Engaging Students in Virtual Asynchronous Courses

Originally published January 30, 2026.

Special Feature on Teaching Virtual Asynchronous Courses

Over the past 5 years, enrollment in Virtual Asynchronous (VA) courses has held at 25% of all enrollments at Laurier. Recent survey data has shown that faculty across Canada are growing their interest, skills, and confidence to teach VA courses, and are seeking further supports for professional teaching development in this modality (Johnson 2025). For Laurier instructors teaching in different modes, understanding how VA course teaching and learning strategies as well as experiences can differ from in-person courses is an excellent way to advance pedagogical knowledge and effectiveness.

In this week’s Teaching Together, we’ve invited our colleague, Amy Butchart, instructional design specialist in eLearning, to share her expertise through the following pedagogical approaches in VA course design and online instruction below.

VA Course Design for Student Engagement

Virtual asynchronous courses are fully developed and built into MyLS before they are offered to students. Laurier’s eLearning instructional design specialists work closely with faculty members, to design courses that are grounded in good research informed pedagogy and best practices in asynchronous virtual learning.

The following course design and student engagement pieces are built into courses:

Embedding backwards course design and alignment: VA courses are built using a backwards course design approach to ensure alignment between program level learning outcomes, course level learning outcomes, and lesson level learning outcomes. The process should unfold in three stages. The first involves identifying desired results – prioritizing which content should or must be covered in order to ensure the course aligns with program expectations. The second involves determining how students will demonstrate that they have achieved the desired learning for the course. Finally, the third stage involves planning instructional opportunities that will enable students to successfully demonstrate their learning (Wiggins & McTighe 2005).
Adopting Universal Design for Learning (UDL): We encourage a UDL approach to creating equitable learning experiences for all students in VA courses (CAST 2024). Offering multiple ways for students to access course materials, complete assessments, and demonstrate their learning builds flexibility into VA learning environments that benefits all students (Kelly & Zakrajsek 2021). For example, faculty designing courses may consider presenting their lesson content in multiple formats (e.g., text and video) to provide more flexible opportunities for engagement. Our eLearning team of instructional design specialists, digital media specialist, and online learning coordinators provide faculty with expertise and support to create VA courses grounded in UDL principles.
Scaffolding learning opportunities: We encourage scaffolding via ungraded learning activities and breaking assessments down into smaller deliverables (Blum 2020). Faculty are supported in designing engaging learning opportunities throughout lessons to provide students with the tools they need to master new concepts and develop new skills. For example, students may be prompted to complete interactive, ungraded activities that are directly connected to graded assessments. Immediate feedback provides opportunities to bolster student engagement and confidence. This approach is grounded in Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (1978).
Creating multimedia content for active learning: Video and custom-made multimedia objects help students measure their progress, achieve learning outcomes, and scaffold larger assessments, creating an engaging experience grounded in an active and learner-centered approach. eLearning also prioritizes accessibility and responsiveness on various devices (e.g., laptop, smart phone, tablet) in the construction of these activities to ensure a supportive, inclusive learning environment for all students.
Planning discussion-based activities for connection: Participation in small group discussions is another way connection is encouraged through design. These opportunities allow for students to connect with each other, their instructor, and the material (Aloni & Harrington, 2018). Outside of discussions via MyLS, Perusall has also become a tool leveraged by some instructors to encourage students to collaborate with one another (and their instructor) via close readings of a text or other course document.

VA Instructional Strategies for Student Engagement

In her introduction to Small Teaching Online, Flower Darby (2019) asks us to think back to when we were a first-year university student on the first day of class–excited but struggling to negotiate a new campus environment. She asks us to imagine that we are on our way to our first class, map in hand. When we finally find the building and the room, we enter, only to find a dark, empty classroom. When we finally figure out where the light switch is and turn it on, all we find is a stack of syllabi on a table at the front. We grab one and leave… confused.

This is what it is like for a VA student to enter a MyLS shell on day one of the course – unless the instructor puts in thought and care to enrich that experience.

Establishing and maintaining a virtual community of learners can be challenging, especially in an asynchronous learning environment. Students are not entering into a physical classroom space, and there is always the worry that they will feel isolated from their peers and instructors, all of whom are seemingly invisible. There are also increasing concerns that students will only minimally engage with the content in VA environments and over-rely on generative AI tools (Alexandrowicz 2025).

Instructor presence is vital to student success in VA courses. The following are some strategies course instructors can adopt to build community and create meaningful connections between students and course materials, students and the instructor, and students and each other in a virtual asynchronous environment:

Co-create community guidelines with students: Ensuring that the learning environment remains a brave space for all students is vital in a VA environment, and the process of establishing and maintaining that space extends from course design through to classroom teaching. Having clear guidelines for participation and communication is an important first step, and these guidelines can be co-created with your students (Darby 2019). For example, include a structured, introductions discussion board where students are asked to introduce themselves, and share a value that they take to be central to establishing an inclusive learning environment. At the end of the week, the instructor can post the list of shared values with the class.
Communicate regularly and often with your students to build connection: Course announcements are the first thing a student sees when they log on to the course, so seeing a note from their instructor can be an effective way of helping students feel connected (Overstreet 2020) – even better if the note takes the form of a video or audio recording. A face and a voice can be a great way to connect with your students and support UDL principles. Specific strategies include:
- Posting a regular, weekly welcome message on the newsfeed that helps both you and your students stay on track. Consider posting a start of the week announcement that takes a similar structure each week, reminding students of upcoming assessments and introducing them to the content for the week. These messages can also be programmed in advance. Contact MyLS support if you need assistance implementing this strategy in your course. They are happy to help!
- Sharing a relevant, recent news story, video, or interesting example to engage students and highlight material from your course by making connections to a current issue. Since VA courses are fully developed before the term starts, this practice affords additional flexibility for instructors to enhance the content and keep things current.
- Creating an end of the week “wrap up” video can establish a rhythm of regular communication that increases the human element in the course (Watson et al. 2023).
Use MyLS tools for building community: Responding to student questions via a community discussion board for the course is another way to communicate with your students and build community with the class. Questions about upcoming assessments or content can be posted here, to be responded to by the instructor or even other students.
Set virtual office hours: Virtual, weekly office hours where students are invited to ‘drop in’ individually or in groups is another good practice. This type of synchronous element offers an opportunity to develop authentic connections with your students. It is also important, however, to provide students who may have other responsibilities (e.g., synchronous classes, childcare, employment, etc.) during scheduled office hour time the opportunity to connect with you via appointment.
Give feedback on graded assessments: Offering regular, consistently timed feedback on assessments is highly valued by VA students (Watson et al. 2023). Not only does it provide students with information about their progress, but it also offers another point of contact with you.
- For assessments where you will need a bit more time to grade, keeping lines of communication open with students helps manage expectations and alleviate anxiety about progress. Instructors might even consider providing interim feedback while they are still grading to highlight general areas of strength and/or areas for improvement.
- After releasing grades, sending out a message that gives students an overview of how they did as a class can offer additional transparency. If this is something you do in your in-class teaching, try to use the announcements function to the same ends for asynchronous learning.
Be transparent about course design: Students may not have a clear understanding of the intention of the overall course design, and how the components fit together to support their success. It is helpful if you are open and transparent on the “what” and “why” of course goals and learning outcomes to motivate and engage your students. Leverage the newsfeed in MyLS, in a regular and consistent way, to broadcast student success on key activities and assessments and bring into focus for students the alignment and scaffolding that’s been embedded within the design of the course to support them. In other words, don’t just have well-aligned course syllabi and scaffolded assessments; make sure you tell the students about the intentionally built design features and how they help with the learning process.

Key Takeaway

Learning in a VA environment can be overwhelming and isolating for students without instructor support and guidance. Effective and regular communication about the course is a great way to keep students engaged while also developing a community of learning!

Other Useful Resources

Pacansky-Brock, M. (2020). How to humanize your online class, version 2.0 [Infographic].

Recommendations to Increase Student Engagement in Online Courses. Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, Northern Illinois University.

Wilson, K. & Opperwall, D. Fostering Engagement: Facilitating Online Courses in Higher Education. Centre for Extended Learning, University of Waterloo.