Twenty-eighth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

This focused discussion considers the detailed design of activities online which have successfully promoted student-student and tutor-student interactivity, a way of balancing flexibility and rigidity in terms of student engagement, creating activities online that develop skills (rather than focussed on developing knowledge) and developing an understanding and appreciation of what social presence online means for a learning community. The innovation behind the success is related to the methods used and the values given to particular dimensions of the learning experience such as language, kindness, rigidity, flexibility, enabling, legitimizing, honesty, and reciprocity. Also the specific benefits of this work look at developing skills using online Microsoft Teams versus a fixed classroom - to create an enjoyable and inclusively engaging environment that students looked forward to being part of.