Online Interactions

 

  ONLINE INTERACTION DESIGN

On this page, we will cover

 

Campfires in Cyberspace

Four image collage with a campfire, zebras, a cave and two hands painted with a camp of the world. 

Learning happens in many different ways. Think about a conference you attended where you had a really good worthwhile experience and learned something new and relevant. 

  • Was it through storytelling , where an expert explained or demonstrated something during one of the concurrent sessions?
  • Was it through dialogue , when you were exchanging ideas or debating with colleagues in the hallways, or during a social event?
  • Was it through reflection , when you went back to your room or after you got home and dived into the materials?
  • Was it through application , as you took what you learned and applied it in life and in the world?

In the article, Campfires in Cyberspace: Primordial Metaphors for Learning in the 21st Century, David Thornburg uses metaphors of the campfire, watering hole (or water cooler), cave, and the world as a way to describe the ways we learn new things using old metaphors. 

Consider how this works when you teach in-person face to face. These metaphors can represent classroom learning activities, such as:

  • The campfire is the lecture
  • The watering hole is group work
  • The cave is assignments
  • The world is the application of what they learn

For an example of how this applies in teaching online, review this video from a few years ago where CSUN faculty member Holli Tonyan reflects on the article and how it applies to her teaching: Campfires in Cyberspace Links to an external site.

We can use this same schema when we think about teaching in the online environment, whether it is synchronous real-time or asynchronous self-paced. However, in order to apply these metaphors principles effectively, we need to carefully consider the design of opportunities for your students to interact with the content, with you, and with each other in your online course. 

Read the full article Campfires in Cyberspace: Primordial Metaphors for Learning in the 21st Century Links to an external site.

 

Transactional Distance

There is an inherent distance between us as educators and our learners. This intellectual distance describes the space between what we know and what we want our learners to know. Compounded by this are the social and cultural differences that can further separate instructors and learners.

Then if we add in the additional factor of teaching in online environments, we introduce more separation as learners are not present in the same space with us and very often not engaging at the same time. Beyond the physical distance, these factors of different spaces and times introduce a psychological distance that can interfere with the educational exchange. We use the term Transactional Distance to describe this phenomenon:

“There is now a distance between learner and teacher which is not merely geographic, but educational and psychological as well. It is a distance in the relationship of the two partners in the educational enterprise. It is a ‘transactional distance’” (Moore, 1989).

Read more about Moore's Theory:  Transactional Distance Theory: Is It Here to Stay?

 

Online Interactions

A useful strategy to help bridge the distance introduced is to consider the ways in which you can design meaningful opportunities for your students to interact with the content, with you, and with each other. 

Moore identified three main types of interactions that occur:

  • Learner-Content
  • Learner-Instructor
  • Learner-Learner

These can be mapped onto Thornburg’s metaphors and can be useful in thinking about how to design learning opportunities in our courses. Below we will go into detail into each type of interaction and then discuss additional types of interactions you can consider. It is important to note that some interactions might overlap and/or fall into more than one type.

We also will discuss ways you can apply this schema in your course design process.

 

Learner-Content Interaction

“Without it there cannot be education, since it is the process of intellectually interacting with content that results in changes in the learner’s understanding, the learner’s perspective, or the cognitive structures of the learner’s mind" (Moore, 1989).

This is where learners make meaning of new material. Learner-content interaction describes the interaction between the student and the subject matter. This type of interaction is where the learner processes the presented material and the meaningful changes in understanding occur within the learner.

This is the Cave. Here learners interact with the instructional materials that you have created and curated for them. Readings, videos, generative and reflective activities all fall into this category as learners make meaning about the content they are learning.

Light emerging from a cave 

Learner-Content Examples

  • Textbook, Course Reader, Assigned Videos, etc.
  • 100+ ideas from Bonk and Zang's Empowering Online Learning : 100+ Activities for Reading, Reflecting, Displaying, and Doing Links to an external site.
    • Read: Methods to present information, such as text- based readings, online explorations, listing to podcasts.
    • Display: Visual representations of the content, such as virtual tours, timelines, animations, concept maps.
    • Reflect: Reflective activities, such as writing, self- check reviews, self-testing examinations.
    • Do: Hands on activities, such as simulations, scenarios, real-time cases.
  • Other generative strategies (i.e.Grabowski): – Summarizing, synthesizing, predicting

 

Learner-Instructor Interaction

“[It] is interaction between the learner and the expert who prepared the subject material, or some other expert acting as instructor” (Moore, 1989).

Learner-instructor interaction is where we, as instructors, come in. Here we are directly interacting with our students, presenting information, leading discussions, using active learning strategies, motivating and engaging students. 

This is the Campfire and can translate to the online environment through the individual interactions you have with students to engage and orient them to the learning environment. It is through the feedback and support you provide, whether it be through comments on their papers or meeting with them in office hours. The key is the access to the wise expert. Campfires can be with many people or one on one (e.g. big campfires and small campfires) so these can happen in everything from group class settings to office hours meetings.

A group around a campfire 

Learner-Instructor Examples

  • Presentations (lectures) of information
  • Demonstrations of skills
  • Modeling of attitudes and values
  • Development, facilitation, and organization of leaner application / practice
  • Guidance, counsel, support & encouragement
  • Feedback following learner practice

 

Learner-Learner Interaction

“This is inter-learner interaction, between one learner and other learners, alone or in group settings, with or without the real-time presence of an instructor” (Moore, 1989).

Learner-learner interaction is the peer-to-peer interactions that take place between students, both formal and informal. This is the active learning, group discussions and projects that happen between students as well as the conversations that happen in the hallways, at the library or by the vending machines.

This is the Watering Hole and online this is happening in peer discussion forums and on Zoom meetings, as students work together on assignments and projects, or ask each other for help and advice.

Zebras drinking out of a watering hole 

Learner-Learner Examples

  • Discussions
  • Brainstorming
  • Collaborative projects
  • Peer tutoring / critique
  • Debates
  • Simulations / Case Scenarios
  • Games

 

Interference and Internal Interactions

When we are designing learning environments for our students, we must also consider the barriers that can interfere with their learning and the ways in which we can help mitigate them so students have better opportunities to succeed. We will discuss a number of these and can use the umbrella term “Learner-Interference” to describe them. This can be considered a component of all types of interaction, rather than an additional fourth independent interaction mode.

Potential Technology Barriers

Likely the most common type of interface occurs when learners do not know how to use technology effectively. Hillman, D. C., Willis, D. J., & Gunawardena, C. N. (1994) termed this learner-interface interaction and corresponds to the interaction between the learner and the technology used to deliver the instruction. Learners must be able to effectively use the technology in order for any of the other types of interactions to occur.

Therefore, it is important to make sure you consider potential areas where technology can be a barrier for students' learning. For example, if students cannot access online materials because they don’t have their password, poor internet connectivity, limited access to devices, no private spaces to work on courses, low experience using technology tools, etc. then they will not be able to access any mode of interaction. Many of these issues are out of our direct control but they remind us to be more compassionate and consider flexible pathways for students to keep learning when unexpected things happen.

Intellectual and Cultural Factors

In addition to the potential technological barriers, it is important to consider intellectual and cultural factors that directly and indirectly influence our students' ability to be present and able to learn. Considering the students’ prior knowledge and self-regulation skills, being intentional in creating community and making students feel like they belong, making sure materials are culturally responsive and moderating cognitive load whenever possible are all important ways that we can help our students be successful. To this end, there are other dimensions of interactions that we can consider that are internal to the student: learner-self and vicarious interactions. 

Learner-self (Soo & Bonk, 1998) is defined as “learner’s reflections on the content, learning process and [their] new understanding.” This addresses metacognition and includes awareness of prior knowledge, self-regulation skills and self-assessment ability which are very important in the online environment where students are required to be disciplined and motivated. We can help our students gain skills in these areas by including specific opportunities to teach them how to learn, study and notetaking skills, reflection activities, setting learning goals, etc. The metacognition toolkit page has an intervention that can be helpful for your students.

Vicarious interaction (Sutton, 2001) names the type of internal dialog that students have with themselves as they are participating internally by responding silenting to the questions being posed. Acknowledging this as a valid form of interaction can help bolster motivation for students who are less likely to respond overtly but are still engaged in the class. For example, some students may not want to or be able to have their video on in synchronous class meetings, but are still nodding their head in agreement. 

Application - Using an Interaction Matrix

As the instructor, you are the architect of the entire design and therefore are integral to all of the interaction types. These specific types of interactions are just useful ways to categorize the types of knowledge exchanges that students will experience and can help guide you as you develop your course. The learner-instructor interactions are where you directly facilitate the course, the learner-content interactions are where you create and curate materials for students, and the learner-learner interactions are the opportunities you create for your students to engage in social learning, directed by your prompts and guidelines.

A preview image of a table showing three columns and five rows of the Interaction Matrix Worksheet.

The Interaction Matrix Worksheet is a course design tool that we created to assist you in thinking through how you will create opportunities for interaction in your course. The rows on the worksheet align to the general phases of instruction and indicate key places where you can consider including interactions as you design your course. They are: presenting new information, active learner practice, feedback/guidance, and assessment.  

Across the top, the three major types of interactions are listed: learner-content, learner-instructor, and learner-learner. Each of these columns is split with a dotted line to make two sub-columns. You can use this worksheet to think through how you will redesign a course from face-to-face to online by using the two sub-columns in each interaction category to note in the first one what you are currently doing and in the second what you plan to do in your redesign. The two columns can be used for other purposes as well where there are multiple delivery modalities such as a hybrid course (synchronous and asynchronous) or using flipped class model (pre-class and in-class). 

The last row is shaded and provides space for you to make notes about potential areas of learner-interference. Use this area to highlight areas where there may be technological, intellectual or cultural considerations that you need to address in your course design.

Review the video for a walk-through on how to use the Interaction Matrix Worksheet and see a sample filled out Interaction Matrix as well as download your own blank copy to use.

You can download a blank copy of the Download Online Interaction Matrix

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You can also look at an example of a Download filled-out interaction matrix.

References

Hillman, D. C., Willis, D. J., & Gunawardena, C. N. (1994). Learner‐interface interaction in distance education: An extension of contemporary models and strategies for practitioners. American Journal of Distance Education, 8(2), 30-42. 

Moore, M. G. (1989). Editorial: Three types of interaction. American Journal of Distance Education, 3(2), 1-7. 

Moore, M. G. (1997). Theory of transactional distance. In D. Keegan (Ed.), Theoretical Principles of Distance Education (pp. 22-38). London: Routledge.

Reyes, J. A. (2013). Transactional distance theory: is it here to stay? Distance Learning, 10(3), 43.

Soo, K. S., & Bonk, C. J. (1998). Interaction: What Does It Mean in Online Distance Education?  Paper presented at World Conference on Educational Telecommunications, Freeburg Germany. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 428 724)

Sutton, L. A. (2001). The principle of vicarious interaction in computer-mediated communications. International Journal of Educational Telecommunications, 7(3), 223-242.

Thornburg, D. D. (2004). Campfires in cyberspace. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 1(10), 3-10.