How to Engage Students: 20 Student Engagement Strategies

While virtually staffing offers a feasible solution to the incessant problem of teacher shortages across the nation, student engagement becomes more challenging in a virtual class where the instructor is not physically present in the classroom. Thus, districts, schools, and teachers have to become increasingly creative and adaptable to come up with effective strategies based on old principles and best practices in the education sector and implemented with the help of new technologies to enhance student interest, engagement, and participation in the new classroom setting.

This article rounds up the top 20 strategies for virtual classroom engagement with practical tips on how to implement them. These solutions are easy to introduce and do not require excessive finances or equipment. Meanwhile, they are guaranteed to spark interest among your students and encourage them to engage as much as in a brick-and-mortar school setting or even more.

The 20 best student engagement strategies for virtual teaching staff that bring a mix of traditional and tech-based techniques are:

1. Routine Transitions
2. Grading Notebooks Weekly
3. Daily 5-Minute Assessments
4. Participation Points
5. Real-Time Feedback
6. Varied Assessment Methods
7. Recognition and Rewards
8. Interactive Lessons
9. Gamification
10. Guest Speakers and Experts
11. Personalized Learning
12. Multimedia Content
13. Student-Led Activities
14. Regular Check-Ins
15. Project-Based Learning
16. Scaffolded Learning
17. Collaborative Projects
18. Virtual Field Trips
19. Interactive Simulations
20. Community Service Projects

Meanwhile, Fullmind virtual staffing services can help you fill existing teacher vacancies with highly qualified, state-certified K-12 teachers in all subjects for online, synchronous instruction. Our teachers merge themselves in the school community via real-time engagement with students, participation in staff meetings, and parent teacher conferences to optimal results.

Let’s take a more detailed look at each of these strategies and how to make it work in your virtual classroom for a vibrant and engaging learning environment:

1. Routine Transitions

The first step in keeping students engaged and focused throughout the day is to create a simple daily routine of transitions and follow the same structure every time. For instance, you can start class with a quick daily assessment to ensure that students are familiar with the material that you covered the previous day before transitioning to a share-out session followed by taking class notes and sharing example topics. Then, you can conclude class with group work to solidify the knowledge that students obtained during class.

Having a fixed daily routine with transitions helps set up student expectations so that they know what follows next and feel prepared for it. Meanwhile, mixing up class work with group work and individual work makes sure that the virtual class is interesting and provides students exhibiting different learning styles with the ability to gain new knowledge efficiently and successfully.

2. Weekly Notebook Grading

Introducing the practice of taking structured notes throughout class that get graded upon a simple rubric once a week installs a culture of taking notes and staying organized which can be challenging in a virtual classroom environment. With this simple technique, you can make sure that students remain focused on instructions throughout class and do not get distracted with small things. Moreover, detailed classroom notes will facilitate students’ studying for exams and improve their overall performance.

Additionally, you can choose to allow students to use their daily notes during some tests and quizzes to reinforce the importance of note taking by showing its benefits in a practical manner.

In terms of practicality, the weekly grading of student notebooks can be performed by the in-person facilitator using a simple standard rubric developed in collaboration with you as the online instructor.

3. Daily 5-Minute Assessments

Another simple strategy that can be integrated within your routine transitions is a daily 5-minute assessment conducted at the beginning of each class. This assessment should be based on the previous day’s classwork and homework and provide immediate feedback so that students know exactly how well they’ve grasped the material. The grading can be done by the in-person facilitator using a rubric provided by the virtual staffing teacher prior to class.

This method creates value in a number of different ways. First of all, it gets students engaged as soon as the class begins. In addition, it encourages students to stay focused and pay attention throughout the class because they know that their understanding of the material will be tested right away, as soon as on the next day, rather than on an exam at some distant time in the future.

4. Participation Points

One of the best practices to increase student engagement in a virtual classroom as well as in a traditional learning setting is to evaluate their participation on a weekly basis. You can assign class participation a weight in the overall student grade, usually in the range of 10%. Then, all you need to do is to give weekly participation points based on students’ level of activity and engagement throughout class.

Students thrive on consistent feedback, and a weekly participation grade is one of the easiest ways to provide ongoing feedback to them.

5. Real-Time Feedback

Building on the importance of feedback, you should not wait for the end of the week to let your students know how well they are doing in class. Instead, you need to also give them immediate feedback during live sessions using digital tools that facilitate real-time online communication and interaction.

You can make use of features such as reactions, live comments, and digital whiteboards to instantly respond to inputs by students. You can also comment on positive contributions in an old-fashioned manner with a simple “Good job!” or “Well done!” Students appreciate when their efforts are recognized and acknowledged, so they are more likely to engage in similar positive behaviors in the future when they get immediate feedback.

6. Varied Assessment Methods

You should not perceive working with students remotely as a limitation on the strategies and techniques available to you. To the contrary, you should see it as an extension of available opportunities as you can mix in-classroom and digital strategies. One way to do that is to introduce various assessment methods based on a mix of formative and summative evaluations to measure student knowledge and progress.

You can include self-assessments to encourage self-reflection and deeper understanding of each student’s personal strengths and weaknesses. In addition, you can use peer assessments to inspire collaborative learning and peer support.

Similarly, your evaluation methods can use both physical assignments that are checked by the in-person facilitator and online tests and quizzes where students can get immediate feedback online.

7. Recognition and Rewards

Another method for enhancing student engagement when teaching virtually is to recognize and reward student efforts and achievements in a regular manner. This helps boost motivation and encourages students to remain engaged in class.

There are a myriad of things that you can do to recognize positive behaviors and successes. On a daily basis, you can comment on small achievements. Furthermore, you can hand out certificates, shout-outs, and virtual badges to celebrate success on a weekly or monthly basis. Students particularly enjoy small competitions like “Student of the Month” where they can get acknowledged and rewarded for a mix of academic successes, good behavior, and support to peers.

You can also send an email or call student parents and guardians to share their achievements. Parents should not be engaged only when things go bad.

8. Interactive Lessons

With the increasing use of technology inside and outside the classroom, students expect lessons and instructions to be interactive and engaging in order to stay focused and motivated. You can easily incorporate interactive elements such as games, polls, and quizzes into your daily lessons to get students to actively participate in classes.

You can use dedicated online platforms like Kahoot! and Quizlet or simple online tools like Google Forms to create engaging activities for your students.

9. Gamification

This leads to the next strategy for student engagement which is to gamify the learning process and student participation in it. You can integrate game-based elements to make lessons more engaging and entertaining without losing the educational value. In specific, you can incorporate the ability to earn points, win badges, and unlock rewards for active participation and above-average achievement.

While gamification of the classroom plan might sound challenging, especially for more traditional teachers, there are plenty of digital tools and apps that make the process easy and straightforward. You can use platforms like Classcraft and Minecraft Education to add a gamified layer to your teaching methods to boost student interest and participation. Some of these tools offer special teacher discounts or even free educator versions for more affordability for you ad your school.

10. Guest Speakers and Experts

Going back to more traditional techniques that can easily be transferred to a virtual classroom setting, you can invite interesting and exciting guest speakers and experts in fields relevant to your subject to present to, speak to, and interact with your students. In addition to offering a break from the routine, this strategy can provide students with real-world insights into the topics they are studying about and inspire them by connecting classroom content with actual professional experiences.

This can be implemented even more easily than inviting a guest speaker to your physical classroom with simple, widely used tools such as Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams that are available to everyone, sometimes for free.

11. Personalized Learning

As a teacher, it is one of your responsibilities to evaluate and understand the unique learning needs of each one of your students. Sometimes a one-size-fit-all method is not efficient to deliver knowledge to some students and set them up for success.

You should tailor your lessons to the individual needs and interests of your students to gain and retain their engagement throughout class. To do that, you can use adaptive learning technologies like iReady and Renaissance Learning to adjust content based on student performance. Students are guaranteed to engage more actively with content that matches their exact level and preferred style.

12. Multimedia Content

Another strategy to make educational content more interesting and more engaging is to incorporate a variety of multimedia resources in your daily instruction. Infographics, podcasts, videos, and other multimedia content can help you present the same information in diverse ways that retain student attention and make them more excited to attend and participate in each class.

With tools like Nearpod and Edpuzzle, you can easily embed questions and other interactive elements into educational videos to further stimulate engagement from students in a virtual classroom.

13. Student-Led Activities

One of the most effective strategies to engage students is to put them in the driver’s seat and encourage them to take an active role in their own learning. This can be achieved by assigning students discussions to lead, topics to present, and segments of the lesson to teach to their peers.

In addition to giving students the opportunity to expand their knowledge on a topic of interest to them, this strategy also creates possibilities for peer teaching and presentations that build a sense of ownership, responsibility, and pride. Meanwhile, it gives other students a chance to take a break from the usual routine of listening to you and enjoy their peers’ different styles based on their unique skills and strengths.

14. Regular Check-Ins

Yet another technique to ensure that all students are up to speed and have an opportunity to engage in class is to organize regular check-ins with them. You can schedule frequent one-on-one or small group check-ins, for instance biweekly or monthly, to get individual students’ feedback, address specific concerns, and provide personalized support.

You can use these sessions to understand unique student challenges, build rapport, and offer tailored assistance that is based on each student’s individual needs and problems. Keep in mind that some students are too shy to discuss their challenges in front of the whole class and might isolate and feel disengaged unless they are given a chance to talk about their problems in a more confidential setting.

15. Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning (PBL) creates an opportunity to keep students engaged and devoted throughout a series of classes as they work on an extended project that requires their attention over the course of a couple of weeks. Classroom projects bring a number of important benefits that lead to increased student engagement.

First of all, PBL allows students to focus on an area of interest to them and to connect projects to real-life scenarios that make learning relevant and meaningful by emphasizing the relationship between theoretical knowledge and practical implementation. Moreover, class projects develop critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration with peers.

16. Scaffolded Learning

Scaffolded learning is an instructional practice that can be easily implemented by virtual staffing teachers to enhance student engagement. This practice is based on the principle of breaking down complex tasks and topics into smaller, more manageable, and less overwhelming steps that help students build confidence and knowledge gradually as they are eased into new concepts.

With scaffolded learning, teachers gradually decrease the level of direct guidance and intervention as students become more skillful, competent, and confident, but educators remain available to ensure that students stay on track. This practice allows students to take control over and ownership of their learning which makes them more engaged and more invested in the process as they hold responsibility for the final outcome.

17. Collaborative Projects

Group work and collaborative projects are another proven strategy to boost the engagement of students. Such projects encourage students to work together while developing teamwork and communication skills and enhancing involvement and participation.

Inside and outside the classroom, students can use various digital tools, such as Google Docs, Trello, Slack, and others, to facilitate collaboration, optimize communication, and learn new technical skills.

18. Virtual Field Trips

It’s a well-known fact that students enjoy trips more than anything else at school as they allow them to get out of the classroom, visit new places, and have fun with their classmates. As an educator who is teaching virtually, you can make use of virtual field trips to provide this experience to your students and encourage their engagement.

There are hundreds of US and international museums, art galleries, historical sites, and industry locations that provide virtual visits and trips that can align with the academic curriculum. Furthermore, you can use virtual reality and online tour tools to create immersive experiences and trips that are tailored to your specific lesson plan and the interests of your students.

19. Interactive Simulations

As a virtual staffing teacher, you can use technology in additional ways to stimulate student engagement in the classroom. Specifically, you can incorporate interactive simulations and virtual labs in the teaching process to provide hands-on learning experiences to your students. The majority of students enjoy lab exercises as they allow them to apply and observe the theoretical knowledge that they obtain during class in a practical manner.

Platforms like PhET Interactive Solutions and Labster offer a range of tools to create simulations and virtual labs for different subjects and different grades.

20. Community Service Projects

Finally, another highly recommended strategy to increase student engagement when teaching virtually is to introduce community service projects to the curriculum. Performing services to the community on a voluntary basis not only encourages students to apply their learning into real-world issues but also helps them build connections with the local community as well as peer students, gain understanding of real-life social problems, and get to appreciate the value of voluntarism.

The American Red Cross, Translators Without Borders, and TeenGive are just some of the organizations and projects that make student community services easier and more feasible. But you can also build your own project in which students connect with their local community via the use of online tools and platforms.

Bottom Line

These are the top 20 student engagement strategies that have proven to work for virtual staffing teachers. While gaining and retaining student focus and attention throughout class might seem more difficult for virtual instructors, with these proven tactics you can create the right environment that encourages your students to actively participate in classroom discussions and engage in the learning process.

If your school or district is facing teacher vacancies, check out Fullmind virtual staffing services. We provide highly qualified, state-certified, online trained K-12 teachers for all subjects who know how to inspire student engagement and support their success. Get in touch to discuss your specific needs and find the right virtual instructors for your school or district.