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Why Engagement Matters

Abstract

This chapter considers the value of engagement in eLearning environments where engagement is, of course, not the end goal of the interaction. Rather, engagement mediates learners’ short- and long-term goals and the formal and self-evaluative outcomes that indicate progress toward those goals. The chapter uses theories of learning to elaborate models of engagement “as a necessary pre-condition to learning” that inform the design of eLearning environments. The full model is then illustrated through two case studies derived from an experiment and a massive open online course. These reinforce the theoretically derived characteristics of engaging eLearning environments within these very different settings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Eric Wiebe

  2. Playgraph LLC, Cary, NC, USA

    David Sharek

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  1. Eric Wiebe
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  1. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Heather O'Brien

  2. University of York, York, United Kingdom

    Paul Cairns

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Wiebe, E., Sharek, D. (2016). eLearning. In: O'Brien, H., Cairns, P. (eds) Why Engagement Matters. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27446-1_3

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