Get Your Students Hired
Sandy ,
Communication is a very important part of any online class. You must make the student feel "at home".
Shelly Crider
Scotty,
I love how you use "hunger".....that is just what education should be.
Shelly Crider
I Agree with this statement. Technology changes, when a student chooses an online environment, they are probably choosing in part because of the technological sophistication that the University claims they can offer.
If the online environment is archaic in appearance, technologies, or structure the credibility will come into question.
I know I expect an online environment to show a modern look and feel. Example ...
I just finished another course here (another ELXXX) and was amazed that they had mostly text based screens, it crossed my mind, are they seriously wanting me to read everything, where the sound.
This course has sound, kudos!!
-- Matt
Online training/courses are effective if their look & feel keeps the learner engaged. Adding of voice-over and/or assessment quizzes add to the overall look & feel, thus stimulating the learning.
Great point aboout the visual cues of the learning space. I add personal touches where I can and it makes a difference! Adding a little color, making sure communications are upbeat and encourging helps to engage the students. I have to watch my use of the exclamation point. "Unit 4 Grades are Posted!" may not be something students are excited about.
I agree that the look and feel of an online class is as important as the content. Courses can be designed to have the feel of a classroom by having a "home room" (home page) to post announcements, office hours, and links to the assignment list, discussion board, chat room, etc.
Communication is important and the instructor can use the tools available to engage the students in all the learning events.
Building an interactive and engagning learning experience in the online environment can be challenging. Some students say that it doesn't feel "real". We can make it feel real by discussing some of the challenges and benefits of online learning up front.
In order to maintain the audience, an online course has to pull in the observer, in a way that keeps attention and hunger to learn/discover more.
Amy,
Since each student is different, there are many times we have to add and take away from a course.
Shelly Crider
The look and feel of an online course is important due in part to the fact that if it isn't interesting or appealing to the students view, the student will not stick around or want to have anything to do with it. One of the blessings /curses of an online classroom is that it has to be appealing visually to stimulate and retain interest int he class/subject matter. That being said, if the classroom isn't visually appealing, it is not going to "feel" right to the student. These can both lead to being the difference to a student engaging in class or withdrawing altogether. I can attest to this through personal experience as a student, and as a teacher.
I absolutely think this is true. If the on-line site itself is not visually appealing (look), and easily/intuitively navigable (feel), it will at the least be understimulating/unengaging, and at worst distracting and frustrating.
I haven't done instructional system design before, so I'm very interested to see where this course goes regarding that. However, having frequently been an on-line student before (as I am w/ this CEE program), I feel I know what right looks/feels like. As an example CEE should jettison "Maxwell Knowlton"... that use of available technology is very amaturish.
I'm new at this but from what I've seen in powerpoint presentations and such the better the quality of presentation definitely influences student attention and interest.
I agree with this sentiment. Since I, as the instructor, am not in front of the class, setting the tone and feel, I need to rely on the visual cues of the weblearning space. If the site look bland ans cold, then that is how students will respond to the course. If you can, cahnge the colors. Add some personal touches if possible.
Also, makes sure that everything on the site is working the way that it is suppose to--i.e. make sure that there are no broken links and that the site does not look cluttered. The clearer your site is laid out, the easier it will be for students to follow.
David,
haha I havee experienced that as well! My students were not worried about their content....we as instructors should be a good role model.
Shelly Crider
David,
Good point.....too much stimulation takes away from actual content.
Shelly Crider
Agree that it is important, but should not be the only thing that we look at in judging the quality of a course.
I'm reminded of some of my students who, when given an assignment to create a presentation based on a paper they have written, start immediately worrying about PowerPoint and what colors they should use, rather than focusing on writing the paper first.
Dave
I also think it is possible to overdo the bells and whistles, and to think that "looks great" necessarily means "great content.
Dave Rakowski
I agree. I took online courses for both my Master's and Doctorate degree and at first the classroom setting was scary. By the end I was confident navigating my way around the classroom, libraby, admissions, etc. It is important that the instructor work to incorporate student involvement while the lecture is going on.
Allinda,
I have been on some websites that were just too busy...and I left!
Shelly Crider