Abstract:

Student engagement is significantly related to school success. The aim of this study was to approach what factors students perceive to influence their engagement when learning with technologies. This was done by asking students to reporting on their levels of engagement and fill in a survey relating to a Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) intervention, designed at increasing their engagement.

The intervention included a learner assessment application and a virtual learning environment (VLE). These learning technologies (LTs) facilitated instant feedback and multiple simultaneous dialogues which enabled all students to engage with content and peers. Results show that students’ investment in learning activities were related to their reported levels of engagement. Surprisingly, in this intervention, control and stress showed no correlation with engagement, and peer modelling, and feedback only showed weak correlations. Instead students reported that feeling “content with one’s outcomes”, and “engaging in learning-centered dialogues”, were the main reasons to engage. Moreover, students reason to engage in a task, were not the same as for completing an assignment. These results show that designing for engagement is critical. When conditions for learning change as a result of implementation of LTs, new ways of engaging might merge.

Keywords:

Student engagement, design for engagement, learning technologies.