Facilitating Student Motivation and Engagement in the Remote Learning Environment

Background

Remote learning is becoming a more common learning modality at a rapid pace across the globe (Morgan, 2020). Oftentimes, when participating in instruction in a remote modality, students with disabilities may demonstrate difficulty completing tasks. This may be a result of lack of interest in the lesson or lack of motivation to attend to the screen since students may be utilizing tablets and/or Chromebooks. In addition, attending to the educator can be a challenge for students with disabilities (Dewan, Murshed, & Lin, 2019). Engagement and motivation are crucial in establishing positive student outcomes and achievements in the remote learning environment; however, they can be difficult for educators to achieve (Fryer & Bovee, 2016; Martin & Bolliger, 2018). Educators may address challenges related to engagement and motivation by working on prerequisite skills needed for successful remote learning.

Motivation and engagement go hand in hand in student learning during remote instruction. Motivation is defined as the intrinsic desire to carry out instructions, complete tasks, and actively participating in the learning environment (Hiver, Al-Hoorie, Vitta & Wu, 2021). Engagement is defined as active involvement of students with the learning task or activity (Hiver et al., 2021). Martin and Bolliger (2018) found that student engagement leads to higher levels of student satisfaction, motivation to learn, performance, and decreases students’ feeling of isolation (p.205). Therefore, educators of students with disabilities must focus on establishing student motivation to be engaged in the learning tasks delivered via remote learning. Educators can do this using various tactics and often incorporate the participation of parents or guardians, depending on the student’s level of functioning (Daniela, Rubene & Rūdolfa, 2021).