Students work independently to complete the majority of their coursework, but most instructors still make a concerted effort to promote collaboration whenever they can. This is especially true in online classes where there is a big emphasis on interactivity and student engagement. Nearly all jobs require collaboration between employees, so it’s important for students to gain experience working alongside their peers. To ensure learners get this practice, use these four strategies to encourage collaboration in an online classroom.
Group Projects
Group projects are the most common way instructors promote collaboration in an online classroom. Not only are these exercises great for engagement, but they also simulate real-world working environments. As students interact with their peers, they often develop valuable communication, problem solving, and leadership skills.
Peer Review
Peer review doesn’t always require face-to-face communication between learners, but it’s still a beneficial way to encourage collaboration. When students review each other’s work, they give and receive feedback, which they use to improve their own performance in turn. This activity also exposes learners to multiple perspectives on a certain subject.
Virtual Classrooms
Virtual classrooms are online meeting spaces where students, peers, and instructors interact in real-time. These new-age learning and teaching environments enable a variety of collaborative activities. Learners can meet on their own time to work on projects, deliver joint presentations, or discuss a topic in breakout rooms created by the instructor.
Synchronous Video
Virtual classrooms support synchronous video interactions, but there are other platforms where students can meet in real-time as well. Whether it’s an app or some kind of video learning software, this technology enables students to discuss group projects, have conversations in a foreign language, or collaborate on some other type of assignment.
Bongo facilitates collaboration in online learning environments through its two core feature sets: Video Assignments and Virtual Classroom. To learn more about how these platforms enable peer review, group projects, and other activities, visit Bongo’s website.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
