Student Interaction and Engagement Supported by Blended Learning Tools in Emergency Teaching

Abstract

Emergency situations call for effective means of providing quality education. Higher education institutions are therefore required to use effective and efficient online approaches for teaching and learning which necessitate students, academic practitioners and institutions to engage and interact with each other successfully. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the importance of interaction and engagement in the use of blended learning online tools during emergency situations. The theoretical lens that informs the chapter is social constructivism which argues that learning is a social endeavour. The literature findings show that the effective engagement of students contributes to the overall quality of students’ produced experiences as well as pass rates. Furthermore, the importance of student–lecturer engagement and student–content engagement cannot be taken for granted. The right balance of synchronous and asynchronous online learning tools contributes to fruitful interaction and engagement. Online engagement seems to have many benefits as compared to conventional based engagement such as the ability of students to contribute to their teaching and learning. Despite these advantages, challenges associated with online learning such as balancing life commitments, confidence, students’ approach to learning, high investment costs in resources, motivation, competences of lecturers and students, interest of lecturers and students and efficacy of lecturers and students cannot be ignored. The authors therefore recommend that effective and efficient online learning requires the correct blend of online learning tools accompanied by the correct engagement strategies.

Citation

Mokgalo, L., Njoroge, A. and Musikavanhu, M. (2022), "Student Interaction and Engagement Supported by Blended Learning Tools in Emergency Teaching", Brown, B.A. and Irons, A. (Ed.) The Emerald Handbook of Higher Education in a Post-Covid World: New Approaches and Technologies for Teaching and Learning, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 213-230. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-193-120221010