Agree: The reasons are that human beings are visual in nature. There have been many studies which prove that people respond in favorable or unfavorable ways to light, color, sound, etc.
In a learning environment, whether off or online, a person has to feel comfortable and not over or underwhelmed when being intellectually stimulated.
Muriel,
True! Really not so different than a traditional classroom. Have we not all sat in a classroom where the room was just horrible??
Shelly Crider
Hi Shelly,
Yes I agree, the look and feel of the online course is very important. The students will feel a sense of connection when all the information is designed in a user friendly format. In addition, the information from one course to the next should be streamlined as well.
Romanda Cooper
I agree. We as learners for the most part are visual learners, and at times, when reading a PowerPoint slide for example that is full of text and has no visual appeal, you will get lost in the text and not absorb that learning.
Romanda,
I love the fact that you merge classes together by telling students what is coming up. This will keep retention up as well as keeping students informed!
Shelly Crider
Martin,
in fact....most people will not even read power point slides that have no visual and too many words.
Shelly Crider
Yes, the look and feel is just as important to online students as the knowledge and skills. My online students require a look that captures and keep their attention; which consciously or unconsciously allows them to stay committed to the process.
I'm glad you mentioned the generational differences. Some of my students are baby boomers who may never have had an online course. They may already struggle with technology and a poorly designed and user-unfriendly course make the learning experience that much more difficult when the anxiety levels are high.
Alison,
Staying committed to a project is one of the biggest road blocks for a student.
Shelly Crider
I totally agree. We apply the "look and feel" concept to many areas in our lives already. Watching a preview to a television show or movie, to decide if we want to spend the time or money watching it. Reading the preface of a book or test driving a new car, we want our decisions to meet our expectations. Hook, line, and sinker. If I do not like the presentation of a online course or I am having difficulty navigating the course, chances are the information presented will be lost in the frustration.
I think this is especially important in an online environment to eliminate transactional distance. The students need that feeling of "being there" without physically being there. They need to easily navigate the tools required for success and be able to monitor their own progress up against clearly defined goals. It is especially important that the students are given orientation scaffolds at the start of a course so the student knows what they need to do each week and how they can accomplish it. More importantly, they need to see the relevancy of each weekly task to the course as a whole. Otherwise, learning has little meaning and purpose.
Kelli,
We certainly do not like to get lost in frustration, let alone a student who is trying to learn. Frustration should not be a roadblock.
Shelly Crider
The look and feel of the course is imperative as students are significantly less intimidated (and more apt to continue the course) if the course appears easy to navigate and all requirements clearly spelled-out.
The online form of learning places the responsibility for learning squarely on the learner. The instructor is a facilitator with expert subject matter knowledge. The online arena also empowers individuals towards a stronger emphasis to grow and apply critical thinking in their practice. The student invested in seeking a sheepskin with doing things to get them done soon experiences a hefty learning curve when engaged in online learning. The instructor is shielded from the inappropriate behavior of individuals participating with an expectation that the instructor will spoon feed them. I believe that online education is an excellent forum for promoting growth for learning skills. Time management requires attention to support the student centered learning. Instruction online employs the transferring of thought through the written word to function. This solicits critical thinking for communication. Students that procrastinate in their learning habits soon fall behind. The individual learns very quickly that the external control habit of seeking to blame others does not work. As a full time online instructor with 75 plus students the magic of effective online communication is apparent in recognizing student learning. I can empower their learning with motivational effective communication designed to influence their thinking without dealing with the inhibiting factor of the student’s communication filters. My communication style flexing is calculated, scripted and effective. The successful student soon learns that their learning skill is the fulcrum for success. The net is a superb vehicle for infusing learning into the individual’s life. The importance of viewing learning as a skill in life as opposed to going to school to learn is invaluable. Online learning reflects an enthused approach to learning as displayed in the perspective of reinvention of the knowledge base constantly (Tapscott, 1999, p. 10). The awareness that learning has become a continuous lifelong learning process is empowered by the increase of skill necessary to communicate via the web.
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What are your thoughts?
Reference
Tapscott, D. (1999, February). Educating the net generation. Educational Leadership, 56(5), 6-11.
Stacy,
Who does not like detailed requirements?!! It is better to know exactly what is expected of you.
Shelly Crider
Dr. Glenn ,
Excellent post and than you for citing. This is a perfect example of professionalis as well!
Shelly Crider
I am a hands on person and a little up in teaching years as to to me the cold approach to education on line. I must grow to the online times and understand that online like in person you must really grab the attention of the person so like in a book they cannot put it down,
KIM,
I am always happy to see honesty! I have several friends who would rather be in the comfort of a school. The online arena is a bit scary at times, but we certainly need to keep up with what is going on in the world.
Shelly Crider
In the online arena, the each module of the course set needs to have the same structure in order to provide consistency for the students. To provide interest to the student you provide interactivity where they the the opportunity try different things. In one you include a video that demonstrates the subject being discussed. In another module maybe you include some interactivity where the student matches words with definitions. The main goal is to maintain their interest. Another area that I hear often is that the content is not up to date. In the technology environment this can cause you to lose the students interest. The content and the structure of the modules is only part of equation. Threaded discussions with good topics assist in maintaining some of the attention as well.
In conclusion, structure is a must, up to date content is a must, interactivity is a must to maintain the students interest and a good facilitator is a must.
Shelly, I do agree frustration does lead to a lack of retention. I am glad that I took this course. It made me aware of the various learning tools that can be implemented into the on line learning environment.
Genieve
