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Active Learning in Online Courses

Overview

Active learning engages students in purposeful tasks that promote analysis, collaboration, and reflection. In online courses, it transforms learning from passive content delivery to active participation.

It is a core element of quality teaching and supports the High-Impact Design for Online Courses (HIDOC) framework and aligns with the Quality Standards for Online Courses (QSOC), which emphasize student engagement, accessibility, and continuous improvement.

Putting Active Learning into Practice Online

Active learning in online courses can occur in both synchronous and asynchronous environments. Regardless of format, successful activities are structured, accessible, and directly tied to learning outcomes.

Active learning online helps students:

  • Apply and analyze course concepts through authentic tasks.
  • Collaborate with peers to exchange perspectives and problem solve.
  • Reflect on their learning to strengthen understanding.

Asynchronous Strategies

Active learning in asynchronous courses allows students to engage with content, peers, and instructors on their own schedule. These strategies build critical thinking, reflection, and application of course concepts.

Provide a scenario that requires students to apply key principles or evaluate decisions. Students post responses in Blackboard and comment on peers’ analyses.

Ask students to exchange drafts or project outlines using Blackboard and provide rubric-based feedback.

Use Blackboard discussions to promote analysis, synthesis, or evaluation rather than recall. Structure prompts to encourage connection to real-world contexts.

Invite students to reflect on learning progress, challenges, or professional growth using Blackboard journals or short Panopto videos.

Have students co-create a shared list of ideas, examples, or strategies in a Microsoft 365 Word or Excel document. Encourage commenting and refinement of ideas.

Ask students to summarize their learning by identifying three takeaways, two insights, and one question for further exploration. Submissions can be written in Blackboard or recorded in Panopto.

Ask students to create concept maps in Microsoft 365 Word or PowerPoint that illustrate connections among course ideas or theories and post them in Blackboard for peer review.

Synchronous Strategies

Synchronous active learning happens during scheduled class meetings or live sessions in Zoom. These strategies emphasize collaboration, dialogue, and immediate feedback.

Ask students to reflect individually on a question or scenario, discuss ideas with a partner in Zoom breakout rooms, and then share insights with the class through chat or short verbal summaries.

Invite a small group of students to discuss a complex issue or ethical dilemma while peers observe. Observers note key points, emerging patterns, or unanswered questions, then post a short reflection in Blackboard after class. Rotate roles so all students have the opportunity to lead and observe.

Use Zoom Polls to assess understanding, gather opinions, or prompt follow-up discussion. Display results and ask students to interpret the data or defend their choices.

Present a short scenario and assign small groups in Zoom breakout rooms to analyze it using a shared Microsoft 365 document. Groups record findings and summarize key points for class discussion.

Pause periodically for students to consolidate ideas or surface questions. Have them post responses in chat, jot notes in a shared Microsoft 365 document, or record a quick takeaway.

Design Considerations for Active Learning

Active learning should be intentional, structured, and aligned with learning outcomes. The HIDOC framework supports this process through step 4, Assessments and Activities, which focuses on designing purposeful learning experiences that connect outcomes, activities, and feedback.

To design effective activities:

  • Begin with a clear learning outcome.
  • Identify whether the goal fits a synchronous or asynchronous format
  • Choose tools, such as Blackboard, Microsoft 365, Zoom, or Panopto, that align with your outcomes and objectives.
  • Plan for accessibility by ensuring captions, alternative text, and accessible file formats.
  • Provide regular feedback through announcements, discussion summaries, or rubric-based comments.
  • Reflect on student engagement and course data to guide continuous improvement.

Getting Started

The following steps can help you introduce or expand active learning in your online course.

  • Identify one module or lesson that could include more student interaction or active engagement.
  • Choose a strategy mentioned above to replace a passive activity.
  • Implement the strategy, observe student participation, and collect feedback or reflection data.
  • Review what you learn, refine future activities, and document the improvement in your teaching portfolio.

Related Resources

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