Friday Oct 28, 2011
Five ways to engage online learners (from an online learner)
Here are five simple suggestions for you when you start building your course:
1. Present with personality. If the instructor is not interested in the course, how can you expect your learners to be interested?
2. Answer all common questions. Especially if you are forming a course on software training, you need to think of all possible questions when going through a step. Answer those questions, to keep the attention of your learners. Your learners will be looking at the course, thinking of questions as you are teaching, so answer them without having them asked.
3. If you are teaching a course with a powerpoint presentation, don’t just read off the slides. Provide your users with additional information. Why should they listen to you if you are just going to say exactly what the slide says? In some cases, this may work, but in most instances, you can re-word what is on the slide or provide an example for better understanding.
4. Share the basics but throw in some detail. While the basics are important for the beginner, keep the learner engaged by throwing in one detail or example of what they will be able to achieve upon completion of the course. Show them this course is worth paying attention to.
5. Understand your audience. Sometimes courses include too much detail or go too fast for online learners. It can be easy to assume your learners understand you when you cannot physically see their reactions. Be sure to understand your main audience. If, however, the course is targeted towards advanced users, then go for the detailed and high-level tutorial. If your learners are new to the subject matter, be sure to guide them to understanding. Just because you know the information and learned it easily, it does not necessarily mean the information will be as easy for your learners to digest.
These may seem basic, but sometimes going back to the basics is just what you need. At KeyStone OnDemand, we are always looking to help our customers who are creating custom courses for their organization using our platform.
