Connect and Engage with Effective Online Design

“Distance education is easier for people who have some degree of ability to direct their own learning” (Moore & Kearsley, 2012, p. 115). When designing online learning materials and activities, deliberate planning for interaction is essential. An appropriate balance of synchronous and asynchronous communications between teacher and students and among students is more likely to engage distance learners. In my experience, those courses with a combination of assignment types, instructional videos, and a social media component have been the ones I preferred and enjoyed the most. 

Throughout the ten Ed.S. courses I have taken, the ones I have found to be the best examples of good design and the best quality instruction are those that included instructor-created video clips or multiple opportunities for interaction, either live or asynchronous. When learning completely online, these types of interactions provided the humanizing factor that “emphasizes the importance of the individual” (Moore & Kearsley, 2012, p. 137). I found the online trainings we did using Periscope to watch each other present to be one of the most engaging and unique activities because it allowed us to share a tool or do a training with a potentially global audience. 

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from: http://tti.montclair.edu/instructionaldesign/img/Capture.JPG

Another example of an effective online training was a 6-week long MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) I took in the fall of 2014. The course was Virtual Instruction Training offered through UC Berkeley to anyone in the world and had around 1200 students. The instructor recorded and posted a series of 3-5 videos in each module to deliver content and share her experiences with us. She used a program that recorded her screen, which was usually a slide show, and a smaller window that showed her webcam recording herself on it. When watching the videos, it felt more like being in class and having a personal connection with the teacher because periodically she would ask a question. The video paused and a question popped up so I could respond either by choosing a response or typing out my answer. Adding to the personal feel of the course, her cat was almost always somewhere on the desk or shelf behind her while she spoke to us in the recording. The instructional strategies she used to engage and interact with us made the class enjoyable, and overall the content and experience were excellent quality. This course was for my own professional growth and not for credit as most of the courses I have taken. 

I have also experienced a few not-so-effective online modules, one activity that comes to mind was a series of cases from a textbook that I had to analyze. The course had other well-designed components, but the time and effort required to complete this particular assignment did not match with the points available and there was limited feedback given. The design of this particular activity was flawed, but it could be adapted better for online learning so that it is more effective next time.To improve this activity, the point value needed adjusting to match the time involved in completing the questions. Another option might have been to divide the cases up among each student or pair to make it a collaborative cases project. To bring an interactive component to the activity, it could have a synchronous, web-based conference to allow students to present and discuss each case. 

In all of my online experiences, those courses that included more teacher instruction using multimedia (not just text) and a variety of student interactions were most effective. Activities that required hours of reading and answering end of chapter questions for minimal points were least effective in my opinion.

References

Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G. (2012). Distance education: A systems view of online learning. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.