STARLINK is YOUR
professional development provider.
August 2020
* important COVID19 FREE Resources page from STARLINK https://starlinktraining.org/s/covid.aspx
  • STARLINK Releases for July


20 Minute Mentors:
  • How Do Master Teachers Create a Positive Classroom?
  • How Can I Identify and Overcome Obstacles to Change?
  • Linking, Embedding & Streaming: What's Legal? What's Not?
  • How Can I Use Simple Gamification Strategies to Engage my Students?

Trends & Issues:
  • Episode 150: Teaching Strategies & Instructional Design, Hardware & Software, VR/AR/XR, and Online Education
  • Episode 151: Hardware & Software, Teaching & Instructional Design, Research Reports, and Security & Citizenship

We look forward to seeing you online!
"Develop a passion for learning . If you do, you will never cease to grow”
- Anthony J. D'Angelo
In light of higher education’s long-term shift to online teaching and learning, student engagement is more vital to retention than ever before.

EdTech recently attended an instructional design webinar where we asked about the best research-based strategies for maintaining student engagement during online learning.

Connecting with students is one of the most rewarding aspects of a professor’s job. Some faculty hesitate to teach online, frequently offering the rationale: “I want to connect with my students. There’s just not enough interaction and engagement online!” Faculty are not alone in yearning for this connection – students want it too ! 

Frustrated by the lack of real-time exchanges with students, I incorporated live or synchronous sessions into my online classes a few years ago. I experimented with the latest tools and made adjustments each semester based on feedback from students. To my surprise, students consistently requested more synchronous engagement. After doing so, I gained a new appreciation for the potential of creating meaningful connection virtually.


It has become part of the new normal for teachers to deliver their lessons online via videoconferencing tools. The situation reminds me of when I utilized similar technology to coach my students for inter-school debate competitions.

There are a number of rules I follow at various stages of online discussion sessions.



Membership or Renewal Membership