James Anderson

Interesting that a 10 to 15 percent retention rate increase can be obtained by using a students perferred style.

Getting a 360 view of your course is needed for quantative and qualitiative evaluation.  Yep, multiple analysis tools, but sometimes I think our society will try and get much more feedback than is needed to get the job done. 

Providing accurate and meaningful feedback is the key to getting better.  I wonder if it is hard to be critical of a student in an online environment versus providing oral feedback F2F.  If I have to be critical of something, I would rather do it nicely, but more directly.  Maybe a telephone call would be good and you can determine tone of voice better????

A detailed syllabus for online training should be more robust than the F2F classroom environment.  Plus, the syllabus needs to be adjusted as needed.  Looks like being an online instructor is more labor intensive that teaching in a traditional classroom.

Having an easily understandable framework is important.  As I get older, it seems like my ability to concentrate hard is only for a few minutes before I want a break.  So, short modules (microlearning sessions 10 minutes or less) sounds good to me!!  LOL

I find it interesting that you can still have people that can behave badly in an online environment.  Knowing how to deal with those personality types and conflict in an online environment will be a great skill to have.  I also understand that some people will feel free to be critical online whreas they not be so verbal in person.

In some ways, I can see asynchronous training as being an advantage over a traditional classroom.  Quiet students in a classroom will probably feel more comfortable expressing their thoughts and chatty students in a classroom may not be able to overrun the discussion.

I like the idea of creating a bio for the instructor and students.  Having some information about who you are interacting with will be comfort and insight to everyone in the class. 

I grew up and took traditional classes in a classroom.  Even though I have a Master's degree, it was 22 years ago and in a traditional classroom.  So, e-learning is an impressive evolution in training.  From what I am reading thus far, there are some advantages to e-learning over classroom instruction.  However, it looks like this type of learning will take more effort for the students and instructor.  Keeping track of everything can be time consuming.  As I learn about Blackboard, it seems like a well thought out LMS that is relatively easy to use after you get comfortable with… >>>