There are six tips to enhancing interaction in an online course:

1. Be present in the discussions.
2. Monitor the interaction.
3. Shape the discussion.
4. Guide speakers to each other.
5. Summarize the discussion.
6. Move the discussion to the next level.

Tip 1: Be Present in the Discussions

The simplest questions and answers will take place in a classroom unless the professor is committed to making the dialogue an integral part of the teaching.

"Being there" requires time and effort. The professor must first determine the opening comments meant to generate discourse. Once the dialogue has started, the professor
must come back with questions, challenges, comments, and guidance to help continue to shape the conversation. Finally, it is imperative that the professor take the time to
summarize the conversation at its mid-point and take the time to direct students to look at each others' postings and open side conversations of their own.

Lively interaction in a course is possible, provided that the professor commits the time and energy to make it happen.

Tip 2: Monitor the Interaction

Adult online education lives or dies by the level of interaction achieved among the professor and students, as well as among the students themselves. Yet, there is a myth that if a professor posts comments at the beginning of each conference and then occasionally passes on a few words of encouragement, the interaction in the course will arise on its own. That just isn't so. Like every other aspect of teaching, interaction requires the professor to play an active and leading role.

The roles of engager and facilitator seems to be clear enough when it comes to structuring a course along interactive lines, and yet the monitoring of participation can be daunting when a professor moves to the virtual environment. The professor can no longer see student expressions nor read student body language. The question I am often asked is, "How do I make sure the conversations are productive and ongoing?"

The answer lies in monitoring the conversation. This is not to suggest that you need to be sitting on top of the computer waiting to respond to everything that is said in class. Do that, and you will burn out before you complete your first semester online. It is not a case of being ever watchful but of being effectively observant.

The first step in monitoring discussion is to watch for the crest of the wave. Human interaction, if recent studies done in Hong Kong, London, and Winnipeg are to be believed, flow in a natural wave pattern which rises to a crest and then falls to begin to rise anew. In normal everyday situations, such as the traditional classroom, we sense the rise and fall naturally, and as teachers, pretty quickly realize that the next crest depends on our asking the right questions in the trough. The same is true online. After a discussion begins, you will find that there is a normal pace of two days leading to the crest followed by a day of ebbing into the trough. It is a good idea to check in on conversations every one and and a half or two days, with the next item to be discussed in hand. If the crest has been reached and you can tell by the sudden lack of enthusiasm in student entries, simply move the conversation along with a brief summary and the new item you've brought along.

The second step is to look for effective communication happening within the discussions and study groups of your course. Obviously, there is room for a bit of good-natured nonsense here and there in any course. That is part of sharing a collegiate experience for your students. But you must watch to make sure that there is more effective communication going on than
good-natured play. Are messages addressing specific issues or are questions arising from the course? Are you and your students exchanging information, clarifying material, engaging in useful debate? Are students following your model and being encouraging and helpful to each other? If you cannot answer one of these questions in the affirmative for the majority of the
participation in your class, then it may be necessary to take the time and explain your expectations for classroom participation more clearly. It is not enough to say that participation counts for 20 percent of a grade if you do not give your students some guidance on what does and does not constitute valuable participation.

Watch the nature of the questions you ask in opening conversations. Students expect you to play fair. You cannot ask them a known, damning question, such as "Are you still beating your dog?" and expect them to trust you, leading them further in discussions. Questions
have to be answerable and open-ended if they are to encourage participation.

Be aware of the nature of the responses you get to open-ended questions. Not all answers are created equal. Responses which indicate that the students understand the tie-in of the question to the material should result in a few wonderful teaching moments for you. On the other hand, answers that eschew the course material tie-in for solely the personal perspectives will offer you the chance to clarify the nature of the tie to the course for the entire class. Don't be afraid to speak up on the matter and refocus the group to the issues at hand.

Watch out for the showboater or the bully in your classroom. Nothing will tear away at participation quicker than a showboater showing off erudition, or a bully belittling everyone else. If these types appear in your class, take them aside, electronically, and tell them to "cool their jets." Remind everyone that all of the members of the class are entitled to their say on the
issues before the class or their study group. Of course, you must also be aware of the potential for you to dominate the conversation by speaking ex cathedra or in a belittling manner.

Tie your discussions to the material of the course in a way that is understandable to all of your students. If the initial responses to a topic indicate that students are not quickly coming to see the salient points, quickly drop in with some clarification.

A little watchfulness on your part will result very quickly in your developing into a first-class online facilitator of conferences. And that, my friend, is half the battle to becoming an excellent online instructor.

Tip 3: Shape the Discussion

Achieving lively discourse in your course requires that you shape the discussion. All students—whether kindergartners or postdoctoral fellows—require someone to lead and shape the conversations held within their classes. Since the days of  Socrates and the first symposium, that job has belonged to the teacher.

Shaping the discussion begins with the professor posting a comment designed to lead the students along certain thought paths. Once the conversation begins, it is incumbent upon the professor to redirect students who wander too far a field tangentially. There is nothing wrong in saying: "That's very nice, and we might consider it again later, but for now, let's remain focused on the issue at hand."

The shaping of the discussion also requires periodic summations of the comments made— with a value call as to which were useful in advancing the discussion.  It is okay to tell your students that they are correct in what they have said. It is also okay to point out to them when they are in error (provided you give guidance as to where the error occurred and how they might go about making the correction).

Finally, it is up to the professor to lead students on to the next level of discussion. When a point has been made and grasped by the majority of the class, only the professor is in the position to lead everyone on.

Tip 4: Guide Speakers to Each Other

Perhaps the least understood by professors is their job as Classroom Emcee.

The professor must encourage students to read and respond to each other very early in a course if he/she hopes to have lively interaction.

The trick is to ask students to comment on fellow student postings, question postings they do not understand or disagree with, or reach out to support those they do agree with.

A professor reading all of the posts in a class can very quickly develop ways to bring students together as fellow learners.

Tip 5: Summarize, Summarize, and Summarize Again

Remembering that students need their teacher, as well as recalling that students look to you for guidance concerning what is of importance in your course, it should be obvious that one of the steps a professor must take in encouraging interaction is to summarize the conversation.  And yet, in those classes which never become truly interactive, the professor has invariably failed to take the time to make periodic summations.

Summation of the dialogue cannot just come at the end of a discussion. To be useful, the professor needs to watch the crest of the discourse and make a summation at the bottom of every wave. Watching the crests is a little like listening for the laughter to reach its high point after someone has told a joke. The skilled storyteller knows to hold the next joke until the laughter begins to fall. The skilled professor knows to make a summation when the discourse has started to ebb. In practical terms, this means that a professor should be prepared to enter a two-week discussion at least four times for the purpose of partial summations.

In each summation, the professor must validate the salient ideas that have emerged in the conversation, bring up ideas that have not occurred in the discourse necessary to advancing the dialogue, point students to each other, and then offer the comments necessary to carry on the conversation.

Summation is the step in which all the other steps meet. It is a tool of great merit to those seeking interaction in a classroom.

Tip 6: Move the Discussion to the Next Level

Never forget that your job is that of instructor as well as facilitator. It is up to you to move the class's discussions to the next level.

When making your all important summations, take the time to point to how the discussion is moving toward a higher level of understanding. Then, carefully phrase your comments and questions to lead the discourse toward the level of understanding your students need to achieve to come to terms with the topic, the material, and where you are taking the course.

The trick is to remember that you and the class are going somewhere. If you keep your eye on the prize, as it were, you can easily turn any discussion toward your goal.

Please accept these tips in the spirit in which they are given and try them in your class. You will see a difference in the discussion almost immediately.

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