are encouraged to finish their units and submit their unit projects weekly. Students can have one-on-one conversations, and receive useful feedback on improving their work, once a week with one of the mentors.  There are series of different activities - from videos, quizzes, interactive activities, and projects throughout the platform - available to access at anytime.

The Pitfalls of Gamification

While examining how other competitors deal with the same challenge, I noticed that many of them tried to engage students using gamification features like badges. While these digital badges seem fun and provide positive reinforcement at a glance, they don't offer long-term rewards. What happens when a student unlocks a badge throughout the course? What do they mean for students?