This document discusses ways to engage students through more interactive teaching methods rather than traditional lecturing. It provides examples of using webinars, creative introductions with multimedia, having students interview each other and professionals, and embedding interactive activities into PowerPoint. The document advocates treating creativity and entertainment in education as importantly as literacy to increase student engagement. It lists several online tools that can be used to create interactive lessons and activities.

1. Get them out of the discussion board!Effective ways to engageWebinarsJulia VanderMolen, Ph.D.Davenport UniversityLaura SanderaDavenport University

2. I am a great instructor. I know my content. I am published, am best friends with the President of the United States, I …..Why should I have to change?Shouldn’t my knowledge be engaging enough?http://degreesearch.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/students-love-tech.jpg

3. Who said this?“Effective teaching is not about being locked with both hands glued to a podium or having your eyes fixated on a slide projector while you drone on.”“[Good teaching] is about motivating students not only to learn, but teaching them how to learn, and doing so in a manner that is relevant, meaningful, and memorable.”“Instructors are the conductors and the class is their orchestra.”Richard Leblanc, Ph.D.(Leblanc, 2010, p.1)

4. Stop the monotony!Answer your DQ’s and reply to two of your peers.Log-in and post to peers four times a week.Make sure to include outside research in your posts.Where is the creativity?Where is the true engagement?

5. “Anyone who tries to make a distinction between education & entertainment doesn’t know the first thing about either.”Sir Ken Robinson“Creativity is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.”(TED2006, 2006)

6. Videohttp://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

7. “I like how Laura responded quickly to my posts and asked me questions.”“Laura always seemed to be in the discussion board. She responded quickly.”“Laura posted interesting articles for us to read.”

8. “Best class ever! I had so much fun! I didn’t even realize that I was learning because of all of the different activities we were doing. This class was definitely NOT boring!”“OMG! I love this instructor. She truly cares about her students and about helping them to learn.”“I have to admit – I don’t like doing “extra” stuff. Just let me get in there and get my work done. She made create a video. This has NOTHING to do with management. However, having said that, I just used that tool to create another video for my other class. The tools that she had us use were so easy to learn and now I feel comfortable trying new technology ON MY OWN that I never would have thought to try. While it may not have been on my list of learning objectives, she has opened up my creativity and helped me to be more marketable in the workplace. Employers don’t want people who aren’t willing to try something new. I don’t know if she knows this, but she probably saved my future career.”

9. What can you do?Creative introductionsCreate PSA’sInteractive PowerPointsInterview professionalsAttend webinarsMany other items included at the end of the presentation.

10. First IntroHi. My name is Laura. I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan and work for Davenport University. In my spare time….My attempt at “improvement”Hi. My name is Laura. I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan and work for Davenport University. In my spare time….I enclosed a picture of me so you can see what I look like.

12. Created for free with www.toondoo.com

13. http://animoto.com/play/3SIoBAZznvphRJKCbc9XOg#

16. Interview professionals.

17. Have students interview professionals.

18. Have students interview each other on learning objectives.WebinarsElluminate

19. GoToMeeting

20. Adobe

21. TrainingIndustry.com

22. Citrixonline.comwww.goview.com – Create screencasts.www.twiddla.com - Flip chart/white board.www.quicklessons.com - E-learning/authoringwww.tagwhat.com - Reality game used for icebreakers or embedding course content.www.polleverywhere.com - Similar to "clickers" and allows users to text their response in.www.pindax.com - Virtual sticky-note program that allows users to brainstorm and collaborate with others.www.keepvid.com - Allows you to transfer a YouTube video to your hard-drive so you can't lose it.www.ustream.tv - Stream live or record a video over your custom channel.What else can you do?

23. Final thoughts…Many more options out there.Entertainment = engagement.Remember – we are the conductors of the orchestra.

24. References

25. Contact InformationLaura Sandera, MBAOnline Training & Development Coordinatorlsandera@davenport.eduJulia K. VanderMolen, PhDDepartment Coordinator-Science and Health (online) and Assistant Professor-Health and Sciencejulia.vandermolen@davenport.edu