How do I create engaging digital learning experiences for students?

NOT by using all sorts of fancy tech in the digital classroom!

Yes, technology is important but should not drive the planning and design of digital learning. Tech is only one of the many building blocks to help students progress in their learning pathways so they can meet the learning outcomes. More on The Ugly Truth about Technology in your Digital Classroom here.

So, what are the other building blocks?

Ok, there are plenty.

I've always been a Lego fan and the creative, yet mechanical process of stacking blocks to build whatever my imagination wanted has always been a winner with me; I’m not a Monopoly girl. And that is exactly how I see the creation of digital learning experiences – organising blocks of different sizes and shapes to create experiences that fit different contexts.

BUT I do believe that certain blocks are needed as structural layers for ANY creation.

So, what are the structural blocks needed for engaging digital learning experiences?

I like to see the process of building these experiences in different levels (just like stacking my Lego blocks to make a tower..). I look at these levels in terms of structural and fun levels.

STRUCTURAL LEVELS ⬇️
Can be divided into 2 levels: the Foundational Level & Level 1. These are essentially planning stages which will build the foundation for student engagement.

The Foundational Level – the very bottom layer of the structural blocks. Essentially, having a structure for content, being consistent and clear, not only with the structure, but also with the content.

In a previous post I spoke about Structure, Consistency & Clarity as being the 3 Pillars for Student Engagement in the digital classroom. These are vital to make sure students understand the what, how and why of their learning and so are clear on what they are going to learn, how to navigate the content presented and why they are learning what they are learning that particular way. This should lead to NO confusion, essential for engagement. Confused students are disengaged students!

So I'm calling these 3 Pillars, the Foundational Level. Here no matter what and how (blended, hybrid or fully asynchronous) content is delivered, it needs to follow a simple and consistent pattern. You can see an example here

Level 1 – the second structural layer, the structural building blocks that need to be put together to create conditions for an extra layer of student engagement. My top tip here is to consider the 5 building blocks below when creating digital content.

Block 1: Student Onboarding

Creating an onboarding process is very helpful (uhh kind of vital really) to make sure students are engaged from the very start. This is where they will see exactly what they are going to learn, how their learning journey is planned, how to get to their VCs (virtual classes), how they are getting assessed, where to submit work, where they can log questions etc

Block 2: Digital Learning Skills & Accessibility

Making sure students have the skills needed to use the tech tools to facilitate their learning. Also considering transcripts, glossaries, captions, different types of assessment formats, accommodating for learning disabilities, for example.

Block 3: Activity Types & Organisation

Considering how different types of activities can be used to help students meet the learning objectives set and how to organise these in the LMS or weekly lesson plans. Where are your students at and where do you want them to get to? SMART outcomes and Bloom's Taxonomy can be of great help here.

Block 4: Checking Understanding & Feedback

Establish the assessment needs for the course and how feedback can be given. How can students apply what they've learned?

Block 5: Social Learning

Does social media play a role in your students learning journey? Will you explore activities where students need to collaborate? How about a personal learning space for student's own reflection time?

By accounting for these structural blocks when creating digital learning experiences, I CAN ENSURE A SOLID FOUNDATION FOR ENGAGEMENT. The next step is then to play around with the fancy pieces to create whatever design I want...whether this is a flower, a skate park or Hedwig 🤩! Moving on to the Fun Levels, you then need to consider what's going to work for your own context.

The fun levels are the more practical building blocks. For example, the videos, images, quizzes etc that are used to build unique learning journeys.
I'm leaving the Fun Levels for another post.

Maybe you would like to experiment with the structural levels?

💡 Maybe you can start by focusing only on the Foundational Level. Think about what you are teaching during a particular week or the module you are creating for a course and work on the planning. This will help you establish how to structure your content, how you can make sure there's consistency and clarity in the course.

🏗️ Maybe you have the Foundational Level sorted and can start adding some more structural blocks to build on Level 1. So, how could you create an onboarding process for your students? How could you include an element of social learning to your course?

By the way, if you are not a Lego fan, you can always think about the process as layers on a cake 😉. Whatever you go for, have fun building!

by Andrea M West   |   BlendedLearningDesigns