Thanks to several technological advancements, many lectures, classes, and corporate training today are being held over the Internet. This form of learning is more flexible since anyone can take a course or class from any geographic location. Also, a learner can easily balance their school and home life. These are some things a traditional class or study session couldn't provide adding to the learner experience.
That said, online learning also presents new challenges to both trainees and instructors. For the former, it's sometimes difficult to concentrate in a lesson due to interruptions at home or distractions from gadgets. On the other hand, the latter may find it challenging to keep their students focused and engaged.
If you're an instructor, there are several things you could do to make things better for all parties. To improve the learner's experience, you must find ways to help keep your trainees engaged and focused. The tactics you’ll come up with must also help them understand what you teach so that they can retain and remember what they've learned for a longer time.
Here are some things you could do:
As an instructor, one way to enhance trainees' learning experience is by making the lessons fun. This helps students stay focused in class. Also, it enhances their participation and could ensure they understand and remember what they've learned.
One of the things you could do is avoid using complicated terms or complex language. Instead, you can maintain an informal yet professional and respectful tone to boost engagement. Also, you could include fun stories or facts in your lessons to make them more exciting. Besides, you can also introduce fun quizzes or games to capture and hold learners' attention. A class that’s exciting to students may be hardly forgotten.
Besides making your lectures fun, you also have to make them shorter. Although online classes may be one of the best training means for employees or most types of learners, long presentations can make people lose focus, get bored, or feel restless. Ultimately, they might not grasp some of the critical things you say.
To prevent these outcomes in your class as an instructor, try making your lessons shorter. For instance, you can lecture for 10 minutes, and then introduce an activity that runs for a few minutes. After that, you can allow the learners to take a short break to digest what you've taught or catch up.
Traditional classes helped promote a sense of community and belonging because it was easier to form friendships. Although this may be challenging to achieve with online training, you can make it possible for your students by finding ways to help them build personal connections.
Some things you could do are designing projects or assignments to be done in teams or developing group study sessions. Also, you can encourage trainees to create an offline chat forum where they can freely socialize. In these sessions, learners can feel more connected to each other and will develop a sense of community and belongingness.
Besides, they could easily form friendships where they can freely share their struggles, joys, and hopes. This way, they'll feel less isolated, boosting their mental health.
You could also boost e-learners' experience by encouraging conversations and actions regarding a topic. For instance, you can ask your trainees questions about what they've learned during your lectures. Also, you could inquire how the day's lesson relates to any current developments, and ask them to write an opinion piece or short essay about that.
Moreover, you can also encourage your learners to engage in an online forum where they discuss how to apply what they've learned in the real world. You don't have to supervise this session. Instead, choose a group leader to oversee it. However, ensure the students can reach you if they need any clarification. If they ask for your help, find a way to make them revisit what they learned for answers.
Online learning may have several benefits, but it also has its challenges. For instance, trainees may find it hard to focus or concentrate in class. On the other hand, instructors may experience difficulties, in making learners more engaged or helping them understand what they teach.
You can incorporate several strategies as an online trainer to enhance your students' learning experience. In this article, you've seen that you should make the lessons shorter and let the lectures be more fun. Also, encourage conversations or actions in your sessions, and help trainees build personal connections. These steps will help your students be more engaged and focused. Besides, they'll quickly understand what you teach and remember what they learn from you for a long time.
