3 Ways to Get Virtual School Students to Engage

Each time I visit with either a new client, or even a prospective client one of the first questions I am asked is "How do we get our students to engage more?"

Student engagement is just below better enrollments, less attrition, and higher retention. Taken together these are the four pedestals upon which virtual schools either stand or crumble. What about academics? If we improve our enrollments, reduce attrition, and increase retention, my argument is academics will improve.

So, how do we get students to engage?

Here are three ways to do it:

1. Give them something worth engaging in

2. Give them a place to belong

3. Demonstrate how much you care for them

Oh, I know these are not the tactical plans you might have hoped for but the lack of engagement goes much deeper than mere tactics.

Remember, some of these same students who don't "engage" in your school spend hours playing video games like Call of Duty, or hours playing iPhone games like Clash of Clans. Those two have given kids something worth engaging in.

These kids also engage in Instagram and Snapchat consistently, especially if they sense they belong.

Then, do your students know you care about them? Do they know how much you care for them? In what ways do you demonstrate it daily?

Think about engagement at this level far more than which tactics or latest gadgets to deploy.

houston@figment-consulting.com