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ACC Distance Learning Course Design and Delivery

DESIGNING FOR INTERACTION AND COMMUNICATION

Interactivity Matrix for DL Courses

The Interactivity Matrix was developed to assist DL instructors in identifying technologies and methodologies to meet their course interaction and communication goals. It identifies various options available to instructors based on the nature of an interaction (instructor to student, student to instructor, student to student, etc.) as well as the type of interaction (i.e. asynchronous versus synchronous). This matrix can be a very useful tool for instructors who are interested in identifying interaction and communication options for their distance learning courses.

View more information on the Interactivity Matrix.

Interacting and Communicating with Students in a DL Course

Designing for interaction and communication is a vital factor when developing a DL course. It is important to consider the methods of communication—between the faculty member and students, and among students—occurs regularly throughout the semester. Good communication is a key factor in student retention and success. Students who feel engaged in a course—through activities such as online discussions, group exercises, and regular contact with the instructor and classmates—are more likely to complete the course and enjoy their distance education experience.

Interaction may occur during faculty office hours, or it may take place via telephone, email, electronic chats, on-site meetings, video teleconferencing, or other methods. Appropriate interaction for a course depends upon the course delivery mode and the technologies used by the faculty member.

To learn more about designing interactivity into your DL course, visit the Instructional Development Services website, or schedule a meeting with an ID Specialist at your campus.

Some of the types of interactions to consider when designing your DL course, are:

____ Faculty --> Student
____ Student --> Faculty  
____ Student <-- to --> Student
____ Student --> Content

____ Level 1 – One way
____ Level 2 – Two way asynchronous
____ Level 3 – Two way synchronous

For a resource of interactive tools which you can use to promote interaction and communication in a DL Course, see the Interactivity Matrix for DL Courses.

This matrix lists different resources available to the DL instructor for one way asynchronous interaction, one way synchronous interaction, two way asynchronous and two way synchronous interactions. Within each one of these categories it lists the tools for faculty to student interactions, student to faculty, student to student and student to content.

Interactivity and DL course effectiveness are directly correlated. Interaction with students needs to be integrated into the DL course design process.

In addition to a high level of interactivity, resources must be provided which encourage and empower students to learn on their own. Activities such as: student initiated research projects, interactive and group exercises, as well as student directed discussion topics, just to name a few, can be important tools in helping students take a proactive role in the education. Exercises and activities should be designed with the idea of promoting student self-discovery.

In a face to face class, the instructor presents to students and can speak directly with students. For a DL course, it is important for an instructor to determine how that direct communication and level of interactivity can be replicated. Designing a DL course with an appropriate level of interactivity and communication is a critical factor in ultimately how successful the DL course will be. If there is not sufficient interaction and communication in a DL course, students can quickly lose interest, which can eventually lead to high attrition rates.

Various Instructional methods which can be used to promote interactivity include:

  • Build interactivity into the course between instructor and student, and among students.
  • Encourage electronic communication between instructor and student as well as among students.
  • Respond to email quickly. Provide students with an estimated response time to email and voice mail messages in your syllabus.
  • Post relevant course messages, announcements, and reminders on a regular basis.
  • Hold virtual office hours in addition to on-campus office hours.
  • Use Blackboard components such as the Digital Drop Box and Discussion Board to facilitate electronic communication. Require students to respond to discussion topics at least once a week.
  • Base a portion of the student's grade on class participation. Provide students with the opportunity to evaluate their teammates' effort and course participation.
  • Develop interactive exercises, group activities, and assessments to tie in with each lesson, chapter, or video program. Encourage students to form study groups or small teams to work together on assignments.
  • Use Blackboard tools (i.e. Wimba) to add media and personal voice interaction to a course.

Some examples of various technology tools an instructor can use to promote two way interactivity in a DL course are:

  • Wimba audio tools within Bb to create some of following interactive tools:
  • Content specific how to videos and media: http://www.expertvillage.com or YouTube. These resources can be used by the DL instructor to demonstrate key concepts, review material, or as a reference for course activities and exercises, just to name a few.
  • Blogs and video blogs. Provides students with another opportunity to interact with one another, to respond to instructor posted topics, etc.
    • Podcasts. Instructors can post lectures, review materials, special content topics, etc. Students can also respond to and post new podcasts. Podcasts can also be added to discussion forums. In addition, DL instructors can also aggregate podcasts so that topic specific podcasts from a variety of locations are automatically sent to an instructor's DL course site.
    • Social bookmarking and social networking using free social networking sites such as Yahoo Groups, MySpace, Facebook. These tools can be used by DL students to promote a sense of community in a DL course and to help them communicate with other students in the course. Many are already familiar with these tools and are using them to interact with one another.
    • Teleconferences using http://www.freeconference.com. An instructor can use this service to create a teleconference session with students, conduct virtual office hours, and other live interactions with students.
    • Skype (free Internet telephony). This service enables a DL instructor to do such things as conduct virtual office hours, conduct group or class teleconferences,, hold review sessions.
    • Wikis (web pages that can be modified easily and collaboratively (i.e. Wikipedia). Wikis enable a DL instructor to create web content that students can interact with by updating material, adding content, posting new links and new content. In this way it can be a very effective tool when developing online interactivity for a DL class.
    • Virtual tours and web site references. There are a variety of educational web sites and virtual tours which can be used by a DL instructor to illustrate a course topic, reinforce a course learning objective, review course material, etc.
Moderating Successful Discussions

By moderating synchronous and asynchronous course discussion forums, a DL instructor can help ensure that a respectful social community is established and maintained for a DL course.

For example, instructors can moderate a synchronous chat session (i.e. Wimba Voice Direct) by specifying a specific date and time that the session will be held. The instructor's can moderate and facilitate the session, guide and direct the discussion, offer feedback, pose questions, etc. An instructor can make this part of the overall participation grade a student receives for the course.

View an Flash tutorial on how to develop a synchronous discussion and chat session within Blackboard at: http://dl.austincc.edu/wimba/faculty/developVoiceDirect.htm.

To develop and moderate asynchronous discussion forums, see information on how to develop asynchronous discussion forums at http://dl.austincc.edu/wimba/developVB.htm.

View an online tutorial on how to develop a Wimba Voice Board within Bb at:
http://dl.austincc.edu/wimba/captivate/BbVB.htm.

Engaging Students with Interactivity and Variety

Incorporate variety into online instruction to keep interest and motivation high. Use relevant visuals or sounds to illustrate points, and if possible, bring in external references that reinforce key concepts such as a web site, podcast or YouTube presentation of an expert in a specific area, have the students do some research and find some reference information which illustrates a course concept. Have them post a link to that information in the course discussion area.

Provide information on an opposing viewpoint or perspective which might represent another way to think about a subject, pose questions which will students are required to look at issues from a multitude of perspectives, or provide feedback on student or group projects. These are just a few examples of ways instructors can engage students.

Online Ice Breakers:

It is important to set the tone and engage students from the beginning of an online course and to keep students engaged throughout an online course.

One example of a way to engage students early, is to provide an online mechanism (i.e. within Bb) where students can provide information about themselves (with their permission).

To increase variety:

  • For online discussion forums, here are some helpful guidelines which can be employed:


    • Instructor-directed online discussion topics to clarify content, define terms, identify assumptions, motivate participation, recognize contributions.
    • Group-centered online discussion topics to build on experience, explore hypotheses, strengthen relationships, raise questions, formulate ideas, examine assumptions.
    • Collaborative online discussion forums to solve problems, share responsibilities, compare alternatives, test hypotheses, modify assumptions.
    • Student posted online discussion forum topics or summary of research posted to a course content area in Bb
    • Small and large group work posted to a Bb discussion forum content area
    • Role plays (synchronous via Voice Direct or a teleconferencing tool) (asynchronous using such tools as podcasts, Voice Boards, discussion forums, demonstrations or examples of role plays from sites such as YouTube
      (Note: an instructor can embed the YouTube player directly into his or her Blackboard content area)
    • Debates using synchronous communication tools
    • Team competitions and games using synchronous or asynchronous online tools
  • Use different methods to deliver content:

    • Alternate between new content and review
    • Case studies


  • Use a variety of complementary media to support instruction. Here are some ideas:
    • Book illustrations
    • Cartoons
    • Animations
    • Diagrams or charts
    • Photos
    • Semantic maps (to minimize text and present relations graphically)
    • Brief video clips (discuss relevance before and after showing the clip)
Establishing a Social Community and Designing Student Centered Activities

In addition to designing the interactions with students, a DL instructor must create and foster an environment, atmosphere, or context in which those interactions can take place. This type of atmosphere is one which encourages social interaction among DL students, and provides a respectful online environment for students to feel comfortable interacting with one another and where they can feel part of a community.

For example, having the students answer a questionnaire about themselves and posting that within the course management system can help students learn about each other and can help promote a sense of community. Also, students can post information about themselves on a class discussion board (text and audio). Students can collaborate on group projects, participate in social networking, interview one another, join an online class group like Myspace or Yahoo Groups, Facebook etc.

The instructor can incorporate this into the class by adding feedback to social communities within the DL course, posting topics for discussions and so on. Also, participation points can be given to students who post and respond to relevant course topics.

View additional resources on designing interaction and communication strategies for DL courses.

View information on how to develop a DL Course with technology and media in mind.

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