Online Student Engagement

Professors across the United States participated in the first direct effort by the Wikimedia Foundation, the non–profit organization supporting Wikipedia, to engage the academic community and use Wikipedia in a class assignment. Three project participants, from different areas of study, conducted independent research into university student motivations for a Wikipedia assignment. We triangulate those data in this paper to describe how student motivations differ for a Wikipedia assignment from a traditional research paper assignment. Several themes emerged through the research and many of the dominant themes were linked. The global audience both motivated and intimidated students. Students appreciated the usefulness of contributing to Wikipedia and found satisfaction in making information accessible to the public worldwide. Students engaged with an online community and appreciated feedback and collaboration. Some recognized a degree of possessiveness that they felt toward the article. Both instructors and students observed that student research and writing skills improved. Qualitative data from both students and professors indicates that in learning basic writing skills, a Wikipedia writing assignment is comparable to a traditional research paper, however, students are more engaged in a Wikipedia assignment.

27 Ways To Increase Student Engagement In Learning

Students who have an exaggerated belief they have a right to success are more likely to struggle come exam time, a University of Otago study shows.

The creativity of higher education innovators has produced three categories of solutions with the potential to break the "iron triangle" of cost, quality, and access.

While educators often focus on class behavior as a measure of student engagement, a new study finds subtler facets of engagement can be harder to flag but just as critical for their long-term academic success.

Student affairs departments are using technology to strengthen relationships between students and their campus.

By interspersing online lectures with short tests, student mind-wandering decreased by half, note-taking tripled, and overall retention of the material improved, said Daniel Schacter, the William R. Kenan Jr.

The traditional classroom is like a blackjack table.  You must visit the facility in order to participate.  Sessions start when the leader says so.  There are relatively complex rules in order to participate.  The session proceeds in a manner that is not individually tailored to your preferences.  And sticking with it requires a focus on the long-term goal (i.e., earning a degree, or winning back your money).

Enter digital technology.  As in gambling, technology is important in higher education not in and of itself, but because it enables three developments that will make learning much more effective, and perhaps addictive.