In my opinion, most students are repulsed by plain websites without picture or graphic, but just a lot of words to read! An attractive environment would be colorful, and would have pictures, graphics, animations, and some enticing links to click. So you can see here that the look and feel may make a big difference.
what, in your opinion, are students looking for the most when you say attractive enviornment?
I totally agree with this statement. To make my point, I would like to invite you to think of an important online course which provides students with the most advanced knowledge and skills in a particular subject-area. Despite all of these characteristics, the course is presented in an environment that is unattractive (or maybe threatening)and difficult to navigate for most students. The most likely consequences of this course would be the following:
- very few students would take this course, as opposed to other courses that are presented in more attractive and friendly environments,
- many students would fail this course, even if they have to take anyway.
What if a student is not computer savvy? Will a multimedia help or hurt that student?
What about background color of font? Does that make a difference with you?
I would have to agree that a vibrant, multimedia online course would be far more appealing and useful than one that doesn't look good or provide ease of navigation.
I strongly agree. I have taken more than three dozen online courses and the "look and feel" of the platforms has varied greatly.
I truly believe that a properly designed online platform will stimulate a more productive work environment for students.
I have certainly had some terrible platforms that really made it difficult to digest the academic content. The most common issue is TMI: too much information. Platforms packed with dozens of links and spaces for various levels of announcements overwhelm me. I like to have a simple and functional platform.
Yes - I totally agree. Without the principles outlined in this module (structural integrity, navigational simplicity, active learning, and intellectual interaction), the student will not retain the course material, thus preventing the absorption of the knowledge and skills.
Online courses must look streamlined and attractive and feel interactive - it's the necessary first step toward designing a successful course.
Hi Shelly,
I agree. The look and feel of an online course is as important as the knowledge and skills it is designed to impart.
I'm thinking specifically about the Structural Integrity and Navigational Simplicity in my response. If an online course doesn't clearly provide a blue-print of the lessons, assignments, etc., the odds increase that students will get lost or confused. Likewise, if an online course isn't user friendly, the odds increase that students will get frustrated and possibly give up.
Thanks.
Susan Ceklosky
I do agree that the look and feel of an online course is important. If a learner is not engaged in the design of the site they will not easily navigate through it. A "user-friendly" site will encourage learners to frequent the site and thus create a more active learning experience for those involved in the course.
Look and feel is extremely important in that it is the first thing the learner experiences with the course. Sales training would call it the "hook". If the learner is turned off by the look and feel, they will just bail out no matter what the content. Having said that, it is also true that "content is king". All the components of an online course must work together to lead to the desired learning outcomes.
I'm not sure what I can add to this that hasn't already been said, but here goes. I teach for one university that gives me complete freedom in how I create my classes and for another that uses the same class format for all classes. One thing that I have noticed is that generally the students from the uniform-class university don't ask me where things are and aren't confused by placements--in my other class that I can create, I will ALWAYS have students that seem to hate how I've placed things (of course, I always have students that find it to be the best placement as well, so go figure).
I believe that the look and feel will of course play a part in how the students' view the class because if they can't find the lessons, they can't learn the lessons; however, to a large degree, so long as the look and feel is some what consistent with what the students have seen before, I believe that it won't matter as much in the long run as the knowledge and skills that the teacher must impart through the class. So while important to the overall creation and maintenance of an online class, the look and feel ultimately mean nothing if there is no substance to the class.
What happens if you have an exciting topic, but the class is boring....what items can you add to a course to help with the "bells"
Good question. A great instructor can pull up their sleeves and spend more time in open office chat, answer questions via email, try to ease the poorly crafted class through guided and encouraging announcements and I think contacting and working with the coordinator at the facility to edit and improve the class utilizing the assessment, development, design and evaluation process. I like to walk through the class as a student would and try to catch problems before they do. If problems are found by a student or frustration by a student appears we need to enthusiastically encourge and guide them towards the end goal of the course.
Excellent point! What happens if you have a poorly crafted class, but a great instructor?
I would agree that the look and feel of an online course is as important as the knowledge and skills. The first time I went to the online course I was to teach I was excited just looking at it. The layout was very self explainatory and looked like it would be fun to explore. It incorporated video and reading along with interactive quizzes. All of the this made me want to see what was beyond the next "click". When conversing with my students about where something is in the course it is easy for me to navigate them through and I think it puts their mind at ease.
Shelly,
I would have to disagree. The look and feel of an online course is more important when considering the Navigational Simplicity, Active Learner-Centered Learning, and Intellectual Interaction. The knowledge and skills a course is designed to impart are more important to Structural Integrity.
Although the success of the knowledge and skills imparted is a function of the look and feel of online courses, the material can be taught online with poor appearance, achieving a lower success rate. Yet, the appearance cannot makeup for the absence of knowledge. Without quality knowledge and skills, the best appearance is meaningless.
Maureen
Yes, agree. Most students I think are visual learners. Making an easy to see and use is very importaint.
I don't think that we need to separate one from the other and that there should be a synergy. If a course does not look and feel right, even if it has all of the most superv instructional content, it may not be user friendly.
Miriam,
Your point is well taken. But are you saying it is AS important?
In my opinion, I would rather be on a site with Superior Intellectual and Center Learned objectives than one that has a good feel to it, but lack of the Learning Based Object?
