Fostering Online Student Participation

Abstract

The challenges of teaching online include encouraging student participation.  Although many instructors would like to increase participation in their online courses, there is no established body of knowledge on the various forms such participation may take, or how it should be evaluated.  This paper outlines two major pedagogical approaches, the transmission model and the transformation model and suggests that the transformation model is uniquely suited for online learning.  Once the preferred model is established, guidance in ways to foster online student participation is provided.