Exactly, good point! The look and feel of an online course is important to the student. Is it welcoming, easily understandable and kept current. All of which contribute to a successful learning experience.
Presently I have a small number of students (3). I am a very fast typist, but wonder how these chats will go with a larger number of students commenting and responding simultaneously. Would it be better to hold more than one chat session
per week, or be necessary to assign students to chat sessions...or perhaps have multiple topics and the students can choose a chat session each week?
I agree completely. We have just started on-line courses, and some courses actually feel threatening; with the use of bold and red font with an emphasis on rules and consequences. Some classes are very relaxing and visually pleasing with an emphasis on support and student resources.
I agree. Most of the time people do not complete things for one of two reasons. First of all, frustration and/or confusion of information and expectations. Secondly, lack of intrest and motivation.
Our job as instructors is to commumicate(lessen the confusion) and to motivate our students. I think whether you are directly in front of the students or on a computer we have the same impact.
I agree. It must look convenient to navigate and have the feel of concepts building upon previous concepts to enable comprension.
George, I agree with your statement of seeking our "comfort zone". When I am the student, I always try to learn the instructor, even in a brick-and-mortar classroom. I want to understand expectations and I want to be assured there will be no surprises. Once I am in my "comfort zone" I become more engaged in the learning process.
I agree as a result of my personal experience. The best content in the world will not receive my attention if I do not access it. That may sound obvious, but in an online environment, it is not so obvious. If a site is not professional with a friendly user interface, I will probably not use it. That applies to educational sites as well. So if the content is excellent, but getting to it is off-putting, the content goes unused.
I agree to the extent that the experience should be transparent. If the focus becomes the visual gaps or inconsistency of the site then the learner misses the content of the course. Good graphic knowledge and skills with learning styles and logics is very important in the online environment.
On a different note, I was quite surprised by the inaccuracies in the assessment for this unit. Providing a comprehensive exam unless it is an authentic assessment is not a form of Intellectual Interactivity. I was also disappointed that the first assessment item did not align with the content presented in the unit. While I agree with the ultimate answer, the fifth element is not discussed in the content so expecting it in the assessment violates much of what the whole unit was about.
Dr. Jeannette K. Jones, RCC
Great response - thanks! - Jon
The look and feel of an online course is very important. I think it should be kept very simple so that the students can focus on the material. Providing too much information and too many resources can quickly overwhelm a student and they will give up. The easier it is to navigate through the classroom the more efficient the students work will become.
The look and feeel of an online course is very important to the digtal learner. It is what will grab the learners attention and provide part of the stimulus to stay engaged.
Dr. Outland, the look and feel of an online course, as I interpret it (ease of navigation and user friendly), is equally important as anticipated content. The quicker students can settle into a "comfort zone" when it comes to accessing information, posting threads, etc. the quicker students can begin to actively engage in the learning process accelerating learning outcomes.
I have found that it typically takes students some time to settle into their zone. The online format and setup goes a long way in minimizing this adjustment period.
George
Good points on what the focus should be on. - Jon
Great points! Some students who are also not fully invested in taking the class can use this an excuse to step away from it.
I agree. The student must feel invited to participate. The student must feel that they want to come back and continue, and the student must feel that they can navigate their way around the course.
It should not take all of their concentration to understand the "online" part of the class, they need to be concentrating more on the knowledge and skills that we want them to be learning.
-Chris
I totally agree with this statement. It has been my experience that the kinds of fonts and colors used in an on online course set the mood for the course. This type of setting is important because it can set the mood for the students’ learning as well. Students will be able to better absorb the material if we highlight the content of course. Again, this is just from my experience.
Yes, I agree. One also has to be able to include extras because students will not have that face-to-face interaction with an instructor or other classmates as you would in a normal, on ground setting.
The online course is very important because if that is all you are doing to continue with your education, the student wants to make sure they are receiving as much information as they would if they were a student in an on ground class.
Jon, I definitely must agree with this answer. I've been an online student for an endless number of courses with a variety of different schools and online course platforms. One of the primary reasons why I stayed with my alma mater from beginning to end was due to the fact that the course structure and ease of navigation fit my needs very well. During my graduate run, a couple of schools I attended had very poor and confusing online platforms to run their program on, and it was like putting on an uncomfortable pair of shoes. I mean, they may have looked nice on the outside, but once I put them on I knew that it wasn't for me right away.
I ended up returning to my alma mater for my graduate program as well. For the short time I was in a doctoral program, it so happened to be the same platform and format as my undergrad and masters program.
In conclusion, I absolutely agree that look and feel are imperative and just as important as the knowledge and skills it imparts on the student.
D.B.
I agree with this statement because if the course is difficult to navigate or confusing then the student may not get as much out of it as they could. For example, if a student is confused as to what is due or what needs to be read each week all of their focus is simply on figuring out how to fulfill the course requirements. This leaves them little time to reflect on the course content and really achieve and apply the week's objectives to the real world.
Great points, style may not be first priority, but it is important - Jon
