Stephen Downes

Good observations on what 'engagement' means and doesn't mean in a learning context. Simply being in the room and staring at the instructor does not equate to engagement; often, it's the opposite. By contrast, "When classes went back to on-campus after emergency remote teaching, the one thing that most learners expressed missing was the chat. They wanted a real time way to express and engage that didn't necessarily involve raising hand and speaking because that felt too high stakes." I have always preferred a backchannel, and tried to incorporate it in many of my talks. It's hard to do, often because the opportunity to participate this way is still novel to many audiences.