7 Ways for UX Teams to Engage Students with EdTech Products
Research and practical examples from leading EdTech companies utilizing these 7 Key Engagement Levers
by Stephanie Cooper, Director of Product Design at BrainPOP
Engaging students in digital learning and EdTech products is a challenge. We’re asking students who are weighed down by unprecedented academic, social, and post-pandemic stress to give us their best and invest in our product. It’s a lot. However, research shows that engagement remains critical to student happiness and success because it proves they “have more motivation to participate in class, enjoy achieving their learning goals, are more likely to persist through challenges in learning, [and] feel intrinsically motivated to gain new and deeper understanding,” says Michael D. Toth, Award-winning author and Founder of Learning Sciences International.
So, how do you effectively engage students in digital learning?
As the Director of Product Design at BrainPOP and having worked in EdTech for over 10 years, I’ve learned a lot about student engagement. Here is a list of 7 Key Engagement Levers based on my experience, research, and practice. I have found these to be the most meaningful ways to engage and motivate a wide range of students in digital learning experiences to help them build a strong foundation for future success.
1. Agency
How might we promote agency so that students feel empowered to have a voice, as partners, in their learning experience?
“I want to do it myself!” is what I often hear my 3-year-old declare. From an early age, children seek independence because they have so little control over their own lives and they’re trying to make sense of their place in the world. This desire for autonomy translates to education as well.
Students should feel trusted and empowered to drive their learning path…based on what’s important to them.
Students will develop a sense of agency if they have “the capacity and the freedom…to exercise choice regarding what is to be learned and to co-create how that learning is to take place” believes Jennifer Davis Poon, a fellow at the Center for Innovation in Education. As active participants, students should feel trusted and empowered to drive their learning path, set their own goals, and make meaningful choices based on what’s important to them.
Minecraft is a great example of a learning experience that promotes student agency. (Minecraft is actually a great example of every Key Engagement Lever!) Based on a foundation of literal building blocks, students can imagine, construct, explore, and play in a limitless virtual world of their own creation. It’s a powerful and flexible learning tool where students drive the experience working either independently or collaboratively. In his TEDEd Talk, New York City school teacher Joel Levin illustrates how Minecraft “presents you with a unique world… and you get to reshape that world any way you want.”
Agency will help students become independent, resourceful, and creative thinkers. By giving them ownership over their preferred interests, learning styles, forms of expression, and modes of communication, they will grow. As a result, these self-directed and lifelong learners will be better prepared to adapt and respond to our rapidly-evolving world.
2. Community
How might we foster a sense of community so that students feel connected to their teachers, peers, and school?
While previously working as a Design Director at Curriculum Associates, I saw this sense of community manifest at Lockerman Bundy Elementary School where the whole student body was “gonna pass that i-Ready.” Their achievement, through the i-Ready program, was foundational to their student culture and made each student feel like part of a larger community with a shared goal.
When the desire for connections and community is fulfilled and students believe “we are in this together,” they become more engaged in the learning and invested in the outcome.
When the desire for connections and community is fulfilled and students believe “we are in this together,” they become more engaged in the learning and invested in the outcome. This acceptance, support, and sense of belonging gives them a safe space to try new things, take risks, and overcome challenges. By building relationships with teachers and fellow peers, students learn to navigate the dynamics of collaboration and teamwork.
Outschool’s interactive online community is another good example of this. This platform offers live small-group and one-on-one virtual classes where students can connect with teachers and peers based on shared interests. The “remote learning” dynamic of the pandemic has led to students being more acclimated to participating through video-based communication, helping to make this community even stronger.
3. Simplicity
How might we create simplicity in the user experience and interface design so that users feel satisfied in the ability to navigate easily and complete their tasks?
Simplicity should be the ultimate goal of any user experience. It’s important to recognize that simple doesn’t mean boring, but rather consistent, clear, and easy to navigate. A simple design can be judged by whether or not it allows students to understand what’s being asked, find what they’re looking for, and complete their tasks with ease. But simplicity is deceptively hard to achieve because a complex product can unintentionally lead to a complex solution.
It’s important to recognize that simple doesn’t mean boring, but rather consistent, clear, and easy to navigate.
Brilliant.org embodies this simplicity in its design. It has a strong overarching design system that creates a consistent and predictable experience. It uses a refined user interface (UI) toolkit (i.e. buttons, icons, colors, interactions, etc.) that supports straightforward navigation and meaningful decision points throughout the experience. The instructions (what the user is being asked to do) and the directions (how the user is expected to interact with the interface) are very clear. There’s also a clear hierarchy of information, with a thoughtful pacing of the content, so the user knows where to focus and what’s important.
4. Perseverance
How might we encourage perseverance so that users feel prepared to face challenges and overcome obstacles?
Remember the nerves you felt the night before a big test? Remember holding your breath in anticipation as the teacher passed back a graded assignment? That feeling can be attributed to a fear of failure and, for some students, the resulting anxiety can be debilitating. But this perception of failure can be reframed, not as a setback due to a lack of ability or understanding, but instead as an opportunity to learn, try again, take chances, and experiment. By encouraging students to keep going, even when something is hard, they learn to face challenges and overcome obstacles.
Failure can be reframed…as an opportunity to learn, try again, take chances, and experiment.
Former Google and IDEO design researcher, Dr. Elliott Hedman and I participated in an eye-opening user research project where we used eye-tracking glasses and physiological sensors to record student engagement. We learned that when a student failed to answer a question correctly, there was a key moment of heightened engagement where their curiosity was sparked. “It’s after answering a problem wrong, students begin to ask, ‘What do I not know here?’ Good programs capitalize on that moment,” believes Hedman. By giving students a chance at redemption and targeted support to help them find the answer, they will learn to persist.
Khan Academy is one EdTech product that offers students that redemption. With limitless attempts to answer questions correctly, students can also choose when they want help, to move on to the next problem, or take an assessment. There are even encouraging messages like “Keep up the great persistence!” Khan Academy also rewards students with a variety of badges such as Great Listener, Making Progress, and Good Answer. These can be earned, not only for success, but for a wide range of achievements that promote effort and perseverance.
5. Self-Efficacy
How might we support self-efficacy so that students feel confident they can achieve their goals?
In order for students to persist, they have to believe that success is possible. Harvard Professors Rhonda Bondie and David Dockterman explain that “self-efficacy is the belief that we can achieve a desired goal through our actions” in their article Building a Culture of Self-Efficacy, When students are celebrated for effort, growth, and progress towards their goals, in addition to success, they gain confidence that, with hard work, their abilities can grow. And, by focusing on what they have accomplished (assets) rather than what they’re lacking (deficits), they’re more likely to see themselves as capable of progress.
In order for students to persist, they have to believe that success is possible.
The language learning app, Duolingo, provides a completely adaptive experience that meets the user at their precise skill level and then builds off of their existing knowledge. It uses an introductory diagnostic and micro lessons within units that increase in difficulty over time. The achievement goals in the app, whether system-generated or self-generated, feel attainable and progress is visibly tracked as it moves towards lesson and unit completion. With many rewards and experience points (XPs), and a range of clear performance metrics, it’s easy for students to feel confident and capable.
Adaptive curriculums help build self-efficacy because they adjust to each student’s unique needs. Students benefit from Just-in-time lessons and support that meet them where they are, and create an opportunity for productive struggle where “students grapple with and solve a question or problem that is just beyond their current level of understanding and that requires them to examine multiple avenues of thought.” This also allows students to “actively discover new and deeper understanding instead of passively [receiving] information through direct instruction,’’ explains Michael D. Toth, so that students can build on their funds of knowledge and show greater progress over time.
6. Relevance
How might we show relevance to our audience so that students feel invested in the learning because they believe it matters?
In order to be able to answer the age-old question “why do I have to learn this?” students need compelling lessons that they believe are interesting and worthwhile. This requires content that connects with students on a personal level based on their interests, identity, and culture, and provides real world contexts that matter to them. “Students need a personal connection to the material, whether that’s through engaging them emotionally or connecting the new information with previously acquired knowledge (often one and the same). Without that, students may not only disengage and quickly forget, but they may also lose the motivation to try,” finds education journalist Sara Bernard in her article for Edutopia.
Students need compelling lessons that they believe are interesting and worthwhile.
Newsela offers lessons based on current events and a wide range of topics, so that students can learn about, explore, analyze, and discuss relevant problems. Its extensive content delves into cultural diversity, and provides scaffolds like vocabulary definitions, to help explain unfamiliar contexts. Assignments can also be adapted based on student interests, backgrounds, and points of view so that they can make meaningful connections and see themselves reflected in their learning.
When the foundation of students’ education is rooted in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and 21st Century Skills, they will experience benefits far beyond the classroom.
7. Play
How might we encourage play so that students feel inspired because they know that learning can be fun?
In order to develop a love of learning, students need to be able to foster their innate sense of curiosity and truly believe that learning can be fun. Through playful learning experiences, students are free to imagine and create, to wonder and discover, to explore and make connections, and to focus and solve problems. “Our definition of learning should go beyond the strict academic sense, to include the interconnected areas of physical, social, cognitive, emotional and creative skills that children develop as they play and grow” believes The Lego Foundation in their study Learning Through Play.
Students need to be able to foster their innate sense of curiosity and truly believe that learning can be fun.
These playful elements are used most successfully when they feel authentic to the learning experience and derived from the content itself. The perception of what is fun also varies at different ages. So, the design and activities should be age-appropriate and rooted in a clear understanding of the user’s needs.
Dreambox Learning is a fun, game-based Math program that ages up with its users by offering unique experiences for each grade band; K-2, 3–5, and 6–8. The dynamic math activities feature learning-aligned game mechanics and playful interactions. Users encounter illustrative fantasy-inspired environments, adventurous storylines, and quirky characters. As students progress and complete mission-driven challenges, there are seemingly endless incentives including streaks, badges, stars, mini games, and money to buy accessories to personalize the experience.
As the Director of Product Design at BrainPOP, we aim to craft experiences that inspire kids and spark curiosity for all learners. One way we do this is through puzzle- and game-based learning with activities like Sortify, Make-a-Map, and The Meaning of Beep. We invite students to be creative, expand their thinking, make connections, and explore the world around them. We also provide well-loved animated movies that help students understand and connect with many different topics. These movies feature relatable characters who explain complex concepts in ways students understand by using interesting phenomena, compelling storylines, relevant contexts, delightful surprises, and playful humor. The Chief Creative Office, Mike Watanabe explains, “Our storytelling is about finding the big ideas that contextualize the facts, and the emotional hooks that get kids invested. When a kid feels that kind of connection to the material; it sticks with them, they think deeply about it, they ask questions about it. When you hear a good story, it’s your story.”
Pieces of the Puzzle
We’ve discussed 7 Engagement Levers in this article:
- Autonomy
- Community
- Simplicity
- Perseverance
- Self-Efficacy
- Relevance
- Play
These levers can effectively engage students in your digital learning and EdTech products, however there are countless external factors that also impact student behaviors. Teacher and parent involvement, and social pressures and relationships play the biggest role in contributing to student engagement. The key opportunities explored in this article serve as one piece of a much larger puzzle.
The best way to truly understand if your product is engaging is through user research…
When applying these 7 Engagement Levers in your product design, remember that the best way to truly understand if your product is engaging is through user research and co-design sessions with students themselves. Their energy, thoughtfulness, creativity, and honesty will inform your product decisions in the most meaningful and unpredictable ways.
What do you find to be the most effective way to engage users in your product? This is my inaugural article. Please comment and share your thoughts below.
Edited by Sarah Mondestin
Stephanie is Director of Product Design at BrainPOP, an EdTech company whose products are utilized by schools and districts nationwide to raise academic achievement and strengthen students’ critical, computational, and creative thinking skills. A variety of subjects can be explored including Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Arts & Music, Health, and Technology. BrainPOP has been a trusted resource to more than six million educators and has engaged the hearts and challenged the minds of over 300 million learners worldwide.
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