5 Ways to make online learning more effective

Online learning came to stay. 

Boosted by the pandemic, it has found its permanent place in many schools and academic institutions, and it already has enormous influence on the way students are educated and interact with their teachers and peers. 

This quick transition was certainly not easy and there is still a lot of room for improvement.

Advantages of Online Learning 

With the pandemic and social distancing rules imposed, almost overnight teachers were forced to create a successful online learning environment for all students, regardless of their circumstances. 

This required perseverance, adaptability and creativity from people who were used exclusively to classroom teaching, and often had little familiarity with technological resources. However, after much trial and error, surprising results began to emerge.

With this momentum, online learning has progressed a lot in a short period of time, especially with regard to the development of Learning Management Systems (LMS).

Currently, numerous resources and platforms are available to schools, making blended learning a reality that has many advantages for education.  

– Blended learning: how your school can combine online and offline teaching

Current improvements in distance education allow the student to take an active role in the learning process, even outside of a conventional classroom. 

This substantially increased the effectiveness of the online education system, bringing it on par with face-to-face learning. Some of the highlights of eLearning include:

Large selection of courses available

Online learning provides access to a much wider range of subjects. Everything is just a click away. Mathematics, history, computing, dance and cooking are just some of the areas of knowledge that you can access without leaving your home. It’s hard to find something you can’t learn online. 

Economics

Online schooling is generally cheaper than a traditional school. Students also eliminate other costs such as commuting, uniforms and materials that are not needed for online learning. This makes education significantly more accessible to many.

Flexibility

With live classes or pre-recorded lessons, students gain a lot of flexibility for studying. Live classes can be watched anywhere that has internet access. With pre-recorded classes, students can study at a convenient time for themselves and review the content as often as needed.

5 Tips to Make Online Learning More Effective 

Online learning comes with its challenges, but here are some tips and ideas to help make your classes more and more effective.

1. Familiarize yourself with the teaching platform 

Assuming that teaching online is the same as teaching face-to-face is quite wrong.

Teachers must be well-trained in various eLearning approaches so they can identify the best methods to keep their students engaged.

– ELearning Methods You Probably Didn’t Know

Many schools and academic institutions already have online learning platforms for teachers and students to connect. But that’s not enough.

Not everyone is familiar with this technology, and some training is required.

The institution or the support team of the chosen platform, in case they use a SaaS platform such as Coursify.me, can provide this training, so that teachers can take advantage of all available resources to create the best possible class.

A LMS usually allows you to present video lessons, audio files, recorded tutorials, PDF, PowerPoint presentations and much more.

Therefore, it is recommended that teachers familiarize themselves with the available resources to understand which ones would be most enriching for their classes and how to use them with peace of mind.  

This makes teaching, assigning tasks, and explaining the platform to students much simpler, providing security so that they, too, get the best out of online learning.

2. Modernize your assessment methods

Online learning allows teachers to change the way assessments are carried out, moving away from the classic and poorly regarded written test.

With current technological resources, there are more possibilities for creating differentiated assessment methods that can meet the learning styles of each student.

Instead of the old written test that encourages memorization more than reasoning, assessments can be done through interactive games, video presentation, tutorial production and much more.

Modernizing the way things have been done for hundreds of years is the best way to engage an increasingly connected generation, which is able to assume an active role in their own education.

Providing a variety of testing options makes things exciting and engaging for both parties and can undoubtedly show much better results when it comes to understanding and assessing each student’s ability.

3. Use different online resources

A big advantage of online learning is that students are connected to the internet, making it easy to use apps and other online resources that can add value to teaching. 

Many interactive eLearning platforms like Coursify.me, allow teachers to use varied teaching methods such as videos, tutorials, presentations, handouts, images, among others.

– Record tutorial videos: tips to get the best result

Not all subjects benefit from the same teaching methods and it is important to test to see which best suits your needs and facilitates student learning. 

Finding the right method can take a bit of trial and error, and sometimes you can even use more than one resource in your online classes. 

It is also a good idea to offer support materials and suggest complementary apps to the subject taught in class, which allow students to study independently more easily.

In the case of math lessons, for example, the MathMaster is an excellent example of a platform where students can learn effective methods for solving equations. Just scan the equation with the device’s camera to see a comprehensive breakdown of the calculations used to get the answer.

4. Start a virtual community

While in-depth study of a subject requires concentration and a lot of individual reading, social involvement also has its advantages for learning and should not be ignored just because it is a virtual environment. 

An online community is a positive way for students to interact with one another.

By creating a discussion forum or closed group on Facebook, for example, or even just making a chat tool available on the teaching platform, your students will have a space to discuss course topics, answer each other’s questions and collaborate on assignments. 

Staying active in a community also keeps them accountable to each other and more engaged with online learning. 

There is no doubt that when there is debate and exchange of ideas, people expand their knowledge, points of view and often learn something entirely new that they had not even thought of.

5.  Create Personalized Learning Paths 

Personalized learning paths give students more control over their own education so they can more effectively acquire and retain knowledge and skills.

The idea here is to give more importance to the goals and preferences of each one, instead of imposing the same learning path for everyone.

For example, you can offer them the chance to test their knowledge through seminars, multiple-choice exams, or dissertations. The key is to make them feel like they have a direct say in the learning process, rather than telling them how, what and when they are going to learn.

It’s also important to offer online self-assessments that they can do on their own. Provide one or two quizzes or simulations that allow them to test their own progress and understanding of knowledge. 

– 10 free programs to create online quizzes

Also, don’t forget to make them aware of the fact that you are there to support them should they need it.

Each activity gives students a better understanding of the topic and gives teachers the opportunity to identify learning style and needs. 

This can be more work, but it’s definitely also extremely rewarding and keeps your students much more motivated.

Is there a future for online learning?

Online learning is one of the most transformative inventions of the 21st century. 

As more people understand its advantages and new technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) arrive to make teaching more dynamic and complete, the possibilities increase and an even more promising future for distance learning begins to be molded. 

Let’s never forget that education is undoubtedly the most valuable asset that a person can get, and online learning has offered a means to distribute it to the whole world. 

This provides an opportunity to launch the entire planet into a new era of progress and wealth. 

Start improving your online classes now

It might not be easy to apply all of these suggestions, but knowing they exist and are available to you is a great first step.

As you learn more about how online learning works, you gain the chance to improve your methods and make your classes more engaging and effective.

Always ask your students for feedback so you can determine if your lessons are working well or need tweaking.

With the right platform, all of this is possible.

Coursify.me is a dynamic and customizable eLearning platform that provides all the features you could ever need.

Learning Management System present in more than 60 countries, Coursify.me is ready for you to upload your courses and create a fully customized page for your online school.

– Whats is a Learning Management System

To learn more, visit our website, test the platform and see why we are the best option for you.