5 Ways to Increase Student Turnout and Attention (as illustrated by Pac-Man)
Teachers know how it is: Drifting eyes, stifled yawns, concealed books, secret notes. It is arduous enough as it is to retain students’ attention in brick-and-mortar classrooms; now that classes have migrated online where students need only a device in the comfort of their own homes with a multitude of distractions around, teachers’ jobs have only gotten harder.
Recently we launched a student survey with over 700 student participation nationwide and students have voiced out saying online learning has presented many struggles for them in the fields of communication with teachers, adjustment to a new learning structure and lack of interaction with their teachers and peers. As a result of those frustrations, they are less inclined to log onto classes or face challenges staying focused.
With a screen blocking physical interaction, the largest challenge faced by teachers all around Malaysia is to increase student turnout and retain student attention. We know that without engagement, a lesson simply loses its meaning, yet traditional methods don’t seem to be yielding results.
If this problem has been plaguing you lately, worry not; Project ID has been running more than 30 online programmes since the start of MCO with over 600 student participation and we’re here to share five simple tips to keep teachers on top of their game during this transition.
Without further ado, let’s dive into these tips with the help of a well-known maze chase video game, Pac-Man.
Social Check-Ins
What’s the first thing you see when you start a new Pac-Man game? The ‘Ready?’ screen.
The game makes sure you are prepared to begin before it starts the round, and the same applies to classes.
Online learning has stripped away the interactive environment present in classrooms, whether it’s with the teacher or peers. For students to engage in a lesson, teachers must first reach out and care for their students. To achieve this, teachers need not spend hours checking up on each individual; instead, simply start the class ten minutes early and use that small window to converse with students and keep up with what’s going on in their life, or in this case, how they’re dealing with MCO. During times of distress like these, small touch-points can reduce the feeling of isolation in students. By teachers showing that they care, students will consequently be more invested in the subject.
Here at Project ID, we always open our workshop with a quick and easy icebreaker for both old and new students alike. Before diving into the main focus of the workshop, we have the students answer some whimsical questions or initiate a quick round of Scribble to get them energized and engaged.
If your students aren’t the chitty-chatty kind, there are other ways to spice things up. From our previous research, the majority of the students have expressed that their ideal online learning experience encompasses quizzes, which are considered more interactive. Maybe throw in a mini quiz or discussion so students will know what they’ll be missing out on if they are absent for the next hour.
Visuals, Visuals, Visuals!
What makes people flood over to an arcade? The array of bright neon colors exploding from the screen! Game creators thrive on the concept that if something can catch its audience’s eyes, it can retain their attention for longer.
The biggest advantage that online learning has over face-to-face classes is that teachers can incorporate visuals as they please. Most students tend to retain information better when it is presented in an attractive way; the more interesting your content is to look at, the more mentally stimulating it is.
By putting just a little more effort into presentation slides, you are sure to capture your students’ attention. For a shortcut, there are tools at your disposal that allow you to customize premade templates such as Canva, Slidesgo and Slidescarnival.
Images in order: Canva, Slides Carnival & Slidesgo
Here at Project ID, we love using household characters like Mr. Bean to relay points in a relatable manner during our workshops. We know the search for free, high-quality illustrations can be frustrating, so here are the tools we use to obtain our colorful graphics from: Canva, Freepik, and Unsplash.
Another form of visual you can introduce to the lesson are videos. This way, it’s as if you were inviting a guest lecturer to break the normal lesson routine. It’s a win-win situation: You, the teacher, get a recess from all the teaching, and the students get a different mode of learning that keeps them on their toes!
Create Bite-Sized Classes
Various researches have shown that student attention spans have decreased throughout the years and are currently within 10-18 minutes, yet classes are often an hour long or lengthier. As opposed to having your students endure sixty minutes of lecture, you could introduce short breaks to create bite-sized classes.
Think of Pac-Man as a student and the dots as the three subtopics you’re going to cover in today’s lesson. The white space in between each dot should be a break given to the student. These breaks are more powerful than they seem; by granting them (even just for a minute or two), students are allowed to get out of their chairs and stretch or grab a snack. By the time they return, their attention spans would have been refreshed and ready to absorb more information you’re feeding them.
Gamify the Class
Naturally, with every stage you complete without losing all your lives, Pac-Man elevates to the next level. The level you are on is a badge that affirms all the hours you’ve put into playing the game and the achievements you’ve accomplished.
Badges are one of those little things that hold great power to enhance lessons. By incorporating the simplest element of games, teachers will be able to recognize the students’ performance as they progress through the school year.
How this would work is with each module or test that they complete, the students would earn a badge to signify their efforts. There are several benefits to this: first, healthy competition can be encouraged; second, rewarding student performance often stimulates student engagement accordingly; and third, these collectible badges make it clearer to the student what they have learned and achieved.
Data collected in our earlier article has indicated that students enjoy interesting online learning experiences, badges could be added into the mix. Project ID blends games into our workshops and allocates power-up cards to students who answer questions correctly to encourage interaction. To help you kick start your class badges, here are a few tools that are compatible with Canvas, Moodle, and other learning platforms: Badgr, Credly, OpenBadges.
Make Place for Fun
The reason why such a repetitive game has managed to survive for 40 years is because of how its excitement provides a getaway for its players.
Throw in some jokes and loosen up the grip on lessons a little. Once students view online classes as an enjoyable distraction from everything going on around them rather than another task to be checked off the list, they’ll be more inclined to participate and complete the two-way interaction that is education.
Even though learning remains a serious matter, it is essential for all of us to remember that the world is still going through a pandemic and students might feel lost or confused. The classroom should be opened up as a fun and safe space for students to continue learning while combating through these difficult times.
Teaching has never been ‘one-size fits all’, but the more we communicate with our students, the better we can understand their expectations and help them achieve those goals. In a nutshell, as most classes remain online until the end of 2020 in Malaysia, teachers have to be adept at introducing different styles and modes of teaching to keep the exchange alive. This adaptation to the new norm is a challenge we’re all overcoming together, and Project ID is here to help.