What is active learning?
Active learning engages students directly through reading, writing, listening and reflecting. It differs from traditional instruction, where the teacher did most of the work and students participated passively. Active learning puts the student’s learning needs at the center, and teachers can bring it into a class of any size in many ways.
Active learning is problem-solving: it asks students to do and to explore. Students tend to learn more when they are active participants. The often-cited Learning Pyramid from the National Training Laboratories claims students retain only 5% of what is taught in a lecture but 90% of what they learn when they become the teacher. Researchers dispute those exact figures, but the direction matches what many educators see.
Using active learning
Active learning commonly includes working in pairs, group discussions, role play, structured learning groups and case studies. Individual activities involve reflecting or writing, such as quick-writes or polling during lectures. These strategies help students build interpersonal skills, motivation, retention and transfer of knowledge, and critical thinking. Cornell University research found that a student’s attention begins to decline every 10 to 20 minutes during a lecture, so active learning strategies help keep students engaged.
Active learning and technology
There is a misconception that active learning can only happen face to face. Technology lets teachers foster a climate of learning by doing, and new cost-effective tools make it easier to build active techniques into a course. Teachers and learning developers can produce highly active online lessons for take-home modules or online activities. In many cases the online environment is more favorable, because every student has an equal chance to engage others by developing and sharing ideas. Online, a student’s voice isn’t limited by who gets called on, by time limits on participation or by class size.
Online strategies for active learning
Course designers and teachers developing active learning for an online environment should start with design best practices. The design should assess each student, give relevant context for the environment students will be working in, provide instructional tools, choose the best delivery technique, give directions and resources for every assignment, state learning outcomes and ensure active mental engagement. Technology does not by itself create an environment for active learning. Especially online, active learning won’t happen unless instructors deliberately plan for and encourage it.
Ultimately, active learning is an efficient way to drive student engagement and help students shape their own learning experiences. Many active learning strategies can be adapted for online use, and each instructor must decide what fits their subject. Tested strategies and models can help novice and seasoned instructors alike build activities that engage students online, and make learning more enticing for today’s digital-native generation.