Camesha,
Most of us do love visual information!
Shelly Crider
Patricia,
We have a higher pecentage of visual learners. I am glad use use the audio feature of ppt.
Shelly Crider
Yes I agree that the look and feel of an online course is as important as the knoweldge and skills. We have become a generation of visual learners. We like things that are appealing to the eyes. In a viral environment, appeasing the eyes is the gotcha statement in the class.
I agree that the feel of the online course has to be as inviting as a face to face course.
I have to agree the look and feel does make a difference. I have taught course with audio and moving parts which got the attention of the students better. I have found when I use ppt. with audio, I get better assignment grades than those prior to using the voice ppt. I use graphics and videos to illustrate my point. Students seem to love that over reading pdf files.
I agree. If a course is difficult to navigate or not logical in structure it makes it a much more difficult process for students. Literal is better in the online setting to help students to better locate what they need to complete the course.
The look and feel of an online course should mimic a traditional course. I enjoy learning online because it provide the students with hands on material that could be easily accessed with digital media. Student’s area able to learn in almost any setting without being tied down to classroom setting.
Jane,
The bottom line is comfort for our students. They need to be able to absorb the information given to them. There are some classes that a lot of info is given to the student in a short amount of time.
Shelly Crider
Hi David,
I am with you on this one. I have had students present incredibly beautiful and fanciful papers, with pictures, formatting, links, audio, you name it. If the content is not there, I could not care less about how pretty the thing is or how innovative.
The information imparted is more important, though presentation engages the reader. I would say this applies to the classroom as well.
The information and knowledge needs to be first, packaging second.
Worse than that, Lyn, is the presenter who just reads all those words!
Do you hate that?
I always use my slides to mark a few key points. Then I embellish those points with additional explanation and details.
This is an interesting question. I started teaching online ten years ago. I can remember having to write up my courses in html code so that an outlined list of modules would appear. Even in this rudimentary classroom, I would add colored fonts so that the modules were distinct from each other, thinking that the appearance did indeed matter and students would be more engaged. Do you remember when you were a kid and they had those reading sets? Each level was a different color and you would try to get that next color? I based my design on this concept, that students would like to advance to that next color/unit.
As the classroom technology advanced, I would add color to my announcements and pictures to my posts. I won an instructor of the year award for these "innovations" but then was asked to take every picture and modification out since the additions could impact bandwidth of my classroom.
I am still confused as to whether appearance is important to learning. Did the students in the early classes learn any less than in those in the more engaging classroom? In one case, the questions are exactly the same now as they were then, only the delivery is different.
I have mentored other faculty and seen their classrooms. Without any color or pictures, these classrooms look and feel very boring. I think that color and pictures, as well as an engaging tone and some subtle humor do make the classroom more inviting. Because of this, students will be more comfortable in the classroom, will enter it more often maybe even just to see what it is new, and will not find it such a chore to get through.
In the end, I would say that the look and feel are not AS important as the knowledge, but makes gaining that knowledge and honing those skills easier to impart.
Geerte,
I like how you said to retain attention. This is a good point, as we can have students read, but are they truly retaining is the question!
Shelly Crider
Kenneth,
First impressions are everything....not just in online learning....but in life itself! Nice to push this on to the students as well.
Shelly Crider
George,
We do live in an instant world. If we cannot find what we want in the first few tries, we will just move on.
Shelly Crider
Grace,
True, too much info and students will move on to the next slide, or skip right to the next task.
Shelly Crider
Grace,
If we as instructors or developers create a class like we want students to work, then we do need to take time and create a class that is a well developed class.
Shelly Crider
I think voice PowerPoints are great as long as you have written notes for them as well. We are trying to appeal to different learning styles, so voice only does not help the linguistic learner very much.
Agreed George. There is nothing more frustrating for students to have the willingness to learn but not be able to find the content they need. If they first have to find help via their instructors, tech support or student advisors it is possible that an opportunity of learning has been wasted. We don't want students to experience a drop in motivation as a result.
I agree. The course content should be inviting to the students. It should be clear in its formatting so content can be easily located but the content should also be presented in a fun and interactive way. Audio and video is important to retain attention and even Flash type games can be used to offer information in a dynamic way for example.
I agree that the look and feel of the course is very important because it sets that first imppression. You want students to be encouraged and energized and this is an important way to make the course look appealing.
