Everything You Need to Know About Engagement Theory of Learning
If this is the first time you are coming across Engagement theory, let us first glance into the history of the Engagement Theory Of Learning. It is a two-decade-old concept related to Education Technology that is still incredibly valid in our times. It was developed and introduced in 1999 by Greg Kearsley & Ben Schneiderman. The core principle of engagement theory talks about students being meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks.
It is a framework for technology-based teaching and learning processes. Kearsley and Schneiderman believe that technology can be used to facilitate engagement in ways that might be difficult to achieve otherwise. This theory promotes working collaboratively, project-based learning, and having an authentic focus.
All About The Engagement Theory of Learning
People working on a laptop. Image source: Lambda Solutions
When does engaged learning occur? It happens when active cognitive processes such as problem-solving, decision making, and evaluating are involved. The end goal of applying engagement theory to the teaching-learning process is to develop an intrinsic motivation in students to be better learners. Further, we will deep dive into the learning processes and the role of technology in the process. Knowledge is no longer limited to books and classrooms.
Education technology has developed massively, so student engagement in classrooms is now a significant focus of educators and students. From virtual labs to gamification in classes, the growth of education technology has helped understand the importance of student engagement in classrooms. Several factors, including economic, geographic, and social aspects, have led to the decline of student engagement.
To better understand any theory, you will need to know about the principles upon which that particular theory is based; the case of engagement theory is no different.
- Relate: Learning through collaboration with others.
- Create: Adopting a project-based approach towards learning.
- Donate Learning using an outside focus.
These principles focus on creating meaningful situations, requiring students to use their cognitive processes involving problem-solving, decision making, and evaluating. The end goal of each of these three principles is to develop intrinsic motivation in the learner’s mind.
Let’s now explore the practical applications of the concept of Engagement Theory:
Practical Applications Of Engagement Theory in Learning
1) Engaged Learning by making students relate
At its core, this principle deals with making students trade points of view with their peers and relating with what they give and receive. This can be achieved through active and meaningful collaboration between students. Interactive tutorials can play a significant role in this approach. Educators should involve students in activities that emphasize team efforts, communication, management planning, and social skills. In an ideal situation, students would hear, see and relate to how their peers approach the topic at hand and what they take from it. Another essential part of learning by relation is being able to defend ideas. In a classroom where active discussion between students occurs, situations arise wherein multiple ideas are floating about. The opportunity to understand these concepts, question what they do not understand, and defend their ideas will activate an intrinsic motivation in their minds; this motivation to learn is paramount.
2) Enhances Creativity Among the Students
This principle is about approaching the learning process in a project-based manner. It requires educators to design activities that are both creative as well as purposeful. When a student approaches the learning process through an innovative project that involves them defining things in their way, organizing and creating something that helps them express what they understood, they can develop a sense of ownership of their learning. When a student feels responsible for their education, intrinsic motivation is created.
3) Engaged Learning by Making Students Donate
While the first two principles required an inside focus, that is, the students themselves; this principle requires them to have an outside focus or an authentic focus. That means being involved in activities that serve a third party. The educator can guide their students to take up related projects focused on the needs of an outside person or group that acts as the customer. These could be student groups, museums, government agencies, schools, or local organizations. Activities or projects of this nature have a realistic feel about them because the focus is on the needs of people other than themselves. This would require them to think from another person's point of view. This approach motivates students to be better learners and prepares them to become part of a workforce in a given field.
4) Role of Technology in Engaged Learning
Students learn through technology. Image source:Edtechmagazine
According to earlier schools of thought, technology is not a requisite factor for engaged learning. However, technology today has been proven to create opportunities that could not have been achieved without it. Technology in the form of teaching and learning, communication, and creative tools will help reinforce the principles of engagement theory in learning. SelfCAD is such a tool that educators and students in this process can use.
It is a 3D modeling software that runs both online as well as on PC and anyone can learn and get started with much ease. Basic features of SelfCAD are available to students and teachers free of cost and to access the advanced features you can either pay:
SelfCAD Pro - $14.99 monthly or $139.99 annually
SelfCAD Perpetual License - $599.00 one time for a lifetime access
Using technology to help students connect: As you know, this requires students to collaborate with their peers and educators to express, question, and defend ideas. This can be achieved only through a wide range of in-class activities and those that require significant amounts of time and effort spent outside the classroom. An essential application of technology in this situation is communication systems. Communication systems such as email, chat groups, or video conferencing tools help students to exchange their ideas through messages or presentation tools.
Availability of ways to express ideas through tactile examples is another vital requirement. Design and 3D printing are ways to achieve this. Technology has advanced to the extent wherein 3D printers are readily available for purchase, or vendors who take up orders for 3D printing are increasingly becoming a common feature of cities. 3D printing helps students create models and figures to express their ideas better, as audiovisual and tactile cues help make the expression and understanding of ideas more efficient. SelfCAD is such an application that makes designing and 3D printing easy for people of any skill level.
SelfCAD features easy-to-use and intuitive tools and interfaces to create new 3D designs or convert existing images into a 3D design that can be printed out using any 3D printing device. Having a physical model helps students present their ideas more expressively and helps them defend their views better. To the listener, a tangible example or concept is more relatable than an example or concept which is not. This one-way technology can activate an intrinsic motivation in students’ minds to be engaged in the learning process by making the whole procedure more relatable to them.
Using Technology to help students Create: This part of the engagement theory requires students to be involved in creative projects that are purposeful. Creation could refer to anything. It might be creating a new concept. What is a better way there to test out new ideas than the use of technology? Technology plays a role in the inception, creation, testing, and presentation of new concepts, and with constantly improving AI tools, those processes are becoming increasingly easy. Connectivity through the internet would help students collect knowledge from people and places that they are separated from geographically and by time. This is another area where designing and 3D printing play a major role. Physical tools that might have been otherwise unavailable could be efficiently designed and fabricated using 3D printing and designing software such as SelfCAD. In situations where 3D printing facilities are not readily available, SelfCAD allows users to create 3D images that can be used in audiovisual presentations.
A 3D image representing a concept would have a better effect on students’ minds compared to two-dimensional images that are available in textbooks. Several simulation tools are available today; these help students test their theories without the risk and expenses of real-world trials. Connectivity also helps students present their ideas to a larger audience than in their classrooms. Here, technology adds more depth and meaning to the process of creation by making the entire action available to everyone and eliminating a lot of the risks and expenses involved. More accessible means to create new things, concrete the ownership and responsibility that students would feel about their learning concepts. A responsible student is intrinsically motivated to be more engaged in learning.
Using technology to help students contribute: Donation to an outside focus is essential for engagement theory-based learning. Donation involves understanding the requirements of a third party and catering to them. Technology grants them access to people, groups, and organizations that would otherwise be inaccessible to them. Communication is made more accessible by the internet, delivery of solutions or products that are virtual. Understanding the requirement and its specifics is also made easy by the vast amount of knowledge that is easily available on the internet. Sometimes students would not have the capability to offer solutions to customer requirements on their own; the internet as a connectivity tool helps here to identify people or organizations that could be of help in providing the necessary assistance. For customers who might require physical objects or field visits as part of their requirement, technology that can create virtual wireframe models of the object or the field or geographical features is available today. This allows students to cater to the needs of people or organizations several thousands of miles away from them.
Final words
Engagement theory purports a meaningful and interactive strategy to promote constructive learning. And when it comes to the educational prospects, there shouldn’t be any compromise!
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