This is all new to me so I am having some difficulty transferring live classes to on line courses.
Antonio,
Suggestions should always be taken into account. Glad someone was listening!!
Shelly Crider
John,
The first few classes do feel a little overwhelming trying to decide on what is important. Put yourself in the student's seat and think of what the student needs to know.
Shelly Crider
The look and feel of your online training is VERY important. It gives an impression of professionalism and expertise. We look at things that attract our attention. Once we attract attention a learner may actually start to read the content. A good design adds to the course content and doesn’t “get in the wayâ€. It shouldn’t distract from the learning.
Kimberly ,
We certainly tell the students how important professionalis is, so we should show the same.
Shelly Crider
Disagree that they are equivalent. At the end of the day, knowledge and skills imparteed is the aim.
The look and feel of web sites are important to attract and keep the learner involved. What I find is Accessibility is the #1 barrier. Once in, Ease of Navigation. Third is - just like a brick-and-mortar institution the sense of welcoming persence, well organized.
The technology aspects are subject to the instructor and institutions' creativity. Application is uneven in the things I've seen. It is very important to keep up with the technology that is common to the learning ausdience. Skype while simultaneously playing an interactive game on-line is routine to my 11-year old. So, look and feel is vital to keep the audience emoptionally engaged and positioned to absorb the skills and knowledge being offered. But no matter the limitations of resources or technical ability, the measure is whether learning occurs.
I would agree. In many ways form equals content. When the form is consistent and students become accustomed to the look and feel of a course (or a school) they know what to expect and spend less time worrying about how to learn and more time focused on the subject matter.
Hi Joe and all,
I think I've seen the "Fire extinguisher" PowerPoint. Okay, not literally, but just about every faculty meeting I attend has someone from administration that could use a class in how to make an engaging PowerPoint.
It is terribly important if you want someone to do something to model it. I hope that none of my PowerPoints earn this sort of reputation.
Francis,
I like that....at the end of the day, knowledge is knowledge!
Shelly Crider
Bryan,
Content may be the same, but there may end up being some different assessments or added games for the students.
Shelly Crider
Look and feel are adjectives that get its origin from sensory perceptions, the same sensory perceptions that are anchored in E-Learning. The E-learner must feel compelled to learn the course content as presented because he/she knows that the material is important and easy to comprehend. Observing the course content can be a turn-on or a turn-off for the E-learner depending upon how well it has been assembled and the ease at which one can comprehend the material and retain data.
I totally agree with you. The worse thing that could ever happen to an audience is to have not only a boring lecturer but also boring power points. Each must augment and complement the other to significantly arouse your audience to want to continue listening to the speaker. Engaging an audience is not an easy accomplishment but require dedication and a desire to please. It is not about the size (quantity) of the power points but rather, (quality) how well the delivery has been.
John,
Some E-Learners like a lot of "extras" and some simply like simple.
Shelly Crider
John,
Even a boring power point can be spruced up with technology!
Shelly Crider
Yes, I agree. The look and feel of an online course is very important. Students have less interest in learning when the look and feel is not good. Also, the students may feel that the instructor is not organized which leads to a bad impression of the instructor. When the course has a great look and feel, students are encouraged and also get a good impression of the instructor.
Darakshan,
Students do tend to log on less amount of time if they do not like what they see.
Shelly Crider
I agree that the look and feel of an online course is as important as the knowledge and skills it is designed to impart. It is important to take the student's perspective to understand why this is so. Students, particularly those who are new to the online environment, need to be able to navigate through course links with ease if they are to focus on course content. In the absence of face-to-face interactions, students must not feel isolated but instead believe they are surrounded by an online environment that is supportive of their educational goals. Finally, it is important that students are exposed to a variety of media types to accommodate their varying learning styles.
Definitely are important. Remember that humans are visual creatures and if one does not like what it is being displayed, one will not accept with ease that is being portrayed.
It's been my experience that minimalistic colors and a white background is very well accepted among students. Also, the navigational simplicity helps tremendously in the learning environment. We've had tremendous problems with our online content delivery system, because we gave the instructors the freedom to freely design the online classroom individually. The frustration came when the student had to learn where to look for stuff differently in each classroom. Our solution, standardize all classrooms layouts. Since then, we've had had very happy students.
Alejandro,
Nice point.....the student's perspective. We get so caught up in what is best way to present material, we tend to forget how will the student react.
Shelly Crider
Sergio,
Oh so true!! We love visual creations! We like pictures in our books and visual effects in our classes!
Shelly Crider
