Get Your Students Hired
Mona,
If you can find a way to relate to the students and their knowledge base for the computer, you will connect to them much better.
Shelly Crider
If the look and feel of an online course is complex or difficult to navigate the students may become frustrated or distracted causing them to perform poorly on the actual course content. I have seen course with six links to get to the same place which is too much navigation causing confusion. I have also seen courses where one week uses dropdown boxes for navigation and another week suses radio buttons. There should be consistency in navigation.
Jeff
Shelly,
I think navigational simplicity "makes or break point" of online learning. Student can get overwhelmed easily s/he is lost online. On the other side student may love to surf, click, chat, and interact if the site is user friendly.
I have students spending much more time to find their way then the materials they signed up to learn.
John
Absolutely agree. The online courses I have taken in the past (probably while online classes were still in their infancy) did not have a good look and feel. I felt it difficult to stay engaged and found myself getting easily bored. The user interface is just as important as the content.
Shelly,
I can totally relate to your mother. I am new to online instruction and formal instruction. Coming from a nursing clinical setting, all these things are new to me. I assume this will be the case with some of my students. Ease of navigation is going to be the first step in making them feel comfortable about taking an online course.
Mike,
We tell students how valuable the first impression is they go on an interview.....same thing goes for an online class to the student.
Shelly Crider
Tonya,
I love a class that has personality!!! Those are the classes that keep me involved.
Shelly Crider
Vivian ,
Too much to look at will make you concentrate on what you are looking at and not necessarily the content itself.
Shelly Crider
Erin,
This helps students with time management, and many need this!
Shelly Crider
Mike,
We have to feel inspired or why would we want to go into that career?
Shelly Crider
Absro,
Students want to be able to field their own issues but when they ask for help, I really hope the instructor knows the answer!
Shelly Crider
Absro,
I am glad you mentioned the teaching style of the instructor because this certainly shows through in a good class. So if your class lacks in something....what does that tell the students?
Shelly Crider
Craig,
Remote holds a huge meaning anymore as remote takes us around the world and not just the "boonies"!
Shelly Crider
Johnny,
Just like a little mouse trap.....entice the students in and then grab them!
Shelly Crider
John,
Good point. If you do not capture the student in week one, you probably will not see them in week four.
Shelly Crider
Jerrod,
I have to agree. There are some platforms I have been on which have been more time consuming.
Shelly Crider
Marie,
Most people do like a good challenge, no matter our background! Tell someone it is too hard for them makes them push hard to prove a point.
Shelly Crider
The look and the feel of an online course is just as important as the knowledge and skills that it communicates.
I think it's important to understand that the look and feel of an online course interprets a "personality" that is conveyed through the selection of colors, images and fonts.
The right "personality" can help to cultivate a positive experience.