Three Strategies to Improve Online Courses
Today’s educators know that one of the keys to improving online education is by using various teaching tools. Letting your students use the right tools will improve the learning experience and help your students understand important aspects of your class more easily.
Where are the biggest opportunities to improve online learning? John Mitchell: There are several parts of a course. The first is presenting content — that we kind of know how to do in video. The second part, the interactive, question-and-answer classroom model, has to be done live and Zoom can work for that.
The reason is a great course is not only information. It is also an experience. To form an outstanding online experience, every single aspect of your product matters – from materials and structure to superficially insignificant things as technical and design elements. Here are the key success factors to work out. 1. Title Sells.
The power of online learning allows students to learn at their individual pace, while instructors can offer a custom class experience. Among the many benefits of learning online is the ability for a teacher to customize classes to address the specific needs of each student.
Summary: Ineffective content, lack of multimedia, and humdrum visuals are some of the most common online training pitfalls. However, there are a number of lesser known mistakes that may be standing in the way of corporate eLearning success.
Make sure your eLearning content can be easily accessed via smartphones, laptops, and iPads to maximize your teaching methods. You’ll also be demonstrating to your learners that you’re in touch with the needs of today’s modern workforce and its relevant technology.
Hi Kate Colleran , This was a outstanding informative post you have shared on this page about the online courses because this Knowledge in a India’s leading training networking Platform to provides courses for students, working professionals job seekers and corporate employees with placement assured but but I have NOT taken every single one of these, so I cannot fully vouch for all of them.
We’ve reviewed the marketplace and talked with clients to develop a number of ways to improve training and development and enrich your offering.
During individual sessions, check on student comprehension; conduct polls; and pose questions. Give students opportunities to actively participate during the class session, for example, by asking them to pose a question in the chat, or respond to a question.
For those of us who will teach large online classes in the fall, the challenge is clear: We must design and deliver courses that are engaging, interactive, well supported, and responsive to the times.
Be flexible about how students participate in the class, for example, by including both asynchronous and synchronous learning opportunities. Allow students to access course resources in multiple ways -- allowing them to download PowerPoint presentations or view videos at a time of their convenience or take quizzes on their cellphones. Provide chances for students to earn extra-credit points. Shift your assessment strategies to include more authentic and project-based assessments.
Here are some strategies that work: Brainstorming sessions, where students present a variety of ways of approaching a topic or a problem; comprehension exercises, where students help one another understand a complex topic; critiques, where students challenge a particular argument or interpretation; diagnoses, where students deconstruct a problem; and sharing activities, where students reveal their own experiences or perceptions.
1. Build a personal connection with your students. Instead of simply introducing yourself, consider conducting a student survey.
What can you do? You can monitor their engagement. You can undertake regular check-ins and checkups. You can reach out proactively or send alerts whenever there are signs that a student is falling behind. You can send out alerts.
Encourage your students. Provide them with scaffolding: rubrics, check lists, sample responses to test questions, background information, glossaries. Offer some flexibility on deadlines and opportunities to re-do assignments. And provide prompt feedback.
Your course title is your sales pitch. It answers in matter of seconds the most important question potential learners have: “What is in it for me?”. Depending on your answer, they may consider enrolling. Or they may bypass all your efforts and keep browsing. The course title has two main functions – to grab attention and to make a promise.
A great online course is a journey. It’s up to you to create a map your students can follow – from beginning to end. This is what the course structure is about. Plan and describe it in as much detail as you can.
They say people need less than 5 minutes to form an impression. The first minutes of your course are meant to do just that. Those who enrolled could still leave, if you bore them during the course introduction. Start of by generating anticipation and motivation with your welcoming message.
Plan and describe in detail all course sections - objectives, milestones, lectures, and assignments schedule. If different topics are covered by different lecturers, introduce them and their expertise. Aim for a balance between friendliness, accessibility and professionalism when presenting the mentors.
Discuss the aftermath and achievements of your students at the end. The skills they gained and their real-life application. Don’t forget to provoke discussion and ask for feedback. Use learners’ experience to improve your material even further.
You surely have a lot to teach. The course experience, however, needs showing (at least) as much as telling. All graphic elements in your course shape the eLearning environment. Is yours attractive and memorable? Have a close look and polish the following elements:
Whatever the discussed topics in your course are, if you present them in a creative and engaging way, your student audience will keep growing and coming back for more. What makes content engaging? Everything your learners can relate to. Center your teaching on your students’ lives.
First, the typical online course may require a set of skills in addition to those required in traditional face-to-face classrooms, such as technological skills, self-directed learning and time management . These may represent a strong challenge to many students, particularly those with poorer academic preparation. Therefore, colleges may need to provide more active support to students to help them understand the types of skills required for successful online learning, and to explicitly help them develop those skills.
Online coursework has increasingly become an important alternative to students in higher education; yet, our recent research suggests community college students (particularly males, ethnic minority students and those with lower prior GPAs) perform more poorly in online courses than they do in face-to-face courses.
Students who may be learning exclusively online will still want to feel a connection to the institution, instructor, and other students. Depending on the course, you may have hundreds of students and several teaching assistants who may be grading their assignments and interacting with students in smaller sections.
Every instructional designer knows how important it is to clearly explain the learning objectives of the course. These objectives need to be more direct than simply a list of titles or assignments on a syllabus.
One of the best things you can do when designing an online course is to make it easy to navigate and simple to follow. A structured and consistent course layout helps your students navigate and understand course content.
Some learning management systems are more accessible than others. Ideally, yours will be usable for students who use assistive technology or navigate solely via their keyboard.
Good instructional design can also facilitate positive communications with your students beyond the online classroom. All will benefit from your availability in answering questions, leading or monitoring discussions, and integrating feedback. Find ways to drive consistent engagement such as encouraging forum responses and group discussions.
Online learning is often self-paced and self-directed, so students need courses that are designed to keep them learning actively, which can improve their focus and increase their motivation.
Designing the right questions will also further active learning in an online course. The technology can only go so far, it’s your content that drives the online course experience. What questions do you want to raise?
It has me thinking about what it would mean to improve online classes. A few ideas come to mind:
My goal is simple. I want to make something each day. Sometimes I make things. Sometimes I make a difference. On a good day, I get to do both. More about me
Instructing students online is different from being face-to-face. As students move to this method of learning, teachers can discuss with them the norms that support effective learning. This might include discussing topics such as appropriate attire, when to mute/unmute, when to use chat, raising your hand to contribute, using backgrounds, how to clap, and what to do when classes are recorded.
Teachers across the globe made a rapid transition to online learning in 2020. In many cases this happened with little advance support or guidance, and as a result, not everyone made a smooth transition to teaching this way.
Create a workbook or checklist to help students stay on track during class and let them know what they should be documenting.
Technology allows us to move beyond substitution and actually redefine learning. As we move into a new school year, we have an opportunity to reflect and consider incorporating some of the following effective online learning practices.
Technology provides a great way for students and teachers to connect, interact, and have some fun.
When students are learning online, you can teach as if there are no walls, because there aren’t! Rethink how learning can be customized. Maybe a student is interested in a class or subject that they were not originally scheduled for, or maybe they want to try learning from a different teacher.
Start class a bit early to give students the opportunity to socialize.
The big advantage to online learning is 24/7 communication. Course designs need to open up by building in resources for help through instant messaging, live chats and quick response times, creating a safety net for adult e-learners integrating the resources in the instruction.
Key takeaway: There is more help for e-learners today than there ever was for on-campus learning. Use announcements, feedback and other methods to direct students to resources. Build the path to resources into the design of instruction and align resources with assessment.
Gamification of a course can improve student interaction and learning, but there are other strategies instructional designers and educators can put into place to vastly improve adult student success in online courses. The more learning changes, the more it stays the same …. Technology changes, methods of delivery change ...
Adult learners are looking to become competent by learning. As such, it’s important for educators to break out of the box and gamify sections of the course where possible.
Course designs need to motivate engagement. This means creating a relaxed environment where the help is easily accessible so adults feel safe to engage. Resources also need to be made available at the point of learning in a highly visible, non-threatening way.
Electronic libraries have resources that improve the access to and experience of research. Many electronic libraries also offer tutors, writing labs, tutorials on how to research, citation engines and more. Finding new ways to integrate the resource with the learning and assessing both could improve course design.
To successfully design an e-learning class, you need to build a structure that motivates engagement, offers resources at the point of instruction, with maps to the resources needed for learning, and assesses for competence rather than a test of memory.
During individual sessions, check on student comprehension; conduct polls; and pose questions. Give students opportunities to actively participate during the class session, for example, by asking them to pose a question in the chat, or respond to a question.
For those of us who will teach large online classes in the fall, the challenge is clear: We must design and deliver courses that are engaging, interactive, well supported, and responsive to the times.
Be flexible about how students participate in the class, for example, by including both asynchronous and synchronous learning opportunities. Allow students to access course resources in multiple ways -- allowing them to download PowerPoint presentations or view videos at a time of their convenience or take quizzes on their cellphones. Provide chances for students to earn extra-credit points. Shift your assessment strategies to include more authentic and project-based assessments.
Here are some strategies that work: Brainstorming sessions, where students present a variety of ways of approaching a topic or a problem; comprehension exercises, where students help one another understand a complex topic; critiques, where students challenge a particular argument or interpretation; diagnoses, where students deconstruct a problem; and sharing activities, where students reveal their own experiences or perceptions.
1. Build a personal connection with your students. Instead of simply introducing yourself, consider conducting a student survey.
What can you do? You can monitor their engagement. You can undertake regular check-ins and checkups. You can reach out proactively or send alerts whenever there are signs that a student is falling behind. You can send out alerts.
Encourage your students. Provide them with scaffolding: rubrics, check lists, sample responses to test questions, background information, glossaries. Offer some flexibility on deadlines and opportunities to re-do assignments. And provide prompt feedback.