Designing interactive online learning environments

Educational institutions all over the world are adopting online learning strategies. This mode of delivery is seen to be a way of dealing with diverse learner populations, increased building costs, overcrowding and/or stressed teaching staff. Whatever the motivation, it tends to leave the teaching staff to deal with the consequences of the strategy: the need to change the ways in which they interact with learners at a distance. This paper takes a practical look at the ways teachers can build interaction into the online learning environment, and considers how best practice from distance education and the traditional face-to-face learning environment can be combined to improve the student experience