Interactivity in online learning is a key part of the learning experience and an important factor in improving learning outcomes. This blog post explores different forms of interactivity in online learning and provides tips on how interactivity can be used in the Vuolearning online learning platform in order to create more impactful online courses and to improve the learning experience and results.
Interactivity in an online course refers to the interaction between the learner and the learning environment where the learner's choices and responses affect how the learner advances in the learning content. An example of this is an interactive task where the learner answers a question and receives an automatic feedback based on their response.
Often, the term interaction in online courses is also used. Interaction can be divided into three types based on how learners, instructors, and the learning environment communicate with each other:
Learning is not just passively receiving information. Interactivity activates learners and helps them to achieve better learning outcomes.
Instead of just reading and trying to remember what they have read, in online courses learners can complete tasks where they apply what they have learned, structure their thinking, or explain their answers. The learners can also receive feedback which helps them to adjust their behavior or reinforce their learning.
Studying online can sometimes feel isolating. Interaction with other learners creates a sense of belonging to a community, which can increase motivation and engagement. Discussing and reflecting with others can help learners better understand the subject matter, view it from different perspectives, and apply knowledge more effectively, making learning more impactful.
A digital learning environment enables diverse forms of interaction between learners, between learners and instructors, and between learners and learning materials. In the Vuolearning platform, interactivity can be promoted in many ways, such as through tasks and discussions.
Tasks promote interaction between the learner and learning materials. Depending on the course and its objectives, tasks can serve many purposes: gathering learner opinions, collecting feedback, encouraging reflection, testing knowledge, activating participation, and reinforcing learning. Vuolearning offers several different task types.
In Vuolearning, it is possible to show feedback texts to the users automatically after they submit their answers. Task feedback texts can be seen as an interaction between the learner and learning material which appears to the learner as interaction with the instructor.
The feedback text can include the correct answer, a model answer, additional information, encouragement for reflection, or tips for next learning steps. Feedback texts also offer an opportunity to personalize the learning experience: for example, in multiple choice questions it is possible to write a tailored feedback text based on what the user answers.
Example of multiple choice question and its feedback text.
Open questions can also be enabled for peer review. In this case, the other participants in the course can see each other's answers and get to review them. Assessing other learners' responses supports knowledge sharing, interaction between the learners, and also promotes the learner's own learning.
Peer-reviewed tasks work best in courses where the users progress at the same pace or where there are many learners at the same stage.
Interaction between learners can be increased by adding discussion elements to the online course. With discussions, the instructor can initiate conversation on specific topics. The course participants can comment on each other's posts and react to them.
The course's chat function can also be utilized for conversation. Chat supports both learner-to-learner interaction and learner-to-instructor interaction.
If you want to use chat for discussions, instruct the users on how to use it, for example, what kind of conversation in chat is expected - getting to know other course participants, questions for the instructor, or thoughts related to course content. It is also a good practice to communicate expected response times from the instructor for chat messages.
The instructor can also communicate with the course participants by sending manual and automatic emails from the platform.
Course communication could include for example an automated message when the user is added to the course, automatic reminders of approaching target schedules, or the instructor's messages announcing new content on the course.
The course can also include guiding text from the instructor related to the course completion; the instructor can also address the learner in the text and for example motivate them. Instructor's presence - even if only virtual - can motivate the learners to complete the course.
The course participants should also be given the opportunity to give feedback to course organizers. Collecting feedback can be done by using the platform's open questions and survey elements. The Vuolearning platform also includes a separate feedback function that allows the users to submit feedback related to a specific part of the course.
You can also combine online learning with in-person or remote training sessions. Vuolearning's learning paths make it possible to include calendar events alongside independently studied courses. These calendar events can be in-person meetings or virtual lectures. This allows you to create broader learning programs that integrate learner-to-learner interaction into online learning.
Combining different forms of learning and interaction can be an effective way to deepen learning. When you combine lectures and online learning, the self-study courses can for example introduce lecture topics, share preparatory tasks or materials, support learning between meetings, or refresh key concepts from live trainings. The lectures can then include group discussions, group work, deeper exploration of topics taught in the online course, or introductions to upcoming subjects.
Interactivity in online courses.
Interactivity is a core element of impactful online learning. It increases learner activity, supports deeper understanding, and strengthens motivation. Vuolearning's versatile tools, such as tasks, feedback texts, and discussions, offer easy ways to add interaction between learners, instructors, and learning materials. Through interactivity, the online course evolves from passive content consumption into active, meaningful, and effective learning process.