Steven,
So....do you think it is a good idea to recommend to students to have a specific study area to give the feel of an educational environment?
Shelly Crider
Jeremy,
We as instructors get frustrated with "clunky" as well.
Shelly Crider
There are various learner styles therefore; I agree that structural design in an on-line course is just as important as the content in the course. The structural design should be user friendly allowing the students to review each module with ease and understanding.
The designs should include animations, to enhance the learners’ comprehension of the material. As well as graphs and or charts to illuminate complex data.
This is certainly a true statement and I think part of it is a sensory issue. In a face-to-face setting, it’s not just the instructor, but the whole experience, e.g., course outline, lectures, instructor handling of the class - even break times when students can walk and chat among themselves, everything from the course content to how their day went.
To transfer that to an online setting takes a lot more emphasis on the look and feel, it’s these intrinsic things that are important, as well as the course material that is meant to impart. I think it takes a lot of experience, not only from subject matter experts, but web designers, content layout experts, assessment specialists, etc., to create an online structure that almost imparts the same experience as a face-to-face setting.
I fully agree.
Without a comfortable look and feel the students may never attain the knowledge and skills. A clunky course that is hard to navigate will halt the learning process in its tracks.
Shirley,
I must say, I have seen a dull class before as well and have had to push myself to get through it!
Shelly Crider
Helen,
Oh as you should be! Online learning opens a whole new door for students!
Shelly Crider
Shelly,
I definitely agree with this statement. I believe that if an online course is easy to nativgate, is very visually appealing and is simple to access information - then online learners find their learning experience more enjoyable.
I have seen courses where they are very dull, and it can be quite hard for students to stay engaged or feel stimulated from the materials.
It is important to impart your content but just like an engaging professor in the classroom, the look and feel of your online course needs to capture the attention of your students.
Dr. Shirley Chuo
Kimberley,
Good point about being lonely. There are times when students do feel a disconnect.
Shelly Crider
I am looking forward to teaching online. We have now incoporated the new wave of learnig and I am excited.
Yes i agree. An online class needs to be visually appealing and simple to naviagte. The online environment is pretty lonely therfore an online course needs to engage and excite the student to learn the material.
The design of the course should faciliate even the most basic computer users and provide support and assitance for any issues that may arise.
I think that online courses have to be more attrative and engaging especially when presenting the information so as to lure their students to keep working hard each week.
I absolutely agree that look and feel of an online course is very important. The look and feel ensures that there will be high student retention and students will succeed. In an online course, students are often working alone; they do not have a face-to-face instructor to ask questions all the time; also they do not go to a "class" everyday so that they can ask the instructor or other classmates if they have any questions. All their questions need to be answered, most of the time, through the online course content only. Now if the course content is organized in such a way that they are not easily accessible. Or if there are too much information and a student has to dig through a 500 page document to find answer to his/her question or if all the information are cluttered around and not organized in a logical way, then students can easily become very frustrated and give up.
Thank You,
Srabasti Dutta
syndy,
Information that is easily digested does seem a little more "fun"! It is almost like tricking our brain!
Shelly Crider
I agree that the look and feel of an online course is important as the knowledge and skills it is design to impart. The look and feel ensure navigational simplicity ,which makes the information easier to digest.
Thank you for your comprehensive post in regard to the quality of the look and feel of an online course. Our school is also stepping on board to an online format for some of our courses. This is completely new to me as an instructor as well. I will definately take into consideration the need for navigational simplicity, bright colors, short lessons and frequent assessments in addition to the quality of content. This I'm sure will prove challenging. However I am looking forward to learning new and different ways to present the material and keep it fresh and interesting via the new technological advancements. The bottom line is that this generation of student is much more technologically advanced. The education environment must keep pace in order to be competitive.
Theresa,
Good point. It does take a little extra to make sure a student is engaged in an online course. Yes, we want students to be self-motivators, but instructors need to push as well.
Shelly Crider
rick,
Pictures are truly worth a thousand words!
Shelly Crider
Nancy:
it is very good that you have a collection of presentations for your students, I believe this will help in the online environment, which can be challenging for some and a great tool for others.
When you are an online instructor it is important to engage your students more then in a traditional class room, so this may include power point for them to see as well as hear, ( being that there is voice over) this way the student can rehearse the presentation as many times as necessary.
I absolutely agree. The use of graphics, animations, transitions, student activities and other tools that allow the students to interact in the course are critical to both learning and keeping the student engaged and alert. The visuals are critical to conveying meaning of the text and narration...the old "pictures worth a thousand words" adage.
