Abstract
Motivation is an important parameter for successful completion of the course by the student. There are many factors that can mar such motivation like digital fatigue, poor instructional design, facilitator competency, course design, assessment practices, and student support. For online teaching learning, the authors spend a lot of time in front of computer monitors, keep typing on computer keyboard, listen to audio using headsets, etc. The students may be sitting in live meeting of their class and not understand what is expected of them. They may have a sense of being lost and demotivated. The students may not want to ask questions for fear of appearing foolish. This chapter looks into the factors related to motivation in online teaching and learning settings. It examines the factors related to motivation like deepening connections, dealing with diversity, managing conflict, teacher capabilities for online facilitation, providing feedback, providing educational resources to students, digital fatigue, assessment and evaluation practices for online learning, and conversing.
TopIntroduction
We are currently witnessing two revolutions: 4th industrial revolution (Schwab, 2016) and 4th educational revolution (Seldon & Abidoye, 2018). The 4th industrial revolution has been marked with the emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), 3D printing, Internet of Things, nanotechnology, quantum computing and autonomous vehicles. This has impacted the field of education too to a great extent. Technologies like computer vision, Hadoop and adaptive learning algorithms have made use of sentiment analysis, big data analysis and personalization of education by the teachers easier. Seldon and Abidoye (2018) in their book recognize the potential and challenges of AI and express that
...Education has been the Cinderella of the AI story - largely ignored in the literature and by governments, companies and educational institutions worldwide. This needs to change rapidly: AI could be the Princess Charming or the Ugly Sisters in education.(p.1)
With technological advancements the educational practices have undergone drastic changes. Online learning has emerged as a parallel mode as millions of learners are able to gain general and specific knowledge by studying online. Wadhwani & Gankar (2021) estimate that the elearning market would exceed USD 1 trillion by the year 2027. According to them the reason of this growth is ever increasing demand for technology enabled elearning solutions. 4th industrial revolution technologies, like augmented reality, mixed reality, virtual reality, gamification, easy access to mobile, increasing internet footprint and organisations shifting to cloud-based learning experiences have helped better learner engagement and outcomes. Immersive technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality and extended reality have offered a new meaning to the learner engagement and enhanced interactivity (Sharma & Sharma, 2021). Pelletier et al. (2021) highlighted new pedagogical approach to foster creativity and enterprise ingenuity in the students. Western Sydney University created an Online Engagement and Teaching Hub for faculty and designers which offered teaching strategies, evidence-based learning theories and best practices by peers in the university. This hub was accessed for practical resources, establishing a network with community of practitioners and ways to boost the scholarship of the teaching practice.
As a teacher in the university we teach foundation class comprising students across several departments and it is usually a class comprising students of about 400 students. When I’m meeting my students for the first time, I introduce myself to them and try to get a glimpse into their various background with a view to establishing a rapport with them. The process involves a bi-dimensional communication. In response to Covid 19 challenge, and the need to keep social distancing during lecture, the university has directed that classes that are large such as mine, should now be taken online (Kirkwood, 2013; Lawrence, 2019). As a teacher who is used to face-to-face contact with students, it is crucial for them to understand what should they expect during their first online contact with students (Gunn & Harper, 2007). Another important issue here after that the teacher will be teaching in online classes, how do they establish rapport between them (the teacher) and the students online in a large class (Amushigamo, Hidengwa, & Herman, 2018). Ordinarily in the face-to-face contact, a teacher tries to establish a rapport between the students and facilitate the process by appointing a class rep among them. In an online class, how do they achieve this? Haynes (2020) suggests universal design strategies in large online classes.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Motivation: Motivation is the push of the mental forces to accomplish an action.
Cultural Diversity: The way that people have different values and attitudes depending on where they were born and the society that brought them up.
Informational Diversity: Diversity stemming from differences in individuals’ knowledge and experience related background.
Trust: A trust relationship derived from the experiences of direct interactions between two parties.