What 100 Students Wish You Knew about Classroom Engagement
- The Deledao Team
- Jul 18
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 2
When we talk about engagement, it’s usually from the teacher’s perspective.
However, something is often missing: the student’s voice.
Academic papers and edtech leaders love to offer their strategies to optimize attention spans and measure outcomes. Even for us, as a collective of former educators, IT admins, and edtech researchers with over 35 years of experience, we hear plenty from school staff on ways to keep engagement.
But a new survey of 100 U.S. students offers a rare perspective that doesn’t often make it into the faculty lounge: how students want teachers to help them engage.
Let’s break down its major findings, what they mean for teachers, and share 4 actionable engagement strategies you can do (right now) in the classroom.
When Teachers Go Above and Beyond, Students Notice
A whopping 92% of students said they noticed and appreciated the efforts their teachers made.
55% reported teachers keep class engaging, even when they look worn out.
53% observed they stayed late or came in early to lend a hand.
48% said they received personalized, detailed feedback, not just automated comments.
Here’s the gist: visible effort matters. Students don’t crave perfection; they crave effort, and when they see it, it resonates.
3 Approaches that Spark Engagement in Students
The survey revealed more profound truths hidden beneath those surface stats:
1) Emotional Connection = Better Outcomes
“I perform better when I know my teacher cares.” Emotional safety is no fluff. Nine out of ten students said teacher empathy helps them do better.
2) Personalized Support Hits Hard
82% said re-explaining tough topics works.
59% valued extra time, even five extra minutes can make a world of difference.
3) Passion Stirs Learning
“Teachers who genuinely care about the subject make us care, too.”
Indeed, 82% confirmed: passionate teachers boost their desire to learn.
The Expert Power Effect: Why Passion Drives Engagement
These findings demonstrate a phenomenon that psychologists call the Expert Power Effect.
What is the Expert Power Effect? It's the influence an individual has over others due to their specialized knowledge, skills, or expertise.
In classrooms, the effect is evident every time a teacher genuinely gets excited about a concept. It doesn’t require authority or enforcement, but rather emerges naturally when someone clearly knows their stuff, and even more so when they’re visibly passionate about it.
And yes, students can tell the difference.
This kind of influence is built moment by moment, through curiosity, effort, and a visible desire to connect, rather than just from the teacher’s credentials. When he or she rephrases a tricky concept because one student looks confused, that’s expert power. When they admit what they don’t know, then work together to figure it out, that’s expert power.
It’s credibility built on empathy.
And while it may sound idealistic, the data backs it up:
82% of students said they felt more motivated when their teacher clearly loved the subject.
Many also shared that when teachers went off-script—offering fresh explanations, sharing personal excitement, or simply caring—it made all the difference.
Of course, sustaining that passion is easier said than done, especially when teachers are buried under filter request tickets, tab management chaos, and troubleshooting loops. That’s where intentional tech support becomes more than convenience—it becomes preservation.
PRO TIP: AI-powered tools like ActiveScan™ help remove digital noise, creating the space for teachers to show up as humans, not digital moderators. And when that happens, expert power becomes a classroom reality.
Why Student Engagement Is Trickier in 2025 Classrooms
Sure, tech has transformed education: 1:1 devices, LMS dashboards, streaming video lectures. But digital doesn’t automatically equal better. In fact, devices often compound distraction. Attention loses luster in milliseconds as tabs pile up, notifications ping, and social feeds beckon.
Not to mention getting back on track after being distracted. One study found it takes 20-30 minutes for students to refocus after digital distractions (Chen, Nath & Tang, 2020).
In 2025, student technology must enhance relationships, not replace them.
Worse, traditional web filters only block domains and URLs. Students learn dodge tactics in no time. The result? Teachers get sucked into monitoring screens instead of building relationships. And that work-heavy, contextless approach drains the Expert Power Effect faster than a tired cup of coffee.
4 Strategic Moves You Can Make (Right Now)
The good news: you don’t need a full-scale overhaul. You don’t need extra tools lined up, committees formed, or new positions created; just thoughtful ways to approach student engagement in a different way.
1. Institute a 2-minute daily device-free check-in
Build academic connections and help ensure understanding with quick check-ins. Ask questions like, “What’s something new you learned today?” or “Is there a concept you’re still figuring out?” It takes just two minutes and reinforces personalized learning and ongoing progress monitoring.
2. Embrace the Pomodoro Principle
Encourage focused work blocks—like 25 minutes of concentrated effort followed by 7 minutes of personal time. Whether students are reading, writing, solving problems, or using devices, this rhythm promotes self-regulation and strikes a balance between productivity and choice.
3. Solve tricky topics actively
Some students won’t catch on the first time—and that’s okay. Use formative assessments to identify trouble areas, then reteach regularly with innovative strategies, such as visuals, analogies, hands-on tasks, or small-group work, to boost understanding.
4. Chat with IT admins about smarter AI filtering
Spoiler: your current filter is dragging both teachers and networks into whack‑a‑mole. Bring up AI filters that support instruction, not slow it down. Share how tools like ActiveScan analyze content contextually to reduce filter tickets by 50%, freeing teachers to focus on students instead of closing tabs.
Alessandro Spada, the Director of Technology at South Glens Falls School District (NY) says:
"It didn’t matter which K12 filter we tried over the years. Our IT team was drowning in filter requests—blocking and unblocking sites all day. We switched to Deledao and the difference is night and day. Their real-time AI just automates it for us. IT tickets dropped by almost 50%!"
Why This Matters to Us
At Deledao, we believe that human relationships should drive the education process. AI tools like ActiveScan and ActiveInstruct exist to enhance, not inhibit, that mission.
Instead of relying on blocklists, our AI filters provide you with meaningful insights into your students' engagement patterns. When teachers can instantly see who is off-task, who needs extra support, and who is silently struggling, they can allocate that 2-minute check-in more effectively.
AI is not the enemy of emotion. When used effectively, it’s the key to creating a classroom for human interaction.
The Takeaway
This 100-student survey offers a rare glimpse into how students perceive classroom engagement in the digital age, carrying a different weight than multi-thousand-student teacher panels.
Students recognize and value effort (92%).
They crave passion (82%), emotional care (90%), and personal support (82%+).
And they yearn for help, not monitoring.
Teachers want the same: meaningful work, engaged classrooms, and trust that technology will support, not detract from, their efforts.
That’s why investing in AI web filters like ActiveScan™ or ActiveInstruct™ can free up time for educators to show their best selves. That's an investment in human-to-human interactions that students want to feel.
