eLearning facilitates teachers to be front runners while creating an environment where both teachers and students feel empowered, with successful learning experiences.
Education, going forward with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, will be a blended learning approach that will empower online teaching, the same principles which are applicable and have paved success in the traditional classroom environment. While the impact is more in the traditional classroom, with the direct interaction with students, in distance learning (online learning), learning is visually entailing, due to the ongoing technological advancements.
The following strategies on learning instructions and associated outcomes are relevant in being successful, whether the environment is traditional i.e in-person or distance learning (online/digital). Not all of the below mentioned strategies might be possible with every activity, assignment or assessment. However the more of these we put into practice, the greater the chance that both teacher and student are successful.
a) Being Simple:
Digital enforces simplicity and transparency. The ultimate goal of eLearning, for both teachers and students is to facilitate easy access to all relevant learning courses, instructions.
Keeping instructions simple can also improve accessibility for those who are not tech-savvy. A simple workflow can allow students to access and complete learning lessons on a smartphone or a smart device efficiently.
b) Being Organized:
With the implementation of flow charts and infographics as the cognitive load of too much text is reduced, learning outcomes in the form of instructions are clearly outlined for students, for a better understanding, thus paving the way for having a logic to the sequence of the tasks involved.
Furthermore, the learning materials can also have relevant hyperlinks, for references and further research and learnings.
Looking at the learning instructions from the student stand-point-of-view, ensures that the material is organized, in a way that makes sense logically.
c) Being Concise:
In addition to being organized, the learning instructions should be able to clearly communicate the needs of the target audience, which is extremely critical.
Students are usually overloaded with information, assignments, assessments that have deadlines. While the traditional classroom environment reinforces what needs to be done verbally, it is not the same case in the remote online learning environment. Therefore, it becomes even more essential even if difficult, to keep the learning instructions, extremely clear. This is particularly very important, as students might be getting assistance from someone who is not familiar with the language that is being used in the traditional classroom environment.
To further assist in learning patterns and outcomes, use explicit communication in the form of
Video explanations of courses are much more useful
Flow charts to emphasize critical thinking will be more thought-provoking
Using various content formats, such as bullet points, tabular data will reduce the excessive reading of more text
d) Being Flexible:
When students are given choices and options to showcase their understanding, for learning outcomes, in the form of multiple choices (during assessments), the process of learning methodology has a great control while remaining flexible.
The odds that students will work to finish the task and that with a higher quality increases, from the flexible learning instructional standpoint.
In the traditional classroom, students are always given some sense of choice and multiple means to show understanding. Being digital, an outline in the form of bullet points, or a simple explanation video, or a simple writing of a timeline using Google docs, or students writing an answer and taking a picture to share it across, will increase the effectiveness of the learning outcomes, in remaining flexible.
e) Being Familiar:
Leveraging a variety of resources for teaching might not be feasible at all times. Too many good ideas to experiment with, is always hard. The same applies to activities and assessments.
Trying new resources while not overwhelming the students is the key. A student poll will let us know students’ opinions and teach-savvy habits, which in turn will let the teacher know if a tool is new and exciting to students or if it will meet with a lot of resistance.
The assessments too can be determined using the same approach to decide which form, formative or summative assessment, is relevant.
Via polls, the objective is not to avoid any aspect that students resist but to find the tools where students feel successful. Find a balance with new tools and alternate options available.
f) Being Authentic:
Every teacher needs to be true to themselves and to their responsible pupil.
Inculcating other teachers’ styles and refusing to ever incorporate the learner’s unique characteristics will only lead to lack of interest and motivation, within students.
Reinventing the teacher persona, will not only bring joy as an educator, but also, increases the interest levels of the students, thus paving the way for a successful learning experience.
At mPowerO, we help our clients maximize on eLearning capabilities to effectively reach their educational and business goals with fully-managed support.