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4.1.1 Being able to support learners engagement during online training

Engaging participants in digital environments requires planned strategies that address the three dimensions of learning: cognitive, emotional, and behavioral. This chapter provides mentors with practices to foster engagement, maintain motivation, monitor participant well-being, and manage the challenges typical of digital learning contexts. Practical techniques inspired by educational psychology, digital learning research, and real-world scenarios will be explored.

Mentors are not only required to deliver training, transferring skills and knowledge to participants, but also to identify potential issues and intervene appropriately to encourage the active participation of all involved, ensuring a quality learning experience.

Participant engagement is a multidimensional construct that includes:

Cognitive Engagement: the mental investment in learning tasks, including critical thinking, problem-solving, information processing, and making connections between new and prior knowledge. This is evident when learners are actively trying to understand, analyze, and synthesize information.

Emotional Engagement: the affective reactions to the learning experience, such as interest, curiosity, enjoyment, a sense of belonging, but also boredom, frustration, or anxiety. Positive emotional engagement is crucial for sustained effort and a sense of accomplishment.

Behavioral Engagement: observable participation in learning activities and interactions. This includes active participation in discussions, completion of assignments, attendance at virtual sessions, asking questions, and collaborating with peers.

These dimensions are well-documented in the literature, particularly in the work of Kahu (2013), who categorizes engagement into behavioral, psychological (cognitive and emotional), and sociocultural domains.

In online contexts, engagement is profoundly influenced by factors such as:

• Digital literacy: participants' level of familiarity and skill in using digital tools and platforms.
• Instructional Design: the clarity, relevance, and interactivity of learning materials and activities.
• Social presence of instructors and peers: the feeling of connection and interaction within the online community, which can mitigate feelings of isolation (e.g., https://eric.ed.gov/?q=online+social+presence+engagement&id=ED527588).
• A key distinction: compared to in-person training, online environments require a more conscious effort on the part of mentors to observe and sustain engagement. Nonverbal cues (such as body language or facial expressions) are often absent or muted, making it more difficult to assess the participant's understanding or emotional state. This requires a proactive and adaptable approach to monitoring and support.

Mentors are not only called upon to provide training and therefore transfer their skills and knowledge to workers, but must also be able to identify any critical issues and intervene appropriately to encourage the active participation of all participants, in order to ensure a quality learning experience.