Thomas Williams

Student engagement is absolutely critical to the success of the student, however, every class has a know-it-all or "Class Clown" whose purpose is to upstage the instructor and gain the acceptance of peers as the recognized leader above and beyond the subject matter expert.

Being a teacher is a noble profession, however, strategies must be inclusive as to disrupting the disruptor without costing the teacher credibility.

I, myself, have an office that is appointed like the bridge of the Enterprise and I expect that my students may have similar appointments with multiple monitors, televisions, game-gear etc. which provides numerous distractions.

To that end, I nearly always engage with attention getting dialogue/questions that elicit a, "wait...WHAT?" response.

My goal is to get the student to become much more interested and involved in the subject matter and engage with not only myself but their classmates as well.

The student(s) must be adequately prepared to accept the information that is being imparted to them.

The challenges of today include, "keeping up with the Joneses" regarding the latest technological advancements and the acquisition of same.

As an adult educator, I have found that the introductory information that will eventually lead to the core curriculum can be somewhat less than acceptable and strains the patience of the adult learner, however, I also accept the responsibility of making the information not only palatable but acceptable and easier to comprehend which requires the patience of the adult learner.

Active learning requires interaction and appropriate feedback from the student audience who should be receptive to receiving the intended message of the lesson.

Contemporary active learning is in direct competition with social media distractions and the incumbent misinformation that dominates the attention of today's students and is, in itself, a profound obstacle.

We, as instructors, are duty bound to create appropriate learning atmospheres which would serve to attract the student to the e-classroom and distract the student from the siren song allure of the disinformation present in the electronic media of today.

The Code of Conduct, institutional policies and analytical introspection are useful tools when attempting to present required material.

Judicious consideration when dealing with multiple personalities and personal/professional objectives can most definitely obscure the intended lesson(s), however, professionalism and diplomacy are keys to the success in delivering the required material.

Asynchronous discussions are valuable and have their rightful place in the teaching environment, IF utilized appropriately with due regard to drifting away from the subject matter and into distracting commentary.

Distance learning/e-learning takes the subtle nuances of actual person-to-person interaction out of the learning process.

There is much to be learned about a student by actually observing subtle cues from body language that is not necessarily possible and limited to interpretation of facial expression.

That being said, the comfort and eustress provided by learning and being taught in the comfortable confines of one's own home (dependent upon the interaction and skill of the instructor) can very well be conducive to comprehension, engagement and academic success.

What I have learned is that in the e-learning environment there exists many strategies that the presenter can utilize to both engage the learner and more effectively deliver the intended material comprehensively.

It is somewhat daunting, however, to consider that both the instructor and the student(s) must possess and maintain technical troubleshooting skills in order to continue to be capable of accessing and availing themselves of the media through which the material will be presented.