Online interactive learning has become an integral part of academic life since the advent of the pandemic. The entire world was at a standstill, but the learning process had to continue. Certain programs, apps, and techniques were adopted and popularized during that time, which are relevant and adaptable in this online medium of teaching. These resources came to be known as interactive learning applications. Interactive learning applications are software programs designed to engage learners in active participation, feedback, and collaboration. These applications incorporate various multimedia elements, such as videos, animations, and virtual or augmented reality simulations, to enhance the learning experience.  

Students have become accustomed to this method as it is interesting, and innovative and engages them with the content present in the course. They can access it just with resources available to them during the online class, such as a handheld device and an internet connection. In an online learning environment, learning is both active and interactive, which can make the process interesting to students. The main goal of instructors during an online class is to keep students engaged and actively participating in the course. It can be overwhelming for instructors to create a wholesome learning experience and they might face hurdles that seem impossible for them to overcome. In such circumstances, there are tips that can be incorporated to make the learning process effective.  

Tips for Creating Interactive Learning Experiences: 

Let Students Explore the Learning Material

Students exploring the course content is key to learner engagement (Pappas, 2021). Instructors can include links to other related material, which might provide the students with more context about the topic. The course can be made more exploratory and exciting by including facts in the form of bars and graphs or pictures, videos, and interactive visual aids. 

Incorporate Visuals into the Course 

The content in the courses can be overwhelming to the students at first sight. So, it is important for them to feel at ease, by providing a variety of visual aids like pictures, videos, and animations, as it enhances the learning process (Shabiralyani et al., 2015). Visual aids could help students memorize and recapitulate the main concepts in a chapter or lecture.  Visual aids can also be helpful to students facing learning barriers, where understanding is hindered by just reading text.      

Make Learning Activities Challenging 

Make the activities, assignments, and discussions in the course challenging but not impossible to complete. These activities should tap into the intellect of students and let them understand their potential, rather than adjusting to what is presented. In-depth content for the given topics can also be provided as links to other materials, along with links for materials that are easy to understand. Instructors should make use of diverse kinds of strategies to keep students engaged and increase the quality of learning.  

Make the Experience Personalized 

The learning experience can be tailored according to a learner’s specific needs or experiences. The student’s name can be included in an announcement, discussion, or in email communication. Also, setting up an online course in an asynchronous format allows students the freedom to work their way through the course. 

Set Your Learners on a Journey 

Storytelling or narration can be used to explain a concept to the learners using realistic scenarios and real-life examples relevant to the content. It enhances their critical thinking skills and allows them to think about what the consequences would have been if they were in that situation, and how they would have used their knowledge or skillset. 

Create a Collaborative Environment 

The learning environment needs to be enriching and engaging. Such an environment will help students boost their self-confidence, self-assurance, and increase their reliance. This can help learners to come out of their shells by building connections through talking to their peers and working on group activities or projects. Underperforming students may become motivated to participate and overcome their fear of socializing or language barriers. They can do so by communicating their thoughts, ideas, and experiences with their classmates. All these aspects could pave the way for personal and professional self- development in the future (Anderson, 2008). 

Provide Real-world Scenarios 

Providing real-world scenarios as examples in the content will help learners gain knowledge about the topic by connecting the information to something familiar to the student. Real-world scenarios will help learners to analyze challenging situations and act accordingly in their personal or professional lives in the future.   

Virtual or augmented reality simulations are technological environments created to mimic the real world for learning and studying purposes. Allowing students to test out different scenarios in a controlled environment could decrease the likelihood of mistakes made during real applications. Mostly in education, simulations are used in lab environments to test hypotheses so they can observe and experiment safely and efficiently (Adipat et al., 2021). 

Offer Gamification and Game-based Learning 

Gamification and game-based learning (GBL) are powerful tools that can be used to make learning more enjoyable. Gamification incorporates certain elements featured in games (points, scoreboards, and awards) into the learning content, while GBL facilitates learning using actual games (Kahoot and H5P) (Mospanyuk, n.d.; Radu, 2021). GBL is particularly effective for teaching new skills and concepts, by embracing digital or non-digital games. It is used to balance the theoretical content and learning, with the introduction of entertaining games. These educational games are structured in such a way that they obtain maximum user attention. 

Gamification elements could be added to spark a competitive spirit among students while going over learning materials. Students can gain awards for certain achievements within the course, or even earn points that could earn them a reward at the end of the course. 

Interactive Learning Tools and Websites 

SCSU has access to various tools, programs, and applications that faculty can use to keep the students active and engaged in an online class. A few of them are: 

Kahoot 

This is a game-based learning (GBL) platform, which can be accessed through its website or app. On this platform, instructors can use predesigned games and quizzes for many subjects or design their own. As students go through the game or quiz, their points are displayed on a scoreboard. For use within a course, instructors will need to sign up for an account so that students would not have to.  

Microsoft Sway 

This application allows for learning material to be displayed in an interactive way. With the assistance of premade templates, activities, and multimedia can be added to content to make it more engaging. Students are free to listen to audio, watch video clips, compare and contrast images, and more. Once completed, each Sway can be added to a course via a link.  

Zoom polls and quizzes 

For synchronous online courses, Zoom has interactive polls and quizzes. Either of these interactive activities could be dropped in during a class meeting to prompt engagement, conversation, and learning. There are options to create simple polls, advanced polls, or quizzes. Question types available are single-choice, multiple-choice (multiple answers), matching, ranking, short-answer, and long-answer. Images can even be added to quiz questions. Once answers are submitted, line charts are displayed with answer choice values that can be discussed during class. 

Whiteboards (Zoom or Microsoft) 

These features enable the instructor to provide a medium for writing and drawing exercises or collaboration efforts between instructor-students or student-student. Both contain premade templates, either grouped by subject (Zoom) or concentration (Microsoft), with free handwriting as the default. Both also contain additional articles that can be added to the board, such as sticky notes, and shapes. Once completed, the whiteboard can be saved, downloaded, and shared with students. 

Mediaspace hotspots and quizzes 

These features allow students to interact with instructor-developed media. Within a video lecture or talk, instructors can design brief pop-up activities, in the form of quizzes, or information (hotspots). Quizzes can be placed within the media to check for understanding or as a reflective exercise, with scores provided at the end of each quiz. Hotspots can be added to a video for students to click on with links, images, articles, etc., which can add interest to the overall experience.  

H5P 

This software has a vast library of interactive content that can be developed and added to a course. Instructors can design anything from games, quizzes, written activities, study materials, and more. Interactive presentations and books can also be made with this software for further student engagement. H5P is an extensive tool that can be used to better immerse students within the content. If you are interested in H5P, make sure that you sign up with Scott Wojtanowski at ed-innovations@minnstate.edu and have it enabled for every course that it will be used in.  

Creating effective and engaging e-learning content requires careful planning and execution. By following these tips, you can create interactive learning experiences that will engross learners and help them to retain the information. A few things to keep in mind are to get to know your audience, use visuals, make it interactive, provide feedback, foster collaboration, and make it mobile-friendly. By doing so, you can create e-learning content that is both effective and engaging.  If you are interested in any of the above interactive tools and websites, please contact SCSU Online and Distance Learning team via email or through our Bookings site. 

References: 

Abykanova, B., Nugumanova, S., Yelezhanova, S., Kabylkhamit, Z., & Sabirova, Z. (2016). The use of interactive learning technology in institutions of higher learning. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 11(18), 12528-12539. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1124626.pdf    

Adipat, S., Laksana, K., Busayanon, K., Asawasowan, A., & Adipat, B. (2021). Engaging students in the learning process with game-based learning: The fundamental concepts. International Journal of Technology in Education (IJTE), 4(3), 542-552.  https://doi.org.10.46328.ijte.169  

Anderson, T. (Ed.) (2008). The theory and practice of online learning (2nd ed.). Athabasca University Press. https://www.aupress.ca/app/uploads/120146_99Z_Anderson_2008-Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_Learning.pdf 

Baig, M. A. (2011). A critical study of effectiveness of online learning on students’ achievement. Journal of Educational Technology, 7(4). 28-34. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1102153.pdf  

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Mospanyuk, A. (n.d.). Gamification vs game-based learning: what’s the difference? Gamify. https://www.gamify.com/gamification-blog/gamification-vs-game-based-learning-whats-the-difference#:~:text=Gamification%20is%20the%20application%20of,out%20of%20an%20entire%20process.  

Pappas, C. (2021, May 12). 7 Tips to develop a successful interactive eLearning strategy. eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/7-tips-to-develop-successful-interactive-elearning-strategy 

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Radu, A. (2021, November 16). Key differences between game-based learning and eLearning gamification. eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/key-differences-between-game-based-learning-and-elearning-gamification  

Shabiralyani, G., Hasan, K. S., Hamad, N., & Iqbal, N. (2015). Impact of visual aids in enhancing the Learning Process Case Research: District Dera Ghazi Khan. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(19). 226-233. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1079541 

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Nishika Gopathi is a Graduate Assistant for Online and Distance Learning at St. Cloud State University. She is a student of Information Assurance.  She likes to paint and travel in her free time.