Five words and a GenAI prompt to spark deeper online learning

Online learning offers flexibility to students, many of whom fit their studies around work and family commitments. But reduced opportunities for social interaction can leave some feeling isolated and unmotivated. To translate theory to practice in digital classrooms, teachers must create dynamic, agile and collaborative learning environments.

We developed the “5E” framework (engage, explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate) to structure our online sessions around five learning stages. We then used GenAI to speed up lesson design and respond to our students’ needs in real time. Not only did this approach increase participation and deepen understanding of complex topics but it also allowed us to cater to students’ varying levels of existing knowledge and disciplinary backgrounds. 

Engage

Virtual environments come with multiple distractions, so maintaining engagement is crucial. The “engage” part of the class captures the students’ attention from the start by connecting the topic with their interests and existing knowledge. You can use thought-provoking visuals and open-ended questions to gain and hold attention. You can also use tools such as Mentimeter to create word clouds to which students can contribute.

Explore

Online learning can stifle the richness of spontaneous communication. Counteract this by letting students play with a concept before the lecture component of the session. The “explore” part of the lesson invites them to research, experiment and discover concepts on their own through various activities. Facilitate exploration in small breakout groups or use a collaborative whiteboard to organise ideas and analyse information. This helps students feel part of a community, increasing the likelihood that they will participate actively. 

Explain

Make your online classes more engaging by viewing them as digital labs that facilitate interaction, rather than a movie theatre where students just sit and watch. The “explain” section of the lesson facilitates the formal understanding of concepts through clear, structured explanations.

Multimedia resources such as videos, infographics and interactive elements can help here, and you can then reinforce learning with topical and relatable examples. Make your explanations brief and collaborative to create space for dialogue.

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Elaborate 

This part of the lesson deepens knowledge by helping students apply the concepts in new contexts or more complex situations. The options are endless, but examples include gamification with Genially’s escape rooms or short quizzes on Kahoot!, Blooket or Wayground.

Evaluate

This part of the lesson measures learning and prompts reflection. One way to do this is to create a collaborative board on Padlet and ask students to share their knowledge. This way, students consolidate learning as a group and you can address any misconceptions that arise immediately.

Use GenAI to design lessons using the five Es 

GenAI can help speed up your lesson design, ensure you incorporate each of the five Es and help you respond to students’ needs in real time. We recommend the following framework to structure your prompt: role, task, context, format and the 5E framework. For example:

“You are an experienced university professor of [subject name] and an instructional designer who specialises in digital pedagogy and online learning. Design a 75-minute synchronous online session on [insert topic]. The session must prompt students to engage, explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate. Since students on this course are studying diverse subjects and have varying levels of subject knowledge, the content should be accessible and practical, avoiding overly dense or specialised theory. The goal is for every student, regardless of background, to achieve a deep, applied understanding of the subject. 

Provide the session design in table format with the following columns: phase, duration, learning objective, student activity, instructor role, digital tool and practical example.”

The five Es provide a clear sequence that can be translated into a structured plan for any online class. By using GenAI to create lesson plans that follow the model, you can adapt to students’ needs in real time. If any element of the plan doesn’t achieve the desired outcomes, you can respond quickly. For example, if in the “explain” section of the lesson plan, GenAI suggests a contextualisation video, but during the session you realise it is not sparking the dialogue or reflection you expected, you can go to the conversation with the AI tool ​​and ask for a new suggestion. GenAI gives teachers the agility to change course on demand, reducing the risk of missed learning opportunities. 

The 5E framework and GenAI helped us cater to the needs of students from different disciplines and with varying levels of existing knowledge. This approach improved the structure of our synchronous sessions and enhanced student participation and performance. We saw a marked increase in student engagement and improvements in concept retention and application in real-world contexts. 

María Robertha Leal Isida and Dania Lorenia Arriola Arteaga are professors at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico.

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