Yes, the look and feel is just as important to online students as the knowledge and skills. My online students require a look that captures and keep their attention; which consciously or unconsciously allows them to stay committed to the process.
Martin,
in fact....most people will not even read power point slides that have no visual and too many words.
Shelly Crider
Romanda,
I love the fact that you merge classes together by telling students what is coming up. This will keep retention up as well as keeping students informed!
Shelly Crider
I agree. We as learners for the most part are visual learners, and at times, when reading a PowerPoint slide for example that is full of text and has no visual appeal, you will get lost in the text and not absorb that learning.
Hi Shelly,
Yes I agree, the look and feel of the online course is very important. The students will feel a sense of connection when all the information is designed in a user friendly format. In addition, the information from one course to the next should be streamlined as well.
Romanda Cooper
Muriel,
True! Really not so different than a traditional classroom. Have we not all sat in a classroom where the room was just horrible??
Shelly Crider
Agree: The reasons are that human beings are visual in nature. There have been many studies which prove that people respond in favorable or unfavorable ways to light, color, sound, etc.
In a learning environment, whether off or online, a person has to feel comfortable and not over or underwhelmed when being intellectually stimulated.
If the online course is user friendly, I believe the course will be more successful. There is nothing more than difficult than a student accessing their course, and the course is overly complicated. So, I agree that the look and feel of a course is critical to the student's success.
Kathryn,
We need credibitlity in the online arena. There are several fair to bad reports about online education, so our classes must be top notch!
Shelly Crider
I agree that the look and feel of a course is important. It adds to the credibility of the learning as does the professionalism of an instructor in a f2f course does. If the course is hard to navigate, the learner might lose interest and decide it isn’t worth the effort. Additionally, if the course is not updated and current (e.g., current President) the learner could assume that other information is wrong. Furthermore, broken links or other technical issues could hamper the learning, similar to technical malfunction in the f2f classroom.
Les,
Content is indeed very important to a class. This is ultimately what we want the students to take with them.
Shelly Crider
Philip,
Good point on the Generation Y....each generation has its own unique take on what makes a good class!
Shelly Crider
Jocelyn,
Frustration leads to bad retention! A good class with less frustration is always a plus!
Shelly Crider
Hi Shelly:
I agree, in large, part with this but also feel that content is the most critical aspect of any course. It's a little like making a cake look appetizing by decorating it with colorful frosting. Yes - the cake needs to look good but the real question is whether or not it tastes good. The same applies to an online course. Yes, the students need to feel comfortable and it needs to be appealing - but in the end, its value lies in how much the students have learned.
Les
I agree Shelly! As humans we like to be comfortable. If the look and feel of an online course makes a student comfortable then they will hop right in and participate and start learning right away. If the student is not comfortable, they will hesitantly participate and learning will be delayed and minimized. Generation Y (why) like things simple and instantanious with the most to gain with the least amount of work.
Hi
I would say it matters on several levels. For the university or school is helps to maintain student confidence in school and the quality they are offering. A unified feel throughout all of the courses helps the students to know where to go to find information quickly. Also if the course is poorly laid out the students may drop the course merely because they are frustrated.
Jocelyn M. Dervis
David,
Organized structure is a must. This helps with students keep on track as well as teaching the student to be organized as well.
Shelly Crider
Yes. First it needs to be easily navigated by the student and instructor, as well as inviting from a multimedia/multisensory standpoint. If each module of the course is set up using the same structure for lesson plans, the repetition of format will work against student motivation and retention of material. The best comparison I can think of to make in this regard is how you as an audience member feel when someone is lecturing from a powerpoint and is monotonously, in a monotone, reading every word on the screen.
Deborah,
It is important for students to feel a sense of community in an online class as well as traditional.
Shelly Crider
Richard,
Student and material....key to success!
Shelly Crider
