Digital classrooms have become a common addition to curriculums in higher education; however, such learning systems are only successful if students are properly motivated to learn. Optimizing Student Engagement in Online Learning Environments is a critical scholarly resource that examines the importance of motivation in digital classrooms and outlines methods to reengage learners. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as motivational strategies, learning assessment, and student involvement, this book is geared toward academicians, researchers, and students seeking current research on the importance of maintaining ambition among learners in digital classrooms.

Online instruction is rapidly expanding the way administrators and educators think about and plan instruction. In addition, due to a pandemic, online instructional practices and learning in a virtual environment are being implemented with very little training or support. Educators are learning new tools and strategies at a quick pace, and often on their own, even through resistance. It is important to explore lessons learned through the pandemic but also of importance is sharing the virtual classroom options and instruction that align to best practices when transitioning to online instruction. Sharing these will allow educators to understand and learn that virtual instruction can benefit all, even when not used out of need, and can enhance face-to-face courses in many ways. The Handbook of Research on Lessons Learned From Transitioning to Virtual Classrooms During a Pandemic is a critical reference that presents lessons instructors have learned throughout the COVID-19 pandemic including what programs and tools were found to be the most impactful and useful and how to effectively embed virtual teaching into face-to-face teaching. With difficult choices to be made and implemented, this topic and collection of writings demonstrates the learning curve in a state of survival and also lessons and resources learned that will be useful when moving back to face-to-face instruction as a tool to continue to use. Highlighted topics include the frustrations faced during the transition, lessons learned from a variety of viewpoints, resources found and used to support instruction, online learner perspectives and thoughts, online course content, and best practices in transitioning to online instruction. This book is ideal for teachers, principals, school leaders, instructional designers, curriculum developers, higher education professors, pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, practitioners, researchers, and anyone interested in developing more effective virtual and in-classroom teaching methods.

The mission of higher education in the 21st century must focus on optimizing learning for all students. In a shift from prioritizing effective teaching to active learning, it is understood that computer-enhanced environments provide a variety of ways to reach a wide range of learners who have differing backgrounds, ages, learning needs, and expectations. Integrating technology into teaching assumes greater importance to improve the learning experience. Optimizing Higher Education Learning Through Activities and Assessments is a collection of innovative research that explores the link between effective course design and student engagement and optimizes learning and assessments in technology-enhanced environments and among diverse student populations. Its focus is on providing an understanding of the essential link between practices for effective “activities” and strategies for effective “assessments,” as well as providing examples of course designs aligned with assessments, positioning college educators both as leaders and followers in the cycle of lifelong learning. While highlighting a broad range of topics including collaborative teaching, active learning, and flipped classroom methods, this book is ideally designed for educators, curriculum developers, instructional designers, administrators, researchers, academicians, and students.

Web 2.0 and blended learning technologies are reshaping and reframing the practice of teaching and learning in higher education. This volume critically examines new research on how e-learning technologies are being used in higher education to increase learner engagement and retention.

For more than two decades, the concept of student engagement has grown from simple attention in class to a construct comprised of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components that embody and further develop motivation for learning. Similarly, the goals of student engagement have evolved from dropout prevention to improved outcomes for lifelong learning. This robust expansion has led to numerous lines of research across disciplines and are brought together clearly and comprehensively in the Handbook of Research on Student Engagement. The Handbook guides readers through the field’s rich history, sorts out its component constructs, and identifies knowledge gaps to be filled by future research. Grounding data in real-world learning situations, contributors analyze indicators and facilitators of student engagement, link engagement to motivation, and gauge the impact of family, peers, and teachers on engagement in elementary and secondary grades. Findings on the effectiveness of classroom interventions are discussed in detail. And because assessing engagement is still a relatively new endeavor, chapters on measurement methods and issues round out this important resource. Topical areas addressed in the Handbook include: Engagement across developmental stages. Self-efficacy in the engaged learner. Parental and social influences on engagement and achievement motivation. The engaging nature of teaching for competency development. The relationship between engagement and high-risk behavior in adolescents. Comparing methods for measuring student engagement. An essential guide to the expanding knowledge base, the Handbook of Research on Student Engagement serves as a valuable resource for researchers, scientist-practitioners, and graduate students in such varied fields as clinical child and school psychology, educational psychology, public health, teaching and teacher education, social work, and educational policy.

A main staple of today’s world that has played a key role in the development of society is education and institutions of higher learning. An ongoing concern, however, has been the lack of access and resources to superior teaching in developing areas of the world. Student engagement and learning environments are just a few elements that play into the success of colleges in areas like the Coast Region of Kenya. Research must be done in understanding the correlation between the tools that these institutions are equipped with and the educational results of their students. Effects of Engagement and Resources on Learning Outcomes in Vocational Colleges: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an essential reference source that discusses the relationship between college resources and students’ learning outcomes as well as contributing factors in promoting quality education and training. Featuring research on topics such as research philosophies, teaching workloads, and student engagement, this book is ideally designed for teachers, deans, researchers, education professionals, administrators, policymakers, government officials, and academicians seeking coverage on the methods of acquiring and maintaining quality education in developing countries.

The explosion of digital technologies in the 21st century provided access to multiple robust inquiry, communication, and collaboration applications. The enhanced capabilities provide educational opportunities for engaging students in deeper and more thoughtful learning. Implementation of knowledge-building communities in educational experiences, however, requires new pedagogical strategies that are vastly different from the predominant teacher-directed pedagogies of the 20th century. Today’s teachers now must identify, orchestrate, and manage activities in their content areas in ways that successfully support students through activities such as engagement in knowledge-building communities. Blended Online Learning and Instructional Design for TPACK: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an essential research publication that examines the implementation of knowledge-building communities in educational experiences and pedagogical strategies that encourage engagement. Highlighting topics such as active participation, digital technologies, and online learning, this book is geared toward educators, educational designers, researchers, administrators, and academicians.