Active student participation and engagement in the virtual classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic

Active participation and student engagement in virtual classrooms are fundamental for the student's learning experiences. Online teaching and learning in virtual classrooms may pose the challenge of leaving students behind without the instructor recognizing that students have not grasped the content delivered. Online platforms applied in some higher learning institutions provide one-way communication, whereby a lecturer delivers a presentation and students are allowed to ask questions at the end or during the session. Delivering a lecture where students opt to keep their videos off makes it difficult for the instructor to gauge students' participation and engagement in the virtual classrooms. The transition to online teaching and learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for teachers to develop ways to make virtual classrooms more engaging. This study seeks to answer if students that are not visual or audible can actively participate in online activities and be efficient in attending virtual classrooms. In seeking innovative ways to create an engaging environment for students in the virtual classroom, the author presents an online strategy that was designed and implemented. The methods entailed designing a structure and organized online strategy to assist students to navigate the online teaching and learning platforms using discussion forums, and online quizzes without draining their limited data. The results show that students can be present in the virtual classrooms and actively engage without being visually present and audible. Student participation and engagement were directly proportional to graded online activities. Although many online platforms encourage students to be online with their videos to ensure their participation, students can still engage actively even if the instructors do not see them or hear their voices.