Michelle M. Merwin "Let sleeping students lie?: Using interpersonal activities to engage disengaged students". College Student Journal. FindArticles.com. 15 Dec, 2010. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_1_36/ai_85007772/Michelle shares some compelling stories and insights. And naturally as I read articles such as these, I am always thinking, "How does this apply to online instruction?" Can we expect to ask sleeping online students to wake up and participate? How does knowing students names and things about them come across in the online environment? Of course you know their names, it's in the LMS.
I'm interested in thinking of course design in such a way that would communicate to the student that they have important goals and experiences. One method is to offer more choice and control of the curriculum, timing, methods of assessment. Service learning could also offer practical application to the practicing student.
