I do do agree that the look and feel of an online course is as important as the knowledge and skills it is designed to impart. The more the learner feels welcome and easy the more the learner will learn and try harder to understand the material of the class instead of focussing on how to find their way around the online classroom.
Of course this is true. If you don't have a good look and feel of an online course it is like giving the keys to an indy race car to a fourteen year old who has never driven and telling them to go out and win a race. You have the proper equipment under and around the hood, but nothing to back up the precision design. The two must be consistent and compliment each other.
The look is very important--- just like the marketing of any product, if it doesn't look and feel right then it will not garner success.
I definitely agree--- if the student can't understand what they are to do then all the information is a waste since it does not have the accessibility needed.
do you feel we are becoming a more visual society?
I agree that the look and feel of an online course is as important as the knowledtge and skills it is designed to impart. If a student or potential student is not comfortable with moving around a website or finding information then they will not put thier best effort into assignments because they will be distracted by the look and feel of the website.
I absolutely agree. I have used Learning Management Systems that didn't work well because they were not aesthetically pleasing and just didn't feel right. Students are more engaged and see the look and feel of an online course as part of the credibility of an instructor. The more well-thoughtout and user-friendly, the more credibility the instructor has with the students.
I agree that the look and feel of an online course is as important as the knowledge and skills it is designed to impart because if it is difficult to navigate, unattractive in appearance, nor organized in a logical format, etc... students will tend to focus on those negative factors instead of the intention of the course itself. This would be equivalent to encountering a web page that uses loud music, difficult fonts to read, poor background and font color choices, etc... Most users would simply click the back button within a few seconds without ever reading anything on the page.
I completely agree. An online course needs to be very easy to navigate and also needs to be laid out properly, in a complete but yet simple manner so students will have no trouble navigating the system and complete all learning tasks.
Absolutely, we live in a visual world and many learners learn better visually. A logically setup course helps learners to process the information required.
The look and feel of course should guide students to understanding of the material and objectives of the course.
Agreed. An online course should convey a professional academic atmosphere. The course materials and presentations should be professionally done. This is applicable to any business or orgnization. For example, if you enter a restaurant that has good food, but are served on questionable looking plates and does not convey an atmosphere of cuisine, few would return.
If a course is not easy to access and navigate, students get frustrated. Sadly, many online courses are designed by technical professionals who do not have a clue about teaching.
I agree with the above statement. It's important to make the material accessible to students and it's important that the students feel comfortable. That can be accomplished by making the learning environment, here online, inviting and user friendly.
I think people are generally adaptable and can forgive bad visuals but overall the better it looks, the more comfortable they will be with the format and can focus on the material. If the course is set up in a disorganized way or with serious faults, that could distract from learning and confuse the student. An instructor should always strive to improve the course, both in the content and look and feel.
Carol,
Using multi-modal teaching style will help to vary the teaching methods in order to sustain the student's interest and avoid distractions.
Austin Umezurike
I agree with the proposition that the look and feel of an online course is as important as the knowledge and skills it is designed to impart. Online courses should be designed with care and navigational structure to sustain the interest of the learners. The web site should have a standard look with relevant links such as help, technical support, office hours to minimize frustrations.
Austin Umezurike
do you think that a developer should have taken an online course so that they have the view from the student side?
