I have been teaching online since 2005. When I started this was a new platform and no one knew what to do with it, so most professors took their face to face lectures and posted them online. Well....we now know this doesnt work to increase engagement at all. You have to change lectures and work harder to get students involved than you would in a classroom setting.

In a classroom if students are having issues you talk to them.

Online students need the same kind of understanding. In fact many of them are juggling, school, work, kids, families, etc. I just reach out to them and ask how they are doing and if they need anything. I am always there for them and it works! empathy means a lot to those students struggling to decide if college is even worth it.