what are the essential features of an effective online course

A good online course is engaging and challenging. It invites students to participate, motivates them to contribute and captures their interest and attention. It capitalizes on the joy of learning and challenges students to enhance their skills, abilities and knowledge. A good online course is cognitively challenging.

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What are the characteristics of a good online course?

Jun 12, 2018 · Enables Asynchronous (self-paced) Courses – One of the vital features for improving engagement and knowledge retention is asynchronous learning — the ability to learn and complete coursework at one’s own pace. Ideally, the LMS platform should allow the instructor to upload as much content as required.

What makes a good online learning experience?

Jun 10, 2020 · A good online course is engaging and challenging. It invites students to participate, motivates them to contribute and captures their interest and attention. It …

What are the components of a successful online learning environment?

Jan 01, 1997 · This template is now being applied to other courses in the discipline with the aim of transferring the whole economics programme to online delivery in 1998.This paper describes the pedagogical rationale of the design template. Citation. Brown, A. & Brown, A. (1997). Designing for learning: What are the essential features of an effective online ...

Why do you need an online learning framework?

A good online course is effective. Such a course identifies the skills, abilities and knowledge that students will gain by the end of it, provides activities developed to acquire them and assesses whether students were successful. A good online course includes an instructor who exhibits care, empathy and trust for students. This individual understands that their students may have a life …

What are the best features of this online course?

Advice for students and parentsA good online course is informed by issues of equity and justice. ... A good online course is interactive. ... A good online course is engaging and challenging. ... A good online course involves practice. ... A good online course is effective.More items...•Jun 10, 2020

What is a feature of online class?

That includes live webinars, reading, studying, assignments, project work, and/or exam preparation. If the course you are interested in is offered in multiple formats (in-class, online or hybrid) be assured that these formats utilize the same learning materials and will allow you to achieve the same learning outcomes.

What are the essential keys to success in online learning?

What Makes a Successful Online Learner?Persistence. Persistence is perhaps the biggest key to success in online learning. ... Effective Time-Management Skills. ... Effective and Appropriate Communication Skills. ... Basic Technical Skills. ... Reading and Writing Skills. ... Motivation and Independence. ... A Good Study Environment.

How do you create an effective online course?

5 Tips for Designing Effective Online Courses in 2022Know Your Audience. ... Create Well-Organized Courses / Micro-Learning. ... Make Your Lessons Interactive. ... Incorporate Synchronous and Asynchronous e-Learning Styles. ... Make Content Accessible.

What are the features of learning?

Characteristics of Learning:Learning is Growth.Learning is Adjustment.Learning is Intelligent.Learning is Active.Learning is the product of Environment.Learning is both Individual and Social.Learning is Purposeful.Learning is organising Experience.More items...

What are the benefits of online learning?

Seven Benefits of Online LearningAdded Flexibility and Self-Paced Learning. ... Better Time Management. ... Demonstrated Self-Motivation. ... Improved Virtual Communication and Collaboration. ... A Broader, Global Perspective. ... Refined Critical-thinking Skills. ... New Technical Skills.Sep 25, 2019

What is effective online learning?

Online learning makes students more in control of their learning path. If they want to pass the course or exam given, they need to take time to study, putting them in charge of their own learning process (instead of the teacher) and therefore making them more self-disciplined.Jul 8, 2020

How effective is virtual learning?

Online learning is certainly the more effective option for students, but it's also better for the environment. The Open University in Britain have found that online courses equate to an average of 90% less energy and 85% fewer CO2 emissions per student than traditional in person courses.

What are the 3 most important considerations for creating engaging and effective online courses?

Key Considerations When Designing an Online CourseBuild your instructor presence. ... Develop rapport with your students. ... Create opportunities for student to student interactions. ... Effectively communicate with your students. ... Teaching presence. ... Social presence. ... Cognitive presence. ... Multiple Means of Engagement.More items...

What are two important considerations when developing an online program?

An effectively designed online course or program must take into account multiple factors – the characteristics of targeted learners, the nature of the content, the role of the community in shaping learning, and integration of ongoing feedback and assessment; ample opportunities for practice and expert feedback to guide ...Jul 6, 2016

How can we improve this course to make it more effective?

Tips To Improve Online Course EfficacyUse A Good Authoring Tool. ... Use Project Collaboration. ... Utilize Micro-Modules. ... Explain The Course Objective And Outcome. ... Keep The Course Structure Asynchronous. ... Ensure Easy Course Navigation. ... Utilize Multimedia. ... Get And Mention Inputs From Veteran Educationists.More items...•Dec 2, 2018

What are the qualities of an effective online course?

Most quality standards for online courses consist of similar components. Standards include learning objectives, course activities, and student and teacher interaction . Student perceptions of online class quality are key to designing an effective course. Those looking to enroll in online programs should ...

What can you expect to learn in an online course?

What can you expect to learn in an online course? Objectives are usually listed in several places, including the class syllabus, and state what you should know or be able to do as a result of successfully completing the course. Learning objectives are typically developed for both individual courses and full programs.

What are the best ways to improve student satisfaction online?

Communication and interaction are critical to student satisfaction in an online environment and can happen in many ways. Active learning strategies, such as simulations, case studies, concept mapping, and problem-solving, encourage engagement and understanding of the subject matter.

What is quality assurance?

The work that goes into quality assurance focuses on the student — that includes student success, the student experience, and student satisfaction. But can students see the impact of these efforts to improve online classes?

What is quality standards?

Quality standards are commonly used to guide online course design and development. For example, quality standards like those developed by Quality Matters and the Online Learning Consortium are commonly used to guide online course design and development. Alternatively, some schools may develop their own collection of standards.

What is the biggest concern for students considering online learning over campus-based programs?

Even before the pandemic, BestColleges' online education trends study found that the "quality of instruction and academic support" was the biggest concern for students considering online learning over campus-based programs. According to BestColleges data, the “quality of instruction and academic support ” is the biggest concern for students ...

Why is it important to research online?

Prospective students have many online learning options to compare; therefore, it can be helpful to research what the schools you' re considering do to develop their online programs and support online students.

What makes an online course good?

A good online course is engaging and challenging. It invites students to participate, motivates them to contribute and captures their interest and attention. It capitalizes on the joy of learning and challenges students to enhance their skills, abilities and knowledge. A good online course is cognitively challenging.

Why is online learning important?

A good online course promotes student agency. It gives students autonomy to enable opportunities for relevant and meaningful learning. Such a course redistributes power - to the extent that is possible - in the classroom. Again, this may take many forms in the online classroom.

What does "online course" mean?

It means audiovisual materials that don’t stereotype, shame or degrade people. It may mean that open educational resources are prioritized over expensive textbooks. A good online course is interactive. Courses are much more than placeholders for students to access information.

What are the problems with media comparison studies?

The problems with media comparison studies — that is, those that compare outcomes between one medium, such as face-to-face, to another medium, such as online — are such that many researchers advocate against them. How can students who enrol in online courses in the fall know they are receiving a good educational ...

What is an econometrics class?

In an econometrics class, they might examine relationships between different variables, explain the meaning of their findings and then be asked to apply those methods in novel situations. A good online course is effective.

What is accounting course?

In an accounting course, students could analyze the financial statements of a company they’re interested in rather than one selected by the instructor. Such flexibility not only accommodates students’ backgrounds and interests, it provides space for students to make the course their own.

What is creative writing class?

In a creative writing class, students may write a short story, receive feedback, revise it and then write a different story. In a computer programming class, they may write a block of code, test it and then use it in a larger program that they wrote.

Abstract

How do online courses differ from traditional university courses? What are the new learning demands made on students in online courses? Which particular design features optimise the teaching and learning process in an online delivery mode?These were the questions explored in a collaborative course design project involving an economics lecturer and the instructional designer at Murdoch University.

Citation

Brown, A. & Brown, A. (1997). Designing for learning: What are the essential features of an effective online course?. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 13(2),. Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education. Retrieved February 3, 2022 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/44713/.

What is an effective online course?

Effective online courses are well designed so that teaching and learning is organized in the most effective and engaging manner possible. In an online learning situation, the student’s learning experience is almost entirely mediated through some form of technology; therefore, the design of the teaching and learning experience is especially critical.

What is the purpose of content, activities, and experiences?

They should be highly interactive and allow for a range of levels of learning, learner entry points, and experiences. Information should be “chunked” and moves sequentially from simple to complex; concrete to abstract and general to specific, in clear, concise text.

What is instructional design?

Instructional Design is a broad term that encompasses the selection, organization, sequencing, and assessment of content, tools, and experiences to help learners attain a certain set of goals. Poorly designed technology-based courses can confound learning, frustrate learners and instructors, and result in high attrition rates.

What is the purpose of learning interaction?

Learner interaction with an object or person in a way that allows learners to improve their knowledge and skills in a particular domain. Multiple communications between learners around an object of study, a tool, or an experience. Learner control and program adaptation based on learner input.

What is adult learning?

Research on adult learning demonstrates that adult learners share common characteristics and beliefs that can be integrated into any learning experience. Adult learners: Need to be treated with respect and recognition and their professional experiences integrated into workshops and discussions.

What is flexible course design?

Flexibly designed courses favor “ill structured” activities over well-structured ones; interactivity over passivity; inductive over deductive instruction; and activity over text and lecture. Such course design supports both the individual and group’s learning and promotes applied approaches to learning.

Why is a mix of media more effective than reliance on one type of media?

A mix of media is more effective than the reliance on one type of media because it satisfies the many types of learning preferences that one person may embody or that a class embodies. Particularly in print- and web-based professional development courses which are primarily text heavy, the use of still and moving visual media can help learners who are poor readers better understand content.

What is high interactivity?

High degrees of interactivity will yield greater engagement (and more data points). The greater the number of touchpoints (clicks, interactive exercises, assessments, reflections) that are built into the learning, the more the user will feel guided through an active learning adventure.

Is the internet lonely?

Combat the loneliness of the web. By nature, the internet has evolved into an fairly lonely place. With certain exceptions, notably social platforms, the experience that most individuals have when exploring new ideas and information online is an incredibly solitary one.

What is online learning environment?

Online Learning Environments are becoming increasingly available for learners in all areas of education from primary grades right through to higher education. They require key considerations to be cultivated to promote success.

Why is summarizing important in eLearning?

This is a comprehension strategy that is essential to assessing success with eLearning. It is important to help candidates summarize key points of learning. It is also important for participants to see their key strategies and ideas shared and have them reinforced. This promotes deeper learning.

Why is it so hard for primary students to understand?

Often, it is very difficult for primary students to navigate and understand because it requires abstract thought. As learners progress and develop, more features can be added depending upon learning needs.

Is feedback and assessment ongoing?

Feedback and assessment is ongoing. It is timely, it is constructive, and it models effective practices. It usually works best when there are no clear marks. One strategy is to keep a running spreadsheet of each participant to record important information.

Is online learning textual or visual?

By contrast, online learning courses for higher education tend to be very textual based. We assume that this works best for adults, but the truth is that visualization is a powerful tool for comprehension, and it would be a mistake to assume that our older learners do not need visuals to support learning.