Online learning has become a necessity for many higher education institutions due to the pandemic. However, it also offers many opportunities for innovation, flexibility, and accessibility. How can you optimize online learning for higher education? Here are some tips to help you design and deliver effective and engaging online courses.
The first step to optimize online learning is to choose a platform that suits your needs and goals. There are many options available, such as learning management systems (LMS), video conferencing tools, online collaboration platforms, and open educational resources (OER). You should consider factors such as the cost, functionality, usability, security, and compatibility of the platform. You should also evaluate how well the platform supports your pedagogical approach, learning outcomes, assessment methods, and feedback mechanisms.
Professor, CISM, Entrepreneur//"Learn as if you were to live forever"MG//
For online learning platforms to thrive, they must partner with accredited and structured higher education institutions. The learners need a firm sense of self-efficacy to succeed in a "do it yourself" education environment, which is not always the case. Learners need a support structure that only a traditional institution can provide. Integrating learning platforms into existing college credit curriculum is the way.
In higher education, the platform decision has often already been made before you, as an instructional designer, come onboard. Colleges and universities invest considerable money for an LMS to support online learning. And you'll likely be required to use the platform upon which they have standardized. Learning as much as you can about the official LMS of your institution will be a great help to you as it will increase your efficiency as well as your ability to assist instructors.
I agree with James on this one. Choosing the platform is typically out of the educators hands when it comes to higher education. If this article is geared towards Educational Leadership then it could be plausible for them to decide what program to use.
The second step to optimize online learning is to design your course for the online environment, which requires adapting content, activities, and interactions to the online format. To do so, you should align objectives, assessments, and activities with the online learning outcomes and standards. Additionally, use a variety of media, such as text, audio, video, images, and animations, to present content and engage learners. Furthermore, chunk content into manageable and meaningful units that can be easily accessed and navigated. Additionally, provide clear and consistent instructions for learners. Incorporate interactive and collaborative elements like quizzes, polls, discussions, group projects, and peer review to foster engagement and social presence. Finally, use scaffolding and differentiation strategies like pre-requisites, learning paths, and adaptive learning to support learner diversity and readiness.
Adapting the content is a lot of work. Every semester I have adjusted my classes before I start to ensure they are more interactive and engaging towards the students. Engagement is critical to online learning, if the student is not immersed in the material they will blindly click through to just complete the task.
The third step to optimize online learning is to deliver your course with quality and flexibility. This requires making sure that the course is accessible, reliable, and responsive to learners' needs and preferences. To do this, you should test your course before launching it for technical issues, broken links, and typos. Additionally, provide multiple ways for learners to access your course, such as mobile devices, offline mode, and downloadable materials. Furthermore, offer both synchronous and asynchronous options for learners to interact with you and each other, like live sessions, recorded lectures, chats, forums, and emails. Additionally, monitor your course regularly and collect feedback from learners to identify any problems or gaps. Finally, update your course periodically with new or relevant content, resources, or activities to keep it current and engaging.
The fourth step to optimize online learning is to support your learners throughout their journey. This involves orienting them to the environment, communicating with them frequently and clearly, encouraging active participation, providing timely and constructive feedback, and referring them to additional resources or services. Doing so will help your learners succeed and build a rapport and trust with you. It will also create an online learning community where learners can share their achievements and progress.
The fifth step to optimize online learning is to evaluate your online learning process and outcomes. This means assessing the effectiveness and impact of your online course on your learners' learning and satisfaction. To do this, it’s important to define clear and measurable criteria and indicators for evaluating your online learning outcomes and standards. Additionally, you should use a variety of assessment methods and tools, such as quizzes, assignments, portfolios, rubrics, surveys, and analytics to measure your learners' knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors. After analyzing the data and evidence collected from your assessments and feedback, you should reflect on your online teaching practice to identify areas for improvement or enhancement. Finally, you should share your findings and recommendations with stakeholders and peers to seek their input for improving your online course.
The sixth and final step to optimize online learning is to keep learning and improving your online teaching skills and knowledge. Staying updated and informed about the latest trends, research, and best practices in online learning is essential. Joining online communities of practice and networks relevant to your discipline, enrolling in online courses or programs, attending online events or webinars, reading blogs, articles, journals, or books, and experimenting with new or emerging technologies or tools can all provide valuable insights to help you enhance your online teaching practice or course design.
Keep in mind that the demographics of your audience. Students who opt for online higher education are often a bit older than traditional college students in face-to-face classes. They often choose online classes because they fit better into their schedules, which may include full-time employment, childcare, eldercare, and other responsibilities. For these reasons, 100% asynchronous modes of instruction are often essential. Designing for this mode of delivery requires being very deliberate and clear about expectations.
One more interaction piece is that I have found to be interactive lectures. Using Canvas LMS or even EdPuzzle, educators can use videos with embedded questions to engage the students knowledge of the material. This fosters microlearning and ensures the student is understanding the content or if the lesson needs to be adjusted. These video/interactive lectures should not be graded but used as a tool to gauge the effectiveness of the material. The educator should also use bulk grades of grades versus making adjustments based on one students understanding. IF a single student is confused then the educator should work one on one with that student.